Stewards’ Rota
Jun 2nd
Jun 9th
Jun 16th
Jun 23rd
Jun 30th
A. Fullarton
K. Easton
M. Wilson
J. Morrison
R. Bond
G. Johnston
D. Campbell
D. Philp
D. Wilson
C. Campbell
Jly 7th
Jly 14th
Jly 21st
Jly 28th
J. Carter
E. Wilson
M. Henry
A. Halsall
R. Wylie
G. Philp
I. Scott
M. Karsgaard
Aug 4th
Aug 11th
Aug 18th
Aug 25th
A. Fullarton
K. Easton
M. Wilson
J. Morrison
G. Johnston
D. Campbell
D. Philp
D. Wilson
Would stewards please try and be present from 9.30am onwards. If
you are unable to fulfil your duty please make alternative
arrangements by contacting another steward and swapping dates with
them directly.
Minister
Session Clerk
Organist
Treasurer
Young Church
Rev. Andy Haddow
Gordon Johnston
David Philp
David Campbell
Heather Johnston
50327
71820
71248
71886
71820
Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Church
and/or editor. Please email copy for the next issue to
prioryupdate@gmail.com by 23rd August. Text should be formatted in
Times New Roman, point size 12 and calendar dates listed by month first.
The Parish Church of Coldingham and St Abbs is a congregation of the
Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity Number SC009185. Our website is at
www.coldinghamparish.co.uk
Call to Worship
Jun 2nd
Jun 9th
Jun 9th
Jun 16th
Jun 23rd
Jun 30th
Rev. Andy Haddow
Communion
EBCT 6.30pm
Rev. Andy Haddow
Rev. Andy Haddow
Rev. Andy Haddow
Priory
Priory
St.Ebba’s
Priory
Priory
St. Abbs
Jly 7th
Jly 14th
Jly 14th
Jly 21st
Jly 28th
Rev. Andy Haddow
Rev. Bruce Neill
EBCT 6.30pm
Rev. Bruce Neill
Family Service
Priory
Priory
The Highway
Priory
Priory
Aug 4th
Aug 11th
Aug 11th
Aug 18th
Aug 18th
Aug 25th
Rev. Andy Haddow
Rev. Andy Haddow
EBCT 6.30pm
Family Service
Joint Communion 6.30pm
Rev. Andy Haddow
Priory
Priory
Priory
Priory
Priory
Priory
Children are always welcome in church and quiet activities will be
available whenever possible. On the fourth Sunday in the month (and/or
after Family Services) coffee is served and Fairtrade products are
available for purchase.
From the Manse
Of the three major Christian festival that the church celebrates,
Pentecost is certainly the one that is most ignored. Partly due to the tie
in of holidays at Christmas and Easter, Pentecost can at times feel odd
coming as it does just after Easter in the middle of the summer term.
Yet this year Pentecost coincides with a major event in our community,
the “homecoming” of the congregation to the Priory! I am very excited
about the opportunities available in our new building and hope that
many people see the possibilities that we have now opened up with the
alterations that have been made.
Change is never easy and while we may mourn the loss of the previous
form of a building, the Church itself is unchanged; God is the same
yesterday, today and forever and as we hold to him the location of our
gatherings is secondary. We have much to be thankful for because of
our time in the Village Hall and we are grateful for all those who helped
set up the hall on a Sunday and for Dave Jones and his team who were
very hospitable and went above and beyond the call of duty many
times!
You may have heard the phrase “my body is a temple,” well surprise,
surprise, it comes from the Bible! In Paul's first letter to the church in
Corinth he writes “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from
God?”
(1 Corinthians 6:19) At Pentecost we remember the coming of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus had promised his disciples something special once he left
them and returned to heaven and indeed on that first
Pentecost Jesus
gave the fledgling church the means to soar as the Holy Spirit came and
was poured out on the disciples (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit came and
filled the temples of the disciples a “homecoming” of the most amazing
sort as God made his home, not with us, but in us!
