Friends,
Last Sunday, courtesy of one-man show, world premiere of Getting to Iona, playwright and actor Tomas Barry set us firmly on course for St Columba’s Day, which we celebrate this weekend. Tomas’ play was a homage to his grandfather who in 1963, with others, replicated Columba’s original journey from Derry to Iona in 563, in a specially constructed curragh (traditional boat). By turn, Tomas played himself, his grandfather and St Columba. It was wonderful to see the London Scottish Chapel packed and enjoying the play’s very first performance. The opening “run” has continued each evening this week. It will go next to York, then to the Edinburgh Festival.
That has brought St Columba firmly to mind. He will be celebrated on Sunday, with communion and the traditional welcome to the Friends of St Columba’s for their AGM. Already a special day,it will be enhanced further by the joining as members, by profession of faith, of five young adults – Hannah Crawford, Ruaraidh Drummond, Patterson Gough, Arthur King, Carlos Martinez. Definitely a day for rejoicing. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for a significant moment. Perhaps, also meditate a little, on the questions they will be asked and the promises they will make:
- Do you promise to join regularly with your fellow Christians in worship on the Lord’s Day? I do.
- Do you promise to be faithful in reading the Bible and in prayer? I do.
- Do you promise to give a fitting proportion of your time, talents, and money for the Church’s work in the world? I do.
- Do you promise, depending on the grace of God, to profess publicly your loyalty to Jesus Christ, to serve him in your daily work, and to walk in his ways all the days of your life? I do.
By the grace of God, may the brave, public commitment that these young people will make on St Columba’s Day, inspire, or reaffirm, our own commitments to Christ, and Christ’s community, in this place.
Angus
Live Streaming of Worship
Services can be watched via the church website, https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/live-stream. Reminder: If you do not wish to appear on the live-stream please choose a seat in the rear half of the sanctuary. Note that the Evening Services on the 1st of the month are not live streamed as they are held in the London Scottish Chapel.
Dial into Sunday Service
If you are aware of church members or friends who do not have access to internet, please inform them that they can phone in to join the Sunday service. Those interested should follow:
Step 1: At 10.40am call phone number 0208 080 6591.
Step 2: You will be prompted to enter a meeting ID. Please type (using your telephone keypad) 884 4746 5645
Step 3: You will then be asked for a participant number – simply press the #.
Step 4: You will be asked to enter the password. Enter 838727
Step 5: Enjoy the service! You will hear the organ music from 10.50am.
THIS SUNDAY: Hymns, Music & Readings for Morning Worship Sunday, 9th June 2024, St Columba’s Day
Hymn 59 Oh, come, and let us to the Lord (Irish)
Hymn 198 Let us build a house where love can dwell (Two Oaks)
Hymn From Erin’s shores Columba came (Tune, St Columba, CH4 598)
Hymn 19 Ye gates lift up your heads on high (St George’s, Edinburgh) Psalm 24
Hymn 742 Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days! (Laudate Dominum)
Anthem: O for a closer walk with God by Stanford
Musical Interlude: Oculi omnium by Wood
Gospel Reading: Mark 3:20-35
Reader: Stuart Steele
Congregational Offerings
Details on the many ways you can support St Columba’s can be found here https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/giving/supporting-st-columbas
Anyone wishing to contribute to St Andrew’s, Newcastle please contact the Session Clerk on standrewssessionclerk@gmail.com for bank details or other means of donating.
THIS SUNDAY: New Members’ Service & Holy Communion for St Columba’s Day (11am)
Following the morning service there will be refreshments in the Upper Hall and also the Annual General Meeting of the Friends of St Columba’s, at 1.30pm. The AGM is followed by the traditional Celebration Tea, giving opportunity to mix and mingle with Friends, catching up with those not seen for some time.
Note: Congregational Prayer Group also meets at 10.15am in the Kirk Session Room. All welcome.
