and fun way of supporting your church and getting to
know other members better. So, if you are reasonably
fit and able to walk a few miles, how about doing so?
Sponsored Walk - Saturday 18 June
Report by Ian Dickson
This year, we are returning to an old favourite; the figure-ofeight route from Peebles, via Manor Sware, across Kirkton
Manor Road Tweed Bridge and along Tweed Walk (North
Side) to Lyne Station, returning along Tweed Walk (South
Side), re-crossing Tweed Bridge and back, past Neidpath
Castle, along Tweed Walk (North Side).
The total distance is approximately 7½ miles. The route
does not have any daunting upwards gradients and, in the
main, follows well-defined tracks and paths with relatively good walking
surfaces; and it is intended that, on the day, the pace be made by the
‘stiffies’ (in the majority!) not any would-be ‘greyhounds’ (few and selfdeluded!). Moreover, taking part in the walk is a healthy, invigorating
If you would like to participate but fear you would not be
able to manage the full distance, it would be possible to
join and leave the route at the Kirkton Manor Road
Tweed Bridge, reducing the distance to be coverd to
only a little over 3½ miles.
However, if you really are unable to participate, please
remember that you can still give your support by
sponsoring someone who can! More detailed information and
sponsorship forms are available in the Church and Church Hall
vestibules or from Ian or Moira Dickson (Tel 0131 440 2019).
Turning Aside - Sunday Service 12 June
As we progress in our search for a new minister, now is a good time to review how
we view our church, our part in it, and how we move it forward into the future .
The lead story this month
provides a view of what
styles of outreach your
church is developing in Café
Church, which was brought
to the wider congregation on
8 May.
A clear vision of the future we want to develop in St. Mungo’s will provide a powerful
message to prospective ministers looking for a congregation who know where they
are going.
Please come along and join this opportunity to help identify what Christ would want
us to do. Sunday 12 June at 11.00am in the church hall.
This style of church will be
used again in June, this time
to explore what excites us
about church and how to
channel that excitement, see
article on back page.
Messy Church - 29 May
Gift Days are a substantial and indispensable element in funding
the maintenance, repair and renovation of St Mungo’s properties.
The church will be open from 10am to 12 noon on Saturday 4
June, to receive your Gift Day envelope. Alternatively you may
place it in the Collection Plate at Sunday Service.
Come along to this years Summer Fayre and see the
wide range of items on display, including greeting cards,
books. bricabrac, home baking. bottle stall and tombola. The
raffle with some great prizes will also featutre and of course
our wonderful strawberry tea!!!!
Holiday Club - Volunteers needed
Holy Communion - 5 June
Mungo’s Diary
5 June, 11.00am
7 June, 7.00pm
12 June, 11.00am
12 June, 4.00pm
15 June, 7.30pm
18 Jun, 9.50am
20 Jun, 7.30pm
25 June, 10.00am
26 June, 4.00pm
29 June, 7.30pm
Friendship Circle. - 74 Eskvale Drive.
For transport Margaret 672347.
Holy Communion service - Sacrament of the Last Supper
Congregational Board and Kirk Session meeting - church hall.
Sunday morning Service in church hall - Turning Aside
Café Connect at Jean Place - to 5.00pm.
Housegroup. 21 Mauricewood Bank
Sponsored Walk - Meet in front of the Church
Bible Study. New series - Frontline Discipleship. Church Hall.
Summer Fayre - in the Church Hall. To 12 noon. All Welcome
Messy Church - in the Church Hall. To 6.00pm
Housegroup. 21 Mauricewood Bank
Pastoral Care
The Quiz Night and Messy
Church stories show that
Bible stories can be fun, with
laughter a great way to help
learning.
The Food Facts and Friends
have their official opening in
style during June, and we
should be proud of this form
of outreach into our
community, helping the poor
and those falling on hard
times.
A little later this year, our Sacrament of the Last Supper takes
place on Sunday 5th June at 11.00am to which you and your
family are are warmly invited.
