BLACKHALL ST COLUMBA’S CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH Registered Scottish Charity No. SC008756

www.blackhallstcolumba.org.uk

to glorify God … to proclaim Christ … and to serve others

KIRK NEWS

FEBRUARY 2020 No. 818

Vacancy News !

We have exciting news and important information about the selection of a nominee for the post of

Minister at Blackhall St Columba’s Church.

The nominee, Mr Fergus M Cook, will lead morning worship at the 10.30 am service on Sunday,

16 February 2020.

For more information,

including what happens next,

see pages 5, 8 & 9.

Minister (Vacancy) Interim Moderator:

The Very Rev Dr Russell Barr Locum:

Rev Gordon Farquharson Tel. 343 1047

Session Clerk

Mr Eddie Thorn Tel. 332 5702

Church Secretary Ms Julie Nicol

In Church Office from Mon-Fri, 9.00-12.30pm

Tel. 332 4431 secretary@blackhallstcolumba.org.uk

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BLACKHALL ST COLUMBA’S CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

STATED ANNUAL MEETING

SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2020

The Stated Annual Meeting of the Congregation will be held in the Church Hall following the 10.30 am service on the morning of Sunday, 22 March. All members of the congregation are invited to stay after the service to attend the meeting.

With a view to economy the agenda and reports from the Minister, Session Clerk and Working Team Conveners will no longer be delivered to each household prior to the meeting but the full report will be made available on the Church website. Some printed copies (around 100) will be available at the entrance to the large hall for any member requesting a copy.

Eddie Thorn Session Clerk

Missing Years?

Dear Friends,

The month of February is reputed to bring the worst weather of the year and it may be that some of the hard winter we have been anticipating will at last come along. We have enjoyed a fairly mild spell so far and there is always a fear that there will be worse to come. Old sayings about the weather generally involve predicting what will result from the meteorology of a particular day and February is rich in such dates - Groundhog Day for example (Feb. 2), given a new spin by the film. In this leap year February, though still the shortest month, is a day longer and that has its own attributions of course.

The change in the Western World Calendar, now long ago, made February the month of adjustment and in terms of the Church’s year February is an odd month too as it spans the gap in the way that we follow the life of Jesus. In the four Gospels we hear little of the life of our Lord after His presentation in the Temple and then what might be His Bar-Mitzvah at the age of twelve. To skip from the manger to the Temple seems drastic and so the idea of Jesus’ boyhood gave rise to many stories presenting Him as some kind of exemplary figure for growing boys and girls. No doubt these came from well-meaning story-tellers about what they thought Jesus’ childhood might have been like! The oldest-known is the INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS, which appeared in the sixth Century, but survives from medieval versions. In such spin-off stories Jesus was set up as a paragon and a prodigy, a sort of clever, gifted, goody-goody type, but one who was able to exercise a personal arbitrary power and sometimes even vindictively. Dare I say we might envisage a sort of cross between George Washington and Little Lord Fauntleroy – more than any red-blooded real boy might be able to stomach! I’m sorry to say I find that there are still teachers today who seek to go down the road of attributing precocity to the growing Jesus. One I read was sure that: ‘He had no time for the wasteful activities of most youth.’ Really? Why is it so difficult to admit that Jesus might have had a straightforward childhood and leave it at that? Why is there a need to fill in the gaps in the Gospels? / continued

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From the Minister

From the Minister continued

One explanation may be that it is difficult to accept the abrupt difference between the sentimental imagery of the baby in the manger and the strong and maturing man who is soon to be on His way calling followers to His side, setting out to heal the sick and feed the hungry. I think we all enjoy the earlier years of our own children, grandkids or nieces and nephews. Maybe we would l ike to keep Jesus in childhood a bit longer and so put off the issues that He will raise for us, as He challenges the Establishment and the accepted norms of religion and the routine of life. What is surely emphasised about the boy Jesus is that He: ‘ grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.’ (Luke Ch.2:v. 40)

Within this month we will review again Jesus’ career as God’s ambassador to humankind and his exemplary mature life as leader and friend and Lent will begin with Ash Wednesday on 26 February. Soon the next News will be ready, with details of our local services of the season, as we prepare for Easter. Whatever our days bring in terms of weather or of life’s challenges, we shouldn’t be pessimistic. Luke has assured us that: ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.’ Maybe that should be enough for us and for our

young folk, who may wish to ask the question: ‘What would Jesus do?’ and find an answer in context of the common lives that we share. Isn’t it enough to know that God became human and lived a truly human life as a son and brother in a family and home? God was one of us.

