Chris and Emma Merchant live in an Edwardian terraced house in Corstorphine, a suburb to the west of Edinburgh, which, though not far from the Airport, still retains something of a village atmosphere. They are active members of St. Thomas’s church, as involved in worship as they ever were at St. George’s. While being a full  time mother of two demanding children, Abigail, 10 years old and Jacob, 5, Emma is involved in music and writing drama for the church services as well as children’s groups, especially during holidays. She has found time to be on the PTA of Abigail’s school for two years, but as both her children begin to be farmed out to school, she is able to develop her interest in Drama and Art, and is currently directing a one woman play for the Edinburgh Fringe and drawing commissioned portraits of local children. She recently provided the graphics for her grateful father’s book.
Chris is now a senior lecturer at the University, overseeing PHD students and doing research in Meteorology. His speciality is ‘Satellite Observation of Sea Surface Temperature’, and has had success in discovering ways of observing these temperature changes through cloud. He now travels widely and has visited Australia, America, Poland and France, where he has an on-going working relationship with the Meteorological Centre at Lannion in Brittany, sharing data that contributes to valuable research into climatic change.
Leaving aside the challenging weather, they both find Edinburgh an exciting place to  live, and are impressed by the art galleries, thriving theatres, choirs and orchestras. There is also a world class zoo just down the road, and the Pentland Hills, seen from their house, provide a scenic area for healthy exercise.
They have the fondest memories of their time with St. Georges, and regard it as an extremely formative period in their lives under Chris Hughes’ rectorship. They recall with gratitude John Stride’s service for their wedding, will always be grateful to Malcolm and Christine Bailey for giving over their home to make it such a memorable event, and remember the help received from Richard and Brigitte Furze in developing their worship skills. Chris and Emma continue the habit they learned with them of inviting other worship members to Sunday Lunch.
They remember so many good friends, and would always be pleased, with a minimum of notice, to see anyone who might find themselves up in Auld Reeky, the windy city.
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