Author: sheumais

Breathing Space

sheumais Notices

Today, Feb 1st, is “Breathing Space” day

This year is particularly important as it is 20 years since the service began. 

Sometimes our thoughts and feelings can overwhelm us. It helps to get some Breathing Space. Pick up the phone. Breathing space offers a free, confidential, telephone and webchat service to anyone over 16 in Scotland experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety. 

 Helpline number: 0800 83 85 87

Opening hours:
Weekdays: Monday-Thursday 6pm to 2am
Weekend: Friday 6pm-Monday 6am

https://breathingspace.scot/

Breathing Space Benches

Across Scotland breathing space benches are popping up. 

https://breathingspace.scot/news/2023/new-breathing-space-bench-in-selkirk/

Christian hope at death

sheumais Events, Notices

Death, bereavement and the making of a good funeral for Christians – a four part series for Lent. 

‘Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’.

In Lent, more than any other season we are reminded of our own mortality. It is an appropriate time to refresh our thinking on death. We will look at Christian hope at death.

We will reflect on the significance of the funeral ritual. Sometimes dreaded as an ordeal by mourners, we will consider how, if sensitively planned and conducted, the funeral can become an important transition to life beyond death for mourners and the person who died. We will engage with findings from recent research on what makes a good Christian funeral.

Understanding current thinking on bereavement and how that mirrors Christian theological thinking on death can equip us to find hopeful ways through grief. We will explore aspects of grief theories that may help us navigate our way through this painful experience.

These subjects touch on tender parts of our lives. Please do look after yourself. If the talks bring emotions to the surface which you need help with please do seek support from a trusted person you know or a source of support such as the free confidential Breathing Space helpline 0800 83 85 87.

The talks will be available on Youtube with links in advance via this page.

  1. What is Christian hope at death? (Monday 26th February 2024) 
  2. Who is a Christian funeral for? (Monday 4th  March 2024)
  3. What makes a good Christian funeral? (Monday 11th  March 2024)
  4. How can Christians find a hopeful way through grief? (Monday 18th March 2024)

Presenter: Rev Dr Jane Edwards, a BACP Accredited Counsellor and Psychotherapist with 20 years experience, curate at St Baldred’s, North Berwick and St Adrian’s, Gullane and has recently completed a PhD on ‘What makes a good funeral’ with Durham University. 

Pancake Party – Shrove Tuesday – 13th February 2024

sheumais Events, Notices

Food, Fellowship, and Fun

at our

PANCAKE PARTY and QUIZ

on

Shrove Tuesday, 13th February at 7:00pm

in

St Andrew’s Church and Hall

Our traditionally and very popular Pancake Party and Quiz takes place on Shrove Tuesday in St Andrew’s hall. The Quiz has been prepared and the catering is in hand, so all is now ready.

Points to note:

  • Pancake mix will be supplied but you should bring whatever you like in the way of fillings either savoury or sweet.
  • Please sign up on the list in St Andrew’s Hall or let Canon James know of your intention to attend (and how many people will accompany you) so that we can make sure that there’s sufficient accommodation and pancake mix for all.
  • After the pancakes and the quiz, there will be an opportunity for a number of people o do a Star Turn (recite, sing, play, or whatever else is your forte).  If you would like to provide a small part of the entertainment, let Janet or James or Simon know, so that a programme can be worked out.

Freedom to Live – a journey through Galatians

sheumais Events, Notices

Our Lent Study Groups this year will meet on Wednesdays:

21stand 28th February and 6th, 13th and 20thMarch.

The groups will meet in person in the afternoons at 1:30pm at James and Anna’s house in Spinningdale.

The study is entitled “Freedom to Live – a journey through Galatians”.

The book of Galatians is written by the apostle Paul to churches in the province of Galatia (what is now central Turkey). Paul had traveled to the region on early missionary journeys, sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. As the churches grew and progressed, Jewish believers in Jesus began to come to the churches and insist that everyone followed to the letter the Law established through Moses for the Jewish community. Paul, hearing of this, became angry with the Jewish Christians, as he believed that this wasn’t the inclusive message of the gospel of Jesus. So Paul writes this letter to the Galatians to ‘restore’ their understanding of the gospel and what it means to be in right relationship with God.

In this study we will see what we as 21st century Christians might learn from all of this. You might guess since I have chosen this topic, that I think that we can learn a lot from it:-)

To whet your appetite, just remember that chapter 3 starts with Paul writing:

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”

Galatians 3:1

Further details from Canon James. All are welcome, whether in our congregations or not. Anyone who would like access to the materials or to a paper copy (whether or not you are able to attend the sessions) please get in touch with James, so that they can be emailed out or printed for you, as appropriate

And who is my Neighbour?

sheumais Pastoral Letter, Reflections

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity runs each year from 18th until 25th January. Now you might be wondering why it’s these particular dates.

The 18th January is when we mark the Confession of Peter when he was led by God’s grace to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ when Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” getting a variety of answers and then “But who do you say that I am?” and Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” You can read the full exchange in Matthew 16:13-20. 