Warm good wishes

Gordon Farquharson, Minister

What has happened

to our pews ?

See page 11

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Church Diary

February

2 10.30 am Family Service with the Junior Singers & Suzuki Violin Group

5 12 noon Mid Week Service followed by light lunch 9 10.30 am Morning Worship 16 10.30 am Morning Worship

Mr Fergus Cook will preach as nominee for the Blackhall St Columba’s Vacancy. We would very much like children and young people to be present at the service

19 12 noon Mid Week Service followed by light lunch 23 9.30 am Sacrament of Communion 11.00 am Sacrament of Communion 25 4.00 pm Strachan House Service

March

1 10.30 am Youth Sunday Service 4 12 noon Mid Week Service followed by light lunch 6 7.00 pm World Day of Prayer Service at St Margaret’s RC

Church, Davidson’s Mains 8 10.30 am Morning Worship 15 10.30 am Morning Worship 18 12 noon Mid Week Service followed by light lunch* 22 10.30 am Morning Worship followed by Stated Annual Meeting 24 4.00 pm Strachan House Service 29 10.30 am Morning Worship followed by Short Communion

* Please note the next Midweek Service/Lunch will be 15 April

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The Kirk Session met on 21 January.

Vacancy Business The Kirk Session was informed that Mr Fergus M Cook would be preaching on Sunday 16 February as nominee for the vacancy. Please see the separate article, pages 8 and 9.

Alpha Course Donald Cameron advised that the Alpha Course would be starting on Tuesday 28 January and will run every Tuesday evening – 19.30 to 21.00 - until 31 March. The event is being held in Costa Coffee Craigleith Retail Park with the away day being held in the Holiday Inn, off Queensferry Road, on Saturday 14 March, 09.00 to 17.00. Donald advised that to date 16 people had signed up for the Course with a number still to confirm.

Church Secretary It was noted that Joy McGonigal-Paget had been appointed Church Secretary to succeed Julie Nicol who leaves at the end of February.

Communion It was agreed that with immediate effect gluten free bread will be served at Communion.

Concert Donald Cameron advised that Ben Kearsley, a well known Edinburgh classical guitarist, will play in the Large Hall on the evening of Saturday 25 April.

Correspondence An acknowledgement was received from Poppy Scotland thanking the Congregation for the donation of £195 from the retiring offering on Remembrance Sunday. (What was reported in the last edition of Kirk News was in fact the proceeds from the collecting boxes.)

Flower Convener It was noted that Violet Troup had retired as Flower Convener after 27 years faithful service in that role. The Clerk was requested to write and thank Violet for her dedication and commitment over that long period. See page17

Local Church Review The Interim Moderator reported that a meeting of himself, the Session Clerk and the Working Team Leaders had taken place / continued

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KIRK SESSION REPORT

KIRK SESSION REPORT continued with the Deputy Presbytery Clerk to review the Church plan. He added that the Deputy Presbytery Clerk was pleased with the progress achieved to date.

Re-dedication of the Sanctuary It was reported that the Service to rededicate the Sanctuary following the completion of the Building for The Future works (Phase 1) will take place on Sunday 21 June. A committee of the Minister, Director of Music, Session Clerk, Christine Denham and Michael Cockburn will attend to the arrangements.

Roll The Attestation of the Congregational Roll was conducted and it was noted that 626 members were on the Roll as at 31 December 2019.

Eddie Thorn Session Clerk

Tuesday Topics

Tuesday Topics celebrated the start of 2020 with a most enjoyable meal at ‘Howies’ in Waterloo Place on 14 January. We are now looking forward to Burn’s day with a talk entitled ‘Robert Burns, his life, his poetry, his songs’ on January 28 by Roy Johnstone.

On 11 February Peter Thomson will entertain us musically with ‘Wine, Women and mostly Song’ and on 25 February we will hear from Andrew Thomson about the development of the Backhouse Rossie Estate.

Our annual theatre outing on 3 March is to see the Southern Light Opera Co. perform ‘Anything Goes’. Note change of sequence to one week later!

Following this on 24 March Rosie Ellison will discuss the role Edinburgh plays in the film industry.

All are welcome at any of our meetings.

Eleanor Lowrie, President Jackie Cowie, Secretary

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Vacancy: Selection of Nominee, Mr Fergus Cook

Statement by Eddie Thorn, Session Clerk

The Nominating Committee has warmly and unanimously agreed on a Nominee to come before the Congregation with a view to the election and appointment of our new minister. This has been confirmed, as is required, by the Presbytery Vacancy Advisory Committee.

