This past year has been one of watching and praying as the Women to Women team has studied the life events of Daniel as we’ve found them in the first six chapter of Daniel.

We’ve watched as we’ve noted the themes overlap with those we’ve been taught on Sundays. We took note of and joined our "Amens" to Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 2v20-23a at a time when His prayer was what we needed to hear for ourselves and our country. It’s been a time of learning afresh that our God is our sovereign ruler who, because of Jesus, includes us in His family and His plans.

As a reflection on the life of Daniel, we finished the evening sessions with three topical sessions on how God guides; loving God with all our minds; and running strong and finishing well. We now also have four Daytime Women to Women groups meeting around the city who also have studied the life of Daniel but ended the term with looking at material entitled “Gospel Centred Families”.

Because the daytime groups are comprised of mainly mums of small children, there was a need and an eager anticipation of the annual mums’ parenting panel; a Q &A evening which was greatly appreciated by all who attended.

We have, as a team, been greatly inspired by the growing group of able and willing teachers and helpers in applying of the word who have either taught from the front and/or led the small group discussion: women committed to using their gifts where God has asked them to, each part doing it’s work (Ephesians 4v16).

Points of praise...

• God’s word being handled well by women committed to "teaching what is good" Titus 2v3b.
• For the development from concept to reality of the Women to Women blog, a place for the ministry to and among women to be available 24/7.
• Our talks are available online now – www.carrubbers.org/ministries/women-to-women/
• For receptive and responsive hearts to join in and, we trust, be blessed by giving as well as receiving in and around all areas of our ministry.
• For the unique ministry of the daytime groups to mothers in particular, giving God thanks for creating and growing deeper relationships within groups where learning and prayerful support of one another is taking place.

Things to pray for...

• For Karen Clark as she takes over the leadership of women’s ministry.
• For more women to catch the vision God has for us as women, not just in Carrubbers but in all of our life and calling.
• For ongoing ministry development under Karen’s leadership, with the goal of all our women being both growing disciples and disciplers; putting into practice what we learn week by week.

Our ministry is about welcoming newcomers to Carrubbers and helping them to integrate into the church if they choose to stay.

We have a welcoming team who speak to people before and after first morning service, and we are starting to build a second service team. Through this we give a welcome, relevant information and direct people to suitable events depending on their need. The team can now be identified with new blue “Welcome” T-shirts which we started using in early 2015.

We also encourage regular members to reach out to newcomers and visitors at all times.

We provide coffee after both morning services to provide a welcoming environment for regulars and newcomers to meetn as well as newcomers’ lunches in November and May. These lunches were well received and led to useful connections between newcomers and ministries. We are considering a new format in the future using the newly configured café.

A core team continues to meet to help with leadership of the ministry.

Points of praise...

• For the regular teams of dedicated people – first service and second service coffee teams and the first service welcoming team and now one person who is starting to welcome before and after some second services.
• For the core team’s help in leadership.

Things to pray for...

• That regular Carrubbers members continue to show Christian care and love to visitors at services.
• That we increase numbers in our existing teams to allow for people moving on to different ministries or locations.
• That we can build a strong welcoming team for the second morning service.

This year in Sunday School we’ve continued to see new children, be encouraged as they settle in Sunday School and embrace the challenge of getting children from three to eleven stuck into the Bible. We are so blessed by all the children and families we serve. We are also increasingly short on space and constantly on the brink of not quite having enough leaders and helpers.

We believe that Sunday School is a teaching, evangelistic and discipling ministry. We aspire to look after the children well, but we are failing if that’s all we manage to do!

Please consider how you could be involved: teaching, helping or praying. If you are a parent maybe you could get to know your child’s teacher a bit better; telling them how your child is doing in their walk with Jesus and finding out more about what we are learning together in Sunday School.

Points of praise...

• God has blessed us with many great teachers and helpers on the team, who share a desire to see children come to Christ and grow in Him.
• This year several children, from the preschool class up, have professed their faith in Jesus.
• The children are enthusiastic and keen to learn about Jesus and grow in their understanding of God’s Word.

Things to pray for...

• Please pray for us as we consider whether to seek different study material for our older children.
• Pray for patience, faith, flexibility and energy for all involved.
• Please pray that God will continue to provide a strong team to faithfully teach the children His Word and show them His love.

We have completed the whole of the Old Testament this year! What a privilege to share God’s work with children who have not heard!