Today as we look to the future in our changed building we know that
God will come and dwell in it as we gather, we know that his Holy
Spirit is a free gift paid for by Jesus and given to all who come to him.
At this time, let's turn to God and receive from him what he has for us,
so that we can then pass it on to others, to our families, our friends and
our community. Let this “homecoming” to the priory be a new
Pentecost for the local church, the birth of something new and exciting,
something very special!
God bless
Andy
Christian Aid Week
Once again there has been great support for Christian Aid week in
Coldingham and St. Abbs, raising the total of £1,686. Given that so many
places have had to give up street collecting due to poor or unpleasant
responses, it is a lovely reflection of our villages that we have been able to
undertake this successfully again this year. A big thank you to all of the
collectors – Ann and Ranald Wylie, Alison Aitchison, Mary Thomson,
Margaret Cockburn, Richard Bond, Rosemary Scott, Jean St.Clair, Lynn
Bogle, Jo Wright, Janice Henry, Julie McMillan, Alison Halsall, Mary Wilson
and Bruce Neil.
It is also great to report that we enjoyed a very happy coffee evening at
Branxholm and I would like to thank everyone who attended or sent
donations for their support and generosity - we raised £194. A very big
thank you to all the helpers who baked and served; Rosemary Scott,
Mairead Henry and Joan Currie. A special thank you also to Priscilla
Chisholm whose pancakes and baking for the sales table were a great treat
and Gillian Dougal for her gingerbread and scones! In addition, we served
coffee for the country dancers in the village hall on the Saturday morning
which raised almost £70. Thank you to Carol Campbell, Ailsa Slack and
Mary Wilson for their hard work with serving and baking and for Margaret
Cockburn’s delicious shortbread.
We also joined Eyemouth in raising money through our sponsored walk
from Berwick to St. Abbs which was good fun. Locals who took part
included Kath and Colin Easton, Janice Henry, Ernie Cox, Bruce Neill and
Marianne Karsgaard. All of the money raised was due to great team work
and the fact that everyone involved was so willing made the organisation of
the week very easy. Thanks to everyone for their contributions and if your
name has been unwittingly missed out an extra special thank-you to you!
Audrey
Remembering Nan
You all knew Nan and I would like to focus on three aspects of her life.
First I want to think of Nan within the life of her family. I’ve sometimes
been struck how in families there is often one person who as far as possible
provides a fixed centre point at the very heart of the life of the family, a
source of strength, stability and consistency, the anchor, if you like, that
holds the ship in calm weather and in storm. Nan was that anchor in her
own family.
Secondly I want to think of Nan as a friend and companion. To say that she
was an open and outgoing person is true, but it doesn’t say all that needs
to be said. Nan loved other people, enjoyed the company of friends,
thrived on involvement with others. Nan loved being among and working
with other people, and unstintingly she gave of herself in friendship,
encouragement and compassion.
And thirdly and lastly I want to mention her Christian faith. Nan was a
faithful member of the congregation here, and going to church was not
done out of habit; she was a deeply spiritual person, her faith was the
foundation upon which her life was built. Being a Christian was not
something she did so much as something she was, and it is here, I believe,
we discover essentially what made Nan Dickson the person we will long
remember with love and affection and deep gratitude.
Nan stated there was to be no eulogy at her funeral, but, you know, the
real tribute to her is certainly not these words of mine; the real tribute to
Nan is the way in which her memory will be cherished within her family,
the fond memories of her which her many friends will go on sharing with
joy and laughter and love, the acknowledgement of the wonderful
contribution she has made to the life of the church here and far beyond
and the fact that we are all here to join in singing the hymns she chose,
songs which are so full of joy and trust, and which express so well her faith
in the love of God, a love which she knew with unshakably certainty would
never let her go in life, through death and forever.
Via Bruce (condensed)
From the Session Clerk
It was good to restart worship in the Priory on Sunday 19 th May with such a
fine Homecoming Service put together by David P., Heather and Andy and
great to see so many people coming together to worship in that age-old
building and we hope and pray that this will continue for centuries to
come.
