It will soon be Summer Holiday Club time again in Lairg.
If you are aged 4-11 or know anyone who is
You can book by emailing Emma at: 
You can also find us on Facebook at: LCTKIDSCLUBS
Umbrella is a Christian social club in Golspie, set up to deepen friendships and build bridges within the Christian Community. Umbrella is independent, not part of, or affiliated to, any denomination of the church.
At Umbrella, Christians meet for a cup of tea or coffee, enjoy the company of old friends and the chance to make new ones. It is open to anyone, whether they go to church, (any church), or not.
Venue: The Stag’s Head (Main St) each Monday 10.30 – 12 noon
Cost: Free! (“Donations box” for contributions towards expenses).
Please also note “Umbrella” will not be meeting this coming Monday, 25th June.
For information contact Patrick Argyle:
You are invited to the service being held for the Dedication and Commissioning of the Ministry of The Crask Church at The Crask Inn, Lairg IV27 4AB.
The service will be on 21st April 2018 at Noon and will be followed by refreshment and fellowship.
If you wish to be part of the gathering could you reply directly to Douglas and Denise by the beginning of April, so they can plan the catering.
Phone: 01549 411241 or Email: thecraskinn@gmail.com
will be speaking at a meeting in the
(rear entrance from carpark)
“Come and be inspired by what God is doing in the middle of the jungle in Borneo, where Ronny and his team are building facilities to provide accommodation for 1,000 neglected children and schools for 2,000 children from primary to high school level. They are also building a nursery, workers’ and teachers’ accommodation, a training centre, a praise and worship centre, a clinic, a bakery, sewing rooms, visitors’ quarters, a radio station for outreach and a Bible College.
Apart from children having their physical needs met and receiving an education, they are also fed and trained spiritually, so that they can return to their villages as well as go into other villages that are unreached, plant churches and bring the gospel to their people.”
All are very welcome.
We have done some rethinking of the Ardgay Services that Liz and Buster Crabb have kindly hosted for a few years now. On the second Tuesday of the month, there will continue to be a Eucharist in Liz and Buster’s living room at 10:30am as before, but the services that used to be on the fourth Tuesday of the month are changing.
On the last Tuesday of each month (which is usually also the fourth Tuesday), Services of Prayer and Praise will be held in the Kyle of Sutherland Hub, at 5:00pm followed by fellowship in the Hub Cafe.
These services are open to all in Ardgay, Bonar Bridge and beyond who wish to meet together with other Christians in Prayer and Praise to the God who made Heaven and Earth and whose son Jesus Christ died for our Salvation.
All are welcome, whether established Churchgoer or just a wee bit curious.
Sunday 24th Dec (4th Sunday in Advent) at 11:00am at both St Andrews, Tain and St Finnbarr’s, Dornoch.
Sunday 24th Dec at 6:30pm – Lessons and Carols in Lairg Parish Church (Lairg Christians Together), followed by seasonal refreshments in the hall.
Sunday 24th Dec – Christmas Midnight Services 11:00pm at St Finnbarr’s, Dornoch and 11:30pm at St Andrews, Tain.
Monday 25th Dec – Christmas Day Services – St Maelrubha’s, Lairg at 8:15am, St Finnbarr’s, Dornoch at 9:30am and St Andrews, Tain at 10:30am.
The book of Jonah is about the relationship between a rebellious prophet and a relentless God. It’s one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament perhaps because of the miraculous moment when Jonah is swallowed by a whale. The message of Jonah, however, takes us beyond the miraculous to ask deep questions of all of us about God’s calling and our response. In the belly of the whale Jonah prays and the way that he pray provides considerable food for thought. The ultimate message of Jonah may be that God’s will is not easily subverted, but our God is nothing if not both persistent and compassionate in seeking us out and bringing us home.
Come and join us as we consider all of this in a series of three Advent Study sessions on Thursdays: 30th Nov, 7th Dec and 14th Dec from 2:00-3:30pm, followed by refreshments. The sessions will take place at James and Anna’s house in Spinningdale.
No, not starting with Christmas and working backwards, but more like the reverse of an Advent Calendar – you open the door and put something in rather than taking something out.
“No-one should go hungry, and especially not at Christmas.
Yet shockingly thousands of people right here in the UK, one of the richest countries in the world, can’t afford to feed their families. During 2016/17, the biggest network of food banks, the Trussell Trust, gave out nearly 1.2 million three-day emergency food supplies. That’s an awful lot of people in desperate situations.”
