Forum Focus The magazine of Leith Churches Forum
2013 Vol. 47/13
September
From the Chair Rev Iain May, Chair Leith Church’s Forum Dear Friends, September is upon us and it was that great comedy actor Groucho Marx who said that his favourite quote/poem was: ’Thirty days has September’ because it actually tell you something! We do live in a world where we receive vast amount of information from many diverse sources. In our 24/7 world we do seem to be overloaded with information. Well I hope this edition of Forum Focus will not be discarded as just another bit of useless information and that you will take time to read what is going on within the Church in Leith. I do hope it will tell you something about the life of the Church here in our community and I do hope that there will be something within all that is happening in Leith that you may feel you can help with. LCF is developing a number of initiatives and the one taking up quite a bit of time at present is the imminent opening of a Food Bank. The Food Bank will be launched on Sunday 6th October when the four congregations within the Forum will hold their Harvest Festival Service. This will be an opportunity for all to hear and contribute to this much needed and worthwhile initiative. The Food Bank will be open for operation from Monday 14th October when we will be starting to give out essential food packs to those in need within our community. So please support this new initiative in whatever way you can. Can you volunteer at one of the locations where the food bank will be operating? Can you give some time to help pack the food boxes at the warehouse in North Leith Parish Church? Can you give some food or money towards this initiative? The church is alive and in many ways thriving in Leith. I want to encourage you all to see where you can help keep and indeed make, the Lord’s Church a strong and prophetic voice right in the heart of our community. So I do hope that this edition of Forum Focus, in Groucho Marx’s words, ‘tell you something’. With my blessings
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Pilrig St. Paul’s update John Innes, Session Clerk Our vacancy continues… We are right in the middle of hearing applicants and interviewing them so hopefully we can produce a sole nominee in the fairly near future. The whole process seems to take forever. It was October 2012 when John Tait retired and now, in August 2013 we’re just completing the interviews. All the other LCF churches will well know the length of time it takes to produce a nominee, have them preach, vote on it, get everything ratified by Presbytery and then induct them to the charge. The last month has been very busy for the nomination committee which has meant that they have not been able to worship in their own church for most of July; it will be good to get back to ‘normal’. The most recent development at Pilrig St. Paul’s has been the creation of our Pastoral Care Team – called ‘Helping Hands’, the team is encouraging everyone in the congregation to get involved in Pastoral Care by filling in cards or contacting the team to identify people in the congregation who might appreciate some contact from the church – be it a card or a phone call or flowers or a visit from the team or the minister. It’s great to see this getting off the ground, it’s been a long time in the planning and I’d like to thank Linda Gill and Catriona Blackwood for taking the lead on this. We are now into the Festival season which sees the opening of the Pilrig Parlour which runs from 5 August to 24 August serving refreshments and light lunches to visitors and congregation. This project has been running for more than 30 years and has been a much needed source of income and of outreach to the community for all that time. The Pilrig Parlour cannot run without a small army of helpers to make and serve the food so I’d like to thank all of them in advance! The church hall has been in use during the festival as Venue 103, the Pilrig Studio where the American High School Theatre Festival were once again producing a series of excellent shows, all performed by school age kids from the USA. Later in the three week period, Music Bugs was performing ‘Bugs, Beasts and Bairns’ for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers from 19-21 August. We continue in our vacancy with the services of Rev Sara Embleton as our locum. Sara is making a great impact on the congregation providing support to those in need and inspiration from her preaching. We are thankful for all her hard work which might be in the final months as we draw nearer to a sole nominee.
