“I wandered the streets, asking anyone for a place to sleep. Those who showed me kindness would let me stay for two or three days, but it was difficult. People would insult me and treat me with contempt. They forgot I was a human being. It filled me with sorrow.”
Abused by her husband and forced out of her home, becoming separated from her children, with nowhere to live and worrying daily about her children’s safety, Aline Nibogora was pushed into the most extreme poverty. Aline’s homeland, Burundi, is one of the poorest countries in the world financially. More than 70% of the population live in poverty. Most people get their living through farming. However, farmers have been significantly affected by the climate crisis, facing droughts, floods and landslides. Many families eat just one meal a day. Philip Galgallo, Country Director of Christian Aid Burundi tells us: ‘I think the biggest worry for most Burundian mothers is how they’ll feed their children.’
Aline never gave up. Pushed to the brink of survival, she pushed back. She joined a community workshop led by Christian Aid-funded trainers. She learnt about Village Savings and Loans Associations and was determined to form her own to help herself and others around her. Village Savings and Loans Associations offer a way for community groups to manage, save and lend money. Aline was able to get a start-up loan and began trading avocados and peanuts. She was also able to buy a bicycle so that she could transport her goods to market.
This Sunday launches Christian Aid Week. We host our cake sale and welcome our guest preacher, Jennifer Larbie, Christian Aid’s Head of Campaigns and UK Advocacy. In preparation, do look at the short, four-minute film that tells Aline’s story, highlighting Christian Aid’s work in Burundi. Then, maybe get baking in a good cause, and/or offer the prayer for Christian Aid Week 2024. https://christianaid.resourcespace.com/pages/view.php?ref=10741&k=4e1e8ad587
Loving God, help us to hear the voices of those enduring extreme poverty. It is hard to listen to stories of pain. Show us how compassion for others can bring healing and fullness of life for all. Help us to understand that we are one through your love, for every human being is loved by you, beyond measure.
Loving God, you call on us to build your kingdom of justice, mercy, and truth. It isn’t a task for the faint-hearted. When we lose our sense of purpose, fill us with faith. When we doubt or throw up our hands in despair, fill us with hope. When we pass by our neighbour as though we did not know them. Fill us with the love that turns us back and takes us to their aid.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Have a good week and see you on Sunday,
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 0203 051 2874.
Step 2: You will be prompted to enter a meeting ID. Please type (using your telephone keypad) 266 883 5072#
Step 3: You will then be asked for a participant number – simply press the #.
Step 4: Enjoy the service! You will hear the organ music from 10.50am.
Hymns, Music & Readings for Morning Worship
Sunday 5th May 2024
Hymn 63 All people that on earth do dwell (Old 100th)
Hymn 522 The Church is wherever God’s people are praising (The Bard of Armagh)
Hymn 362 Heaven shall not wait (Heaven shall not wait)
Hymn 153 Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father (Faithfulness)
Anthem: Jehovah, Purcell
Musical Interlude: Beati quorum via, Stanford
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 86:1-7
New Testament Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:31-40
Reader: Ruth Kattumuri
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: Morning Service, 11am.
Guest Preacher for Christian Aid Week 2024
We are delighted to welcome Jennifer Larbie, Head of Campaigns and UK Advocacy to share her message for Christian Aid Week this Sunday. Jennifer is responsible for Christian Aid campaigns on climate and economic justice and for involving supporters, the church and the public to make change happen. Jennifer joined Christian Aid in October 2020. Previously, she was Head of Foreign, Defence and International Development policy at the Labour Party, where she also directed the Party’s international democracy building programmes. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in development studies from the London School of Economics, specialising in economic development policy in Africa. She has previously held roles in Parliament and the National Education Union.
THIS SUNDAY: Congregational Prayer Group: 10.15am – 10.30am, Kirk Session Room
Come and join us for 15 minutes to pray for our church, our community, our nation and our world …everyone is welcome and our prayers, both spoken and silent do make a difference.
Father, we want to live our life in blessing and contentment.
May we find delight in studying your word,
and seeking your guidance in all that we do.
Grant us the discipline to set aside time for prayer and reflection,
that we may be firmly rooted in your love and wisdom.
We need to spend more time reading, memorising,
and soaking it in, to be more like you.
Show us how to do this. Amen.
(Part of Congregational Prayer Group prayers, prepared for Sunday 12th May.)
THIS SUNDAY: Cake Sale, Sunday 12th May Calling all bakers!
If you would like to bake a cake(s), or biscuits, scones, shortbread and either bring into the Entrance Vestibule before the service on Sunday 12th May, or you can leave it with the Church Office a few days beforehand. Please label cake packaging with what type of cake it is. Cakes etc. can then be purchased after the service. All money raised will go to Christian Aid Week. Please do come and buy a cake, or even a slice of cake to have with your coffee in the Upper Hall.
- There will be red CA collecting buckets in the Upper Vestibule after the service on Sunday 12th and 19th May. The main CA collection Sunday will be on Sunday 12th May.
- CA envelopes will be available on a table in the Upper Vestibule, and a tick box for those eligible to Gift Aid their donation. Some CA envelopes will also be in the pews.
- Online donations: We have our own church e-envelope Please click on the link: https://fundraise.christianaid.org.uk/envelope-2024/st-columbas-church-pont-street-caw-2024
Donations will help improve the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. Thank you.
