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Hi!
I first wrote a welcome to this website about 4 years ago and I reckoned that an update was long overdue!
You can still see the old version here.
I've been minister here since 2001, having previously worked in a congregation in the Highlands of Scotland (in a beautiful part of the world, Rosskeen). I've been married to Catriona since 1989, and we have four children – Scott, Amy, Joe and Ross.
The congregation has been developing steadily since I last wrote, and we are encouraged to believe that God has a great work for us to do here in the centre of Edinburgh.
As we have grown, we have crystallised our very simple, biblical vision. It's encapsulated in a mission statement:
(Yuk, don't like the terminology, but if it helps to clarify the mind...)
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Worshipping God
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Making disciples
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Equipping the saints
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With God's grace and the help of His Holy Spirit, we want to worship him together the very best we can – by learning more about him through serious study of His Word, and by praising him as excellently as we are able, and obeying Him as our Lord and Saviour in every area of our lives.
We believe in the importance of each Christian in the congregation sharing their faith outside of the walls of the church, whenever God gives them the opportunity. We hope that by our consistent lives, coupled with humble explanations of our faith and prayerful love, we can influence our families, friends and colleagues to consider Christ for themselves.
We want to equip our congregation to serve Christ within and outside the bounds of the church. We teach the importance of fellowship, grace in action, commitment to Christ, His Church and each other. We encourage prayer, a strong dependence on the Word of God, practical, sacrificial Christian love to our neighbours, the use of Spiritual gifts within the church, mentoring of young Christians, outreach opportunities and social interaction.
The more I get to know Christ in my heart, and His awesome character as its revealed through the Word of God, the more convinced I am of His relevance today. We live in a secular country, and science repeatedly assures us that there is no place for God in the modern mind. I beg to differ.
Christ alone has the answers to life and death. We can't make ourselves clean inside – we need to be touched by the love of Christ, to see him as the only one who can make us clean.
We can have no real purpose and meaning and dignity is a meaningless world of chance, unless we come to terms with the message of the God who made this universe, and us in His image, and who loves us enough to have revealed Himself in the person of Jesus – who came to die for our sins on the cross, and to open the way back to real life through faith in Him
I would love to have the opportunity to share this truth that we have experienced in our hearts, and that has transformed our lives. If you live in Edinburgh, why not come along to St C's. If you are surfing the web, please consider listening to some of the teaching from God's Word that is preached from week to week here, where I pray you will be introduced to my friend Jesus in a little more detail.
Derek Lamont
St Columba's is a growing city centre congregation here in Edinburgh. We have around 140 people worshipping with us on a Sunday morning, including many young people, families and individuals, older and younger!
Look through the website for more information, or use the contact details to get in touch with us if you want to find out more.
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