The nominee is Mr Fergus M Cook who has just finished his probationary period. He has yet to be ordained.

Fergus is 54 years of age and has followed his calling into the ministry after completing 30 years police service. He is married to Shona and they have three daughters. He lives on the south side of Glasgow – Waterfoot, by Eaglesham.

Fergus retired from the police with the rank of Inspector and was for a number of years the Chief Firearms Instructor for Strathclyde Police.

He has had a long involvement with the Church – he was ordained an Elder in 2003 and has held a number of posts, including Clerk to the Congregational Board.

From September 2018 until recently he was Probationary Minister at Williamwood Parish Church, Glasgow.

There are a number of factors that have attracted Fergus to Blackhall St Columba’s, namely:-

1. On a practical level, due to a number of family circumstances, he was interested in a charge in the Edinburgh area. His wife, Shona, has strong connections to Edinburgh having been born there and their youngest daughter has begun studying at Edinburgh College.

2. Aside from these personal considerations, there are a number of factors that gives him a sense of calling. He considers the Mission Statement of this Congregation - ‘To glorify God…to proclaim Christ...to serve others’ to be concise, clear and one which supports the Church’s described intentions towards missional outreach to the Parish and beyond. /continued

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Vacancy continued

3. He sees no reason why the streams of outreach to young families and youth coupled with the older age groups should not continue simultaneously.

4. He views the current extensive programme of works within the Sanctuary as forward looking and an indication of embracing positive change.

Mr Cook will preach as Nominee on Sunday 16 February 2020 at 10.30 am and the Congregation will vote on whether to ask him formally to be our next Minister.

Eddie Thorn Session Clerk

Procedure for Voting

After the conduct of morning worship on 16 February, all present who are eligible to vote (i.e. those whose names are on the congregation’s Electoral Register) will be given a voting paper. You then have the option of voting For or Against electing the Nominee as Minister.

After the election, the votes will be counted and the result announced. As well as voting, there will be an opportunity to sign the Call on that day and on the following Sunday. The Call will also be available for signing during the week in the Church Office up to and including Monday 24 February. The housebound and those unable to come to church to sign the Call in person may give permission to their elder to sign on their behalf, and can sign a ‘mandate form’ to that effect. Assuming all goes smoothly on 16 February, the Call will be presented to the next meeting of Edinburgh Presbytery and arrangements for the induction of the new minister can then commence.

It should perhaps be pointed out that in the unlikely event of a sizeable vote Against, then the Nominee might feel obliged to withdraw. The vacancy process would in effect be back at ‘Square 1’, and a new Nominating Committee would require to be elected.

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The rearrangement of the chairs in the Large Hall for worship so that they faced the stage for the band and choir services and over the Christmas period worked well. Now we have reverted to the way it was before and it is interesting to note that, at least for some of us, the reaction to seeing the chairs set out in the more familiar pattern was along the lines of ‘ah, back to normal’ with a slight sense of comfort. It is amazing how quickly we become accustomed to ways of doing things!

Now, of course, the pattern of work in the Sanctuary is also back to normal. The contractors have returned after their Christmas and New Year break and work continues apace. The good news is that we are very much on schedule and on budget! The underfloor heating system has now been installed and the next step is to lay the flooring. The wood has been delivered but there sometimes has to be a period for it to adjust to the environment before it is actually put in place. Even if this is necessary, the floor will be laid very soon. The latest virtual reality tour of the Sanctuary, taken in December, shows the state of play just before Christmas and is well worth a look. Go to www.blackhallstcolumba.org.uk and click on Building for the Future and then on Virtual Reality Tour of the Works.

The electrics associated with the heating in the Sanctuary and the halls are complicated which is why, at the moment, we can either have the heating in the halls on or off but cannot either regulate it or put it on timers. It will simply be kept on for the next few weeks and, inevitably, it will sometimes be too hot in the halls. This seems better than being too cold! The forbearance of both the congregation and the hall users is greatly appreciated.

The contractors are expected to complete their work soon after Easter but there will be much to do after they leave before we can actually move back in to the Sanctuary. This will probably take about four further weeks so that we can sort out snagging issues, retrieve everything from storage, work out how we are going to manage the new space, how we are going to reallocate our storage facilities, move the office back to its original place and so on. Detailed planning for this is already under way which is in itself an exciting stage to have reached.

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What has happened to our pews?

There has been some speculation about this so it is good to report that quite a number have been sold to congregation members who all have different ideas about whether to preserve the pew as it is or convert it into something else e.g a garden seat.