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Leith St Andrew’s Church update Val MacIntosh, Session Clerk Folk from Leith believe they are a different breed from those of Scotland’s capital city, immensely proud of their heritage, friendly folk with strong feelings of togetherness, of caring, of welcoming and of support for each other as well as our neighbours. A bit like the folk of Leith St Andrew’s church. So how do we love and care for the folk of Leith? Every week we open the church buildings’ doors to welcome 400 adults and children. Church is certainly not just on a Sunday !! Children’s Groups For the youngest we have St Andy’s Teeny Tots and the Playgroup. Neil, our Youth Worker, organises Kid’s Club (P1-4),Tuesday Club (P5-7), (both with waiting lists ), Sunday Club and of course the very successful Messy Church, and a Youth Club. There are the uniformed groups - Rainbows, Brownies, Guides (all well supported ) and BBs . We also welcome a Craft theatre group and a dance school . Not So Young There are a whole range of activities including line dancing, music group, pipe band, Probus,Trefoil Guild, Young at Heart Group and Oasis of Peace. Outwith the church there is a bowling club and a badminton club .Tempo theatre group also rehearse here. But it’s not just in our church - we take our involvement into the Wider Community. We support Bethany with the Care Van, the Night Shelter, The Christmas Coffee and Carols Evening and our flat in Albert Street rented to Bethany at a peppercorn rate. LCT - we are involved in knitting woolly hats and wrapping Christmas parcels for seafarers . LCF - together with the 3 CofS congregations we participate in Leith Festival tea tent and stalls, we have combined services, support the LCF junior choir, and are now involved in a new venture - a Community Food Bank, a wonderful project to assist those struggling in the economic climate. We also support Christian Aid and other charities while the Sunday Club are supporting the Vine Trust . There is contact with the local primaries, special school and high school some of whom hold services in the church . Special mention to our deacon, Pauline, who provides excellent pastoral care visiting the housebound, old folks homes and hospitals . Further afield we also support George Shand and his wife, our missionary partners in Jerusalem. Our Buildings We have had a massive amount of structural work - guttering, stonework and dry rot eradication. It is indeed a blessing that money has been available for these extensive repairs and to create a lovely modern kitchen on their 4
completion. This has been possible with the sale of StT,JR to a Turkish group for an Islamic place of worship . The Fundraising Team through many events have raised money for slabbing and fencing outside the church while Jim Paterson one of our members donated many plants as well as giving of his time and expertise to create a marvelous transformation in the church garden. This is even more outstanding now the warmer weather has come and the plants have had a chance to grow and bloom . Our Vacancy Process During our vacancy process LSA was blessed with the appointment of our locum, Sara Embleton a warm, energetic, approachable and friendly lady with a lovely sense of humour and a great ability to relate to everyone, to participate in so many of our groups and to spread the love of Jesus everywhere. The Nominating Committee, voted for by ourselves, comprised a real cross section of the congregation who worked so successfully together supported and guided by Russel Moffet as Interim Moderator. After interviewing and hearing Rob Mackenzie preach the Nominating Committee invited him to preach as Sole Nominee for Leith St Andrew’s church and as we say “ the rest is history”. After a great Induction Service we are delighted that Rob is now minister of Leith St Andrew’s. Next Steps We have a new ministry. We’re grateful we’re excited, we’re enthusiastic we’re also confident of God’s presence, His support, His love. As it states in our Trustees Annual report under Mission and Purpose “We desire that our church will always be a place of welcome. Our purpose is to love God and love our neighbours”. Christian Resources Exhibition Scotland 2013 – Royal HighlandCentre,Edinburgh 27th & 28th November 2013 We are currently developing the exhibition and the exhibition programme which will include: a unique exhibition of Christian resources with an anticipated150+ exhibitors; an extensive range of books, music and resources to buy; the latest multimedia equipment & expert advice; over 40 practical and resourcing seminars; the best in Christian theatre and music. In fact, no other event provides such a remarkable range of seminars, workshops, theatre and church resources this event is truly an experience not to be missed. Please check back later in 2013 to see the full programme - See more at: http://www.creonline.co.uk/visitors/edinburgh-2013visitor/#sthash.QVPl7Kzh.dpuf
