Guild hears loneliness has reached 'epidemic' proportions

                                                                                 Saturday September 6, 2014

LONELINESS has reached ‘epidemic’ proportions according to the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Addressing the annual Church of Scotland Guild in Dundee today, the Moderator, the Rt Rev John Chalmers said that twin epidemics of stress and loneliness were sweeping the nation.

“There are two great epidemics spreading across western civilisation – and one of them is stress. I’ve lost count of the number of people that I’ve worked with whose ministry or working life has been interrupted (sometimes long-term and dramatically) by stress. It seems that the pace and pressure of modern life is taking its toll on people.”

Despite all the modern technology aimed at improving technology, the Rev Chalmers added: “Loneliness is an epidemic, real people are aching for real relationships, damaged people are being abandoned because they are just too much hard work, women and men with dementia are staring at four walls because we aren’t teaching people how to sit with them, how to stimulate their memory, how to touch them, fix their hair and massage their feet and allow them to feel valuable.”

Mr Chalmers added: “The modern antibiotic may have saved us from a thousand diseases but the longer we live, the more attention we need, not less.”

Drawing on this year's Guild theme, he told the 2,000 plus Guild members who gathered in the Caird Hall: “I want to finish by saying 'Go, Serve'. I guarantee you don’t have far to go to serve those who are lonely.”

During the meeting the Guild heard how a total of £511.302.07 has been raised for the Guild’s six partner projects over the last two years.

Projects supported by the Guild’s partnership which have benefitted are: Comfort Rwanda (£77,662.86); CrossReach’s Heart for Art project (£115,811.50); Mary’s Meals (£89,663.86); the Ministries Council’s Passage From India (£66,758.79); Scottish Churches Housing Action’s Julius Project (81,924.68) and the World Mission Council’s Out of Africa into Malta project (£79,480.38)

The Rev Dr Margaret Fowler, a Scot ministering in Jamaica since 1988 and an expert on human trafficking spoke of her ‘ministry on the margins’, whilst artist John Lowrie Morrison, a Reader in the Church of Scotland, spoke of his work and faith. Musical interludes during the day were provided by Brightons Parish Church Praise Group in Falkirk (whose membership includes Guild National Convener, Kay Keith) and Dundee City Organist, Stuart Muir.

Comments

Margaret Thom - Sunday, September 7th, 2014

“A wonderful day. All speakers were inspiring and full of challenges for the Guild year. Beautiful singing from the choir and the organist as usual was fantastic. K&D presbytery Guild”

Add a reply

All fields are required. Email address will not be published.