This year the St.Andrew’s Vestry were enthusiastic about doing a Reverse Advent Calendar for the Tain Food Bank (but as they say ‘other food banks are available’, so anyone could join in the initiative).
The Food Bank in Tain, along with pretty much every other food bank across the UK, is getting a lot of referrals at the moment, which will only increase as we approach Christmas and early January. The idea is that instead of opening an calendar “door” you put a food or toiletry item into a collection box each day (or even just once a week) to make a real difference to somebody’s Christmas.
As the author of the Much More with Less blog wrote:
“I really believe many of us are only a relationship breakdown, an illness or a job loss away from tipping into financial troubles. Recent research by the Financial Conduct Authority found that half of UK adults are potentially financially vulnerable. Around 4.1 million people were already in financial difficulty, after missing payments for household bills or credit cards three times or more in the last six months.
Hopefully, by adding a few extras here and there, and taking advantage of offers, vouchers and freebies, it needn’t be too expensive.
Even if you don’t fancy doing a reverse advent calendar, adding a couple of items to a food bank collection box will still make a difference..”
There are Food Bank collection boxes at St Andrew’s and St Finnbarr’s, so if you think its a good idea ….
On Tuesday (27 June) the Episcopal Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church elected the Rt Rev Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness as Primus. Bishop Mark says “I am humbled by the confidence shown in me by my colleagues and I will seek to serve the church as Primus with love and strength.”
“I am deeply privileged to be the Bishop Moray, Ross and Caithness and am very aware that it has been 82 years since a Bishop of Moray became Primus. I pray that I may be worthy of this trust. I will continue to serve in my beloved highlands while I also step out into new and exciting journeys of faith in both Scotland and the wider international church.”
Bishop Mark (56 ), who will now be referred to as The Most Rev Mark Strange, is the youngest member of the College of Bishops and was consecrated Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness in 2007. Bishop Mark succeeds the Most Rev David Chillingworth.
Brought up in Aberdeen, where he was both a choirboy and server at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Bishop Mark studied Divinity at the University of Aberdeen, attended Theological College in Lincoln and has served in both the Diocese of Worcester and in the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. For a number of years Bishop Mark was also Convener of the church’s Youth Committee and ran the annual summer youth camps at Glenalmond.
Bishop Mark takes up this role as a Primate within the Anglican Communion at a point where the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church has voted to permit same sex marriage, a decision which is expected to be on the agenda of the forthcoming Primates Meeting in Canterbury, a meeting which Bishop Mark will attend.
published in Inspires Online
The Kyiv Classic Accordion Duo are making their tenth visit to St Finnbarr’s on Wednesday 26th July. Their concert will start at 7:30pm and there will be a retiring collection for the charity HIPPOKRAT.
About the Kyiv Classical Accordion Duo:
In 2006 Igor and Oleksiy finished studying in the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev. However they began to perform professionally from 2002. Oleksiy plays in the Orchestra of the National Radio of Ukraine; Igor works in the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. They decided to give the name Kyiv Duo Classic to the duo. However this does not mean that Igor and Oleksiy perform only classical music; programmes of their concerts include music of Bach, Grieg, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov as well as traditional Ukrainian and Russian music. Two contemporary button accordions make it possible to produce a sound like a small squeezebox and at the same time, like big church organ, a string quartet and even an orchestra.
About their charity – HIPPOKRAT:
One of the main purposes of the Kyiv Classic Accordion Duo 2009 UK tour is to raise money for the HIPPOKRAT Society of Mothers of Disabled Children who suffered as a result of the explosion in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Energy Plant. The Chernigiv region suffered most from the radiation fall out and since 1986 a large number of children have been born with mental and physical problems. Many of these children are now young adults.
As Oleksiy explains:
“There are at least 1000 invalid children in Chernigiv which has a total population of around 320,000 and unfortunately, these children get no real support from the state. The mother of a disabled child usually needs to be with the child all the time, so she cannot earn money. That is why the Society of Mothers of Disabled Children, HIPPOKRAT, was founded more than 15 years ago”.
“The task of HIPPOKRAT is to provide families with invalid children with food, medicine and money. HIPPOKRAT also organises different events and parties with presents for children. It is not a commercial organisation. It is run by 10 women led by Valentina Frol. They do not receive any money for their job and all of them have disabled children”.
Scottish Episcopal Church - Dornoch, Lairg, Brora, Tain & Tongue 