Glasgow Architectural bought a good number so that the wood can be used for various things.

The remaining pews were donated to Grassmarket Community Project which is a charity run alongside Grassmarket Mission. The Mission itself was started to provide services to homeless people in the Grassmarket area. The Community project developed from that and is now a stand alone charity providing training and education for vulnerable people not just the homeless.

This project was set up in 2010 and runs in a building formerly the halls of Greyfriars Kirk. In this building there is a community café (well worth a visit), woodworking workshop, tartan workshop and shop, plus other social enterprises. There are classes for cookery and baking art, drama, IT, reading, writing, sewing and photography. The project runs the canteen at 121 plus a number of building sites. This gives training and skills to people who might otherwise miss out .

The wood (oak) from our pews is used for a number of different projects. The woodworking workshop is staffed by skilled woodworkers plus a number of volunteers. They work on commissions and there is a book of fantastic photos of some of the spectacular items of furniture made by them, large and small. This photo (see also page 4) is of a chair made from one of our pews. They are currently working on making us a new lectern for the sanctuary from our pews.

Tommy Steel from the project has agreed to come to take the Midweek Service on 5 February. He is inspirational as he is passionate about the work that they do. He is one of the skilled workers and is assisted by 2 ladies who are equally passionate. On a recent visit Ruth Laidlaw and I were absolutely blown away by the scale of activities but mainly by seeing the photos of what can be produced. The people in the workshop that day were keen to tell us what they do and show us some of the items.

This is a project we at Blackhall St Columba’s should be proud to support.

Elspeth Williamson Steering Group Member

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WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

World Day of Prayer is a prayer movement with an annual service held on or near the first Friday in March. It is interdenominational and ecumenical and for all ages.

Throughout this service, written this year by women of Zimbabwe, we hear stories which reflect their history and situation today and are invited in this year’s theme to ‘Rise, take your mat and walk.’

Jesus encounters a man who had been ill for a long time. Despite being in a place of healing, he had not acted upon the opportunities provided. Jesus asked, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ In the story we are faced with this life-changing question. What are you going to do in response? Jesus is offering us the steps for personal and social transformation.

Our sisters in Zimbabwe are taking this encounter with Jesus to be a call for us to act in love, peace and reconciliation in the world today. This is a time for change! The time to rise up has come.

World Day of Prayer is for everyone. Prayer and action link us together around the globe.

A warm welcome awaits you at our local service which will be held this year in -

St Margaret’s RC Church 84 Main Street, Davidson’s Mains

Friday, 6 March 2020 at 7 pm

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‘Rise, take your mat

and walk’

Spring is just around the corner

Lets celebrate!

Also a reminder for Easter -

Michael Cockburn Outreach Working Team Leader (332 4841)

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Blackhall St. Columba’s Church

will be holding their

early morning Easter Service in Ravelston Park

at 8 am on Sunday 12 April 2020

All invited!

After the short service you are invited to the church hall for coffee and a bacon roll.

As the days grow longer and the signs of spring are all around us let us celebrate in style with music, dance, food and great company.

Come to our

SPRING CEILIDH

in the Church Hall

Saturday 21 March 2020 at 7pm

All welcome

Tickets are on sale now from the Church Office (332 4431) and from the Outreach Team Leader (see below) £5 for adults

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Can you bring your professional expertise and passion for the Church, to a rewarding role as an Assembly Trustee?

Would you like to share your skills & knowledge to serve on a recently created body within the Church of Scotland?

For an application pack, please visit the Church of Scotland website

https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/vacancies_and_volunteering

Closing date:12 noon, Wednesday 26 February 2020

Interviews: Thursday 26 and Friday 27 March 2020

The Church of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland SC011353

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Come and Sing There is now a fortnightly singing group for people with dementia and their carers. It meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month from 2 pm - 3.30 pm in the small hall.

The afternoon begins with refreshments and a chance to chat from 2pm, followed by singing from 2.30 pm.

Dates for the next two months are:

February 4 and 18 and March 3 and 17

Please pass this on to neighbours and friends who might be interested.

Fiona Cooke

Midweek Services We are well into the next run of services with some interesting speakers lined up. In February and March these are:

5 February Tommy Steel of the Grassmarket Community Project (see an article about them on page 11)

19 February Phyllis King

4 March Alison Hewat

18 March Iain Majcher (Probationer at Cramond Kirk)

There is then a break until 15 April.

It has been good to welcome some new faces at our services but there is always room for more. A warm welcome is assured.

