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Parish News Round-up

Thursday January 24 2019

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. Please check the quality of your pictures: images which are too small, 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.


 

An embroidery group at Meldrum and Bourtie Parish Church in Aberdeenshire has completed a project illustrating the story of a local saint.

St Nathallan (or Nechtan) founded three church communities and was the abbot of a monastery called Nir, all in north east Scotland, in the 600s. He is said to have been a farmer who lost his faith and blamed God after his crops failed.

In penance he shackled either his hand or his leg (depending on which version of the story you are reading) with a padlock and threw the key into a river before making a pilgrimage to Rome.

There, having prayed for forgiveness, he bought a fish and found the key in his belly.

Nechtan’s story was researched by the church minister the Rev Alison Jaffrey, a member of the embroidery group, and materials were funded by Elaine Buck. Nine scenes from the saint’s life were produced, covering his early days as a successful farmer, the voyage to Rome, his work back in Aberdeenshire and his death.

The work was dedicated as a service on January 6. Mrs Janney said: “Our saint was a faithful farmer and a hopeful sower of the seed of the Gospel. We can aspire to continue his tasks and keep our faith no matter how it is challenged by circumstance and to give our lives to the service of God in this place.

“These embroideries we now give to the congregation of Meldrum and Bourtie in thanksgiving for the life of Nechtan and in the hope that remembering his life will help us to hold to our faith through the trials of life we faith.”

Pictured: two of the embroidery panels depicting the story of Nechtan. Left: Lorna Reid's depiction of the voyage. Right: Nechtan in the Roman market, by Ellie Ingram.


Those who attended services at Kinross Parish Church over the Christmas period donated over £1,400 to the work of one of the country’s oldest charities - the Sailors’ Society. The Society helps seafarers and their families, especially those from poorer countries, with welfare and practical support. Much of the charity’s work is to support seafaring communities in places such as India and the Philippines whose seafarers can be away from home for up to a year at a time. Kirk elder, Robin Webster, who has a long-standing connection with the charity, said: “We should care because almost everything we own or use comes by sea. We all rely on these seafarers. The Society, which is now 200 years old, is grateful for this support and to all those who donated.”

The Sailors’ Society is one of the projects currently adopted by the Church of Scotland Guild, both nationally and in Kinross Parish Church, as part of their themed strategy of ‘One Journey, Many Roads’.


 


Parish News

Parish News

Stories from Aberdeenshire and Kinross

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Parish News

Parish News

Stories from Aberdeenshire and Kinross

Read More   >

Parish News

Parish News

Stories from Aberdeenshire and Kinross

Read More   >


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