PILRIG ST PAUL’S CHURCH MARCH 2018 1
PILRIG ST. PAUL’S CHURCH EDINBURGH
A Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance Sunday 22 April 2018 at 2:30 pm ALL ARE WELCOME 2
PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH MARCH 2018 Friday 2nd March. Community Cinema Adult showing 6.30pm Saturday 3rd March Family showing 10.30am See page 7 Sunday 4th March 11 am Morning Worship Tuesday 6th March 1- 4pm Roofbreakers See inside back cover Thursday 8th March 10.30am Pastoral Care Planning meeting Session House 7.30pm Foodbank Volunteers meeting South Leith Parish Church Halls Sunday 11th March 11 am Morning Worship Tuesday 13th March 2 pm The Guild: Beetle Drive Tickets priced £3 can be obtained from Committee Members Wednesday 14th March 1 pm Leith Churches Together Ecumenical Service in Pilrig St Paul’s see page 5 Sunday 18th March 11 am Morning Worship Followed by Stated Annual Meeting at 12pm Thursday 22nd March No Open Doorway Today Sunday 25th March 11 am Palm Sunday Worship Tuesday 27th March 2 pm The Guild: Easter Readings PROVIDING FLOWERS IN MARCH 2018 4th March - Jean Ramage 11th March – Evelyn Torrance 18th March – Margaret Cameron 25th March – Fiona Rankin Please speak to Aileen Fraser if you would like to provide flowers for the Church. We are collecting………Plastic milk bottle tops, blue or green with a 2 or 3 on them. Please give them to Maureen Eunson who will pass them on to raise funds for Borders General Hospital. Other colours and sizes of plastic bottle tops for craft making at the Beavers. Please see Evelyn Torrance who will give you a fuller list of ideas. Flower bags, particularly large size. Please hand them to the person sorting out the flowers after the service. 3
CHURCH ACTIVITIES
SUNDAY - 11am WORSHIP in the Sanctuary, followed by tea or coffee, and a chat, in the Session Room. There is a creche for younger children, while those of school age join the congregation, including taking an active part in the all age 'Time to Talk’. ACTIVITIES Alternate Tuesdays - The Guild 2.00pm Every Tuesday and Thursday 10.30-12.30 come to the open doorway for coffee, a chat, and quiet time in the sanctuary Wednesdays - Lunch club 11.30 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts 5 3/4 - 14 years The 5th Leith Scouts Edinburgh North East (Evelyn Torrance 552 1657) For Rainbows, Brownies and Guides please send all enquiries to www.girlguiding.org.uk . We have two groups associated with Pilrig St Paul’s THERE ARE MANY OTHER ACTIVITIES HELD ON OUR PREMISES, PLEASE SEE THE NOTICE BOARD IN PILRIG STREET (MIDDLE ENTRANCE) TO RENT OUR PREMISES, PLEASE CONTACT psp.halluse@gmail.com
OUR WHEELCHAIR ENTRANCES ARE IN PILRIG STREET
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From the manse … One of the hallmarks of today’s society is our personal freedom – that autonomy we have to choose our own political, social, and religious views and how we express them. Sadly this same freedom is resulting in a culture where people are reluctant to make any commitments beyond their own selves. It has produced a culture of non-committal where people are adverse to becoming a member of any organisation or institution in the fear that it will dilute their personal freedom, restrict their choices, and tie them down. People will argue that they don’t have to join the Church to be a Christian. That they can get everything they need from their faith by being a regular, irregular, or non-attender of the church – without all the messy business of membership. However there are many good reasons to become a member of a church and to become as involved as possible in the life of that church. It’s good for you. Part of belonging to a church is the fellowship and support that others provide as companions on the journey of faith. The views of others also help to affirm and challenge us in the growth and development of our own faith. These are things that we can’t achieve on our own. It’s good for others. People wrongly assume that the church only offers a ‘one size fits all’ style of membership and that we must all conform to this. This is not true. The church is enriched by the broadness of our diversity and opinions on matters of the faith. Without your involvement in the church others will miss out on all that you can offer and all that you bring to the shared life of the community of faith. It’s good for the community. By working together we can achieve far more than we could ever do by working on our own. We have seen real examples of this through the Foodbank, the Community 5
Cinema, and the Open Doorway café – all of which operate from our church. We know that these and other similar initiatives have enriched and enhanced the lives of many in our local community. None of which would have been possible without combining the skills, talents and time of our members in order to achieve meaningful results. It’s good for the church. If the Minister, Elders, and Pastoral Care Team are to provide pastoral care and support for church members then they need to know who those members are and how best to contact them. Membership gives a safe and secure structure that allows the pastoral leaders to provide appropriate care and support for all those in their charge. Membership also provides the National Church with a realistic picture of what’s happening in each area of our city. With the falling numbers of Ministers, more pressure is placed on the National Church to exercise stewardship of its human resources. If the National Church decides to dissolve a congregation or close a church, its influence and presence in the local community is lost. It is too late then to say, “If only I had joined…”, “If only I had been a bit more faithful …” So perhaps you, or someone you know, can become part of the solution to our non-committal society. What if you joined the rebellion and took the counter-cultural choice to become a member of your local church? What if you decided to enrich and develop your faith and the faith of others by putting down some roots and making a commitment for the good of others in the local community and beyond? Shalom Mark Our former organist, Dr Martin Ritchie, will be ordained and inducted as minister of Greenbank Parish Church on Sunday 11 March at 6.30pm. Further details from Mark Foster or Eric Fisher
