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THIS IS A REDUCED VERSION OF THE MAGAZINE FOR GENERAL PUBLICATION. MEMBERS AND ADHERENTS WHO WOULD LIKE A FULL PRAYER, PASTORAL and BEREAVEMENT OR THANK YOU LIST, OR A FINANCIAL UPDATE OR ARE ASKED TO CONTACT: magazine@pilrigstpauls.org.uk General information re donating to Pilrig St Paul’s and information re articles for Pilrig St Paul’s magazine can be found on the inside back cover.
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PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH OCTOBER 2020 While we are unable to use our buildings, there is a short act of worship each Sunday at 10am on Facebook, and repeated later on our website. Our Facebook Page provides some items for personal reflection as well as our normal news updates. Church website: http://www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pilrigstpauls/ If you wish to follow the readings that we use in church each Sunday you can access them at https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu// CHURCH ACTIVITIES and INFORMATION Please see our magazine, website and facebook page for updates. For information regarding Girl Guiding and Scouts: www.girlguiding.org.uk hello@scouts.scot Radio, TV, Internet Audio and Visual clips and some live streaming worship services that you can listen to and watch from home: Thought for the Day: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00szxv6 BBC Radio Four Sunday Worship: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnds Songs of Praise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006ttc5 Recommended Podcast: https://robbell.com/portfolio/robcast/ BBC Scotland have been showing ‘Reflections at the Quay” each Sunday. The times of the broadcasts vary. WordPress site at https://onecfl.wordpress.com/ where you will find prayers, reflections and other items provided by the Ministers from the four Leith churches.
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Services in November The Covid Planning Team is currently working on the next stage of using our Sanctuary for Services. At the moment services, available via Facebook and our website, are pre-recorded in the sanctuary or the manse, with contributions from members. We are starting to have members of the congregation in the Sanctuary during these recordings which take place on Saturdays, moving to Sundays in a few weeks. Members will receive an invitation to join these recordings on a rota basis as we can only have about 20 people at a time. Please contact any member of the planning team for further information or if you would like to be included in these services. At the time of invitation you will be given clear details of what to expect and when to come. Please ring the bell at the Session Room door, do not use your own key. This will allow the duty team to organize entry and seating within our guidelines and conditions of using the sanctuary. If there is a queue, please keep 2 meters apart. This is about the space between the bollards on Pilrig Street. In due course we plan to launch a booking system for future services in the Church. (Covid Planning Group members: Rev Mark Foster, John Innes, Catriona Blackwood, Maria Croall, Aileen Fraser, and Mark Wexelstein) 4
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
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Dear All, It’s not surprising that the poppy became one of the most enduring images to emerge from the battlefields of WW1. Not only were the poppies a bright splash of colour in a landscape that had been turned into a palette of churned mud and charred earth, they were also the first signs of life to appear in the place where so much death had occurred. As such they were vibrant symbols of new life and hope to those who saw them against such a bleak backdrop. Around the world, Remembrance Services will be different affairs this year as we adapt and change to the current COVID restrictions. Yet amid these seemingly bleak times the bright splash of the poppy still shines out as a symbol of new life and hope for all of us. Elsewhere in this magazine you can read about another bright splash of colour in the form of the new Public Access Defibrillator that has been fixed to the corner of our church. A piece of equipment that has the potential to save lives in emergency situations. You will see that we are seeking support from the local community and friends of the congregation to help cover the costs of installation. You can also read details about a number of other projects we have supported in the past and are eager to support again this 5
year. By making a donation towards these projects we too can bring a splash of colour and hope into the lives of others. Although our building is not being used as much as we would like it to be, there is no reason why we can’t continue to make it a beacon of light and hope, offering new life for our parish and beyond. We do this through the continued work of the Foodbank and through our ongoing work within the local community. Our building stands as a symbol of our presence in the community and of the support we provide to others as an active faith community. Amid these difficult times it is perhaps more important than ever for us to show signs of hope and new life to others through our mission and service in Christ’s Name. May God’s blessings be with you all, Mark
Orders are now being taken for Life and Work. There will be no discount this year for orders taken via the Church - it will cost £36. Please let me know if you want me to order you a copy. HOWEVER, due to the restrictions they are offering a new service where the magazine will be sent directly to a subscriber’s home, at a discounted rate! Pages 13 onward have information and an application form. IF YOU DECIDE TO USE THIS SERVICE PLEASE LET ME KNOW, SO I CAN REDUCE OUR ORDER, THANK YOU. This may be of more use to members who buy individual copies, but those sharing may wish to take advantage of this too. Catriona Blackwood 6
