Parish News Round-up

Thursday October 8

Our regular round-up of news received from churches

Please send items of parish news to magazine@lifeandwork.org or Life and Work, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN. Digital photographs should not be reduced. Please check the quality of your pictures: images which are blurry or too dark cannot be used. If there are children in any picture please confirm that their parents or guardians have given permission for publication.

On Sunday the congregation of Haddington West Church celebrated 125 years of worship in their building. Originally built in 1890 by the members of the then St John's Free Church, it became the home of the Church of Scotland West Church congregation in 1932 and remains so today.

To mark the occasion a large congregation welcomed back former ministers, the Rev Cammy Mackenzie and the Rev Ian Walker and also the Rev Jimmy Stewart, who preached frequently in the church until his retiral. In his sermon Mr Walker talked about looking forward to the future with confidence and assurance, while Mr Mackenzie looked back with pleasure to his time in Haddington and to some of the people, now gone, who had made a major contribution to the work of the West Church.

The service was followed by a lunch and the cutting of a birthday cake. There was also an opportunity to examine a display of pictures, documents and artefacts depicting the history of the church building and some of the people connected with it over many years. The present minister, the Rev John Vischer said: “It was an excellent event to mark an important milestone in the history of the building, and an encouragement to us all to go forward in faith.”

Pictured from left: the Rev Cammy Mackenzie, the Rev John Vischer and the Rev Iain Walker. Photo by David Elder

The children of the Sunday School at Allan Park South Church in Stirling have been hoarding their pennies over the summer, and raised £110 to help educate young girls in Africa.

The money has been donated to Let Us Shine, a Scottish-based charity which provides schooling, training and healthcare within a Christian ethos. It will be used at their Girls Academy in Kpandai, northern Ghana (pictured).

Six new Elders were ordained at St Columba’s Church of Scotland in St Helier, Jersey, last week.

During the service, church minister the Rev David Logan told the new elders that they “were joining the Eldership at a very important time in the life of the Church as the role of the Elder was changing greatly”. He presented each of them with a modern translation of the Bible as a gift from the Congregation.

The new Elders come from a variety of backgrounds including banking, plumbing and social work.

Pictured left to right: Daphne Robertson, Katie Bennie, Hamish Kean, Margaret Martini, Graeme Robertson and Deirdre Szpera. Picture by Boyd Bennie.

Lochcarron Church welcomed seven representatives of the Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly (NYA) for a weekend visit.

The young people, visiting at the invitation of local rep Robin Downie, insisted on camping, despite the Highland midge, and were blessed with good weather.

They joined in the Harvest Thanksgiving Supper and worship on Sunday, telling the congregation of their work and their involvement in discussions on climate change.

The picture shows the NYA reps outside Lochcarron Church with a couple of local girls.

Comments

James Fulton - Saturday, September 23rd, 2023

“I know Cammy have done for a number of years, not seen him in years, but I'm glad to see/hear he's only getting stronger in his faith...he's a good man....even if he was a bit of a rascal with the Logie Squad in Paisley, I can honestly say it's a pleasure to know him, maybe someday our paths with cross again, .should you ever read this...aw ra best mate....”

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