Over the last 3 years Kings Church has acquired, raised money for and refurbished what is now the Kings Centre.; a good sized hall, office and meeting room, right in the heart of the city of Edinburgh. Last Thursday we officially opened the building with a lunch time launch event, attended by around 45 community and church members. The focus point of the 45 minute event was a slideshow and speech by Matthew Clifton-Brown, a short speech by MSP Malcolm Chisholm and the all important ribbon cutting. It was a great chance to drink a cheeky glass of champagne in the middle of the day, and make some important community connections. I think we were all somewhat surprised not only that people turned up, but that they were genuinely interested in what we are about and what we are planning to do. Some of those in attendance were the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police David Strang, MP Mark Lazarowicz, various local church leaders and those involved in the building project. However, perhaps the most important people to attend were those from local charities and businesses in our locality. Many of whom were not only interested in how we are planning to use the building, but want to get involved. A local minority women’s mental health charity is especially interested in our mother and toddler’s group, as many of their clients have young children.

Other than church use, the primary function of the building is a community facility. We want the Kings Centre to be somewhere that is well known to the local community. Events we are planning in the near future include a mothers and toddler group, an elderly cafe, educational classes – parenting, marriage, money issues etc and social events. The hall will also be available for use by a variety of local community groups. We want to be a useable facility, where people can relax and have fun, where relationships can be built and skills can learnt. My hope is that in time the centre will grow, both in terms of its use and it’s scope. I do believe there will be a time when Kings Church are providing large scale services to the community – whether that be debt counselling or a befriending service, or something else entirely.



The big dreams that I have for the Kings Centre mean that the connections formed last Thursday were by far the most valuable thing to come from the launch. There is only a certain amount of ‘profile raising’ that can be done in only 45 minutes with only 45 people, but connections are something that will hopefully last. People now know that we are here and that we want to get involved in what is going on in our community. At this point we can’t know exactly where these connections will lead, but in itself I find that exciting.

Kings Church now has this building, this centre - something that has only come about through prayer and generous donation. It is shiny and new and just waiting to be used. On Thursday we celebrated that with champagne and canapés and a cake in the shape of the building! I can’t wait to look back in 5 years time and see how many different people have come through the doors and how many new relationships have been formed.