It’s amazing to realise that a few blocks from Carrubbers are children who have never heard of Adam and Eve, Noah and Daniel in the lions’ den; never mind that Jesus died for them! The Royal Mile is a small school, so although only eight children attend SU it is a relatively high percentage!

We were able to lead one assembly this year and take two class lessons at Christmas and again in May with the P7’s. We were able to give the P7’s books to help with the transition to High School and share from the life of Daniel – the Changes, Challenges and Choices he made – all with God’s help!

Points of praise...

• For the faithful attendance of the eight children at SU.
• For the well received assembly and class lessons with attentive children and teachers!
• For a great team.
• That eight children took Bibles at the end of the session.

Things to pray for...

• God’s Word does not return void: Pray this for the children and that they would read their Bibles and respond to His word and come to faith in Him.
• Pray that the P7 children would read their books over the summer and seek his help as they move schools.
• We will need a replacement leader - Please pray that we would have someone by August.
• Pray for further opportunities in the school in assemblies, classes and generally helping in the school

This past year we have continued to meet with new ministry leaders of ministries which are covered by Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) legislation; have developed a Social Media policy; and are in the process of reviewing our other policies. The annual training is always a good time to get ministry leaders of children’s ministries together and new members of their teams. We were delighted that James Spence joined Eric J Scott, Ewens Evans and myself on the team however, we are still looking for a member who has social work experience.

By July of this year all those working in children’s ministries should have migrated onto the new PVG disclosure scheme and so hopefully everyone has now visited our faithful signatories Sue Rose and Trevor Gould.

Our role is to support and to ensure that as a church we meet the legal requirements of PVG and look after our children well... all for the glory of God!

Points of praise...

• We rejoice that God has protected our fellowship for another year.

Things to pray for...

• Please pray for a new member for the team.
• Pray for the continued safety of our children as they meet at Carrubbers.

The past year has seen the office coping with the usual vast variety of demands which result from a busy outward-reaching city centre church such as Carrubbers. Many of these cross over the boundaries to other ministries. Working with these ministries, both external and internal, involves manifold tasks to deliver the support service they require to function.

I am never sure if the Sunday attender appreciates how much actually happens on a regular basis within the church building on a weekday. The building opens its doors Monday to Friday to a number of events which engage communities both local and gathered.

The office benefitted this year from a generous offer of free office furniture from a church member whose company were moving premises. So we now have more modern chairs, desks and tables.

Other changes this year have seen the office manager becoming more involved in some aspects of the finance side of church business. Also for many years we were well served by volunteers who supported our IT needs but with the office space being used by more and more folk during the week this has necessitated us moving our IT support to a professional external company. We have also seen an increased use of the guest flat over the past year.

From time to time, we do need holiday cover and so if you think you can help in this way please email us at officeadmin@carrubbers.org

Points of praise...

• Faithful service of the folk who regularly help keep the office running week by week.
• Excellent teamwork and camaraderie with those who help the office staff achieve their objectives.

Things to pray for...

• As the demands grow that the office will be able to keep up with this increased demand.
• In the busy-ness of the office work we still find time to be there for people who need help in some way.
• That the office gets things done that God wants done, for the benefit of His people and His glory.

Has it been another year already?! As I write this, the anniversary service is looming, we’re planning for Room 65, and someone’s even asked me what date the carol service is going to be. If the music ministry ever produced a calendar, there would be so much going on in each month that we’d have trouble choosing what pictures to include. Alongside we’ve had weddings, babies, exams, new jobs, and all the other things that generally go on in family life. Some people have even left the country! We’re constantly facing changes, and God is the one constant in everything. When we focus on that, it all looks a lot less scary.

13th December, in case you’re wondering!

Points of praise...

• For the many physical and spiritual resources that God continues to equip us with to engage in musical worship.
• For the unity that we can experience through music with those from our own church, from other churches, and from all walks of life.

Things to pray for...

• That we would remember that we can only do all of these things with the strength that God supplies, and not on our own (1 Peter 4:11).
• For great, continued communication between all those who are responsible for putting Sunday services together, that we would build each other up in love as we serve (Ephesians 4:16).
• For more musicians to come and share in the blessing of ministry (especially for cover during busy periods and when lots of folk are away)!