Anyone interested in helping in any way please contact me or come along and see what goes on.

Elspeth Williamson

elspethwilliamson@gmail.com

Family DEATH

December 4 Mr Ian Donald

Flowers

The flowers in church this month will be donated as follows:

February 2 Mrs Elspeth Williamson

9 In memory of Liz Brockie

16 Mrs Alison Hewat

23 Mrs Jean Cooper

Mr Sandy and Mrs Jean Weir will deliver the flowers.

Alison Hewat Flower Team

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Edinburgh Floral Art Club

Our Club meetings are held on the second Friday of each month (September to December and February to June) in Blackhall St Columba’s Church Hall from 2 to 4 pm. Visitors welcome (£7).

Forthcoming meetings: Our February meeting of Edinburgh Floral Art Club is a Members Day.

On Friday 13 March our Demonstrator is John Dalton from Carlisle taking as his title "Spring is in the Air" Visitors are very welcome to join us at this Demonstration.

Isabel Ingramiingram@btinternet.com

Communion Washing Up Rota

Many thanks to everyone who helped with the washing of communion glasses and trays in 2019. Your help is greatly appreciated.

The rota for 2020 will be sent out shortly.

June Logan

Flower Convener

About 27 years ago, Violet Troup took over the job of Flower Convener from Lilias Skea, and she has now decided it is time to retire.

As her predecessors did, she has worked very hard to ensure that there are always fresh flowers at Sunday services. And as she, and many others have done, she has had to crawl in and out of the very small storage space under the hall backstairs where flower-arranging items and decorations are kept. So, flower arrangers do get down on their knees to make sure things go well!

A great deal of behind-the-scenes work is involved, organising rotas of people to donate flowers and distribute them after the services. This means looking after the money donated, buying the flowers, the items needed to arrange them, and the paper and cards needed to deliver them. It also means looking after the items we use to decorate the church at Christmas and Easter and for other special occasions, including many weddings and many bouquets and Flower Festivals.

Violet has organised other people to help with the decorating of the church for various special services and she has organised tea and coffee breaks with her own themed fairy cakes to refresh her co-workers. These occasions are often hilarious, with a real camaraderie. She has also arranged the church flowers on behalf of people who do not wish to do the arranging themselves and she has asked others to help when she hasn’t been able to do them. She has organised flower-arranging classes to try and encourage people to learn how to do church flowers. This has all been done with love and enthusiasm.

And by the way, for various church and personal occasions, over the years she has also made umpteen cakes which have been mouth-wateringly delicious.

Thank you, Violet, for all your work.

Alison Hewat

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A post-Christmas email from a FreshStart Coordinator expressed delight and appreciation of the food hamper donations which enabled them to give out 200 Festive food hampers to individuals and families before Christmas. Thrilled with the success of the food hampers they were further delighted with the sum of £17,000 raised by their Cookers for Christmas Appeal.

As well as the comments from the FreshStart team there were quotes from some of those whose Christmas had been ‘made’ by the hampers they had received. These quite moving expressions of excitement and thanks reaffirmed - if anything needed to - the huge need that is out there and the transformation it can make to people’s lives receiving that support.

However, Christmas is over, the need is still there. FreshStart are back in full swing, checking the shelves to see what is needed. Please see below the list of items they are short of for their starter packs.

Your ongoing support is hugely appreciated. Goods for FreshStart can be handed in to the church hall on Friday mornings between 10 am and 12 noon.

Fiona Cooke

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Items Clarification

Toiletries Shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, shower gel

Cleaning materials

Washing up liquid, toilet cleaner, multi-purpose spray, unused toilet rolls, laundry tablets, white cloths

Crockery packs Dinner plates and side plates

Bedding packs Double bedding – sheets and duvet covers

Food Rice, instant coffee, UHT milk, tinned new potatoes, tinned meat and fish

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DEADLINESKirk News: Sunday 22 March Please send all items to the Editor: Christine Denham c/o Church Office Home tel: 336 5943 or email kirknews@blackhallstcolumba.org.uk

Blackhall Bulletin: Sunday 2 February All items should be sent to the Editor: Barbara Wilson c/o Church Office Home tel: 312 6035 or email bulletin@blackhallstcolumba.org.uk

Enquiries about advertisements should be sent to Kay Rich: 8 Queen’s Ave South Tel: 332 8502

Save the date! We’re in the early stages of planning for Heart & Soul 2020 - our 10th year!

The date is Sunday 17 May 2020 Our theme for 2020 is

‘Jesus said Follow me’ and I will make you fish for people.’

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