This was only possible thanks to a team of people who gave their time to
come and move things back and forwards between the Robertson and the
Priory, clean and polish furniture, landscape and plant the garden and
much more ... If I listed by name everyone who helped in so many different
ways it would fill the Newsletter but it was all very much appreciated.
It was also good to experience the camaraderie that these times
engendered. I would like to thank David Campbell who has done so much
in the background keeping tabs on the financial details and payments as
well as finding external funding without which this would not have got off
the ground. Ian Scott saved my bacon on a number of occasions being able
to supply, at very short notice, storage for pews and chairs when they
arrived out of the blue and also being able to use so much of his farm
equipment to ease the job of getting items to the church when vehicle
access is so limited, so thank you Ian. You will have noticed the new lighting
which now highlights the architectural beauty of our building and we are
grateful to the donor who has funded this and made it possible.
It was very appropriate that, as we begin a new chapter in the Priory’s life,
a retiring offering was taken to help fund a new church initiative in Nepal
being led by our mission partners Malcolm and Cati Ramsay. We
understand that this was a thank-you gift to David and myself as we neither
of us would have wanted a formal presentation and we are both delighted
that this will bring much-needed help in establishing a church in a country
where Christian worship is not always encouraged.
(Cont’d)
So what next? There are the windows still to be done; work will probably
start on these in July and the organ to be re-built and put back in place. It’s
looking as though this may not be completely finished until the end of the
year but meantime we are grateful to have a loan of the organ that came
out of Whitsome church. We also have to look at ways and means by which
the Priory can be used e.g. for concerts, offering an education programme
for primary schools in the area, providing a space for church groups to
have retreat days/away days and to continue to welcome visitors on
Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. All these ideas and more are being
looked at by a small committee and also by the Board of Management.
To maintain the best use of the space the rear room provides, it must not
become a dumping ground and we need to manage how each group can
best make efficient use of the space we have, recognising that it is limited.
Access to the cupboards needs to be kept open by making sure that chairs
are stacked between the cupboards rather than in front of them. It is
intended to purchase a screen and mount it on the wall so that much more
information can be presented this way, rather than items pinned to walls
as there is limited opportunity for this. There is still quite a lot of work and
issues to be sorted out to meet the needs of all.
Gordon
“The church is not a theological classroom. It is a
conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation,
forgiveness and sanctification centre, where flawed
people place their faith in Christ, gather to know and
love him better, and learn to love others as he
designed”
Paul David Tripp
‘That’ General Assembly debate
I'm sure that many of you will have heard in newspapers and on the
television about the decision made by the General Assembly with
regards to the ordination of ministers in same-sex relationships and I
thought it might be worth trying to clear up some of the confusion
surrounding this decision which is being perpetuated by the media who
are suggesting the decision is as a wholesale acceptance of gay ministers
by the church.
On Monday the General assembly debated a report by a theological
commission regarding the ordination of ministers in a same sex
relationship and while there were two options tabled by this commission
(a “revisionist” and a “traditional” approach) it was a third option
suggested that won out. This approach held to the traditional
understanding of the church with regard to the ordination of ministers in
a same sex relationship, while suggesting that Kirk Sessions who feel
otherwise could decide to accept applications from ministers in a samesex civil partnership.
However due to the last minute nature of this third option, the actual
substance of how this will work won't come out until next year’s General
Assembly in 2014. Then that General Assembly will need to decide what
to do with it and if it is approved then it will be passed down to the
Presbyteries who will need to, by a majority, approve it and then it
returns to another General Assembly in 2015 for final approval before it
is actually enacted.
For the record the Church of Scotland's position on homosexuality is that
homosexual orientation, in itself, is not a barrier to leadership in the
Church including the ministry, the diaconate and the eldership.
Homophobia is viewed as sinful; expressing the view that homosexual
acts are contrary to God's revealed will in the scriptures is not
considered homophobic.
