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| | | | MAY 2010 | | | Last summer when away on holiday, there were several places where the ship made its tentative way through navigation routes around countless small islands. Some were forested and some were just rocky outcrops. Some showed the devastation of the winter storms and others, in more sheltered bays, seemed serene and untroubled by the world as the cruise ships sailed by.
We are rapidly approaching the time when the numbers attending church begin to drop off as the warmer weather and longer days encourage people to get away for the weekend. During the quieter months, the attendance at church reminds me of those islands dotted around.
The largest attendance at church this year so far was on Palm Sunday when there were between 100 and 120 people present. The smallest attendance was on the first Sunday of the year when there were only about 40 people.
In a church that seats nearly 500 people, you can see why there doesn't have to be a big drop in numbers for the island imagery to become appropriate particularly when people always sit in the same place.
We are all creatures of habit and we like our 'own' pew! However, might I suggest that during the quieter summer months we might see a greater sense of community prevailing and some people exploring other pews which might just be as nice as 'our' pew. It is also a good way to get to know the people who sit in other parts of the church.
Go on, be adventurous - try a new pew! | | |
| | | | FEBRUARY 2010 | | |  | Five years ago, we asked the question "What do we want to look like when we are 150?". Well, we are in our 151st year now and have to ask "How have we done?". | | | |  | We now have truly excellent facilities in the Tennant Hall, thanks to the hard work of Donald McNeill and the Property Committee. Now we need to pay for it! we have continued to develop the programme with Youth and Children and Simon is doing sterling work in this area. | | | | | Every member of the congregation has been invited to a social evening in the Manse and that was particularly enjoyable, though we need to start again since there have been new members join us since. | | | | | The Junior Church is thriving though we still aren't enticing the teenagers into church. | | | | | The Committee Structure of both the Kirk Session and Church Committee (Executive) have been reviewed and changed and it has now settled into a much better working plan, though more work is needed in this area to involve more people in the activity of the congregation. | | | | | There is a stable and loyal group attending Bible Study. Attendance at our Sunday services has picked up and now averages around 110 each Sunday and the coffee each Sunday encourages more conversation and dialogue. It is a good way to get to know new members. | | | |  | This is only a brief outline of the major successes of the last five years. Much more has been accomplished quietly and subtly and we are hardly aware of it. As we settle down to write the next 5 year plan (as now required by the General Assembly!), we need to build on what we have achieved and consider what our goals should be from here on. |
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| | | | DECEMBER 2009 | | |  I am sure in many households enormous care and thought is going into composing the all-important letter to Santa and I have no doubt that those requests will change several times between now and Christmas Eve. At the Bible Study, we have looked at the presents brought to the stable in Bethlehem by the wise men from the east - Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. To this day, gold retains its value and those who have "unwanted" gold are being urged to post it in for a cash return - a recession beating item!
| | | Frankincense is less familiar to us in the west. I watched with interest some of the BBC programme "The Frankincense Road" and learnt much more about this elusive substance, which in past times created vast wealth for some and is still used in the Middle East much as it was in the time of Jesus. Frankincense is the resin of a tree found in the Middle East, Ethiopia and Somalia and has always been connected to sacred rites. It was also used as a medicine for a whole range of complaints and diseases. In Exodus 30:38, there is a recipe for making frankincense though it was utterly forbidden to use it for anything other than sacred rites! | |
 Above: frankincense (light) and myrrh (dark). | | | Myrrh is also made from the resin of a tree, this time from the Commiphoro Tree. This tree is found in Arabia, Abyssinia and India and was also used in many sacred ceremonies as a medicine. It was a luxury trade item and in the New Testament, it is associated with embalming. All three of the gifts symbolised wealth and generosity on the part of the Magi but even those gifts cannot begin to compare with the wealth of the gift God gave us in the child born in the manger. The coming of Jesus brought us wealth untold and riches beyond measure. Nothing we can bring as a gift to Jesus can compare except the gift of our hearts and minds and souls in faithful love and service. |