1 June 10.45am
Sunday Service Café Style - 8 May
From the mouse of Editor’s
PC
As we move
towards
summer, you
know it can’t
be too far
away when
the sun
shines, it is easier to reflect
on where we are and where
we want to go.
Holding the service in the church hall will allow us as groups to address these
questions with the help of supporting video clips. The technique will be familiar to
those who attended the Café Church service on 8 May, where we discussed points
raised during Neil Cape’s presentation.
Gift Day - 4 June
You can sign up to an extended “e” version of this newssheet, with full length features, and colour photos which will be delivered to
your email each month, saving paper and other resources. Use “eSignup” on St. Mungo's website www.stmungos.freeuk.com
Church mouse
The Sunday morning service on 12 June will be held in the
church hall and include the Church of Scotland’s video
‘Turning Aside’ created by Lothian Presbytery Forward
Planning Coordinating Group, to explore four questions:‘What do you like about being part of church? How do you
see the churches place in society? Where are the signs of
hope that excite you? How can we share the love of Christ
with those around us ?’
Messy Church will be on Sunday May 29th, in St.
Mungo's Church Hall starting at 4.00pm. We will be
looking at Ezekiel's prophesy about the dry bones in
the Valley of Dry Bones. He predicted that some
day the bones will reassemble and walk around at
the command of God. Very appropriate in this
Pentecost season.
June 2016
I mentioned fun earlier and
this month will see the
Sponsored Walk, and the
Summer Fayre, both a great
way to have fun with friends,
and our church family, while
raising funds for the work of
your church.
The Penicuik Churches Working Together are looking
for volunteers to help run the Holiday Club from 1 to 5
August. If you would be able to help on all, or any of
these dates then please contact Sandy Robertson on
01968 672863 for more details, more information on the
website www.stmungos.freeuk.com
The Pastoral visiting team can be called on at any time (Margaret 672347)
For another full month of
activities in your church, see
Mungo’s diary.
Enjoy this issue.
Jim Paterson
Newsletter Editor
stmungos@freeuk.com
Our service on Sunday 8 May followed a different format to our usual style of worship. For a start we held
the service in the church hall, but not because the heating in the church had failed, as in a previous
Sunday. We moved to the hall as we were presenting part of the service in Café Connect style, to show
members of the congregation how this monthly alternative to traditional church works.
We started in the Café Connect style with hot drinks and cake before gathering round the tables to hear
Neil Cape talk about an example of how Café Connect works, by describing points from his own life as a
professional scientist and how that relates to his faith.
After talking about a 7-year-old's approach to God, Sunday School etc, he
went on to his time as a student. Here he had been challenged by a lady
who used to stand outside the university chapel every Sunday morning,
asking those queuing to get in 'Are you saved?' This had caused some
confusion and embarrassment. Neil then asked the congregation to discuss
round their tables: 'How would you feel if someone stood outside St
Mungo's on a Sunday and asked you that question? Would you know what
they meant? What would your answer be?'
After 5 minutes of animated discussion, Neil went on to talk about working
in a research institute, and the barriers to talking about one's faith imposed
by being the 'boss'. The congregation were then asked to discuss: 'What
are the barriers that stop you talking about your faith to friends, neighbours,
colleagues? How can you get round them?'
Again, it was hard to get people to stop talking and move on to the end of this part of the service, when
Neil explained that science answers the question 'How does the world work?' while faith answers
questions like 'Why is the world the way it is, and why are we here?'
Following the Café Connect style we moved back to the more traditional format as Hugh took over the lead,
drawing on what we had learned from Neil's presentation.
The informal discussion after the service, over, you guessed it, another coffee, showed that many
members were delighted with what their church is doing to bring the word of God to those that find
traditional church difficult to join. A number of new faces were also present and they too found the event
fulfilling. Is it the style of the Café Connect format, or the surroundings, i.e. not inside a traditional church
building with rows and rows of pews and a pulpit? Perhaps a bit of both. What do you think? Please let us
know.
