Clergy and others in the Diocese have contributed a series of Daily Reflections, Photos and a Piece of Music for each day of December up until 25th. These are delivered in the form of an Advent Calendar which is entitled “Journeying through Advent“.
“Always be rejoicing. Give thanks for everything.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18
How grateful are you? Is it possible to live a life of gratitude in an age of entitlement?
Gratitude helps us to focus on the positive, recognising all the blessings in our lives and can help us get closer to God. The Bible has plenty to say about gratitude, even when people are faced with struggles and suffering.
Gratitude is our rightful response to all that God is and has done for us. The Bible shows us that becoming a grateful person begins with the recognition that the God who owes us nothing has given us everything.
This Advent, our study groups explore the theme of gratitude in the Scriptures, and how gratitude is an attitude that is key to our discipleship and Christian witness and that we need to cultivate. The aim of this three session study is to help us develop thankful hearts, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
The Study Groups will meet on Wednesdays 6th, 13th and 20th December
Afternoons from 1:30-3:00pm at James and Anna’s house in Spinningdale
Evenings from 7:00-8:30pm online on Zoom
More details (including Zoom link) from Canon James
Sunday 1st October is the day when our congregations celebrate their Harvest Festivals.
There will be services as follows:
St Maelrubha’s, Lairg (in Lairg Church of Scotland) at 8:30am
St Finnbarr’s, Dornoch at 11:00am
St Andrew’s, Tain at 11:00am – followed by a ‘Bring and Share‘ Harvest Lunch (this is also a ‘Bring a friend to Church‘ Sunday in St Andrew’s)
All are welcome, just come along.
Harvest Festival
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God
Our Study Group for the Season of Creation (the month of September) this year will be based around some ideas that Canon James has been exploring in relation to Liturgical Revision to make “Thankfulness for ALL of God’s gifts to us in Creation” more central, as it used to be in the early liturgies of the Christian Church.
There will be four sessions each lasting a little over an hour, one after each of the midweek services in St Andrew’s Tain Hall (Thursdays starting at 6:45pm) on:
7th Sept – Cycles, Seasons and Humanity’s Ingenuity
14th Sept – Resurrection and Salvation
21st Sept – Creation and Revelation
28th Sept – Liturgy and Thankfulness
The sessions will be semi-independent, so you are welcome even if you can’t manage all of them. The mid-week Eucharist (at 6pm) will be integral to the final session (on 28th Sept) and with +Mark’s permission, we will be using Bishop Thomas Rattray’s 1744 recreation of The Ancient Liturgy of the Church in Jerusalem. If you wish any more information, speak to or contact Canon James.
Every September you can explore hundreds of fascinating buildings across Scotland for free. Some open up once a year, some just once in a lifetime. As it is such a diverse region, the Highlands is split into three areas across three weekends. Inverness, the Black Isle, and Easter Ross is Weekend One (2nd and 3rd September), Caithness and Sutherland are Weekend Three (16th and 17th September)
The theme for this year is ‘Living Heritage’ so the focus is on the crafts, traditions, and practices of the people of the Highlands – both past and present – and how these traditions continue nowadays. In that context, St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Tain will be open on both days as follows:
Saturday 2nd September – 10am until 4pm for visitors
Sunday 3rd September – 10:30am until 12:30pm for worship and fellowship (visitors most welcome) and again 2pm – 4pm for visitors.
On both days, we will offer refreshments and the opportunity to look round the building either using a specially prepared guide booklet or by being shown highlights by a member of the congregation.
There is some very fine Stained Glass by Ballantine and Gardiner, A. L. Ward, W. Wilson and E. B. Souden
The Musicians Window
Mousey Thompson Furnishings
Our lovely unaltered 1914 C & F Hamilton (Edinburgh) organ
Yesterday evening our friends from the Ukraine, the Kyiv Classic Accordion Duo made their fourteenth visit to St Finnbarr’s to enthral all who heard them with skill and virtuosity and raise money for the victims of the war in Ukraine.
They played a varied concert of classical and folk music by a whole host of composers: Vivaldi, Widor, Albinoni, Bizet, Piazzolla, Zubitsky, Vlasov and Sarasate. And the very appreciative audience collected the staggering sum of over £1000 for the boys to take back with them to help just a little back home in Ukraine.
Igor and Oleksiy studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev and began to perform professionally in 2002. Oleksiy plays in the Orchestra of the National Radio of Ukraine; Igor works in the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. They have been back on tour now every year since 2009 (except the COVID years) and now of course there is the war in Ukraine and the victims of that tragedy, the beneficiaries of this year’s tour.
Using two contemporary button accordions this pair can make the sound of a small squeezebox, a big church organ, a string quartet and even an orchestra playing such a variety of musical styles that at time it took our breath away. Thanks very much to Igor and Olesky, to the ‘St Finnbarr’s elves for organising and providing refreshments and to the audience for their generosity.
Ukrainian Accordionists
Prayer for all in Ukraine
We pray for Igor and Oleskiy, their families and friends, those supported by their charity work and all the people of Ukraine in this time of danger, fear and conflict.
Lord of all the earth, be present with the people of Ukraine at this time of danger, fear, and conflict. Grant that wise and peaceable counsels may yet prevail, and give to all suffering nations the freedom they desire and deserve. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Holy God,
We hold before you all who live close to war and conflict; and all who live close to the threat of war and violence. We remember especially at this time, people in Ukraine and Russia. We pray for nonviolence and peaceful resolutions of conflict. Give us hearts of hospitality and sanctuary, forgive us all our hostility and hatred. Bring all people to the humanity you give us, and to the reconciliation and healing for which you gave your life. Strengthen us all to work with you to build justice and peace, reconciliation and healing, in our hearts and homes, in our streets, in all communities, neighbourhoods and nations. Bless all who live lives for the peace and wellbeing of others, and make their service fruitful. In the name of Christ. Amen.
James and Simon are involved in leading Songs of Praise next Sunday evening. It would be great if you could come and support Golspie Gala week by raising your beautiful voices in song! We are singing good old favourites like ‘How Great Thou Art’ and ‘Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer’ – all the tunes will be familiar to you! How fantastic it would be to let Golspie hear that the message of the gospel is very much alive in our area!
Beautiful Daffodils, Refreshments with Home Baking, Homemade cakes to buy, Guess the Sweeties in the Tin, Craft Stalls, Daffodils for Sale, Raffle, Lucky Squares, Preserves Stall, Plant Stall, Book Stall.
Fun for all the family
Donations Welcome
Organised by the Tain and Dornoch Firth Fundraising Group in aid of Marie Curie which provides care and support through terminal illness.
Scottish Episcopal Church - Dornoch, Lairg, Brora, Tain & Tongue 