The missions team at Carrubbers seeks to do the following:

1. Promote missions at Carrubbers – this includes encouraging short term missions and improving our missions related communication. Over the past year we have:

• Been working with the web team to transform the missions content on our website. This is still a work in progress, but we hope it will soon be completed
• Preparing a new missions display for the main hall, to increase the prominence of missions related material

2. Support our missionaries. At Carrubbers we are blessed to have missionaries serving all over the world in a wide variety of roles. We want to try and support them as effectively as we can. Over the past year we have:

• revised the links that our missionaries have with home groups, with the aims of ensuring that each home group is linked to at least one missionary, that these links are as natural as possible, and that the home groups are encouraged to have close links with their missionary, pray for them regularly and support them in practical ways.
• Worked at planning more effectively for when our missionaries come back on home assignment. This is still a work in progress, and we hope to have this completed later this year.

We continue to produce the montly Connexions prayer bulletin, facilitate the overseas missions part of the midweek community prayer meetings, and run regular missions update nights and fifth Tuesday missions prayer meetings. These are central to our support, and we would encourage everyone to come to as many of these as possible.

As well as giving monthly support to our missionaries totalling around £50,000 last year, we also supported projects and gave one off gifts including the Metropolitan Mission in India, the Golgotha Bible School in Romania. the Nawat Bible Translation project in El Salvador, Operation Mobilisation, and the Rose of Sharon ministry in South Africa.

Points of praise...

• The privilege of being a missions focused church.
• All of our missionaries serving the Lord all over the world.
• All of those who have been on short term missions during the past year.

Things to pray for...

• That those missionaries who have faced discouragement or struggles over the past year (there are quite a few in this category) would know the Lord’s presence and help.
• For the missions team, that we would make good progress in helping to support and promote missions at Carrubbers.
• For those at Carrubbers who are seriously considering long term missions, that the Lord would guide them.

Once again, we are so thankful for all of our men who have spent the first Tuesday of each month together wrestling with the Word, engaging in Christian fellowship and building one another up in faith and trust in Christ.

One of our primary goals for Men for Christ at Carrubbers is to invest in each other’s lives – relating, wrestling and resting in the greatness of our amazing Creator-God.

This year we spent our evenings working our way through a number of very relevant cultural and practical issues that men face in today’s world: handling God’s Word; what it means to be a godly man; temptations, addictions, and obsessions; men, music, movies and media; living for Christ at work; and taking our place as godly men in the world.

Our evenings together have been a mix of Bible study, personal interaction and discussion and prayer. Each evening has been a challenging, encouraging, life and faith-building experience which has hugely blessed us both personally and spiritually.

If you have not joined us to date, please do consider coming along and being a part of Men for Christ when we start again in October.

Points of praise...

• For the growth and development in many lives over the course of the year.
• For fellowship shared and deepened relationships through fellowship in the word and prayer.

Things to pray for...

• Continued growth in numbers and building up on many lives.
• For more life on life invested relationships and the building of godly men in Christ!

This year we changed our name from INDEX to LOGOS, because we’re all about God’s Word and Jesus the Living Word of God. Our vision is to see the lives of students in this generation transformed by the gospel, and to equip them to play their part in God’s plans for the church and our nation as they move into working life.

Our Bible studies took us through 1 Corinthians this year, seeing how Paul dealt with a church in crisis as Christians wrestled with many issues that still confront us today. We discovered that Paul’s big challenge in the letter is: “Think and live like a Christian, not a Corinthian”. We have a new identity in Christ and are called to live in a new counter-cultural way as His disciples.

We enjoyed having Simon Flanagan teaching us from Philippians on our weekend away in January. His challenge to take seriously the Christian life, to put into practise what we believe, and to be courageous for Christ was fantastic!

Points of praise...

• We’re thankful to God for growth in the number of students committing themselves to Carrubbers.
• We’re thankful for students engaging in mission with their friends, course and team mates, and for people being saved.
• We're thankful for my Core Team of emerging leaders who have worked alongside me during the year.

Things to pray for...

• Pray as we cope with continued growth, seeking to integrate students into the wider church family and see them effectively discipled as young believers.
• Pray for our graduating students as they take their place in the working world and adjust to non-student life with its different challenges.
• Pray for our teaching plans next year, studying the Psalms in the first semester and Revelation in the second.
• Pray with us for the 60 000 unreached students in Edinburgh, who will be best reached through our 100 students living intentionally as missionaries on campus.