Café Connect returns to Jeans Place in the Precinct on Sunday 12 June at 4.00pm, when Jackie
Ringan will talk about how God has helped in her as a teacher and working with Scripture Union,
Come along with a friend and enjoy a hot drink and cake while listening to Jackie.
Christian Aid Lunch - 15 May
Quiz Night - 16 May
Story - Agnes Ovenstone, pictures - Jim Paterson
Report - Janis Hogg
Messy Ascension had the children imagine how the disciples
felt when Jesus was taken up into Heaven, and what the
disciples understood of what Jesus had said to them.
To kick start Christian Aid Week 15 to 21 May St. Mungo’s
hosted a lunch after the service on Sunday 15th May.
Ascension Day used to be better known as a day of celebration
than it is today, even within church
circles. It marks the moment when
Jesus finally leaves his disciples 40
days after his resurrection.; He gave
his followers both a command and a
promise, which are still valid for us
today.
This was a wonderful event! Before the service lots of people
arrived with donations of all sorts of food and before long we had 8 huge pots of soup ,
bread, butter,crackers, cheese , baking of all sorts and biscuits. We looked around and
thought..... we're never going to use all this - some will end up being given back ! The
social committee, Agnes Ovenstone, Margaret Black,. Christine Jackson , Linn Kinloch,
Norah Cox, Joyce Hunter, and Helen Sutherland, swung into well experienced action,
setting tables and laying out food.
However! After church a good number of our own congregation
came for lunch , then people from other churches arrived after their
services and soon all the tables were filled. We reckon around 70
people ate together, and ate well! Comments were made about the
generous spread provided. Agnes and Margaret slaved over the hot
stove serving soup and the rest of the ladies took orders ( two lentil,
one broth, chef ! ) , served the soup , then the teas and coffees.
The crafts provided some fun for the children, including
Fruity folk: making some people from fruit – and thinking about
all the countries where there are people in God’s family.
Heads down and start thinking
There was a lovely atmosphere in the hall as people greeted friends
from other churches and had a good chat. A great success and very enjoyable. The
amount donated was £364.20 , with roughly £60 of gift aid to come back too.
Our annual quiz was held on Monday 16 May when we were joined by members from St James the Less and the
South Churches. Gordon MacDonald and Agnes Ovenstone asked the questions and kept the score. There were
six categories of questions - Film & TV, Food, History, Art & Literature, the Bible, and General Knowledge.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to this wonderful occasion!
There were six teams taking part with the
novel titles, the Bright Sparks, the B Jays,
Fiona's Flyers, Chinid, the Three Graces plus
one, and the Winalot Woof woofs.
Food Facts and Friends (FFF) Official opening - 7 June
Last month we featured the setting up of Food Fact and
Friends drop in centre and foodbank, which operates from St.
Mungo's church hall. The centre, while complementing the
food store which operates from the North Church, and the
foodbank at Sacred Heart, differs significantly, in that those in
need can visit St. Mungo's, to meet and talk to helping people
over coffee and often breakfast, as well as receive food
parcels.
During May a lot has been happening. Mark and Grace Wells, Jill Kane and David have
started the foodbank operation handing out tinned foods, pasta with sauces, fresh fruit,
vegetables, and bakery items to needy individuals and families every Monday and
Friday 10.30am to 1.30pm. Some 20 families each day, from Penicuik and surrounding
area, have visited the centre. They have also been called upon by Midlothian Social
Work team to provide emergency food parcels at all times of day or night, now that the
Citizen Advice Bureau are no longer providing such a service.
What form of outreach can be more rewarding than to support the poor and troubled in
our society, following Christ's word 'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matthew 25)
The open door to not only food, but also welcome friendship and help to make for a
better life is what we all should be striving to do for those falling on hard times in our
community.
Mark and Grace are strong Christians and can often be seen in our congregation. Any
donations of produce or cash to purchase food is always welcome. You can see them
not only at Sunday service but every Monday and Friday in the hall.
International nails: getting thumbnail
decorated with a flag, and remembering
that Jesus has given us all this special job of spreading His message …. How can we
do that?