Dear All, Thank you so much for the lovely book and voucher. The kind words, poems and good wishes in the book are beautiful, I will treasure it always. I am going to use the voucher to buy (myself) jewellery for our son Steven’s wedding next year, which will make it even more special. You all know how much this building means to me and how important all the people using it are to me. Not everyone is as lucky as me to have such an extended family and that is what this job has given. I am very blessed to be able to call so many people my friends. I have always said that as long as people feel safe and happy when they are here, then what more can we ask for. Hopefully in the not too distant future, our building will once again be filled with people, music, laughter, chatting and of course, most importantly, a cuppa. Thank you also for all the lovely cards that I have received. Thank you all again. Maria Maria, we will miss you when we use the halls, although we know you are still a very active member and Elder. Ed
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DEFIBRILLATOR Towards the end of 2019, the Presbytery of Edinburgh embarked on an initiative to have defibrillators mounted on every Church of Scotland building across the City, to increase local access to this piece of valuable life-saving equipment. The project, being run in conjunction with the Edinburgh Committee of St John Scotland, agreed that a defibrillator could be fitted outside the church, something that we hadn’t been able to get permission to do when we looked at this previously, and be accessible 24hrs per day. The defibrillator is designed to be simple to use by members of the public. It is located on the outside wall of the church near the corner of Pilrig Street and Leith Walk. The equipment comes with single-use defibrillator pads and a key which enables the unit to work correctly if the victim of a cardiac arrest is a child. The storage cabinet is heated for winter protection and contains a basic First Aid pack. Quick access is by means of the combination lock and is authorised through a 999 call, quoting the emergency location code on the cabinet. (We have now obtained the code so the defibrillator can be used). While the capital costs have been met by Church of Scotland, we have met the cost of installation including provision of the power supply to the cabinet. We are currently looking into setting up a fundraising campaign and hope members of the local community will support this. We are looking for £500 to cover the cost of installation and the first couple of years running costs.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH The run up to Christmas is a busy and sometimes stressful time for many people and families and we at Pilrig St. Paul’s have often found ways to support others during this time of year. Traditionally we have collected gifts for Circle Families, The Sailors Society, and many of our housebound members, as well as supporting the work of local charities through our Christmas Offerings. This year the restrictions regarding COVID mean that we will have to find new ways in how we support these causes, because they need our help more so than ever this year. The logistics involved for safely collecting gifts and items as we have done in the past would be too much for us to manage and so we are asking that you help us with a financial donation instead.
Christmas Gift Bags for Seafarers This year the churches across Leith hope to help provide between 40 and 50 gift bags for sailors, some of whom will have had a very difficult year. Many will have been on board for 10 months to more than a year. It could also be their 2nd Christmas away from home and family. Each bag will include: wrapped chocolates, shortbread, fudge/ tablet, mixed sweets, and mixed nuts. It will be accompanied by a Christmas card.
Christmas Gift Service As we are unable to receive traditional gifts this year we would ask members to make a donation towards Circle Families, who provide much needed support and gifts for children at this time of year. We are also in the process of purchasing a small gift and card to go out to many of our members in Nursing Homes as well as some of our housebound members.
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Christmas Retiral Offering This year we have been invited to join the churches across Leith in supporting “Hampers for Refugees” Every year churches across Edinburgh deliver Christmas Hampers to refugees and asylumseekers across the city. Over 120 refugee families will each receive a Christmas Hamper that is paid for and delivered by local churches. It is a wonderful opportunity to put our faith into action, to welcome and care for the stranger in our midst. In addition to some goodies, the hampers contain basic items that the families need and appreciate during this time. Hampers cost £40 each and we have committed to raising the money to cover the cost of two hampers from Pilrig St. Paul’s Church. We realise that this year has been a financial strain for many of our members as well as for the church – but it is important that we should never forget our calling to serve others, especially the most vulnerable in our society. Receiving a gift at Christmas makes others feel cared for and loved and that is a message we would like to pass on to others through our donations. If you would like to support all or any of the above projects then we are asking that you make a donation to the church. You can do this in a number of different ways. If you are attending worship during November/December you can leave an envelope in the collection plate clearly marked “Christmas Offerings” and we can split it between the above causes. If however you wish to support a particular cause then you can mark your envelope “Circle Families”, “Hampers for Refugees”, “Seafarers Collection” or “Christmas Gifts”. Alternatively if you are passing the church you can post your envelope through the middle doors on Pilrig Street. If you are a UK tax payer please remember to also mark your envelope with the words ‘GIFT AID’, which will increase the values of your donation at no extra cost to yourself. You can also donate via PayPal, BACS transfer and Cheque by contacting the treasurer. Thank you. 10
As we are unable to meet as a full congregation on Remembrance Sunday, here are a few pictures taken in Ypres when the Leith Community Concert Band went there for many years, to play at some of the memorial events.
