Dear Friends,
What is Lent? Until comparatively recently it was not common to follow the Christian year in Presbyterian or Reformed churches. Within living memory Christmas was not a public holiday in Scotland. Of course, we can blame Oliver Cromwell for that – the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas but after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the rest of the UK reverted to celebrating Christmas while the Scots carried on celebrating New Year. That continued until after the Second World War, but I suspect that as more churches and ministers follow the lectionary, the three-year table of Bible readings for Sunday worship, the pattern of the Christian year has become more familiar to all of us.
Lent commemorates Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness before the beginning of his public ministry, when he resisted all the temptations of wealth and power which the devil laid before him. For the 40 days leading up to Easter we journey with Christ towards Calvary. Life is a journey with God even if we don’t always recognise his presence with us and prayer is a well we may go to for water to refresh us on the journey and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper food to sustain us on the way. On any journey we may decide that we are carrying too much baggage and we often talk of “giving something up” for Lent which can be a useful discipline. If you want to give up crisps, biscuits, alcohol, whatever, and give the money saved to our Lent appeal for Firefly International, Christian Aid or whichever good cause you choose to support, that is a worthwhile exercise but not if you feel guilty when you slip up. A friend of mine was once asked what he was giving up for Lent and replied “Guilt!”. Lent should not be about guilt or simply giving something up, it should be a positive experience when we take something up. That might be an extended “Quiet Time” for prayer or reading, it might be volunteering or looking in on an elderly neighbour more often. During the 40 days of Lent I will try to write to, email or telephone friends I haven’t been in touch with for a while and hopefully I’ll maintain the contact after Easter.
Wishing you a blessed Lent,
William.
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 now phone in to join the Sunday service. No visuals clearly, but at least they can hear the 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 Sunday 18th February 2024,
Transfiguration of the Lord, 11am
Hymn 337 Forty days and forty nights (Aus der tiefe (Heinlein))
Hymn 521 Children of God, reach out to one another!
(Intercessor) Hymn 21 Lord, teach me all your ways (Psalm 25)
(Garelochside) Hymn 533 Will you come and follow me
(Kelvingrove)
Anthem: Like as the hart, Howells
Musical Interlude: Wash me throughly, Wesley
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 9: 8-17
New Testament Reading: 1 Peter 3: 18-22
Gospel Reading: Mark 1: 9-15
Reader: David Kerr
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: Lent Appeal Speaker
To launch the Lent Appeal on Sunday 18th February, we are delighted that Jane Salmonson (Director, Firefly Int.) will be joining us as a guest speaker during the service. Jane will be doing a brief talk about the work of Firefly International and specifically about Firefly / Svitac in Bosnia.
Lent Appeal 2024 – Firefly International www.fireflyinternational.org
Our chosen charity for the Lent Appeal this year is Firefly International, a small Scottish registered charity that provides help overseas for children affected by war. The charity works in a few countries, but for the Lent Appeal we are focussing on its work in Brcko, Bosnia, with the charity’s partner organisation Svitac. The population in Brcko is a mix of Serb, Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) and Croat. The charity was created in 1995 by Ellie Maxwell, while a student, to help children affected by war. Sadly, Ellie died young but her work carries on through the charity. In the aftermath of war and conflict there is such a need to build relationships and reconciliation between all faiths and different ethic groups. The children and young people in Brcko, are really benefiting from Firefly / Svitac and it is having such a positive impact there. Funding is required to keep this project going. Lent Appeal donations will certainly play their part in that. Firefly / Svitac provide a safe location for children and young people to meet, they run the only inter-ethnic kindergarten in Brcko and provide after school clubs, music/band, art, workshops, IT, filming. Two summer camps are organised for children of different age groups. These fantastic opportunities bring together children and young people of all faiths and from various ethnic groups, giving them the chance to build friendships, trust and learn to live together in peace and mutual respect for each other.
Please click on the links below, to watch brief video clips from the children and young people involved with Firefly / Svitac in Brcko, Bosnia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHCX4j8umbE&t=6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnxXeRF_YmM&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKQ-L1l7_hc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Kpr-2rN-Y
If you would like to contribute to the Lent Appeal: Gift Aid helps, if you are eligible. If you need to complete a Gift Aid declaration form, please contact the Church Office. Various options to donate: White Lent Appeal envelopes are available in the Upper Vestibule and in the pews, as from Sunday 18th Feb. until Easter.
Alternatively, by electronic bank transfer: Please use “Lent Appeal” as the payment reference.
St Columba’s Church of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
Account Number 00264741
Sort Code 16 00 42
Cheques payable to: “St. Columba’s Church of Scotland” and with a note attached to cheque indicating it is for the Lent Appeal. Send to:
Finance Dept. (Lent Appeal)
St. Columba’s Church
Pont Street
London SW1X 0BD
If you would like to make a card donation, please go into the Church Office.
With your donations we can help children affected by war to build a better future together, thank you. Mission Committee.
THIS SUNDAY: Sunday School
THIS SUNDAY: Congregational Lunch
Future dates are 3rd and 17th March 2024
As we are a “gathered” congregation, being able to have lunch, or coffee after the Morning Service, is important for fellowship.