The 25th January is when we celebrate the conversion of Paul the Apostle and what happened on the ‘Road to Damascus’ when Saul who had been persecuting the early Christians became a follower of Jesus and was renamed Paul.

The theme of Christian Unity is reflected in the fact that Peter was Apostle to the Jewish Christians and Paul Apostle to the Gentile Christians. Aspects of this will be discussed in our Lent Study when we will be studying Paul’s Letter to the Galatians which was written to address divisions over such matters. Outline details of the Lent Study can be found later in the Newsletter.

Back to the week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Each year the Christian’s from a particular country prepare service and daily reflection materials and this year’s service was prepared by an ecumenical team from the West African state of Burkina Faso (formerly French Upper Volta and then on independence the Republic of Upper Volta). The theme chosen was ‘You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself’ (Lk 10:27) the material being based on the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

This parable is of course one of the best known passages of Scripture, yet one that never seems to lose its power to challenge indifference to suffering and to inspire solidarity with those who are marginalised or outcast. It’s a story about crossing boundaries and emphasises the bonds that unite the whole human family regardless of race, creed, religion, ethnicity and so forth.

In choosing this passage for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the churches of Burkina Faso invited us to join with them in self-reflection as they (and we) consider what it means to love our neighbour in a world riven with war and conflict, where there are many people displaced or persecuted. Communities in the UK may be less vulnerable to the sort of acts of mass violence that there have been recently in Burkina Faso, but there are still many living with the memory and/or the threat of serious violence, centred on issues of identity and belonging. 

Ecumenical services were held in St Finnbarr’s on Monday 22nd and in St Andrew’s on Wednesday 24th January, prayerful events that demonstrated a visible unity of local Christians. In these services people from across denominational boundaries reflected on the fact that there are also groups within our own communities, including people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people seeking asylum and others who for one reason or another are marginalised and who feel particularly vulnerable to misunderstanding, hostility and even violence.

Loving our neighbours as ourselves is something that we should all reflect on regularly, especially during Lent and in particular the question: “and who is my neighbour?”

Blessings
James

Easter Ross Peninsula C of S, Service of Union

sheumais Events, Notices

Service of Union

Easter Ross Peninsula

Church of Scotland

will be held in Tain Parish Church

on Friday 9th February 2024

at 7pm

Everyone Welcome

Refreshments afterwards in the Church Hall

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Services 2024

sheumais Notices, Services
JESUS MAFA. “The Good Samaritan” from “Art in the Christian Tradition” Vanderbilt Divinity Library

Each year between 18th and 25th January, there is a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

This year there will be a service at:

St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Manse Street, Tain

on Wednesday 24th January 2024

starting at 2:30pm

and a service at:

St Finnbarr’s Episcopal Church, School Hill, Dornoch

on Monday 22nd January 2024

starting at 1pm

This year, the service materials were prepared by an ecumenical team from the West African state of Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community (CCN).

The chosen theme is ‘You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself’ (Lk 10:27). Brothers and sisters from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Protestant Churches, ecumenical bodies and the CCN in the West African country of Burkina Faso collaborated generously in drafting the prayers and reflections. 

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the best known passages of Scripture, yet one that never seems to lose its power to challenge indifference to suffering and to inspire solidarity. It is a story about crossing boundaries that calls our attention to the bonds that unite the whole human family.

In choosing this passage of Scripture for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the churches of Burkina Faso have invited us to join with them in a process of self-reflection as they consider what it means to love our neighbour in the midst of a security crisis. Communities in our context may be less vulnerable to acts of mass violence than in Burkina Faso, but there are still many living with the memory and/or the threat of serious violence, centred on issues of identity and belonging. There are also groups within communities, including people from ethnic minority backgrounds and people seeking asylum, who feel particularly vulnerable to violence or being displaced by the threat of violence.

All of whatever denomination (or none) are most welcome to join us in Christian Unity.

Charities Shop Winter Opening

sheumais Charities Shop, Local, News, Notices

Opening

The St Finnbarr’s Charities Shop in Dornoch is now on Winter opening hours (though subject to short notice closure as a result of the weather).

The opening hours are Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.

The Shop

The shop has been reorganised and has a New Look for the New Year and a half price sale for the month of January.

Donations of Items

It would be appreciated that if you have been saving donations of items for the shop that you drop them off during opening times only and in fairly small quantities as we have limited storage space.

Welcome

We look forward to welcoming everybody in the coming weeks, meanwhile keep safe.

The wise men came with their gifts

sheumais Local, News

Today at St Andrew’s, the wise men came bearing gifts and singing their solos. We were fortunate to have three excellent male voices to sing verses 2-4 of “We three Kings“, wearing crowns and presenting their gifts and also to have a very helpful young person to welcome them to the stable, put them in position and their gifts at the foot of the Incarnated God. Well done Seumas, Alex, Jamie and Carly, we all loved it.