Community living at Strathclyde House

Ann Goodwin, Chaplain at Strathclyde House, introduces us to the latest addition to the Pilgrims' Friend Society family.

As I drive along the coast road to Strathclyde House on the shores of the river Clyde I always find the views out over the islands of Bute and Arran to Dunoon to be ever-changing yet they have stood for centuries. Life is everchanging yet God remains steadfast and unchanging – He is always there for us in the everyday.

So in our Strathclyde House community, God is an everyday occurrence. Although we have a mix of Christian traditions, we find ourselves together in one place. Each individual flat is respected as home and community begins with invitation while the lounge provides a great place to meet and greet, as does the Clyde Tea Room restaurant downstairs where tea, coffee, home-baking and meals are available both
to residents and to the public.

On a weekly basis we have a Keep fit class, a scrabble evening, carpet bowls, prayer meeting and mid-week service with visiting
speakers from local churches and further afield. (We even had some Christian Bikers come and tell their stories of finding faith.) Another community occasion is the Coffee Afternoons where funds are raised for charities eg The Haven (a local Rehabilitation centre for young men caught in addiction which is run in conjunction with the Teen Challenge Bus), Ardgowan Hospice, Help for Heroes to name but a
few. Our residents home-baking is second to none which always ensures good attendance!

Thanks to our social committee there are trips to local areas of interest such as museums, shopping malls, National Trust Estates etc.

As chaplain at Strathclyde House, I encourage all residents to become involved in a local church and to support the varied programmes these churches offer. This finds our residents preaching and taking local meetings, being part of a newly started Cafe Church, serving in a drop-in cafe, helping to support a prayer space in a shop front for local churches together, the Women’s Guild and wherever God is at work in the local area.

Bi-monthly we host a Strathclyde Special on a Sunday evening where the community along the coast are invited to attend. There is lively Christian music provided by The Preshal Trust praise band and visiting speakers such as George Verver, Teen Challenge and Hope for Glasgow. We are looking forward to our Christmas Event with a Bethlehem scene on the front lawn with residents singing or tending
the live donkeys and sheep that make an annual appearance.

So there you have a snapshot of community life at Strathclyde house but community is what takes place where people meet and
especially where God’s people meet so get involved wherever you are and make your community thrive!