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‘Stormy Waters and Jubilee Hope’ Rev. Iain May Dear Friends, In June I was asked to use my skills from my previous professional life. The Vine Trust is a charity that provides medical ships and medical and dental ship based clinics to communities on the Amazon River. They currently have two ships doing this valuable work. The ‘Jubilee Hope’ is their third ship. In 2014 it will be sailing to Tanzania and then overland to Lake Victoria to provide much needed medical and dental help to the many lake based communities. However, before all this happens it had to be brought back from Gibraltar to Greenock, to be fitted out with the operating theatres and other medical and dental support facilities. In early June I was approached by the Vine Trust to ‘skipper’ the boat back from Gibraltar. So, after a few delays, I joined the ship and along with five others we sailed ‘Jubilee Hope’ out of the Portuguese port of Sines, northwards towards the UK. The weather forecast was fine but with all weather forecasts, especially in relation to the sea, things can change very quickly. Well they certainly did! We had been at sea for three days and were nearing the northern end of the Bay of Biscay when a storm was forecast within the next 24 hours. So what do you do in such circumstances? Do you continue on your course and hope all will be well? Do you stop and turn tail and head away and avoid the storm? Or do you look for and seek a safe refuge and safe harbour to go to, then allow the storm to blow over and then resume your journey? Well I decided to seek a safe harbour, first and foremost to ensure that the crew and the ship got the relief and rest required, so both would be able and willing to continue the journey to Greenock . I enjoyed being back at sea, it gave me a great deal of time to reflect and take a rest, in some ways, from the day to day work of Ministry. Yet ship life, especially being the ‘skipper’, can have similar obligations and responsibilities that a minister has for his or her congregation and parish. They both need looking after, they both at times look to the ‘skipper’ for direction and reassurance. They both look for their ship to be steered in safe way and in a direction they agree with and understand. They both know that there is a destination for them. They both understand that before they reach their destination there will be hopefully mostly calm seas but also a few stormy ones as well. Sometimes these stormy seas occur without prior notice. It is at these times that the ‘skipper’ needs to be there for his or her crew.In The Church of Scotland in Leith we would be naive to think that we will never have to face a ‘stormy sea’. That we will never have to steer a course some of us may feel uncomfortable with or travel through seas that toss us and disturb our sleep and day to day living. continued on page 9
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Some services & events in the Forum congregations that you are welcome to attend. Remembrance services will be held in each of the congregations at 10.50am on Sunday 10th November. Joint LCF Seafarers' Service at 11am on 17th November at South Leith Parish Church. Scottish Merchant Navy memorial service at 1.30pm on 17th November at the Shore. Leith Churches Forum Congregation Conference. A conference is being held on Saturday 7th September in North Leith Parish Church from 9:30 am until 12:30 pm. This is an opportunity for the members of the four Church of Scotland congregations to come together and discuss and explore the way forward for our faith community in Leith. There will be an opportunity for group discussion and a presentation on Generational Theory which may help us identify how we may attract more members across the age ranges to our church. Please come along and be part of the voice of the Church of Scotland in Leith. Leith St. Andrew's Messy Church meets on the last Thursday of each month for a fun and noisy time for young families (please check if on in July). Arts, crafts, games, stories and singing rounded off with a light tea. Oasis of Peace at Leith St Andrew's: Our quiet reflective prayer services Wednesday at 10.15am. A time of peace, worshipping, sharing and praying followed by a cuppa and chat. We meet in the Church. All are welcome. St Andy's Teeny Tots currently meets every alternate Wednesday afternoon in the Lochend Road Hall at Leith St Andrew's from 2pm 3pm for fun for babies and toddlers and their parents/carers. Cost is £1 per session which includes tea/coffee for parents and a healthy snack for the children. We now have a waiting list so if you want to join the list or to check dates please email us at standysteenytots@gmail.com Young at Heart meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 2-4pm. All in receipt of a senior bus pass welcome for fun and fellowship – you don't need to be a member of Lst.A's. South Leith Worship at One at South Leith church every Thursday at 1pm – prayers for the community and the world. Pilrig St. Paul's Open Doorway Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 1pm. Serving tea / coffee and biscuits. All welcome to pop in. Perc -U -up cafe at South Leith halls, Henderson Street. Open from 9.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday. Hot meals served until 2pm. Carry out facilities available. Lunch Club available for any senior citizen from 11.30am. Leith 7
