Day 4: Edinburgh

We kicked off our day with a 2-hour train trip through the countryside to the city of Edinburgh. The train ride was actually really comfortable, and we essentially went right along the coast and got to see some really picturesque scenes of nature on the way (and tons of sheep!).

When we arrived, we dropped off our things at Kate and Dave's apartment (AG missionaries who are church planting and working with Radiate in Edinburgh) and then got some free time to grab lunch and tour the city a little bit. We got the opportunity to try fish & chips (We're big fans of this meal now, as it was quite tasty!), visit Edinburgh castle and a beautiful cathedral, and shop around a few tourist shops for souvenirs.

After dinner, we joined up with Kate and Dave again where their church meets to help them set-up for an open-mic night.

One thing you must know is that in Scotland (and at least throughout the UK as far as I know, though this may be the case for most of Europe as well), there are tons of beautiful churches and cathedrals throughout the city. Once upon a time, these buildings were actually functioning as churches. With the increase in secularism and the decline of the church (for a variety of reasons) over the decades these churches lost their congregations altogether and shut down. The sad truth is that now, many of these churches have actually been bought and turned into pubs, bars, and night clubs.

This is actually the case for the church that Kate and Dave use to meet in. I don't know the details, but it obviously used to be a church that then got turned into a bar/coffee shop, and now is divided so that half of it (the second story where the main sanctuary is located) serves as the church plants' meeting place and the lower story operates as a bar/coffee shop. The story of how this came to be about is actually kind of neat. When Dave and Kate moved to Edinburgh, they volunteered at the coffee shop on the first floor, got to know the people that went there, and were able to rent the space and build a congregation out of the people they interacted with while they volunteered.

...which brings me back to the open mic night.

To be honest, it was at least a little bit (to a lot) of shock for most of us when we walked in to the church space. During the open mic night, people flowed in and out from the coffee shop/bar downstairs into the sanctuary (which was set up with little tables and chairs to sit around). The acts ranged from poem readings, to acoustic songs, to a beautiful Duke Ellington jazz piano/song performance, to a hypnotizing song consisting of mainly humming and the playing of this eastern instrument called a harmonium.

Not at all what you would expect when walking into a church "outreach" event.

In a strange way, however, I think this church event resembled much more closely the type of setting that Jesus stepped into during his years of ministry. I mean, think about it...Jesus went to the places where none of the "Holy people" (pharisees, etc) of that time would ever set foot into. He loved people so much, that He went to where they were. He became a part of the culture, and taught using examples that made sense to the people within their own social context. I believe that Dave and Kate understand this really well. They loved and welcomed each person that walked into that sanctuary regardless of the baggage they came with. They didn't have to come dressed in a certain way, or act a certain way, or say certain things.

The acts were a little more outside of the normal, and the subculture was definitely different from that of Aberdeen, but the principle was the same: People were welcomed and made to feel as if they belong before they believe.

It was an eye-opening experience for us, serving as a reminder that nothing is impossible for God. He is working powerfully through Dave and Kate, and making His loving presence known in the most unlikely of places. Please be in prayer for this church plant in Edinburgh!