Meet our New Members
Hannah Crawford has been coming to St Columba’s for around 18 months, having attended a Church of Scotland church as a child in her hometown of Bathgate, West Lothian. She is a theatre producer and business coach based in North London. When she isn’t at church, Hannah works mostly from home running her businesses and loves spending time with her friends, going for walks on Hampstead Heath and outdoor swimming. She is very grateful to be part of the St Columba’s community.
Ruaraidh Drummond grew up on the Isle of Skye and Edinburgh, after finishing school at Merchiston Castle School he moved to London for university where he studied Fashion Styling and Design at Istituto Marangoni. Since graduating, he has worked in public relations in the fashion, lifestyle, travel, and design industries. He has a strong passion for communicating a modern Scotland to a global audience sharing the wide and varied talents in design and craft across Scotland. From a large family Ruaraidh is a very proud uncle of 11 nieces and nephews, he lives in West London with his fiancé Carlos Martinez, and they will celebrate their wedding on Saturday 22nd June, at St Columba’s.
Patterson Smith Gough was born in Aberdeen and raised in Aberdeenshire. He was christened in North Church of St Andrew, Aberdeen and attended Sunday School at Longside Parish Church. He now lives in North London and works in the Civil Service. A dual national of Australia and the UK, his sporting loyalties are equally divided between both countries (Ashes aside).
Arthur King is currently in his second year of university studying Law. He was born in London, but has lived in Oxford since he was eight. At school, he was involved in the Christian Union and decided some time ago that he would like to join the Presbyterian church (his paternal grandmother Ruth was a Methodist; his mother is a Presbyterian, as was her father Brian, who worshipped at St Columba’s).
Carlos Martinez grew up in Maldon, Essex. After finishing school he moved to London, working in Accounts across various sectors including Real Estate and Healthcare. He is now an Auditor and Trainee Chartered Accountant specialising in Social Housing and Engineering & Construction. Carlos is the youngest of four brothers and, along with his fiancé , is proudly an uncle to 11 nieces and nephews. Baptised at St Columba’s two weeks ago, Carlos is excited to celebrate his marriage to Ruaraidh at St Columba’s in June.
Hot off the Press, Church Magazine, June – July 2024
Now available via the Bookstall for £1.50.
Pick up a copy with its stunning front cover, from the bookstall. Then pick up another to give to a friend! Thanks once again to our Editor, Susan Pym and her team of contributors.
Serenades and Sundaes lunch,
Thank you to Hazel Forbes and her many helpers, in the kitchen, in the hall and on the piano.. They provided a delicious meal and a lovely atmosphere. Great fun for congregational regular and visitors alike. Enjoyed by all. Thank you.
Christian Aid Week 2024 – Burundi Appeal: Total raised £3,461.18 (inc. Gift Aid)
Thank you so much for your very generous donations to the Burundi Appeal, Christian Aid Week 2024. The amount raised is even larger than last year and the money will provide crucial support to those who are living in extreme poverty in Burundi. The money will enable many people who rely on farming to survive, to be able to grow crops, attend training workshops run by Christian Aid, buy bikes to take produce to markets and for them to be able to learn how to set up and run Village Community Savings and Loans Associations. By supporting Christian Aid Week your donations will really help them push-back against poverty, improve lives and provide hope for the future. Many thanks to all who supported the Burundi Appeal in various ways: making a financial donation, baking for the Cake Sale, buying and selling cakes. It has all added up to raise an incredible £3,461.18 (inc. Gift Aid), huge thanks to you. The Mission Committee.
Sunday School activities & future dates:
Sunday 16th June, Families’ refreshments before service + Lego building to celebrate Fathers’ Day. More details to follow.
Sunday 30th June, Sunday School activities, Families’ Communion & Congregational Picnic in Hyde Park. A day to offer our thanks to adult volunteers, as well celebration and fun to mark the end of the Sunday School year.
Note: Scottish Country Dancing for Children will not now take place on Sunday 9th June, 1pm in Lower Hall. The group takes a summer break and will restart in September.
Friends of St Columba’s visit postponed
Unfortunately, the visit to the synagogue at Bevis Marks, City of London, EC3A 5DQ, on Friday 21 June is postponed until 2024-25, as the extensive works are not yet completed. Watch this space!
