28 June 2026

When I was minister at East Linton, I received an e-mail from a church in Michigan. It was their liturgical artist. She had seen a Celtic cross which I had photographed in the kirkyard and posted on a blog. She asked a question about it. The answer was on the other side of the cross which I hadn’t posted.

As a result of this anonymous enquiry, I was introduced to the minister and a relationship was duly established between the two congregations. Four years later, two dozen young people and their leaders came over from First Presbyterian, Holt, Michigan and stayed in our parish for a week.

The congregation rose to the challenge organising a ceilidh and a barbecue, a beach party, an ecological  work-party on Traprain Law and a memorable service in which tartan scarves were handed out to the Americans. The young people from both congregations integrated well and many memories created.

I tell the tale because it illustrates how creative the internet can be. We were a small rural congregation with few visitors but by the time we received this e—mail 14,000 people had entered our website. It was a portal into the world and people were engaging with us.

What was special about this encounter on the internet was that it did not remain in the electronic zone. It ended up in a celebration of our love for one another as fellow Christians, working, dancing, eating, walking, climbing, playing, worshipping together.