Category: News
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Newsletter for Sunday 25th July 2021
Dear All,Have you melted or are you ok? What a week of weather we have had… You can blame me for the change next week- I am on holiday for a week hence the rain forecast!! Fiona Gardner is covering the office for me next week so she will be writing to you all instead. -
For Sunday 18th July 2021, 8th Sunday after Pentecost
Good Afternoon All,
I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the lovely warm weather that we are having. The weekend looks to be a hot one (our paddling pool will be out I am sure)!
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Sunday 4th July 2021, 6th Sunday after Pentecost
Good Afternoon All,The first of July already- where does the time go? Before we know it the shops will be full of mince pies and Christmas baubles – I don’t joke I imagine the Christmas Shop in Harrods will be open next month. -
Newsletter- 27th June 2021, 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Good Afternoon All,
I hope this email finds you well. It has been a glorious week here in London.
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Newsletter- 20th June 2021 Sunday after Pentecost
Good Afternoon All,
Slightly different temperature today than when I wrote last week. One bonus of working for St Columba’s is that the building stays remarkably cool in the heat!
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Newsletter- 13th June 2021, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Friends,
Wednesday 9th June was St Columba’s Day, which we marked in church last Sunday. So, last week’s newsletter carried a poem by Kenneth Steven who finds Iona, the tiny island much associated with Columba, so inspiring.
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Newsletter- 30th May 2021, Trinity Sunday
Friends,
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, a day to dwell on the trinitarian /threefold nature of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It expresses the Christian understanding/verdict, “once all the evidence is in.” Yet, however deeply, or not, we think about God, we can never fully describe, explain or “capture” God; no human language has the breadth or fluency to achieve that. There is always more to learn and much that we may never understand.
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Newsletter- 23rd May 2021
Friends,
Two prayers for us as we approach the weekend. This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost. Fifty days after Easter, and ten days after Ascension Day, we mark the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem – sometimes referred to as the birth-day of the Church. A fitting Sunday to celebrate with our friends of the linked charge at St Andrew’s, Newcastle, as they reopen their doors for worship.
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Newsletter- 16th May 2021
Friends,
Last week we borrowed thoughts on elections & democracy from Revd Tom Gordon. This week I share some striking photos and accompanying article by another Church of Scotland minister, Revd Neil Urquhart. Neil is the minister of Irvine: Fullarton and back in 2012 he stayed in the church flat, while attending the London Paralympics, as part of the Games’ chaplaincy team. In the days leading up to Pentecost (Sunday 23rd May) and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (22nd – 28th May) Neil offers thoughts and images about change and challenge and where perhaps the Spirit of God is moving. -
For Sunday 9th May 2021, 6th Sunday of Easter
Friends,
As this week’s e-newsletter goes out, both St Columba’s, Pont Street and St Andrew’s, Newcastle are acting as Polling Stations. So, it seems appropriate to share in full the thought for the day composed by retired Church of Scotland minister and writer, Revd Tom Gordon. It is well worth visiting his daily offerings at https://swallowsnestnet.wordpress.com Thank you Tom for allowing us to borrow your thoughts today. -
For Sunday 2nd May 2021, 5th Sunday of Easter
Friends,
The photo above was sent to me this morning, with the words: “Today’s sermon!” i.e., Stop, Look, Listen. On the same morning, author Michael Morpurgo spoke on radio about the genesis of his new book, The Song of Gladness. -
Easter 2021, for Sunday 25th April
*This week all the images come from the artwork of the recent Play for Progress exhibition in Croydon, London.
Friends,
In line with recent sunshine, we can now announce the glad news that Revd William McLaren has accepted the invitation to become our new Associate Minister. Ordained for 30 years, William brings profound and varied experience of ministry, in the parish, as a university chaplain and as a part time prison chaplain. -
Easter 2021, for Sunday 18th April
*St Columba’s, Pont Street, December 2015
Friends,
I imagine many of you will watch the funeral service for Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh this Saturday. Earlier this week I wrote on behalf of Scots in London, (of which St Columba’s is a founding member) to its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal to say how saddened we were to hear of the death of her father, and to know that we were holding her and all members of the Royal family in our thoughts and prayers at this time.