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| | | | NOVEMBER 2009 | | | Halloween and All Saints’ Day I can’t say I am a fan of Halloween. As a child in England the focus was on Bonfire Night when we would duck and bob for apples and let off fireworks. “Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.” Halloween has roots in the Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’ which means ‘Summer’s end’. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the world of the dead became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. In the 8th and 9th centuries the Popes tried to supplant it with the Christian holiday of All Saints’ Day but eventually the two holidays were separated and the 31st of October became ‘All Hallows Eve’, hence the word Halloween, and the 1st of November became ‘All Saint’s Day’. In the Apostles Creed we find the phrase, [I believe in] “the communion of saints” and the Westminster Confession of Faith speaks of the ‘communion of saints’. “All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory. And, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.” “The fellowship of the Christian with Christ is both the basis and the bond of [our] fellowship with other Christians. Christians are "united to one another in love"- the same kind of love by which they are united to Christ, not a love based on mutual attraction or affinity or congeniality (for then it would be very restricted in scope), but a love which overcomes divisions and reconciles contraries and brings into communion those who have nothing in common save the fact that Christ gave himself for them.” (The Westminster Confession for Today by George S. Hendrey). As you can see I prefer All Saints’ Day! | | |
| | | | OCTOBER 2009 | | | ‘Curiosity killed the cat!’ - an old expression, which is frequently heard when children get too close to the truth and parents want to deflect them. However curiosity has been the source of many life saving discoveries. What’s in that mould? – Penicillin. What’s beyond that mountain range? - a rich and fertile land. What’s on the moon? – a space race that brought us Teflon and lightweight, versatile metals. I doubt if there are many people who have not wondered about the ‘life hereafter.’ One thing is certain we shall all find out sometime. Until that happens how about being curious about the ‘life here and now.’ Jesus often said to his followers told his followers that that had eyes and ears but they couldn’t see and couldn’t hear. When was the last time you felt that deep sense of awe as you looked out at a beautiful landscape? How long is it since you glimpsed or felt the tranquil heart of God holding you securely in his arms? It can take a fresh pair of eyes to stir our imaginations once more and help us recapture that first-time sense of wonderment. “My thoughts,” says the Lord, “are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.”” (Isaiah 55 v 8-9) These words from Isaiah are a constant reminder of the sheer ‘otherness’ of God whose greatness is beyond words, whose awesomeness defies expression; who is more powerful, more caring, more gracious, more good than the human mind can ever comprehend. Glimpse that, and once more we find ourselves catching our breath in sheer amazement and kneeling in joyful worship.
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“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 - 1882 | 
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| | | | SEPTEMBER 2009 | | | "Summer suns" have begun to "glow" as we gear up for the autumn and winter programme in the congregation. Such is life! The children are back in school and we slip back in the routine of ordinary life. However, for CCR this coming autumn and winter is far from routine, as we have a busy programme of activities celebrating our sesquicentennial. I hope you have all the dates in your diaries! Simon and the Youth and Family team have great plans for the Youth and Family centre in the Tennant Hall. These are outlined in the Order of Service each week. "Cornerstone" is renewing itself and September's copy is the first expression of that renewal. Cornerstone is only as interesting as the contributions you make to it! Please let Audrey have your 'copy' by the right dates each month (see Noticeboard). | | |
| | | | MAY 2009 | | | This past month has been one of the busiest months that I can remember in the congregation. It started with the first of the major 150th Anniversary events – ‘Celebrating Scripture and Music’. Carol Bechtel and her husband Tom joined us on the 1st April and Carol led three very inspiring Bible Studies over the next three evenings. Whilst the numbers were rather disappointing there was enthusiastic agreement that, if the opportunity presented itself, she would receive a warm welcome back. I certainly won’t listen to Brahms Requiem again without thinking of the evenings spent with her and reflecting on her insights to both the scriptures and to the music. Her question “Are you a tourist or a pilgrim?” is certainly one to challenge us all. The ‘Sing the Easter Story’ with the St. Cecilia Singers was a fitting climax to the week. This was an entirely new venture and the singers were ‘brave’ to take on the uncertainty of the event. It was a wonderful evening and the St. Cecilia Singers showed us the way. Needless to say I was indebted to others for their musical expertise. Then the month drew to a close with the Rachel Allen Cookery Demonstration. Rachel grew up in our congregation and it was lovely to see four generations of the O’Neill family together. Shelia O’Neill is the ‘matriarch’ of our congregation being our oldest member. Brian, her son, was our FWO recorder for more than thirty years. Rachel, Brian’s daughter was the star performer for the evening and she was indeed a ‘star’ and Rachel’s daughter, Scarlet was also on hand to ‘watch’ her mother! The generous support of Mint Productions and the sponsorship of Glanbia, added to the ticket sales, meant that we made a good dent in the debt on the Tennant Hall (but only a dent - there’s more to be done!). Events such as those we held in April depend upon the support of the whole congregation and the hard work of those organising and leading. Thank you to everyone who gave of their time and their talent to make April such a success. | | |
