PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH
NOVEMBER 2021 REMEMBERING THEM
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 ARE ASKED TO CONTACT: magazine@pilrigstpauls.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.
2
PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH NOVEMBERBER 2021 ALL WELCOME
Services take place at 11am in the Sanctuary on 7th and 28th November. See below for details of the 14th and 21st November. Services are also live streamed on Facebook, to watch live or later. Sunday 7th November 11 am Guild Service Tuesday 9th November 2pm in the Session Room The Guild Dot Melville: storytelling Sunday 14th November Remembrance Service 1050 PLEASE NOTE IT IS 10 MINUTES EARLIER THAN USUAL Sunday21st November Seafarers Service South Leith Parish Church 11am THERE IS NO SERVICE IN PILRIG St PAUL’S THAT DAY
Flowers in the Sanctuary We have moved to a system of seasonal artificial displays most Sundays, and fresh displays for significant events in the Church calendar. We are still sending flowers to members and friends to support them through joyous or difficult times. (See pages 8 and 9 for further details.)
3
From our minister “He took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper.” – Luke 22:19-20 Dear All, One of my lecturers at Glasgow University was the late Malcolm Barrett Wilkins, Regius professor of Botany Glasgow (1970-2000). At the start of one of his lectures on ‘How plants remember” he spoke about the fallibility of the human memory system. He told us that one day in the distant future we would be sitting by the fireplace in our rocking-chair and we would be able to recall exactly what he said to us in this lecture – but we would have forgotten where we put the money to pay the milkman the day before! We probably all wish that the human memory system worked more like a computer memory system where we could save important items; file everything alphabetically for easy access, and free up empty space by deleting useless and redundant information. But it isn’t. Unlike computers we forget stuff. Names. Words. Dates. We forget where we parked the car. At least if we haven’t forgotten where we put our car keys, we can get our car to flash its lights and identify itself. The Greek word that Luke used for remembrance was ‘anamnesis’ from the roots ana-, "back," and mimneskesthai, "to recall" or "to cause to remember." The word is stronger than mere recollection as it involves action. It’s not reminiscence. It’s not merely remembering. It’s refusing to forget. There are forces around us and within us that want us to forget the message of our faith. Forces that will try and fog up the 4
memories of over 2000 years of Christianity and the Good News of the gospels. Which is why in the Church we repeatedly and deliberately celebrate communion. In doing so we remember Jesus. We remember his message. We refuse to forget. November is the month for Remembrance in the life of the Church. And in a similar fashion we repeat the same rituals in order that we never forget. We remember the horror of war. We remember the cost of human lives. We refuse to forget the sacrifices and the lessons they teach us. As a community of faith we are in the business of refusing to forget the life and teachings of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. No matter how much our memories may fail us we must continue to remind our world of the values of our faith: Justice, Peace, Love, Equality and Hope. Blessings Mark
THANK YOU
We have received thanks from many members for prayers, flowers, cards, visits, phone calls, texts and support received following illness, celebrations, bereavements and accidents.
5
Christmas Gift Bags for Seafarers 2021. As we look forward we see Christmas a few months away. We as LCT and Sailors’ Society can show our care and love for the crews this Christmas with a simple gift. It is wonderful we are able to supply gifts and it means so much more to a seafarer 1000s of miles away from family and friends. Although we have been able to relax many of the restrictions that affect us day to day the crews continue to be restricted and many will have been on board for 10 months to more than a year. Our hope again this year is to create 50 “Ship Christmas Bags” which will accompany an individual pre wrapped gift for each seafarer. (Supplied by the Sailors’ Society) To make it easier for folks to donate this year we’re asking for donations of monies and or donations of sweets/ chocolate. This will enable bulk buying and make it simpler for folks to contribute towards a bag. I’ve estimated the cost of the bag contents to be around £10-£15. This will include: wrapped chocolates, shortbread, fudge/ tablet, mixed sweets, and mixed nuts. It will be accompanied by a Christmas card. Donations can be made directly to Pilrig St. Paul’s Church during November. Please mark donations and financial gifts “Seafarers”. For any further information please give me a on 07713476799 or email: probertson@sailors-society.org Pauline Rycroft Port Chaplain 6
call
New Scots Christmas Appeal 2021 Providing a warm welcome for refugees and asylum seekers in Edinburgh this Christmas. For the fifth year in a row we are inviting churches to be part of our New Scots Christmas Appeal (previously known as the Christmas Hamper Appeal). This is a wonderful opportunity to show our welcome and care for the stranger here in the city. This year, we are aiming to use your donations in three key ways: ·To gift Christmas hampers to 230 refugee families in the city. Each hamper costs £40. ·To support social activities and events, linked with churches, that will help newcomer families integrate and settle well into Edinburgh (this includes the Salaam Weekend Club, as well as future projects such as lunches and language cafes pioneered by churches) ·To provide practical and material support and purchase essential items for newcomers (i.e. bus passes, household goods, etc) Receiving a gift at Christmas makes people feel cared for and loved. The Christmas hampers contain basic food items as well as some goodies. Churches can be involved by donating money towards the cost of the hampers. If you wish, you can also choose to help deliver some in your area, giving your church the chance to connect with local refugee families and to build friendships. Once the cost of all the hampers has been covered, any extra money raised will go towards the two other ways of supporting refugees (as listed above) in providing social activities and practical support. 7
As a congregation we were able to cover the cost of two hampers last year and hope that members would be willing to donate enough to help us do the same again this year. Donations can be made directly to Pilrig St. Paul’s Church during November. Please mark your donations “Hamper Appeal”
PASTORAL CARE AND MAGAZINE Hello Everyone, Thank you very much to all who have donated to the flower fund over the last year. We have introduced a new system for our Church flowers, see page 3. We continue to send flowers to members and friends, and for this we are asking financial donations, please. Details are on the next page. If you would like your donation noted for a particular month, please let me know. General donors will be listed from time to time. For the December magazine, I am planning a display of messages from members to fellow members. Please limit this to a general greeting to all, personal greetings from one member to another cannot be used, sorry. If you are willing for this to be published in the online version, available to anyone, please add permission in your email or letter. (For data protection) First names, or first names and initial will be used. Thank you for articles received for this magazine. Please may I have articles for the December magazine by November16th? Catriona Blackwood Pastoral Committee Member and Magazine Editor 554 6183 magazine@pilrigstpauls.org.uk
8
Food Hygiene course. If you would like more information about this, please contact the minister, Aileen Fraser or Catriona Blackwood Orders are now being taken for Life and Work. The cost remains at £36 for the year. Please let me know if you want me to order you a copy. Catriona Blackwood Please consider making 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 set up 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 receive 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. Mark Wexelstein Email treasurer@pilrigstpauls.org.uk 9
Phone 0131 665 6881
CHURCH ACTIVITIES AND GENERAL INFORMATION 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/ 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. 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// For information regarding Girl Guiding and Scouts: www.girlguiding.org.uk hello@scouts.scot Sign up to our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/f8740e88c94b/pilrig 10
Prayer Corner 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
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 NEW BOOKINGS ARE BEING TAKEN MEANTIME We are keeping up with those who have regular hall bookings and organizing their safe return, when possible.
Scottish Charity no. SCO07277 www.leithchurchesforum.org.uk
11