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Parish news round-up

Thursday February 5

Our weekly round-up of news received from local churches.

Liberton Kirk in South East Edinburgh is 200 years old this year. Christians have worshipped on this site for over 1000 years, but the foundation stone for the present building, designed by James Gillespie Graham, was laid on January 27 1815. The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev John Chalmers, preached at a special service on Sunday February 1 to launch the celebrations (the Moderator is pictured with parish minister, the Rev Dr John Young), with a lunch in the Kirk Centre afterwards for the church family and friends from neighbouring churches and from past years.

A major focus during the year will be the local community, young and old, who will be invited to join in the celebrations. There will be a community tea in June, when the flower festival in the church will be worth a visit, community walks in July, a family fète in August and open days in September. Any profits from the celebrations will go to a Tearfund project providing safe water to families in Uganda, remembering the wells in the Liberton area in the past.

Liberton Kirk folk will remember their celtic worship roots in a day led by the Northumbria Community, and a pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. A new book by Richard Purden, Liberton Kirk – A Good Place to Be, is on sale, and a lasting reminder of the year will be a stone cairn, representing the “living stones”, the people who make up the church.

When Sandra James joined Bolton & Saltoun Kirk in East Lothian in 1998 and made her first round of elder’s visits, she little thought that she might have joined the equivalent of a dating agency! This January she and senior elder Stewart Chalmers exchanged marriage vows in front of a packed congregation in a very special Sunday morning service. The Very Rev John Cairns officiated and Sandra and Stewart’s church friends were joined in Bolton Kirk by family and friends from further afield. In place of wedding gifts, they asked that guests and friends make a donation to the church, raising an extra £800 in the collection plate. This is the second time the church has had a wedding ceremony in a Sunday service – and both occasions have been enormously joyful celebrations.

From July 2014 until January 2015 Blackhall St. Columba’s Church in Edinburgh held fundraising events in aid of Disability Snowsport UK. As a result of organising many events including a Summer Coin Collection, Country Coffee Morning and a Christmas Fair as well as receiving donations from individual members of the congregation and the support of the local community, the WA†CH (WA†CH stands for Working Altogether to Care and Help through the cross) Committee raised £11,800 so that Disability Snowsport UK can start an adaptive ski school at Hillend, Midlothian.

The photo shows Grant Douglas, convener of the WA†CH Committee, along with Blackhall's interim moderator the Rev Tom Cuthell and other members of the committee presenting the cheque to Fiona Young, Chief Executive, and Louisa Oram, Central Belt Ski School Manager, Disability Snowsport UK.

Right: On Sunday January 11 Lenzie Old Parish Church, Glasgow, ordained three new Elders, Mary Frame, Carol Lang and Kate Sanford. The three new Elders are pictured with the Rev Douglas W Clark.

Below: Long Service Certificates were also presented to elders with a total of 452 years’ service between them. Elders pictured with Mr Clark from left to right, back row: Derek McLean (30 years' service) Ian Hector (46), Richard King (34), Jimmy Robertson (33), Alistair Getty (46); front row: Findlay Munro (45), Alistair Aitchison (33), David Clubb (39), Bobby Robertson (30), Raymond Hall (47). Also presented with certificates but not in the picture Duncan Ayton (39) and Derek Edgington (30).

Please submit 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 pictures please confirm that their parents or guardians have given permission for publication.

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Post Tags: liberton kirk, parish news round-up, bolton and saltoun, blackhall st columba's, lenzie old