UPCOMING: Sounds of St Columba’s Recitals
Sunday 16th June 2024, 1.30pm, Upper Hall, Emily Sun and Dina Duisen
Emily Sun is an international violin soloist, performing with orchestras around the world, and has performed at Buckingham Palace for King Charles III. Upcoming concerts include with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She is a violin professor at the Royal College of Music. Kazahk-British pianist Dina Duisen has performed at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, King’s Place, Cadogan Hall and The Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall. She has been the resident class pianist at the IMS Prussia Cove and is currently working at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music as collaborative pianist.
Program:
Mendelssohn: Violin Sonata in F major MWV Q26
Barber: Violin Concerto Op. 14
UPCOMING: Songs of Praise – Choose your favourite hymns!
Our last evening service before the summer is on Sunday 7th July (5pm.) It is our annual Songs of Praise, based on congregational choices. You can make a recommendation via the sign up board outside the sanctuary or make a recommendation and explain a little of why that hymn is special via email to William at associateminister@stcolumbas.org.uk All recommendations by Sunday 30th June.
SERVICE AND COMMITMENT Prayer Resources for Sunday 9th June 2024 Prepared by the Congregational Prayer Group
In this week of D-Day remembrances and those being welcomed as members of the congregation, we too can renew our commitment to service and congregation.
A Fable of Father and Sons – Aesop, 6th century BC
“It was the hap of a very honest Man to be the Father of a contentious Brood of Children. He call’d for a Rod and bad ‘em take it, and try one after another with all their Force, if they could break it. They try’d and could not. Well (says he) unbind it now, and take every Twig of it apart, and see what you can do that Way. They did so, and with great ease, by one and one, they snap’d it all to pieces. This (says he) is the true Emblem of your Condition: Keep together and y’are safe, divide and you are undone.”
Words of St Francis, in Hymn 694,remind us: Brother, Sister let me serve you/let me be as Christ to you/pray that I may have the grace to/let you be my servant too.
That we can serve with humility and find strength in unity. As Cardinal Basil Hume reminded us, if we are trying to pray, we are praying.
Prayers
Merciful God,
You have prepared for those who love you such good things as pass human understanding. Pour into our hears such love towards you that we, loving you above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Let us remember those who served and still serve in the Armed Forces. And their chaplains, who bear no weapons but only the armour of God.
As St Paul says: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6.
TIME FOR SILENT PRAYER AND REFLECTION
Dear Lord and Father, be with those who will make their vows of commitment to the church today. Strengthen their faith, may they feel welcome and able to make their contribution to the family of St Columba’s, because as a body we are stronger than as individuals. Amen
We remember St Columba, who with his companions, made the dangerous journey across the Irish Sea to Iona – so recently re-enacted in the London Scottish Chapel by Tómas Barry. We are grateful for the Saint’s commitment, which brought Christianity to Scotland and we celebrate this today.
Words of St Columba as he reaches Iona, Psalm 34, at verse 10: “Those that seek the Lord shall not want for anything that is good”.
“These, O my children, are the last words I address to you – that ye be at peace and have unfeigned charity among yourselves, and if you thus follow the example of the holy fathers, God the Comforter of the good, will be your Helper, and I, abiding with Him, will intercede for you; and He will not only give you sufficient to supply the wants of this present life, but will also bestow on you the good and eternal rewards which are laid up for those that keep His commandments.”
A Blessing
Be ye our angel unawares
If after Kirk ye bide a wee
There’s some who would like to speak to ye
If after kirk ye rise and flee
We all seem cauld and still to ye
The one that’s in the seat wi’ye
Is stranger here than ye, maybe.
All here have got their fear and cares,
Add ye your soul unto the prayers,
Be ye our angel unawares. AMEN
Office Hours
The church office is open from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
E-mail: office@stcolumbas.org.uk
Website: www.stcolumbas.org.uk
Facebook: @stcolumbas churchpontstreet.
Twitter: @LondonKirk
Pastoral Emergency Number (out of office hours): 07591926271