After almost 25 years of running our Carrubbers Institute of Biblical Studies, we are going to be drawing this ministry to a close following the completion of our 2015-2016 class. We have been hugely privileged and thankful to have had the opportunity to run this race with the Institute of Biblical Studies for many years and are so very grateful to all who have served in so many ways through teaching, administering, catering and helping in any way. As it has been the case in recent years that the majority of our enrolment has come from individuals outside of Carrubbers, and as there are now several viable options for part-time Bible education in, and around, the Edinburgh area – as well as many more online opportunities – we believe that now is the right time to focus our efforts and energies toward the development of new training opportunities for those for whom God has given us the greatest responsibility.

Points of praise...

• Thank God for His provision and the privilege of being part of this wonderful course both for students and helpers, also for all those who made lecture days such a joy, this is a race worth running.

Things to pray for...

• For perseverance and enthusiasm for those set to finish the final lap from October to June 2016, may they not grow weary.
• For a good uptake of the new training opportunities.
• May God be glorified in all we say and do.

Our Heavenly Father continues to do His work at the Free Breakfast Service.

He continues to bring men and women week by week to hear the Good News of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Points of praise...

• A small group of new followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are clearly growing in knowing Him and their Heavenly Father more and more.
• The listening and the concentration given to the talks of the invited speakers, despite particular challenges this year.
• A large number of Bibles, New Testaments, gospels and tracts were distributed this year. Many in foreign languages.
• Tremendous answers to prayer, were many needs were met in what often seemed impossible circumstances. This had an effect not only on many of the men, but was of great encouragement to fellow believers from other churches in the city.
• Our Lord had His healing hand on several of the ministry team, who came through serious health issues this year.
• The continued witness and faithfulness of Ken Martin, who week by week, prepares the food for the Breakfast.

Things to pray for...

• That God the Father’s very presence would be clear to all, who attend the meeting each Sunday.
• That through the proclamation of the Living God’s Word, the Holy Spirit would be at work in each mind and each heart,of every person who comes to the Breakfast, revealing to them the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done for them by way of His sacrificial work, His resurrection and His ascension, and the complete salvation and new life that He offers to all who come to Him in repentance and in faith.
• That God the Father’s hand would be with the Ministry team, and protecting them each week.
• That the witness of the Ministry team would be honoring to our Lord Jesus Christ, full of His grace and truth.

Exodus, the social side of the Carrubbers youth ministry, has continued to build on the growth we have seen in previous years. We meet every second Saturday during term time for a social activity and a this year we have been doing short talks on different characters from the Bible and how God used them, even through their weaknesses.

This year started with a weekend away at Whithaugh Park in September, when 38 of us spent the weekend doing activities and studying the book of Ephesians together . Since then we have had a quiz night, games night, been to the beach, been bowling and lots of other things! We also held an outreach event in May where members were encouraged to bring their friends along - we had over 30 people join us for the barbeque and games where David Nixon presented a clear gospel message.

Points of praise...

• New teenagers and leaders joining the group.
• The outreach event - and the willingness of people to invite their friends along.
• Developing relationships between members of the group.

Things to pray for...

• The upcoming weekend away from 11th until 13th September, particularly those joining us for the first time.
• For the youth to be encouraged by the friendships that are developed in Exodus and feel comfortable to bring along other friends too.
• For the leaders; that we realise the privilege and responsibility of our roles and that we would have wisdom when planning the activities/talks for each term.
• For those leaving Exodus in the summer (both leaders and youth); that they will have benefitted from their time with us and they continue their walks with God as they leave us.

Working in partnership with the other youth ministries and parents, our desire is to help high school age young people to live for Christ. We sing, pray, have a game and then study the Bible together and it is all very interactive. On average, 10 young people have met every fortnight on Wednesday nights.

Foundations of Faith was the theme for the year and in the autumn term we looked at how we know there is a God; God’s character; and how we know the Bible is true. The practical applications involved how to live and share these truths at school.

In the Spring/Summer terms we looked at the Foundations of Faith from Genesis 1-12, including the Creation, Fall, Flood, Babel and the Call of Abram.

The Bible studies and questions have been written and led by various members of the team and since most of the group have known each other for a long time, there has been the freedom to ask genuinely searching questions. We see that the group has learned and grown spiritually throughout the year. At the end of the meeting they have prayed for each other and this has strengthened their faith as well as their witness at school to others.

