News

Parish News Round-up

Thursday November 26 2020

Our regular round-up of news received from churches

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In March 2020 Rhu & Shandon Parish Church in Argyll, like all others, was closed due to restrictions imposed by Covid 19.

In the absence of any community gathering to reflect or to pray in these troubled times, the idea of a Prayer Gate in the Church grounds was adopted. This caught the imagination of the community and several hundred ribbons have been tied to the gates, each representing the hopes and prayers of individuals.

As Christmas approaches this idea has been developed. The ribbons have been removed from the gate by pupils of Rhu Primary School and taken into the church for the weekly Music, Prayer and Reflection Service. A local artist will create a montage of the ribbons, which will then be framed so that the church has a permanent remembrance of the community’s hopes and prayers during the pandemic. This will be brought back to the Church for a special service, as soon as it is able to return to unrestricted worship, and permanently housed there.

The Church of Scotland’s theme for Advent is Bright Hope for Tomorrow. Reflecting this, small wooden hearts (symbolising Hope) and ribbons will be provided for individuals to tie onto the Prayer Gates, as they spend a moment in quiet prayer or reflection. In addition, pupils from Rhu Primary School will be given stars, bearing this message, which they can decorate and add their own individual hope for the future. These will then be hung on the Christmas tree in the Church grounds. The tree of stars, and the gates of hearts and ribbons, will symbolise both the school’s and community’s Bright Hope for Tomorrow.

Picture: Rhu Primary School pupils, Kiera and Freddie, removing the ribbons from the Prayer Gate and presenting them to the Rev Tina Kemp.