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The Magazine Thank you for the contributions to this magazine. A big thank you to those who are doing extra checks and support for me over this and the next month or two. Contributions for April should be in by 18th March. Please use the magazine email at present, thank you. psp.churchmagazine@gmail.com There is a box outside the Session Room for handwritten articles and cards Catriona Blackwood THANK YOU Ella and Ronnie Gilfillan would like to say thank you for the lovely flowers they received after they had both been poorly with the flu. They certainly cheered us up. Thank you for thinking about me at this sad time. The flowers were lovely and it helped to know that others were thinking about us. June Halliday I would like to thank all my friends at Pilrig St Paul’s for the nice flowers. It is so good of you to think of us. Also thanks to Eric for bringing them. Eileen and Donald Fraser Thank you very much for the flowers, cards and telephone calls which I received during my recent illness. They were much appreciated. Jeanette Sime 7
I would like to thank everyone at Pilrig St Paul’s for the very kind flowers send and cards of good wishes. Special Thank you to Christine and Alex for the delivery of flowers. I never realized how uplifting this could make you feel when unwell. Catherine Fisher PASTORAL CARE The Pastoral Care Team is energized to focus on the plans for this year and our meeting for that is taking place on Thursday 8th March at 10.30am in the Session House. As ever, if you think there is anything we could be doing under the banner of Pastoral Care that we are not already involved with please let us know. Some of our team are attending a Loneliness Conference being held by the Church of Scotland looking at ways we can help prevent loneliness in our congregation and our wider local community through contact and activities. We will update you in future magazines on what we learn from it. There is a new rota for this year available for those on the flower delivery team, please see Linda if you need a copy of it. We are always happy to reach out to those in our congregation or the wider local community so please do let us know if you are aware of someone who would appreciate and benefit from any of these contacts from us. Big Lunch 2018 As you know over the last few years I have arranged a Big Lunch for our congregation and those in our local community. This year I have secured a role with Eden Project Communities – the organisation behind The Big Lunch and so my time and energy around the date of the Big Lunch – Sunday 3rd June will be focused on numerous events that will be happening across Scotland. This means that I am unlikely to be able to arrange our lunch this year. 8
Therefore I am looking for a few willing volunteers to help make it happen as I am keen that we keep the tradition going if at all possible! I will be around to help in the planning stages and we will be able to include some of our contacts from the local community in the team as well. If you are interested and would like to know more about what is involved please just let me know, call me or drop me an e-mail. Thank you in anticipation of your support with this important event. Knitting Bee Our Knitting Bee is up and running for the year and our focus so far has been on completing the Octopremmies ready to be handed over to Simpsons Maternity Hospital for premature babies in their wards. We are now focusing on the Craftathon parcel for CrossReach. We are aiming to include items that will be of help to each of the local CrossReach projects across Edinburgh. Craftathon is going to form the basis of our work for the first half of this year and you would be welcome to take part in this with us. We have plenty wool, patterns and ideas of what could be knitted so please just let us know and we can make sure you have the materials needed. Items can be knitted, crocheted, embroidered or simply hand made. If you would like to help us please feel free to donate any items you have made or supplies of wool or materials for the team to use. You are also welcome to join us for our monthly meetings, March date yet to be confirmed. Even if you would just like to pop in for a coffee or tea we would be delighted to see you. Leith Community Cinema Update Our screenings in February were a great success with both sold out. We showed the film Unrest a documentary style of film about the condition ME in the downstairs screening room following by a panel lead discussion and Q&A. The next day we had our first 9
