Now that’s what wecall a church outing!

Well, in Lanark at least, the church comes to you!

In what is thought to be a local ‘first’, Greyfriars Parish Church’s minister the Reverend Bryan Kerr ‘moved’ the kirk’s Sunday Service from the Westport kirk - congregation and all - to the Beechgrove Care Home on the outskirts of town.

Transport was organised for the regular congregation to travel out to Beechgrove and the end result was an assembly of around 90 people of all ages, including relatives of residents, attending the service which was aimed at reconnecting people with the community that they may feel isolated from.

Mr Kerr described it as a very positive experience for all and said the “smiles on resident’s faces were as wide as could be”.

He went on: “We regularly go to nursing homes to lead worship during the week but to intentionally go on a Sunday morning with the whole congregation is an incredible experience. It would be easy to organise a bus and bring residents to church but care homes often struggle with staff numbers on a Sunday to accompany them.

“But more than that, there is something Biblical about following Jesus command to ‘go and make disciples’.

“It’s not just about welcoming people to our church, it’s also about Greyfriars being welcoming, meeting people where they are and actively including them.”

Mr Kerr said some residents have been gathering on a Sunday morning in the 70-bed care home’s cinema room to watch Greyfriars services streamed to them.

On Sunday, the residents seemed delighted to experience the ‘live’ version of the service ‘live’. Mr Kerr added: “We feel this is definitely the start of something new and positive.”