Our Guild normally meets in the Session House every second Tuesday from October to March. The Guild is open to all, men as well as women, and we meet for fellowship, friendship and fun. Our syllabus is always a mixture of music, talks (often about projects we support, both in this country and overseas), demonstrations and presentations. There is always tea and biscuits as well!
Unfortunately, due to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus pandemic, we have not been able to hold Guild meetings as we normally would. In other years, we would by now be well into the Guild programme and would be looking forward to our Christmas dinner. We would have had the Guild Week service and the dedication service for the Guild. This year, unfortunately it was not to be.
However, St Mungo’s Guild is still alive in spirit and members keep in touch with one another through phone calls etc. At national level too the guild is still going strong and a newsletter is sent out electronically to those who have signed up. We also put a link to this on our own Church website. The Guild gathering, which normally takes place in Dundee, was held virtually this year and all of our members who watched it, enjoyed the experience. We got messages from Moderators – past and present and musical items from the Heart and Soul swing band as well as updates on the projects. The Guild Big Sing took place online this December and featured as window 4 on the Kirk advent calendar.
In the Autumn, as we realised we would not be able to meet, we prepared a newsletter which was sent out to all of our members to keep them in touch with what is happening with the Guild and the projects we support. The Guild once again sponsored a tree at the Festival of Lights and it included many aspects of the Guild. Thanks to Christine and her husband for decorating the tree.
In December, we sent out a letter to all members along with a copy of the Strathcarron Activities and Inspiration booklet so that members would have something to do over the festive period. We recently sent a donation to the Sailors Society so that they could buy Christmas gifts for those seafarers who are far from home at this time of year. Our members have continued to knit hats for the seafarers who provide so many of the goods that we use every day.
We hope that we can all meet together in person soon. Remember that ”this too will pass”.