Saturday morning screening for families of the film Moana. This was an experiment for us testing how popular a Saturday morning screening would be and so we are likely to repeat this in future months. The feedback from both screenings was really positive and so we are encouraged that the cinema is off to a good start for 2018. The Sub Teams are well formed now and a huge thank you to those who have come on board to help out with the running of our screenings. There is always space for more people to get involved so please consider helping out. Those who are regulars with us enjoy the opportunity to meet with other members of the team and engage with our audience. Even if you don’t want to see the film you could offer to help out at the café and crafting for children before hand. Or perhaps you could offer to help with the set up and clear away as we are always looking for some extra hands to do that. This is a perfect opportunity for us to engage with the wider local community and make connections through this outreach engagement. We are now looking forward to the March Oscar Themed Screening on the 2nd & 3rd March. We are showing The Hurt Locker at 6.30pm on the 2nd March and Up at 10.30am on Saturday 3rd March. We will also be asking people to vote for our £eith Chooses application as we have been approved through to the final stages! Voting can be done, person on Saturday 3rd March from 12noon3pm at Leith Community Centre or on-line from 3pm on the 3rd March-10th March. To vote on-line you need a card with access info these can be found at local libraries or ordered direct from the £eith Chooses team. I am going to try to get a supply of them for us. We also have a special school screening for Broughton Primary school when we will have 70 pupils and teachers coming to see the film How to Train Your Dragon and a screening of short films made by local young people about anti-sectarianism. The film makers will be attending the screening to share their thoughts on how the films 10
they have made reflect what they see and would like to see in their local community. Helping Hands Please remember to let us know if you would like a visit or phone call from us or would like to arrange this for a member of our congregation you feel would appreciate this type of support. All you need to do is complete a Helping Hands form and pop it into the box in the Open Doorway of the Church or speak/call any of our team. Pastoral Care Team Mark Foster - Minister Catriona Blackwood – Elder, Safeguarding co-ordinator and Magazine Editor Christine Edington – CrossReach Co-ordinator Ella Gilfillan Linda Gill – Elder and Pastoral Care Team Leader Michelle Muhammad – Congregational Board Member Cathy Purdie – Contact for Special Needs Fiona Rankin – Elder Jeanette Sime – Elder and Roll Keeper Linda Gill Pastoral Care Team Leader 669-7409 or helpinghands@pilrigstpauls.org.uk
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Prayer Corner The Wexelstein family Norrie Frazer Emily Dickson and family Sybil Muir David and Lynn Cameron and family Frances Chambers The Davis family Murdo and Joy MacLeod Martha and Willie Cruickshanks Mrs Hunter and family Catriona Blackwood and family Elspeth Dixon Frazer and Craig Garvey and families Doreen and Arthur Johnston Gary, Margaret and David Fraser Siobhan Newlands Catherine and Eric Fisher June & Gary Halliday Jim and Jean Tait Joyce Loughlan June Welsh Isabel Pert Tom Gilzean Anne Dunn Isabel Fyfe Arthur Baxter Matthew Green Margaret Thomson Rev Kristina Ross David, Linda and Stephanie Gill Please let Roy Eprile know if you would like someone included in the prayer corner. 12
The food bank is designed to help individuals and families in crisis through the provision of emergency food supplies. Local care professionals in the Leith area refer people, with a food voucher, to the Foodbank distribution point where they are given their food supplies. For further information, and to volunteer to help on a Wednesday, please contact Roy Eprile. FOOD BANK - VOLUNTEER MEETINGS 2018, SOUTH LEITH PARISH CHURCH HALLS, 7:30PM - 8TH MARCH, 10TH MAY, 13TH SEPTEMBER, 8TH NOVEMBER. FOODS PARTICULARLY NEEDED IN MARCH 2018 POT NOODLE CUP-A-SOUP SMASH
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PILRIG ST PAUL’S CHURCH 1b Pilrig Street Edinburgh EH6 5AH www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk Church Office 0131 553 1876 MAGAZINE psp.churchmagazine@gmail.com MINISTER Rev Mark Foster (0131 332 5736) MFoster@churchofscotland.org.uk SESSION CLERK John Innes - (07802 917910) pilrig@btinternet.com THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD Church address and phone number CLERK Aileen Fraser (0131 553 1876) ASSISTANT CLERK Maria Croall (07747 071545) pspcongragationalboard@gmail.com TREASURER and CHRISTIAN GIVINGS CONVENER Mark Wexelstein (0131 665 6881) mark.wexelstein@gmail.com ROLL KEEPER, GUILD CONVENOR Mrs Jeanette Sime – (0131 552 9652)
PASTORAL CONVENOR, CINEMA LEADER Mrs Linda Gill Linda Gill <lindagill365@sky.com> linda@leithcommunitycinema.com SAFEGUARDING CO-ORDINATOR, MAGAZINE EDITOR Mrs Catriona Blackwood - (0131 554 6183) cewblackwood@tesco.net PROPERTY CONVENER Eric Fisher (0131 552 8982) eric.fisher@hotmail.co.uk HALL LETS psp.halluse@gmail.com ORGANIST and CHOIRMASTER Colin Gray (07901 556 217) PRAYER CORNER, FOODBANK CONTACT Roy Eprile MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTION Mrs Margaret Cameron (0131 554 2139) LUNCH CLUB Alex Allan (0131 554 3174) Scottish Charity no. SCO07277 www.leithchurchesforum.org.
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