One of the questions in the History section
caused a bit of a puzzle - The Kingdom of
Cusco is associated with which civilization?
The choices were Greek, Inca, Roman,
Egyptian. Much head scratching. See end of
story for the right answer.
However when it came to the Bible questions (which were not multiple
choice) all that changed and a winner appeared. The questions for
this section were set by Hugh Davidson, our minister, who was
banned from his team for this round. However, for one of the
questions he did add an extra 'throw away' option. The question was
'Who had three friends called Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the
Shuhite and Zophar the Na'amathite?
From the back of the hall Hugh added 'and Taffy the Anthracite'.
Mmmm not sure if a 'Taffy' is mentioned in the Bible. The correct
answer is Job.
The centre will have its official opening on Tuesday 7 June at
1.00pm when Sister Rita Lee, nicknamed ‘Attila the Nun’, who
runs a similar centre at the Lalley Centre in Manchester, offering
support for people with all manner of needs, including debt,
welfare advice, food poverty, job applications and CV writing, will
cut the ribbon.
Sister Rita will be accompanied by a BBC film crew covering the event, which will be
broadcast as a documentary in November. You are welcome to join this celebration
which starts at 12 noon in the church hall, and is open to all members of St. Mungo's.
Hands around the world ….. helping to
surround the world with a chain of hands,
and remember that we’re not just part of
God’s world wide family, but that in Him we
are all joined together..
Spreading the good news: doing some
messy painting (using a drinking straw!)
How did the Jesus message spread so far
across the world?
There was so much laughter that some of the
questions had to be repeated more than once.
From the scores it appeared that most of the
questions were relatively easy although they
were all multiple choice so there was a one in
four chance of getting the right. However the
golden rule of 'if in doubt vote for C' did not
always work!
The FFF team are looking to add fresh meat and poultry products once they are in full
operation, through links with Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Greggs, who donate
produce to a number of Foodbanks in Midlothian.
Before cutting the ribbon Sister Rita will visit our church and St.
Kentigern ruin in the churchyard. The Rev Hugh Davidson will be
at the ceremony as will a number of the elders, when we will provide a short history of St.
Mungo's in Penicuik. Midlothian provost Jim Wallace our will be there, along with our MP
Owen Thompson, border councillor Michelle Ballantyne, and Kris Chapman, who all
have a close interest in services that support the needy in our society, and have visited
the centre and are very supportive of the FFF venture and the link to our church.
Messy Ascension - 24 April Story and pictures - Jim Paterson
Tea/Coffee and
Home Baking
was served at
the interval and biscuits and cheese were available for
nibbling during the quiz. The result was very close but the
winners, by one point, were The Three Graces plus one which
comprised of Marion Mather,Gillian Little, Margaret Coull from
St James and Margaret Black from St Mungo's.
What was the question?
Build a church: build a big junk church –
what did it need to have, and what doesn’t it
need? Did we think our church here at St
Mungo’s looks like churches in other
countries? What about our junk church?
Flags of the world on our arms, part of our
global family.
Toilet roll challenge: make a person from
another country using toilet roll tubes and
whatever materials are available, and find out about our toilet
twinning challenge (see leaflet).
Margaret Coull accepted the 'Smart Alec' trophy for her team,
from Agnes Ovenstone.
The time in church included a video depiction of the Ascension and
how those discovering the tomb empty reacted. You can see the clip at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc2NtYSI7oE
There was a great atmosphere in the hall and everyone
agreed it had been a happy fun night.
The answer to the above question about Cusco is Inca.
Our Global family Our Global family was to paint a global family, and think what it
means to be part of one!.
Margaret Coull receives
Smrt Alec teddy from
Agnes Ovenstone
Interim Moderator - Rev Yvonne Atkins email YAtkins@churchofscotland.org.uk
A meal was served to finish the day, providing time to talk about what we had done
together.
Dates for your diary.
The next Messy Church will be on. Sunday May 29.
The final Messy Church of the season will be June 26.