Churches Outreach Project Jennifer Stark Ocean Terminal Back last December, I was invited, with some other community groups, to an evening event organised by the management of OT, and by their new (2012) owners, Resolution Property. The stated purpose of the event was to connect more with the Leith community, and Rev. Andrew McMillan (chair of LCT) and I attended. There was discussion about the developments Resolution planned for the mall (some of which are now in progress) and several of the guests, including myself, raised the question of a dedicated community noticeboard. I also mentioned to one of the Resolution people the so-called ‘Forum’ unit which Leith Churches Together, among others, had used in the early 2000s. I was very pleased to see that this same unit (on the first floor near Debenhams) has been made available again as a Community Space for groups, although at present it’s not generally open to the public. We have one or two ideas as to how we might use it; watch this space (or come with a suggestion!) Sometimes an unexpected conversation in the middle of a chaplaincy slot reminds you of the wider picture. One such was with a young woman from Northern Ireland, who remarked to me that she had found Edinburgh more ‘bigoted’ when she came here than she’d expected; I won’t go into details, but she was surprised and impressed to hear that the work we do in Ocean Terminal and in the port of Leith has support from so many churches across the religious spectrum. Anyone who has travelled in Ireland knows how, despite the more settled times, there are reminders everywhere of the bitterness of the past and the present. Everything we do here – joint worship, joint study, joint projects – which brings us together for the good of the community and the wider Church, is prophetic, and as Fr. Denis said in the St Mary’s/South Leith Easter service, brings joy to our Lord. LCT AGM. There was a good attendance at the LCT AGM, hosted by St Mary’s, and we were especially pleased to welcome Rev. Ian Boa, assistant general secretary of ACTS (Action of Churches Together in Scotland), as a guest. LCT is in good shape and anyone with an idea for a project or activity with an ecumenical dimension is welcome to approach the Committee for support. Our speaker, the Rev. Michael Northcott (New College, and St James’ Episcopal Church) spoke on ‘Land, Liberty and Love in a time of crisis’, weaving together the themes of port, poetry and shopping mall with the ecological and political dimension. Worship was led by Marguerite and Anthony Kramers (St Mary’s) and Eric Fisher (Pilrig St Paul’s). Leith Churches Holiday Club. The theme this year was ‘Space Academy’ and took the story of Daniel as its focus. As always, the five mornings were busy, fun and a great success, with Hayley as an astronaut in training, Neil as Daniel, great craftwork organised by Christine and others, great music and 8
technical support from Andre Barbosa and others, and the drama of the Starship Persevere, travelling the Delta Quadrant (with guest appearance by Rev. Andrew McMillan as the Computer). There were 50-60 children from different schools in the area, some with a church connection, others for whom this would have been their first church contact. Look out for photos on the Holiday Club or LCT website, or on your church noticeboards. ‘Stormy Waters and Jubilee Hope’ continued from page 6 That is just life in the church, in our ever changing society and community. I want to assure you that I am happy to take the ‘helm’ in those times and in the calmer times. I will try my utmost to steer our ‘church ship’ in a direction that is faithful, first and foremost, to God but also on a course that we can all follow. I ‘skippered’ Jubilee Hope and her crew into a safe harbour and gave all the crew a time to reflect and have a rest before continuing on with the passage to Greenock. I would like you all to have a rest in the months of July and August and take time to reflect and sit in your own particular ‘safe harbour’ so that come September and the new session, we are all refreshed and ready to face all the challenges and joys that church life here in Leith has or will have, whatever the weather forecasts for us. www.vinetrust.org.uk
South Leith Christmas Fair Our bi-annual Christmas Fair will be held on Saturday 23rd November, from 10.00-1.30pm in the Church Halls, Henderson Street. All the usual favourite Stalls - Books,Bric-a-brac,Cake & Candy,Jewellery,Tombola and much more. Teas, scones and soup available.
