You will all know that Martin our minister had a fall which resulted in a very serious break to his arm and elbow. As a result of this he had been signed off his work. As a very fit and active person this has been particularly frustrating for him.

Meanwhile, the work of St Andrew’s goes on and we have been lucky to have our services ably led by Keith Scott and Tim Mineard and have been delighted to welcome our friend David Searle and many others. Ian Gray, our pastoral assistant is also undertaking additional duties.

We will begin to see more of Martin very soon as he begins a staged return to work. Obviously arrangements for this have to be fluid and will depend on how he is feeling at any time and also when he gets detail of the next stages of his treatment. At the moment, he is having twice-weekly sessions of physiotherapy at Arbroath Infirmary to increase the range of motion in his damaged arm.

His plans for March will include being present and taking part in all the Sunday worship times. He will also conduct the service which includes the Annual Stated Meeting. As you can imagine, he is particularly keen to be delivering the Message and we will be very keen to hear every word. The recent habit of having readers, those who will pray and those who will lead the session with our young people will continue and will help to reduce Martin’s workload to begin with.

However there is a big DO NOT and a huge NO

Do Not Launch yourself at him for a cuddle or attempt to slap his back. You risk hurting him. Equally, Hugs are totally discouraged as another risky manoeuvre. Your best way to welcome him back, to encourage him and show that you care is to be there.

We send Martin our love and best wishes and ask for God’s blessing on him and the manse family.

We were thrilled to have Peter Bailey and his wife with us for morning worship on Sunday 14th May. Peter is soon to retire from his role as Chief Executive of Crossreach and during our service he reflected on the work of Crossreach and shared with us some personal highlights. He finished by telling us that he plans to go out in style, with an abseil from the Forth Road Bridge!! (You can sponsor him at his Justgiving page.)

We wish Peter well in all that he will do in the time ahead.

Our April Messy Church was a big success, as always. The focus was on Joseph and, among other things, the children made beards to disguise themselves as Old testament characters! With family games, a range of great crafts, a short worship time and a two-course dinner, Messy Church really is a winning formula! Next Messy session is on Sunday 28th May, 4-6pm.