The name - The Almond Tree - was suggested by Miss Mary Black, the leader of the Glasgow branch of our Church Fellowship. All of our church branches joined enthusiastically in donating extra money so that when the shop opened the whole building had been paid for! We thank God for this generous provision.
The name came from the references to the almond tree in the Bible

• Aaron’s rod was the rod of an almond tree and it was used to give a miraculous sign to the children of Israel when it flowered, produced buds and fruit simultaneously. These things usually happened at different times.
• The lamp stand in the tabernacle had containers shaped like an almond leaf and the oil for the lighting of the lamps was poured into these brass leaves.
• Then, at a later time, Jeremiah was shown the branch of an almond tree and God said it was a picture of His work that would blossom and bud
• The almond tree was the earliest tree to flower - its flowers are beautiful and the fruit is nourishing and has healing properties.

All of these things spoke to us of what we wanted to see in our bookshop and coffee shop - flowers and fruit from the gospel, the oil of the Holy Spirit producing light in many lives and the early blossoming of God’s work .
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When we had our opening dedication service, the message that was brought to us by Mrs Grace Gault, who later became the leader of our fellowship of churches, was
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I have set before you an open door which no man can shut
Rev 3 v 7

Until the pandemic, the doors remained open each week and also for special gospel supper evenings and outreach lunches. Then, for a time, we were closed …… but we were able to open in a different way when restrictions began to ease. In fact, we opened earlier than most places because we were a ‘faith group’ and would be able to meet a spiritual need as well as a need for companionship, which was so necessary after a long period of isolation

The Almond Tree was early in its flowering again and we have been able to reach out to more people with the message of Jesus. We look forward, with anticipation, to what God will do in the days ahead.

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