More than 5,000 people attended the Church of Scotland’s annual Heart and Soul festival yesterday.
The event in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh was described by Kirk leaders as a “wonderful programme of worship, music, participation and learning”.
The theme this year was Living Stones which aimed to celebrate the life of the church through the lens of its relationships and partners.
The event featured more than 60 exhibitors, congregations and sister churches, intermingled with live performances.
Congregations from across Scotland set up stalls to showcase the work they do in their communities as did Kirk departments and charities.
A recruitment campaign video produced by the Kirk in a bid to avert a shortage of ministers in the future was unveiled at the event.
A large number of parish ministers plan to retire over the next 10 years and there are currently 811 in post, down from 940 in 2009.
There are currently 215 vacancies with 118 people completing ministry training courses between 2009 and 2014.
Trainee minister Andrew Kimmitt, who is studying a PHD in divinity at Aberdeen University, said it was an “excellent job”
The 24-year-old said: “In what other line of work do you get so much freedom over your timetable and get to respond to the needs of others in quite the same way.
“You have so much free reign and independence over how you work and being called to serve God is a dream for me.
“I could not imagine doing anything else.”