Church news 27 Sept - 6 Oct '21

MINISTER ON LEAVE:

As of Mon 27 Sept. up to and including Tues 5 Oct. the minister will be using up some annual leave.

To catch up with Sun 26 worship, go to 'featured post' on the r-hand column and click to take you there. Or, just scroll further down this page to the previous post.

Urgent pastoral cover will be provided by the Rev. Paul Grant of Law Parish, who is currently the Interim Moderator for our neighbors in Douglas Valley. His phone number is: 01698 373 180.
For any general enquiries please contact Dr Dee Yates, our Session Clerk on 01864 504093.

Worship in the parish church at 10.30am will be conducted by Ms Heather Watt and Mrs Ursula Baillie.
For online worship you might like to explore the following services:
            Biggar Parish Church - LINK
            Dunfermline Abbey - LINK            
            Kirkton Parish Church - LINK          
            Parishes of Upper Tweed - LINK 

Other church notices:
24 Oct. 10.30am - Harvest Festival Service : this year, we're pushing the date back ever so slightly, to tie in with the COP26 Conference, and the pilgrims who are walking from London to Glasgow. On this weekend, they will be passing through our parish and we're hoping to welcome some of them to our service and hear from one of their representatives just what they're doing and why.
The usual arrangements for decorating the windows/ church will be in operation, with the doors open on Sat morning from 9.30 - 12pm [or earlier if finished]. If you have any donations for the foodbank, you can drop them in on the Saturday to feature in the display or bring them with you to the service and put them in the foodbank box in the vestibule as you come in.
Communion will be observed during this service as we reintroduce it once more, in a Covid compliant way.

South Lanarkshire Winter Clothing Campaign, 2021:
The council has launched its annual winter clothing campaign for 2021.

And, this year, for the first time, donations of sportswear are also welcome,
alongside new, or nearly new, winter jackets.

All items collected will be laundered and given to early years, primary and secondary aged children and young people who need them.

The campaign will run until Friday 1 October, during which time donations will be accepted at the following supermarkets closest to us:

· Tesco, Lanark

· Tesco, Lesmahagow

Councillor Katy Loudon, Chair of Education Resources, said: “This exciting project, which promotes sustainability in the recycling of winter jackets and sportswear, comes at an exciting time, as we prepare to welcome delegates from around the world to Glasgow for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

“Last year we recycled more than 1000 jackets and donated them to children and young people who needed them across South Lanarkshire. This year we are hoping to achieve similar, if not better, success. We hope as many people as possible will support us and donate whatever they can over the next two weeks.”

Heart for Art Exhibition and Event:

Worship Sun 26 Sept: 'Only Connect'

WELCOME/
Welcome to our time of worship online - whether you're new here or an old friend. It's great that we can use technology and praise our God.

This week, we come to the end of the Letter of James, and, in what's been a very practical and hand's on exercise in how to live as followers of Jesus, James finishes his letter by turning to the matter of prayer - not that it's a last resort, but that it underpins all that we say and do as Christians.
You'll find the WORSHIP LINK HERE and once again, the format is one full clip, rather than a lot of smaller clips

Just to note that I'll be using up some annual leave this week, and will be back at work on Wed 6 Oct.
Urgent pastoral cover is being provided by the Rev. Paul Grant of Law Parish Church - he's currently the Interim Moderator for our neighbours, Tinto Parishes. His phone number is: 01698 373180
For any other general ongoing matters, please contact our Session Clerk, Dr Dee Yates on 01864 504093.
As to worship, I'll either update this post with links for services for Sun 3 Oct. or put up a new post. Meanwhile, in the parish church, worship will be conducted by Ms Heather Watt and Mrs Ursula Baillie.

I'll catch up with you all once leave is over, in the meantime, take care and God bless,
Nikki

Worship Sun 19 Sept' - 'Keeping up appearances'

WELCOME/
Hello and welcome to worship where we gather both online and in our church building to worship the God who calls us ‘beloved’. We continue to journey through the Letter of James, this week reflecting on how to be God’s people within a culture that tells us that who we are and what we have is not enough.
Just a couple of notices today – the first is just to flag up that this week I’m on call to provide any urgent pastoral cover for Douglas Valley Church; and the second is to pass on a message from Angela, our community worker – which is to let those of those of you involved in the ‘let’s get growing’ project that she will be down at the old council yard in Crawford this coming Sunday, the 26th after morning tea – so, roughly, from 12 to 1pm – if you have any potatoes, you can drop them off to her there.
OUR WORSHIP LINK IS HERE

Whatever your plans for this coming week, may you know God's presence with you, and know yourself beloved.
God bless
Nikki

Worship Sun 12 Sept: 'Sticks and stones'

WELCOME/ 
Hello friends, welcome to our online time of worship.... normally the service is available from Sun 10.30, but due to an uploading glitch, I'm afraid I'm running behind. Hope to have this sorted by this evening, so please do bear with me, and do try later on... my apologies!

And, here it is - WORSHIP LINK will take you across and the service has been compressed into the one longer video, as we've been doing the last couple of weeks. 
May you know God's presence walking alongside you this week, 
God bless
Nikki

Worship Sun 5 Sept '21: 'Jesus loves you but I'm his favourite'

WELCOME/
Hello and welcome to our time of worship.
Last week, Allan Grant was holding the fort in the church while I was away helping in our neighbouring Tinto Parish - so many thanks to Allan, as well as to Ursula and Dee for providing a welcome, stewarding, sorting music, and reading. We heard from the first chapter of the Letter of James, and this week, we continue in James, reflecting on chapter two and thinking about the dangers of playing favourites. But a few notices first....

CHURCH NOTICES/
The Guild: 
A reminder that the Guild recommences after it's loooooong break, at 2pm on Wednesday. This will be the held-over AGM and thereafter, a chance for a cuppa and a catch up, and conversation about this year's Guild programme.
And, doing things slightly the wrong way around, our Guild Dedication service will be held next Sunday in the church at 10.30am.
Let's get growing:
Don't forget to weigh your tatties upon harvesting them, and do let Angela or myself know how many kilos or pounds you've grown. If you're aiming to get some or all of your harvest along to the food bank, you can do so by dropping them into the big box that's just outside the Gillespie Centre in Biggar, or, get in touch with Angela or me, and we'll organise a pick up and drop off.
Morning tea:
As we move to a slightly more 'normalised, but Covid compliant' service in the church - we're now singing, we also have cushions back on the pews - we're bringing back after service morning tea. This will be done in line with Covid regulations, and, while it may feel a little clunky at first, we will get used to it. But, it's great that we're now able to offer this once more.
Kirk Session:
Session meets, via zoom, on Thursday evening at 7pm. Elders, keep an eye out for the zoom link in your email.

WORSHIP LINK/
Just a wee note that I'm currently experimenting with our formatting for online worship. Rather that a playlist of many clips [and interruptions by ads for such delights as funeral directors and such!!] I'm trying out putting together the clips into one larger clip so that the whole service will play uninterrupted. It is taking longer to upload, as it's a much larger file, but, we'll see how it goes... 
So, rather than playlist, you'll find the service in the 'videos' section of our youtube channel...
but of course, I'll provide the link here for you too!
I hope you find this time of worship encouraging, and that it helps you in your journey of faith...
the WORSHIP LINK IS HERE

Until next time, God bless, 
Nikki