Another aim has been to encourage growth through service and on two occasions we were able to visit other churches and be involved with their services. Some of the young people have shared testimonies or shared in preaching a sermon or contributed to the music. We have also promoted various summer missions. Last Saturday we had breakfast with grilled Scott for afters (Eric John answered their questions well)! It has been a real privilege to lead this group this year.

Thank you to the team of leadersand to all the parents for their work in bringing the young people to the meetings! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Points of praise...

• For the great team who have really sought to help make disciples. It has been a privilege to work with them.
• Growth is hard to measure, but we praise God for changes seen in lives.
• For the super bunch of youth at Carrubbers. Get to know them if you can.

Things to pray for...

• That seeds sown will bear much fruit.
• Pray that truths learned in Eklektos will remain with those who are moving on.
• For those who are moving up to High School.
• For a smooth transistion to a new venue with fewer leaders next year.

First Service

Crèche is an important ministry each Sunday morning. Its main aim is to allow parents of children who are under three to stay in the main body of the service and as such, crèche is greatly appreciated by them. We seek to do this for both members and non-members alike. On average there have been 15 babies, toddlers or children in crèche and we celebrated the addition of six new babies throughout the year.

When we look back over the past 12 months, we are thankful for answers to pray, specifically with regards additional helpers. This time last year we were struggling to cope with the low leader: child ratio but this has steadily improved.

Crèche is split into four teams of six who work on a rotation basis. The team leaders are Naomi McCara, Heather Doyle, Alison Renwick and Lorraine Johnson. Parents of the children (both mums and dads) are asked to help at least one team to lessen the load. There is a reserve list of helpers who step in to help should a regular team helper not be available.

Points of praise...

• For all the children who come.
• For new babies, who we acknowledge as gifts from God.
• Sufficient staff provided at present.

Things to pray for...

• For each leader as we minister to show Gods love to each child.
• For each child to feel at home in crèche.

Second Service

Second service crèche has had a good year and become more widely known and frequently used over the past year. The team has been relatively small for the most part of the year but the girls have served faithfully together and we are looking forward to starting a new year with a bigger team following recent recruitment.

Points of praise...

• We are thankful to God for one another, for the pre-schoolers we look after each Sunday and for the relationships we form with their parents.

Things to pray for...

• We pray that all the paperwork would be in place for the new team to start in September, that the team would serve well together and be a godly influence on the children’s lives.

The following areas of ministry have been or continue to be pursued:

A proposal to commence a food bank is being discussed in the church although no final decision has been made as yet. A Carrubbers team has commenced serving with the Street Café in the Cowgate. This is in partnership with other churches and runs on the third Friday of each month

At the Parliament, we are represented at Parliamentary Prayer Scotland –the Prayer Gatherings at the Parliament take place every 6 months. Two days of prayer for the Scottish Referendum was organised and held at Carrubbers in partnership with Parliamentary Prayer Scotland just prior to the referendum vote.

We continue to work with Edinburgh City Council. The church has met with all our local councillors for the area and have had discussions with them regarding its role in the community. The issues raised included the possibility of the Council’s sale of Trinity Apse. It seems that due to the trust deeds it is very difficult for the Council to dispose of this building even though it is only used for about four weeks every year. A representative of the church also meets with the City Council Prayer Fellowship once a month to pray for the city.

The church is part of the email community, “Royal Mile Neighbourhood Partnership” who liaise on issues relating to the Royal Mile and is part of the Edinburgh Churches for Sanctuary who have been lobbying the Council to accept refugees from Syria.

The church has a good relationship with the manager of the Fountainbridge Court which is a sheltered housing facility. A Christmas carol service was held for the residents there in December.

Carrubbers is part of the Old Town Clergy Community. This informal group meets every six months for a time of discussion and an opportunity to learn what others are doing in our community.

In partnership with Bethany Christian Trust, the church hosted the winder Night Shelter on three occasions for three nights each time providing essential shleter to those in need in our city.

The Carrubbers Arts Group is newly formed informal fellowship for those interested in the Arts and involves discussion on how the Christian faith can be communicated through this medium.

The church seeks to connect with local businesses every few months using the café as a bridge. The church has also connected with the wider business community through “Business Matters” and we have held discussions regarding how we could partner in better serving the business community. The first City Prayer Breakfast was held at Central Church with a view to having a regular City Prayer Breakfast and Carrubbers has been offered as a possible venue for the future

There is a growing interest in the international community and in International Minstry at Carrubbers and and we are keen to explore how to serve this community better. In particular we are keen to develop work with the Chinese and Nigerian communities in Edinburgh.