(Cont’d)
I hope the confusion and misinformation that surround this decision
will not detract us from our mission; instead let’s bring the focus again
back to Him who calls us, let us again kneel before the Cross, seek
forgiveness, renewal and revival and let’s go out and spread the Word
of His Love and remember our core commission –
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Andy
Wider uses of The Priory
Following our refurbishment and the creation of disabled access etc., we
are keen to see more use being made of the Priory through each week.
Please encourage others from the village to come and look at what we
have in terms of facilities, and to come up with ideas for use. Some users
will of course get free use of the building such as they had use of the
Robertson Memorial Hall; the Guides for example will start using the
Priory on Monday evenings from the 27th. Remember that the RMH will
no longer be in use and we expect the General Trustees to sell the
building.
It will be helpful to have some paying users and to this end we seek to
encourage groups that will have suitable uses for the Priory. “Church
tourism” and retreat days are becoming increasingly popular and the
Priory ought to take its part.
Last Sunday afternoon (19th May) the Parish took a stall at Heart & Soul
in Princes Street Gardens in order to advertise the work we have done.
This beautiful and flexible space and the facilities it offers will, we hope,
bring an increasing number of church groups to Coldingham. Spread the
word.
David C.
Homecoming Service
Friends of the Priory
WOW! Wasn’t that a brilliant turnout and great support from Eyemouth
as well? Thanks to those that put in the prayer work beforehand. It
maybe that the only flames we saw were paper ones but, for me, the
Holy Spirit moved in three “quiet” ways. Firstly, simply the Priory being
ready in time for Pentecost and coinciding with our Homecoming service.
Secondly, lack of nerves. For various reasons I was expecting to be pretty
keyed up (no pun intended) like previous occasions of a similar
significance but actually felt very calm and able to enjoy the whole thing.
Thirdly - after the service Dave Jones recounted waiting to sing and
mouth as dry as sandpaper. With no adult prompting, and for no other
obvious reason, one of the children present stood up and started
handing out sweets, giving Dave something timely to sook on!
By the time you read this many of us will have seen the renovations in
the priory and open afternoons will have started again. New
volunteers are always welcome especially as the Friends are a
dwindling number. It was very sad to lose two loyal founder members
of the society, Alistair Scott in March and Nan Dickson in April.
Finally, thanks for all your encouraging comments regarding the
Homecoming song. Next week I’ll be e-mailing a YouTube link where you
can listen again to Carrie singing and also watch a slide show of how the
renovation work in the Priory progressed. If you’d like added to the
mailing list please mail prioryupdate@gmail.com, subject line ‘Please
Add’.
David P
Please remember in prayer..
Nan’s family, Bruce (broken wrist), Jack Miller, Nessie Walker, Priscilla
Chisholm, Margaret Hutson, Jenny Wilson, Jenny Pike and any other
members of our Church family who are ill or who may be going
through trying times.
Our social event in March went well and raised £330 after very few
expenses. Our application to the Drone Hill wind farm community
fund for a grant towards window repairs was not successful but may
be resubmitted. The priory garden is looking lovely with blossom and
flowering bulbs. Cowslips which we planted two years ago are now in
flower and Dr Fenty has transplanted some clumps of cowslips from
the glebe field to a sunny bank beside the compost bin. Barry Carter
pruned buddleia and willow and the gardener, Richard Yeo, and I have
been weeding nettles. Anyone who would like to help occasionally,
please get in touch.
Barry and I attended a two yearly “Gathering” on 1st May in
Dunfermline Abbey of the Scotland’s Churches Trust Scheme. The
priory has been a member for about fifteen years. It was set up to
promote church openings to the public but has now widened its scope
to assist repairs with advice and grants. Their April newsletter can be
found at www.scotlandschurchestrust.co.uk. Princess Anne is the
patron and gave a short talk and especially encouraged one new
initiative to publicise pilgrim journeys around Scotland. We met some
interesting representatives of other churches and made a good
contact for Coldingham. We were also surprised that Princess Anne
moved around about two hundred people at a reception afterwards
and exchanged a few words with all. She remembered visiting St Abbs
a few years ago and was well aware of this lovely area.
