Thousands expected to attend Guild gathering at Caird Hall

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the Church of Scotland’s annual gathering of the Guild in Dundee today.

The event, at the Caird Hall, is also being live-streamed at 22 venues across the country and on the Church of Scotland website.

The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning, will address the gathering, which has the theme Go in Love.

He will call for the Guild to help “put love at the top of the agenda” and show “what love looks like in public.”

Dr Browning will praise the organisation’s work “highlighting issues around human trafficking and FGM” as “recent examples of waking up the Church, and the wider world, to issues that are uncomfortable and difficult.”

The moderator has said: “It is going to be a wonderful event and it is a privilege to be involved.

“The Guild’s theme of Go in Love invites each one of us to re-engage with the fundamental motivation of Christian faith – to love. Our faith, when we live it out loud, is called to create and sustain communities that are based on love.

“In many ways, this is what the guild continually offers to the Church and to the wider world. It remains a consistently powerful example of the good we can do.”

Guild convener Marge Paterson will share her thoughts on the organisation’s immediate future as well as reflecting on her recent visit to Malawi.

She said: “I am sure the annual gathering will be an uplifting, inspiring day of singing, learning and fellowship. This year we’re delighted that thanks to technology people up and down Scotland can take part.”