How many things are the way they used to be? I’m sure, like me, you have from time to time engaged in a walk down memory lanes about all the things you used to be able to buy and can’t get anymore. Things like Creamola Foam, Marathonbars, sweets that used to have colour and taste mainly due to the amount of additives included. Things change sometimes quite drastically to the point that it is unrecognisable from the original source. Yet there are things that people expect to always be there, things like schools, hospitals, police stations and churches. When we look at the area around us in Camelon and Falkirk the schools have been rebuilt or extensively refurbished, the same has happened with the police station and the hospital. But when it comes to the church many get upset that things will change. The funny thing is that is usually those who are not a part of the church routinely who put up the greatest resistance to change. Those who are a part of the church know that our buildings need to enhance what we do not limit it. We need to create spaces that are accessible for people of all abilities; that are warm without the need for a mortgage to pay for the heating bills; which have the right kind of spaces to make them usable by those who come in. Many today think that old buildings somehow enshrine the religion, but if we think of the root of the word enshrine we are reminded that it is from shire a memorial to the dead. Perhaps we are hearing the faint tolling of the bell for the religion of the past but it is being replaced by the resounding peel of the faith of the people for the future. It’s funny to think that when the replacement of the schools, hospital and police station were in the public eye, there were many fond memories expressed, tales of the past of the buildings and those who used them, but they eyes were looking to the future and the benefit that would be gained by those who will use them in the future. Why is it that such a progressive outlook cannot be held about the church? The church is not the building, it is the people, it has always been the people. Yes we need a place suited to what we do, but what we do has changed hugely over the years it can be no surprise then that the spaces we inhabit need to change to. Why not look through the web site and see what plans we have for our building, plans based soundly in the now but for future and perhaps you would like to support us and help us get there. Come and join us if you can and become a part of our transformation, all are welcome.