The Community Engagement umbrellan also covers:

Discovery Programme – this continues to meet twice per week on a Tuesday and Thursday and seeks to share the Good News of Jesus with people in the community who have challenges in their lives.

Summer Festival Programme – the church runs a series of shows at 65 High Street during the Festival and seeks to share in a relevant why the message of Jesus with the Festival community. This programme also includes a free Children’s Puppet show sharing in a relevant way the message of the Christian faith.

Edinburgh International Outreach – the church hosts in partnership with Friends International a café each Monday evening plus one month of extensive events focused on International students – this is during the month of July.

City Tots – this is an opportunity for the church to serve mums and children in the community and meets once per week on a Wednesday.

Carrubbers Café – this is a major connection for the church to the community through serving wholesome and competitively priced meals. The café uses a number of volunteers who have significant challenges and would not otherwise obtain employment. During the past year an extensive renovation of the Café was carried out in order to better serve the community.

Sunday Free Breakfast Service – the church serves a free breakfast every Sunday of the year – around 50 people, a number who have slept overnight in the streets, attend this service.

The Celtic Tour - the church partners with Christian Heritage Edinburgh as they provide a service to visitors to Edinburgh seeking to understand some of the significant history of the Christian faith that took place on the Royal Mile. The Tour finishes at the Carrubbers Café with a time of discussion, questions and refreshments.

Points of praise...

• The work carried out on the renovation of the Café and for finances to cover this project. The increased space provides new ministry opportunities.
• The commencement of the Discovery Tuesday Lunchtime service.
• The development of a team from Carrubbers to be involved in the Street Café in the Cowgate on the third Friday of each month.
• The partnership with Bethany Christian Trust in the Night Shelter ministry during the winter.
• Following lobbying of churches the Edinburgh City Council, has agreed to accept a small number of Syrian refugees.

Things to pray for...

• Wisdom during the ongoing research into whether Carrubbers should host a food bank.
• The @65 Festival Programme – for church members to staff the events, for those who will provide music, interviews and the short talks on the Christian faith.
• The possible commencement of the ministry among to the Chinese Community.
• The Edinburgh International Outreach Team as they work from Carrubbers during the month of July.

Citytots has now been running for over five years. The format has not really changed from when we started. We aim to provide a welcoming environment for local parents/carers and children under five, where the gospel is communicated through stories, crafts, songs and conversations.

At the beginning of the school year in August 2014 we were very thin on the ground with only one or two families coming to our group. We prayed for more interest amongst local families to make it worthwhile continuing this ministry and God answered our prayers in a big way. We now have about 10 families regularly attending. There is a good mix of Christians and non-Christians; parents and grandparents; and local families and families from a bit further away. It has been a blessing to see friendships developing within the group and to see people benefiting from the Bible stories and conversations.

Points of praise...

• Praise the Lord for bringing people to the group.
• Praise the Lord for a committed team.
• Praise the Lord for working in people’s hearts and using this ministry to reveal Himself to those who seek Him.

Things to pray for...

• We would like to continue to pray for all the people in the group in the different stages of their walk with the Lord or their search for truth. We depend on Him for wisdom in communicating the gospel.
• Please pray for us as a team, that we may keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and that we use every opportunity to proclaim the gospel.
• We could do with a larger team and pray that the right person will be called to serve in this ministry.

In 2014 Room 65 was re-branded to Chat 65 and given a new look and a slightly new format with the aim of refreshing the mission. We still ensured that communication of the gospel was at the core of this summer event. We were thank full for all those who came in off the street. With the new format we found a few things to improve on for 2015 but were largely pleased with how things went. Numbers were down a little, but in line with the overall attendance for the festival/fringe in 2014.

Points of praise...

• For the proclamation of the gospel through the arts.
• For safety of people and the Carrubbers building.
• For all those who gave their time and energy to making the mission event work.

Things to pray for...

• That the Holy Spirit would continue to work in the lives of those who heard the gospel at Chat 65 during August 2014.
• For plans to come together in a timely fashion for this year’s event.
• For adequate volunteer help to staff Chat 65 this year.

During the months of January and February the café closed for a refurbishment. The transformation that you see downstairs is purely down to the dedication and determination of volunteers and skilled workers all of whom devoted their time to God’s glory. It can safely be said that we currently have one of the most gorgeous premises on the royal mile.