Christian Aid Week: 12th to 18th May 2024
The focus this year is on Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries. Poverty affects more than 70% of the population. Life is harsh and a daily struggle. The main source of income is from farming. With extreme weather conditions due to climate change crops often fail, communities need help to restart and generate income, training on how to save and set up a Village Savings and Loans Association. An example of how Christian Aid funding helped: Aline whose marriage failed, her children taken away from her and she was living in extreme poverty until with a little help from Christian Aid her life has been transformed. Aline attended a three-day workshop funded by Christian Aid, who then provided her with a small start-up loan. From that, Aline was able to start growing her own produce, with her profits bought a bicycle to transport goods to and from markets. As savings increased, Aline was able to get bricks for a small house providing better protection against extremes in weather, money for basic healthcare and three of her children were able to return to her. Let’s help others in Burundi push-back against extreme poverty and create a better future.
Please do click on this link to watch a short video (under 4mins) on the Burundi Appeal.
THIS SUNDAY: Scottish Country Dancing for Children, Sunday 12th May, 1pm in Lower Hall
With the support of RSCDS, we are delighted to offer the children a Scottish Country Dancing class. Classes take place on the 2nd Sunday of the month. Rose Kreloff is an RSCDS London member who teaches regularly in London and the Southeast. Classes are free thanks to support from St Columba’s and RSCDS London but donations are welcome. We ask that parents/carers contact classes@rscdslondon.org.uk to book a place in the class. Please include name and age of children so that we can make sure we have the right amount of support for each class.
NEXT SUNDAY: Sunday 19th May, 1.30pm
The church’s Organ Scholar, Stellaria Ciampolini Vukelić will be giving her first organ recital with works by Messiaen, Widor and De Grigny.
THIS WEEK: Friends of St Columba’s Visit to St Alban’s Cathedral,
Saturday 11th May 2024.
The Friends head to the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain. Rendezvous inside the main entrance at 11 a.m. The entry is free. A general tour costs £8 which we shall take upon arrival, (1 hour 15 mins). If you would like to take subsequently a Specialist Tour (1 hour – music, textiles, flowers, pilgrimages); or a tower tour to admire the view, these cost £10 and are available before 2 p.m. Lunch will be at The Abbott’s Kitchen at the Cathedral. For more detail https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/friends-of-st-columbas If you intend to join, please let Isobel Carter know in advance: isobel@in-carter.com; 07768 275 591.
Directions: eveyone is different, but one possibility is: Blackfriars tube station – Thameslink to St Albans City – left West down Victoria Street- 90 Degree turn Left (west) down Victoria Street – 90 degree turn left opposite St Albans Museum and Gallery – down Chequer St – then right 90 degrees down Sumpter Yard to the Cathedral. 17 mins. Rendezvous at 11am inside the main entrance.
UPCOMING: Getting to Iona, by Tomás Barry, Sunday 2nd June, 1.30pm, London Scottish Chapel.
St Columba’s will hold the premiere of new play, “Getting to Iona”, written and performed by Tomás Barry. Tomas’s grandfather, Canon John Barry was a Church of Ireland priest. In 1963 Canon Barry and twelve accomplices sailed to Iona from Northern Ireland in a replica curragh, which they had constructed, to commemorate the original voyage of St Columba to Iona in 563AD. From that expedition Canon Barry wrote and published his personal account, “Joyful Pilgrimage”. Inspired by his grandfather’s book, Tomas has written a one-act play, directed by Graham Butler-Breen, describing it as “a play about leaving home for the unknown. What we seek, what we find, and what we leave behind.” Primarily for, and free to congregational members, the premiere will be performed at 1.30pm, on Sunday 2nd June 2024 in the London Scottish Chapel. Tickets will go on sale, online, for additional public evening performances at 7pm, from Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th June 2024.
St Columbans supporting worthy causes
Two of our elders are currently working hard to support causes dear to their hearts. You might like to support them. Nadia Dallsingh is travelling in Nepal and preparing for her climb to Everest Base Camp to support MIND, the mental health charity, particularly its work with young people. Meanwhile Susan Pym is preparing for a not quite so arduous sponsored walk to support the North London Hospice where she volunteers weekly and where her sister Marion was lovingly cared for in her last days. We salute these efforts. If you are interested in supporting Nadia and Susan their JustGiving pages are below.
Nadia’s link: Vashtee Nadias fundraiser for Mind
Susan’s link: Please Sponsor Team Marion/Maz
Crown Court Church of Scotland https://crowncourtchurch.org.uk/
Congratulations to Crown Court for their new website. Do take a moment to see what they have achieved. It may give us good ideas as we seek to update our own website later this year.
Scots in London
Scots in London is an umbrella organisation for Scottish cultural societies, sports clubs, alumni groups, charities, churches and the Scottish military in London. The Scots in London mission is to co-ordinate members’ events, promote Scottish heritage and culture in the London area, and to support relevant charities, as well as running events. Scots in London were founded by a dozen London-based Scottish organisations in 2017, to plan and co-ordinate events commemorating Armistice100, which also led to the publishing of the book Scots in Great War London. HRH the Princess Royal has been Patron from the outset. For more information about our Scots in London, please follow this link.
You can join their newsletter here to be informed about their latest news, events and opportunities as well as their member organisations.
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