The Friends AGM will be on Wednesday 26th June this year at 7.30pm
in the Priory.
Julia
Priory Young People
At last! We've returned home to the Priory and what an amazing time we
had at out Homecoming Family Worship also celebrating Pentecost - the
coming of the Holy Spirit - that friend and helper that Jesus promised
would be with us always. So good to see so many of you and your families
there, we reckon that there must have been about 150 people!
We would like to thank those of you who, with Rosemary, came along and
planted heathers outside the church. I think you each know which one is
'your heather' and you will be able to watch it grow and become more
beautiful and to think about how God sends the rain and the sun, to make
this happen.
I wonder what you think about our 'New Look' building. Of course the best
thing is that we now have a room where we can meet on a Sunday morning
for our own activities during the service, you are all very welcome to come
and join us for these.
Andy is planning two Family Services during the summer holidays and
they’re on 28th July and 18th August.
Hope you can come to either or both of these. Have a great summer whether you are at home or away, stay safe, enjoy God's amazing world
and look after it.
Wishing you and your families every blessing.
Dig for Victory!
Plant 5 rows of PEAS –
Prayer
Perseverance
Politeness
Piety
Promptness
Plant 3 rows of SQUASH –
Squash gossip
Squash criticism
Squash indifference
Plant 5 rows of LETTUCE –
Let us be faithful to duty
Let us be unselfish
Let us be truthful
Let us follow Christ
Let us love one another
And no garden is complete without TURNIPS –
Turn up for Church
Turn up with a smile
Turn up with new ideas
And turn up with a determination to make everything
count for something good and worthwhile!
Heather & Bobbie
BCYT Silent Auction
Saturday 8th June, Foulden Village Hall at 7.30pm
£3 entry includes refreshments.
Donation of goods to Marianne 71116 and please come!!
From a Church magazine in Ayrshire
Readers’ Rota
Church News
· Congratulations to Betty Barnes on the birth of a great-grandchild.
· It is proposed that from September we begin worship at 9.45am.
· Session meeting 28th August at 7.15pm in the Priory.
· Board meetings 2nd June and 4th September at 7.15pm in the Priory.
Mail your news to prioryupdate@gmail.com
Flower Rota
Jun 2nd
Jun 9th
Jun 16th
Jun 23rd
Jun 30th
Mrs J. Wilson
Communion
Mrs M. Wilson
Mrs A. Wood
Jo and Johanna Wright
Jul 7th
Jul14th
Jul 21st
Jul 28th
Mrs A. Wylie
Mrs A. Aitchison
Mrs B. Barnes
Mrs C. Campbell
Aug 4th
Aug 11th
Aug 18th
Aug 25th
Mrs P. Chisholm
Wedding
Mrs M. Cockburn
Mrs P. Chisholm
Jun 2nd
Jun 9th
Jun 16th
Jun 23rd
Jun 30th
R. Bond
A. Robertson
R. Goldie
J. Carter
K. Easton
A. Halsall
M. Wilson
C. Hobson
B. Carter
R. Wylie
Jul 7th
Jul 14th
Jul 21st
Jul 28th
E. Wilson
R. Maunder
A. Fullerton
G. Prentice
M. Henry
G. Philp
J. Fullerton
M. Karsgaard
Aug 4th
Aug 11th
Aug 18th
Aug 25th
B. Neil
C. Campbell
G. Johnston
M. Wilson
A. Craig
D. Campbell
H. Johnston
A. Lawrie
If you are not available please find a substitute and let me know on
71222.
Greta
“A church is a hospital for sinners,
not a museum for saints”
Coffee Rota
Jun 23rd
Jul 28th
Aug 25th
Alison Fullarton
Carol Campbell
Mairead Henry
Mary Wilson
Alison Halsall
Marianne Karsgaard
Abigail Van Buren