We cannot begin to thank these people enough for all they have done and we rejoice in God’s provision.

Customers have returned gradually over these past few months and we are delighted with the responses we have had to our new menu and premises.

Our volunteers continue to take high priority in our daily running. We have seen a great deal of spiritual growth amongst them all with many of them excited for morning Bible study and sharing points of prayer. This is a great encouragement to us as we believe this must be the most important thing in the eyes of the Lord.

We had the opportunity to offer seven school work experience placements over the month of May. During those times we had opportunities to share God’s word with pupils from four different high schools. We also were able to pray and share opinions as they spent the week with us. Again we do not take this responsibility lightly as we understand that God uses each and every opportunity and we pray we have been able to plant some seeds.

This year we have been able to employ one of our longstanding volunteers. He has been a fantastic asset to us and we are blessed by his hard work and effort to constantly learn.

After nearly two years of hard work and dedication, our assistant manager will be leaving in September to enter into a new exciting phase of motherhood. Christine has been a strong member of our staff team and she will be greatly missed!

Points of praise...

• We are often blown away by the comments made by other Christians who happen to stumble upon the café. It is such an encouragement when they see Christ in all that we are doing.
• Our volunteers are a blessing to us. They enable the café to run efficiently and smoothly and we are incredibly grateful to God for them.
• We are simply overjoyed with our new surroundings. God has provided above and beyond what we could ever have hoped for and we give him thanks for this!

Things to pray for...

• It is becoming increasingly more obvious that we need to advertise ourselves better, as our location is hidden and our presence on social media is not as active as it could be. We have a few ideas in mind as to how to develop this but please do pray that we are successful in being able to build a good reputation.
• Building a good reputation will hopefully bring in more customers, which will increase our income. This would take a great burden off our minds and will enable us to focus on other aspects of the café that require our attention.
• We are in need of more capable volunteers as the summer approaches. Pray that God would provide us with the people we need.
• Please pray that we would continue to be a light in the darkness.

On 18th June we held out Annual General Meeting which was a great opportunity to reflect on the past year.  Over the next few weeks we will be posting a selection of the ministry reports from the past year.

Bible Class continued to meet in the pastors’ offices this past year, together as a large group for 10 minutes or so before splitting into a younger and older group for the remainder of the lesson. Before Christmas, we looked at what the Bible teaches us about the Church and the part we can play in it (at whatever age). We also looked at prayer, fasting and worship. It was great to encourage the kids to think about how they can be active in church, givers as well as recievers. We finished the term off by leading the children’s Christmas service with the Sunday school, and enjoying acting in the play “The Missing Piece/Peace”. This centred around a young family trying to find out what the X meant in Xmas, and discovering that it is about messing up, being loved no matter what, putting things right, finding treasure and Jesus dying for us so we can live in peace. It was an excellent play and the kids thoroughly enjoyed participating in it.

After Christmas, we based our lessons on the song by Colin Buchanan, “Big words that end in shun!”. David Nixon helped us link it to the book of Romans, and we used the words as a scaffold for working through the first 12 chapters of Romans, focusing on Condemnation, Revelation, Substitution, Imputation, Salvation and Sanctification (to name a few!). As leaders we found it quite a challenge to make these big, meaningful Biblical words significant and relevant to the kids, and the lessons did require careful planning! We found it helpful to learn more deeply what God has done, and is doing in us through what Christ has done on the cross. The year ended of course with the Anniversary service, and fitting in with the Sunday School’s theme of Walking with Jesus, the kids dramatized some sections of Pilgrim’s Progress, linking it to the Big Words we had studied earlier in the term.

Points of praise...

We have much to thank God for this year.

• David Nixon has been a fantastic support, both in terms of providing training for new leaders, and aiding us in planning and delivering lessons focussed on God’s Word.
• As kid numbers have increased, God has also provided us with new leaders, and I am thankful that they are enjoying teaching and encouraging the children as much as some of the long time leaders do.
• We have also been blessed each week by the children themselves, their enthusiasm and eagerness to grow in their faith and pray to their Father.

Things to pray for...

• The class will become somewhat smaller next year, as some of the older kids leave, and a few of our families move on from Carrubbers.
• Pray that the children of these families would settle in their new church homes and continue to grow in their faith.
• Pray also that as we try to build better links with the other teens ministries, we would start to work toward a more joined up approach in what we do together for our young people.