Just met a lovely bloke for a coffee in Glasgow. My kids laugh at me when I meet people in person who I have met via ‘tinternet- as if they might be axe murderers or something. However this was another meeting that bucked the trend, not only did I survive unscathed but had a really great conversation about all sorts of things close to my heart.

The meeting was with David Anderson, who is one of the leaders of Garioch Church, a baptist church unlike any other. What they are doing, to people who are interested in new expressions of church as I am, is fascinating. They have an ethos based around small house church gatherings, with an emphasis on community, living lives in connected and honest ways, but also networking these small gatherings, and meeting as a larger group a couple of times a month. Kind of sounds a bit familiar right? A bit New Testament?

Today we talked a lot about the ups and downs of community, and our hopes for a life of faith that escapes from the old religious ghettos.

We also wondered why the climate of religion in Scotland makes some of these things more difficult, at least on the face of things, than south of the border.

It was great to share stories, and to dream of how our communities, at different ends of the country, might support one another in the future.

I think my kids were slightly disappointed that he was not armed with an axe however.