The God Question A six-part DVD series exploring science, God, and the search for Truth. This takes place in the Session House (1a Madeira Place) at 6:30pm on the fourth Sunday of the month(25th August; 22nd September; 27th October; 24th November and 22nd December) and will usually be lead by Prof Calum MacKellar. Come along and watch and join in the discussion. Refreshments provided during the gathering. (Each night lasts between 60-75 minutes)
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3rd Leith BB War Memorial At the bottom of Easter Road beside the main entrance to the Church, you will find the Memorial Lamp commemorating the former members of the 3rd Leith BB Company who were killed in both the First and Second World Wars. There are 36 young men remembered on the WW1 plaque along with a further 12 who lost their lives in WW2. The lamp was unveiled and dedicated in July 1925, with the plaque for WW2 unveiled in May 1954. To the right is a photo showing the dedication in 1925. Unfortunately the memorial has fallen into disrepair over recent years the lamp head in particular is now in a dangerous state and has now been removed to prevent further damage. It is being stored safely. The Kirk Session has approved the complete refurbishment of the memorial with a view to restoring it to its former glory in time for the Centenary of the beginning of WW1 in 1914. Being very specialised work, it has proved difficult to get estimates but we have now approached The War Memorials Trust to apply for funding to help with the cost. We have been fortunate to still have the register for the 3rd Leith BB which has the names, dates of birth and addresses of many of the men on the memorial. One of our members has been researching these young men with a view to making up a memorial booklet. Some interesting, though inevitably sad, stories have already emerged. For example John Auld and Douglas Burke are just two of the many soldiers from the 7th battalion of The Royal Scots who died in the Gretna Green (Quintinshill) Rail disaster in May 1915 and are commemorated on the memorial at Rosebank. Alexander Badenoch Nicol had emigrated to America in September 1923 and married Edith Deardon. They had a daughter Marion around 1930. In June 1939 the family travelled to the UK and left again on the SS Athenia in September 1939. This ship was the first British ship to be sunk by the Germans in WW2 and sadly all three drowned. We are still looking at various sources of funding and are keen to involve the local and Church community as well. Were you a member of the 3rd Leith? Do you know anything about any of the men named on the memorial? Was one of the men related to you or a neighbour of your parents/grandparents? If anyone has any information or photos, please let us know. Any donations towards the refurbishment will be gladly received in due course. For further information please contact leithstandrews@yahoo.co.uk 10
PORT CHAPLAIN’S REPORT Tim Bell Thanks are due to the Forum for giving the Sailors’ Society and the Leith ship visiting project some space in the tent on the avenue in Princes Street Gardens at the beginning of Assembly week. South Leith’s visitors from Malawi were here that week, and I had the pleasure of taking them into the docks for a morning. It turned out that they had never, ever, been on a ship before. Standing on the bridge of a small coaster and looking towards the stern they asked, puzzled: ‘Does it drive in this direction?’ Unfamiliar with ships they may have been, but there was nothing missing in their ability to talk with the seafarers. They had a good conversation with an African seafarer who appreciated having someone from his own continent to talk with. A good deal of effort has gone into welcoming the seafarers on the cruise ships that come in to Western Harbour. Several ships have called several times, and we have been able to form some friendships and anticipate what they will want us to do. The simplest thing, of course, is sim cards and topups for various networks, but we also carry other little things: reading material, sometimes Bibles, some in their own language, and the everpopular woolly hats. But it is really the visit itself that is most appreciated, with a smile and a chat, with some news or local information, or hearing about someone’s concerns or enthusiasms. We will never see some of the ships again, but we hope to make Leith a happy memory in long contracts in which all days follow the same routines. Forth Ports has installed free wifi, available 24 hours, in the terminal building, and that is much appreciated by the crews, who take an opportunity to talk or Skype with their families. August is a busy month, and the last cruise liner comes in at the end of September. Meanwhile, Leith continues to act as a small cargo port (Grangemouth takes a far greater volume these days). The men who bring the wheat, and maize, and cement, and rock salt, and take away the scrap and the steel pipes, are almost exclusively non-British. With the North Sea oilfield busy at this time of year, we don’t see so many off-shore vessels, but they, too, have very few if any British seafarers. Many of them ask for the ‘Club’, but there isn’t one here - there aren’t enough sea1farers to justify it, unlike the bigger ports. So any support is down to me and two volunteers who take the van, and we do what we can. Without claiming any credit for ourselves, we know that it is appreciated, and for our part, it is a privilege to meet such a wide range of people from around the world; ordinary, working people who land on our shore. And we thank you, the congregations, for your support of us. 11
Your Representatives Co-ordinating Team Lily Gilhooly Margaret Gray Anne Lamont Stuart Lithgow Valarie McIntosh Rev. Alex McAspurren Rev. Rob MacKenzie Rev Iain May(chair) Mark Wexelstein (treasurer)
Forum Focus Team PSP SL NL Lst.A LSt.A NL Lst.A SL PSP
Joanne Baird Ian Bethune Stuart Duffus (editor) Isobel Evans Jimmy Hudson Sigrid Lithgow
LSt.A PSP SL SL NL LSt.A
Information about Leith Churches Forum can be found at our web site at htt://leithchurchesforum.org.uk/
Feedback or articles and information for the December Focus should be given to your representative by 31st October for the editor. Alternatively e- mail to the editor at stuart@duffus.org.
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