| | | | APRIL 2009 | | | WEALTH What is wealth? Now there is a question worthy of considerable thought. The traditional view is of personal money and possessions. Countries are always assessing their ‘natural’ wealth, their deposits of gold and silver, coal and oil, or fertile land. But what is wealth? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder perhaps wealth is not entirely dissimilar. What is a multimillion-euro yacht actually worth if you live thousands of miles from the sea? What use is the best and most expensive tractor and plough if you live on a small island devoid of arable land? This week the G20 is meeting in London, and the reports of what the security measures are going to cost the British taxpayer have been hitting the headlines. Apparently President Barack Obama has 500 aides and secret service personnel accompanying him and the Indian Prime Minister has brought his own ambulance! This speaks of wealth but there is a difference between wealth and power. Wealth can buy a transient power but the most powerful person who ever lived had neither wealth nor power in earthly terms. Just read a few things he had to say about wealth:- Matthew 6:19-21 19"Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21For your heart will always be where your riches are. Matthew 6:28 - 29 28"And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. Luke 16:9-13 9And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. 10Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. 11If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? 12And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you? 13"No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a servant will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Let us hope that as the G20 nations meet to resolve the world’s problems they will not loose sight of the reality that for many millions of people wealth would be food to eat and clean water to drink, and luxury would be a school for their children to go to and some health care for them when they are sick. As Easter approaches let us remember what it ‘cost’ and recognize the wealth contained in the gift. | | |
| | | | MARCH 2009 | | | “Don’t Call Me A Stranger: The Cry Of A Migrant”
Don’t call me a stranger: the language I speak sounds different but the feelings it expresses are the same.
Don’t call me a stranger: I need to communicate, especially when language is not understood. Don’t call me a stranger: I need to be together, especially when loneliness cools my heart. Don’t call me a stranger: I need to feel at home, especially when mine is very far away from yours. Don’t call me a stranger: I need a family because mine I’ve left to work for yours. Don’t call me a stranger: the soil we step on is the same but mine is not ‘the promised land’. Don’t call me a stranger: the colour of my passport is different but the colour of our blood is the same. Don’t call me a stranger: I toil and struggle in your land and the sweat of our brows is the same. Don’t call me a stranger: borders, we created them and the separation that results is the same. Don’t call me a stranger: I am just your friend but you do not know yet. Don’t call me a stranger: we cry for justice and peace in different ways but our God is the same. | | | National Council of Churches India © ‘Let Justice Roll Down’ A Christian Aid / CAFOD Anthology for Lent, Holy Week and Easter. | |  |
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| | | | FEBRUARY 2009 | | | As I sit at my desk looking out at the snow covered garden I think ‘how pretty it is’! As I sit in a car creeping along snow covered roads, I think ‘how awful it is’! It is the same day and the same beauty/ugliness. The sky is low, the clouds are mean, A travelling flake of snow Across a barn or through a rut Debates if it will go. A narrow wind complains all day How someone treated him; Nature, like us, is sometimes caught Without her diadem. Emily Dickenson
| | | O the snow, the beautiful snow, Filling the sky and the earth below. Over the house tops, over the street, Over the heads of the people you meet, Dancing, Flirting, Skimming along, Beautiful snow, it can do no wrong.
John W Watson
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| It all depends where we are as to which of these two snippets of verse is an accurate interpretation of the current weather conditions! But then isn’t that true of life. We have our ‘beautiful’ days and we have our ‘ugly’ days. How often when we have a ‘beautiful’ day do we remember to give thanks to God? How often when we are having an ‘ugly’ day do we seek God out and ask him to make it better? ‘Beautiful’ or ‘ugly’ God walks each day with us. “The Lord guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him. If they fall they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up.” Psalm 37 v 23-24
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| | | | JANUARY 2009 | | | A PRAYER FOR THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY by Yvonne Morland God of many names
Revealed and hidden
We welcome you
In our midst.
Bring to our lives
The oil of justice
The lamp of truth. Strengthen us as we meet
In fellowship and doubt
Guard us with Your cherishing embrace. Challenge us as we engage
In dialogue and debate,
Provoking us to undermine
Walls of division between us Remind us to listen
More than we speak;
To be open to receive
More than we can to give. Inspire us on the journey
With the vision of Christ’s passion
To bring light to the world
And glad hearts to those in mourning. As we wait for the breath
Of the spirit to fill us,
Keep us ever ready to prophesy
To see visions and to dream dreams. As we rejoice in the tasks
Which are before us,
Walk beside us through our darkness
So that, in You, we will not fail.
© Hay and Stardust by Ruth Burgess 2005 Wild Goose Publications
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