We really do need a few Volunteers for the lunch teams when we cater for lunches on the 1st and 3rd Sundays every month – this means being part of a team six times a year and could be helping in the kitchen, laying tables, serving and clearing tables. We also serve lunch on 5th Sundays (four times a year). If available please contact Ben Gourlay at ben.gourlay41@gmail.com or on 01206 795244, or via the church office. Thank you, Ben Gourlay, Convenor of Hospitality Committee.
THIS SUNDAY: Sounds of St Columba’s
Join us for a recital in the Upper Hall from 1.30pm with mezzo-soprano Maria Sotiropoulou and Ben Lewis-Smith on the piano. Recital to include works from Bizet, Bellini and Verdi.
Church Magazine, February issue
Pick up a copy of the new Church Magazine, with its stunning front cover, from the bookstall. Then pick up another to give to a friend! Thanks once again to our Editor and her team of contributors.
NEXT WEEK: “Let Me Go There”: Lent Study, First sessions, Wednesday 14th February, 7.15pm & Thursday 22nd February, 10.30am
The book selected for our Lent Study is “Let Me Go There” by Paula Gooder, Theologian in Residence for the Bible Society. Arranged as a series of engaging and profound biblical reflections the book is an invitation to experience Lent, not as a season of restriction, but of wide-open spaciousness, in which to learn new lessons, to grow in faith, and to give God the chance to meet us in new ways.
Groups meet either Wednesday evenings (7.15 – 8.15pm) or Thursday mornings (10.30 – 11.30am.) Sign up via the church office to receive zoom invite. Attendees asked to provide their own book copy.
UPCOMING: Saturday 2nd March, “Embody Lent” London Scottish Chapel, 10.30 – 12noon
Revd Pauline Steenbergen author of the newly published Embody Lent, (Wild Goose Publications, Iona Community, £10.99, available on their website) is offering a free session of Christian spirituality, via her yoga practice. Pauline gave two well-received sessions at the Festival of Silence at St Columba’s last November.
The session will be held in the London Scottish Chapel, 10.30am – 12noon on Saturday 2nd March. Twelve places available. Please sign up via the church office, indicating whether you would prefer chair/mat yoga.
Pauline’s book intersects Yoga and Christian Spirituality in an illustrated 8 session course; involving movement, breath awareness, biblical reflection and ways into silent prayer. It is a resource for individuals, pairs or groups and there are options for chair yoga only, if necessary. Pauline is a Spiritual Director and a Church of Scotland minister living in Carlisle in the Presbytery of South-west Scotland; she is currently an ecumenical pioneer minister in the Diocese of Carlisle and a Yoga Scotland teacher, with classes in Cumbria, SW Scotland and weekly on Zoom.
UPCOMING: Congregational Talk, Sunday 3rd March, 1.30pm
Dr Claire Gilbert will give a talk on Julian of Norwich. Until recently Dr Gilbert was Director of the Westminster Abbey Institute. Last year she wrote a book on Julian of Norwich (“I, Julian”) a fictional autobiography of the fourteenth century Mystic, “one of the medieval world’s most important women”. This talk has been arranged by the Nurture Committee of the Kirk Session.
St Columba’s Quiz
There was a great attendance at our Quiz last Saturday with a competitive atmosphere for the coveted first place! Congratulations to Crown Court team, In the Dock, for winning this year. It was a very tight result with all teams within a whisker of each other. More on this great night will follow in our next magazine, with pictures.
UPCOMING: Scots in London Ceilidh Evening: Saturday 9 March 2024, Lower Hall, 7pm – 10:30pm
Join for an evening filled with Highland Dancing to a live Ceilidh Band plus a range of live entertainment from the London Scottish Pipes and Drums, the London Gaelic Choir and the Burns Club of London. There will also be the opportunity to join in with a community sing along. No previous dance experience is required, just enthusiasm, as there will be a caller to lead guests through all the moves step-by-step. A light supper is included in the ticket price, and there will be a bar available to purchase drinks. The evening will start at 7pm (doors open 6:30pm) and tickets are £20.To book tickets please visit: http://tinyurl.com/29jyxj6z
UPCOMING: Book Club – Monday 11th March
Our choice for our next meeting on Monday 11 March is The Blackhouse which is the first in the Lewis Trilogy written by Peter May. Peter May has written a number of books and has large following in the USA and France! This book won a US prize for the crime novel of the year. There a television production of this and the other books in the series but unless you have already seen this we suggest you read the book first.
After that we are thinking about a new novel by Fredrik Backman who is a Swedish author who wrote, inter alia, a Man Called Ove. The book is Anxious People and apparently has ” pitch perfect dialogue and demonstrates an unparalleled understanding of human nature” through a whimsical plot. Let’s see what the group thinks of it in due course!!
CONFERENCE
First Contact: The Earliest Scots in Japan (1613-1623)
Venue The Swedenborg Society, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St), London WC1A 2TH
Booking Details Free- Booking essential – BOOK ONLINE HERE The Japan Society in London – a charity involved in developing Anglo-Japanese relations – is hosting a lecture about the first contact of Scots in Japan by Professor Ian Gow on
Monday 19th February at 6.45pm.
The lecture is free and open to all, and it will be followed by a Q&A and a drinks reception. Please find all the details here.
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