Dear Friends,
Do you have your Turkey?
Yes! No! I don’t eat Turkey. I’m vegetarian. Actually turkeys a modern American invention. We eat duck. In Scotland we never used to celebrate Christmas, so we have steak pie for Hogmanay.
So many possible variants!
Will there be enough Turkey?
And if not does that mean Christmas will have to be cancelled?
Well, of course not.
Just like last year, it will be different. We may not be able to replicate what always happened the previous year, or when Mum cooked it, or when all the family were together.
Years change, habits change, traditions change.
And the world changes. Europe has changed, Russia has changed. China has changed. The climate has changed. Work styles have changed. Health conditions have changed. Holidays have changed. Politics have changed. Nature has changed. This year has changed. The Church has changed. Have we changed?
It’s all changed, sometimes dramatically, and sometimes insignificantly, some for the better and some for the worse, but have we changed?
Some we have lost. Maybe we’ve lost someone to covid. Maybe we’ve lost someone to old age and frailty. Maybe we’ve lost someone to cancer, or some other disease, or accident. Maybe someone’s moved away. But we have also gained. Many have been born this year. Some have moved job, or house. Maybe we have a pet who has joined the family. Maybe our family is larger. A new year has begun and it has brought a new birth of all kinds of things. Have we changed?
Two thousand years ago a child was born, and everything changed! Nothing was ever the same again. And it won’t necessarily mean we have Turkey for lunch, but Turkey was never really part of what Christmas was all about, was it?! And our situation changed. We are invited to be born into a new life, a new way of living. We are invited to become part of a new family, a new community. We are invited to change.
This Christmas let us answer the call to change and never be the same again.
Seasonal and festival Blessings to you,
Love from
Paul
Baptism and Confirmation.
The Bishop has confirmed a date to return to Baptise and Confirm Rebecca, Sarah, Cate and James. Due to a Norovirus infection they were unable to come to the Bishop’s previous visit in August. You’ll have to make an early recovery from all the New Year’s celebrations and come to church because it’s on the 2nd January.
Seasonal Festivities
Carols and Nativity Tableau
Christmas Carols will be sung to accompany our Nativity and Eucharist Service in St. Mark’s on Sunday the 19th December, before Christmas. You may wish to participate and join in the tableau by dressing up as Mary, Joseph or the Baby, Angels, Stars, Shepherds, Wise men, Herod, High Priests and their guards, Sheep, cows, donkeys, or Camels!
Christmas
Christmas Eve will be celebrated with a Carol Eucharist in St. Mark’s from 11.30pm and Christmas Day will be celebrated with a Carol Eucharist at St. Cuthbert’s at 10.30 am.
Epiphany
Epiphany Carols will be sung on the Sunday before Epiphany which is the 2nd January. You may wish to reprise your outfits of kings, camels, horses and stars, or the holy family with baby.
These plans will, of course, be subject to the pandemic.
Winter Events.
All reports please as soon as possible.
AGM St. Cuthbert’s 2nd December
Mikros Group Tuesdays 10.30am-12.30pm. In St. Mark’s Church hall. Games, Refreshment, Story-time and Sing-a-long for pre-school children and their friends.
Singing Group Thursdays 7pm., In the Rectory. All interested welcome.
Sunday
Eucharist in person
& online on ‘Daily Prayer’ & “St. Mark’s” & “St. Cuthbert’s”
(Facebook groups Live)
St. Mark’s at 11am.
St. Cuthbert’s 9.30am.
Evening Prayer 5pm.
online Daily Prayer Facebook Live
Wednesday
Eucharist 10.30am. In person &
online Daily Prayer & St. Mark’s & St. Cuthbert’s Facebook Groups Live
Evening Prayer 5pm.
online Daily Prayer Facebook Live
Compline
online Daily Prayer Facebook Live
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Morning Prayer 10.30am.
Evening Prayer 5pm.
online Daily Prayer Facebook Live
Dear Friends,
Well! The long expected day approaches. During the “long-lent” of March 2020 to March 2021 we’ve observed a long depravation: not exactly chosen like a diet, or giving up chocolate in normal Lents, but our choice has been to obey and take responsibility for our own actions, to keep social distance, wear masks, stay at home, wash our hands in accordance to governmental regulations, and to give up meeting and visiting our loved ones. Obedience is one of those vows taken on by monks and nuns when they join a monastery or convent. But we too have needed to take on responsibility when we join society. And with the approach of Easter we can look forward to some relaxation. Of course those who don’t live by virtues like obedience have jumped the gun and are already meeting in crowds and celebrating.
Easter and Spring remind us of new life and the thought of the possibility of lockdowns enforces that, but science suggests that if we haven’t all had the vaccination, or if there isn’t enough of the general population, or visitors from other countries who haven’t followed such an embracing programme of vaccination, then there’s a strong possibility that one day there will be a variant that is not covered by our own inoculations. Hopefully subsequent vaccines will be quick to respond. But as people come out of isolation there’s a whole new group that might be susceptible to infection and as regulations are relaxed there’s every possibility that the third wave hitting Italy, France, Germany and Poland, let alone all those countries that are still under attack from second waves, will hit us with another wave of infection. This means that while we are planning to open up our churches now, we will have to be extra vigilant and careful: diligent at sticking to the regulations, and we may have to close again if there is any danger.
However: that said we are planning to open our churches for Easter Day and the following Sundays for as long as we think it is reasonably safe. This means that for Palm Sunday and Holy Week our worship will remain online. This gives us a gap between the use of our churches which, should there be any slip up between infection and cleaning then there will be another safety barrier to safeguard us.
And, as before, while we open up for public worship in-person on Easter Sunday and the following Sundays we will also be planning to continue to provide cover of worship online.
I wish you every blessing,
Paul
Currently All worship is online using Facebook live, but the usual rotas are included for when we manage to return to the church building.
We will provide in person worship on Sundays on Easter Day and onwards as long as it is safe to continue
Daily Morning Prayer 10.30 am Except
Sundays
All worship is available online using Facebook live.
Daily Morning Prayer 10.30am.
Except
Sundays
St. Cuthbert's 9.30am. & St. Mark's 11a.m. Eucharist in person and online.
Wednesdays
Said Eucharist 10.30am.
Compline 7.30pm.
Daily Evening Prayer 5pm.
You can find the orders of service, daily on the www.scotland.anglcian.org website.
Search for Scottish Episcopal Church on the Internet.
Once you’re on the page search for ‘Daily Prayer’ and select it. It works, but the page doesn’t change. You have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the selection. Then you can follow the complete version of the daily prayer. I’ve added the bare-bones of the order of service here, in this magazine so that you can follow it if you don’t want to follow it online. The selection of Psalms and the Readings change for each service, so you’d need a bible to look them up as we go. I usually announce the references. A bible translation may be very different from the ones used.