Letter from Jon, September 2023 

 ‘Build houses and settle down….seek the peace and prosperity of the city’
Jeremiah 29:5,7
 
Dear Friends
 
As I sit in my study writing this letter there is the sound of banging, sawing, and sanding downstairs as our home has been slowly stripped back, altered, replastered and put back together  (not the most conducive environment for trying to write!).  We look forward to the day in the not too distant future when we will look at it and think that all the upheaval, dust, mess and expense has been worth it and our home will be ready to serve us for this next season of life.
 
I came to Dunfermline back in 1986 when I got a job in Dalgety Bay and Fiona joined me a year later when we got married.  It would be true to say that we found it difficult to settle here and after a year we moved out to Aberdour to a fixer-upper flat and it was here that we realised how much we don’t like fixing up homes, hence getting others in now to do the banging and sawing.  After three years we moved back to Dunfermline as family came along and we have been here ever since.  If you had told me back in 1986 that we would still be here 37 years later I would have struggled to believe you, and if you had told me we would be leading a church, well!!
 
It would be true to say though that now we love this city.  We love having family so close by and we love being part of a wonderful church family.  It is a great place to live and work, surrounded by truly beautiful scenery.  We are blessed.  Our renovations in our home are done to prepare a place where we can live, work, serve and rest in the years ahead and welcome others into our home.
 
The verse above talks about building houses and settling down and, as I said on Sunday, I have always resisted the urge to ‘settle down’ because it has always seemed at odds with continuing to pursue God, continuing to press forward and run the race.  But as I read these verses I realised that this is our home, this is where God has placed us, all of us, to settle here and to serve this city and pray for its prosperity for as long as God has us here. 
 
In recent weeks I have found a new place to pray on my daily walk, looking over the Abbey wall towards the south of Dunfermline with the cross of the war memorial in the foreground, and the beautiful view towards the bridges, including the wind turbine right next to Liberty Centre.  It is a view that brings together the city, the cross and Liberty Church and my prayer is that we as a people will build our homes and our lives in this place, settling down and yet pressing forward, seeking ways to serve and prosper this city, praying for the message of the cross of Christ to bring hope and life to those around us, and in so doing believing that we, his people, will increase and prosper in this city.
 
Much love in this new season
 
Jon