Cloth Hall, Ypres, rebuilt to original specifications after 1918
These gravestones are found where the soldier’s name was only: KNOWN UNTO GOD
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Inspiration for the poem — In Flanders Fields During the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2 May, 1915 by an exploding shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. John was asked to conduct the burial service owing to the chaplain being called away on duty elsewhere. It is believed that later that evening John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'. (From the inscriptions at the Canadian cemetery in Belgium.) 12
PASTORAL CARE AND MAGAZINE Dear All, On page 2 we have details of the progress being made in returning to worship in the sanctuary, albeit on a limited scale. We continue to send cards and flowers to members at significant events in their lives, and rely on other members to keep me up to date about this. Thank you for all the contributions this month. The next magazine will be out at the end of November or the beginning of December. May I have contributions by 24th November, please? There will not be a magazine in January. Details about Life and Work are on the next pages. Looking ahead to Christmas, I am planning a centre page display of messages from members to fellow members. Please limit this to a general greeting to all, personalised greeting from one member to another cannot be used, sorry. (contact details below) Thank you to everyone who has sent extra 2 nd class stamps to help with postage. I am now well supplied. Best wishes,, Catriona Blackwood Pastoral Committee Member 0131 554 6183 magazine@pilrigstpauls.org.uk
Please remember in your prayers members and friends of the congregation who are ill or infirm at this time. A full list is available in the printed version of the magazine. Please let the minister or me know of someone to include in this section. Catriona Blackwood
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From the Life and Work office: PROMOTION: 2 FREE ISSUES In the current climate we recognise the obstacles some people may face in receiving a copy of the magazine via their church. It is important we support our loyal readers and offer the opportunity to have the magazine sent direct to their home. We are offering a special promotion to anyone switching from purchasing their magazine via their church to placing a personal order to be sent to their chosen address. This offer will be available throughout 2021 and is payable by direct debit only. 12 Month Subscription ONLY ÂŁ30 (2 FREE ISSUES) Anyone wishing to take advantage of this offer should complete the attached personal order form and direct debit instruction. Both should be returned by email to admin@lifeandwork.org or posted to: Life and Work, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN. SAVINGS can also be made by subscribing to a digital edition of Life and Work at www.lifeandwork.org Please only use this form if you want home delivery. I have reduced the size to fit it into the magazine. Just ask if you want me to post you a full size version. Catriona Blackwood
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PRINT MAGAZINE ORDER 2021 12 Month Subscription ONLY £30 2 FREE ISSUES Title
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PLEASE SEND TO ABOVE ADDRESS 12 issues of Life and Work magazine for the price of 10 A single payment of £30 will be collected by direct debit Please visit www.lifeandwork.org for full terms and conditions of subscription or contact our office by emailing admin@lifeandwork.org to receive a copy.
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It is possible to make a donation by visiting our website www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk and donate using the PayPal button. You can also use the QR code below by scanning it on your mobile phone.
We have also setup a JustGiving page and the url is https://www.justgiving.com/edinburghpilrigstpaulsparishchurch We do have to pay a handling fee for any donations received through PayPal or JustGiving so don’t receive the full amount donated. If you shop online you can support the church when you shop on Amazon. If you are using their webpage can you go to https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ and you can select Edinburgh: Pilrig St Paul’s Parish Church of Scotland as the charity. For certain purchases we will received up to 1.5% as a donation. You can now change the settings on their app and select the same charity name. Thank you for your continued support and hopefully we will all be able to meet again soonish to worship together. Mark Wexelstein Email treasurer@pilrigstpauls.org.uk
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Phone 0131 665 6881
CONTACT DETAILS PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH 1b Pilrig Street Edinburgh EH6 5AH www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk
Church Office 0131 553 1876
HALL LETS - NO BOOKINGS ARE BEING TAKEN MEANTIME When we are able to re-open our halls we will publicise this on our website, intimations and the magazine.
Scottish Charity no. SCO07277
www.leithchurchesforum.org.uk
INFORMATION re PILRIG St PAUL’S MAGAZINE We welcome articles and thank you letters from members and friends. Articles are published in both the printed magazine and on-line, unless otherwise arranged with the editor (eg. where personal information is concerned, including the names in the prayer corner, it would normally be omitted from the on-line version). All contributors must provide their name, please, which is normally attached to the article. We reserve the right to edit articles. Changes other than spelling or grammar will, where possible, be discussed with the contributor. The views expressed are those of individual contributors and not necessarily those of Pilrig St. Paul’s Church or the Church of Scotland.
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