Kelso Country Churches Magazine May 2008

KELSO COUNTRY CHURCHES MAGAZINE
May 2008

Dear Friends,
Recently I bought myself a picnic setting I had admired for some time, and brought it home in great delight.
Of course, that was an open invitation for the weather to deteriorate, and the setting remains in its boxes in the garage. On every sunny day, I think about getting it out, but then the rain descends. I have got so far as to take one of the chairs into the utility room, to be pulled out into the garden when the sun shines.
Monday was one of those days that began in great optimism, and I headed south as is my wont; but by lunchtime I had to take shelter from the hailstones, and later lost my footing and fell down a slippery slope in the mud. Still, the evening was stunning, so there was I, eating my tea on the single picnic chair and briefly enjoying the sunshine. The picnic setting will, one day, come in useful!
I reflect that we are like the weather, waxing and waning, blowing hot and cold, unpredictable, sometimes undependable. It’s hard even to give a ‘life forecast’ like a weather forecast, although certain circumstances and events tend to bring on certain moods and responses. What complex creature we are.
Isn’t it great that in contrast to all of this, we have a God who is essentially simple, who loves us unfailingly, whose devotion to us never wavers, who provides for us every day, who ‘neither slumbers nor sleeps’, as the Psalmist says.
Be encouraged to rely on God, for he will never let you down.
Blessings and love,
Jenny

PARISH NEWS AND UPDATES

The Guilds in our Presbytery will come together for the annual
Summer Rally which will be held this year, in Stichill Church on Wednesday, 4th June at 7.30pm. This is a good opportunity for Guildswomen (and men) to meet together for worship, fun and fellowship at a time when all the Guild branches are ‘stood down’ for the summer months. All welcome.

The Scrabble Club met on 8th April for the last meeting of the winter session. An average of 8-9 people attended each week and they are contributing £165 to church funds. This is a great result for a small group of folk doing something they enjoy.

And for our next Worship Team effort…
The combined worship teams of Kelso Old and Sprouston and KCC have their next challenge on May 11th. Once again, a mixture of worship leaders from both parishes will be conducting the services at Sprouston, Makerstoun, Kelso Old and Stichill. It took the participants a while to realise that this would be Pentecost Day, but how very appropriate that is. These latter-day disciples of Jesus are hoping for the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and empowerment so that the word of God can be proclaimed with the same level of enthusiasm and wisdom as was evident on that day of days described in Acts 2.
If you haven’t before experienced a Worship team service, why not come along and see what it’s all about?

Youth Services
Sunday, April 27th saw the latest in our ‘services-with-a-difference’ that are taking place on the fourth Sunday evening of each month.
This time, we had a quiet walk around a ‘labyrinth’ which invited reflection on various aspects of our journey with God, to the background of some meditative music by J.S. Bach.
Participants were, as always, either young in years or young at heart. The phrase ‘thought-provoking’ came up frequently during the post-worship fellowship over coffee and cakes.
The labyrinth is an ancient form of worship. It gained a particular currency in the Middle Ages when Christians held the ideal of making a pilgrimage to holy sites, and especially Jerusalem. For many, this was practically and financially impossible, so the labyrinth took its place, offering a symbolic journey into the heart of God and out into the world again. Today’s labyrinths take many different forms, and one of the most famous is the circle shown above, which is found at Chartres Cathedral on France.
We continue to seek God’s guidance in relation to the development of a service geared to the needs and expressions of young people; and high on the priority list is the need for a band of musicians who can lead us in song. Anyone who can help or has ideas on the matter, please contact the minister!
Jenny

Christian Aid Aims:
We are committed to seeing a just world.
Now, not just in the future.
We believe in life before death.

Christian Aid Week 11th – 18th May

Please come and join us for a ‘Bread & Cheese Lunch’ on Sunday, 18th May at 12.30pm in Stichill Church Hall following the morning service.

This is much more delicious than it sounds and all donations will be given to Christian Aid.
There will also be Christian Aid envelopes in all four churches on Sunday 11th and Sunday 18th May, for those unable to attend the lunch.

Please give generously,for ‘Goodness Sake’.

How big is your footprint?

Every individual, every household, every business and, ultimately, every country consumes resources. The footprint measures the amount of resources we use compared with what is available in the world. This tells us what kind of mark we are leaving on the planet.

Footprint Quiz
How do you travel to work/shops?
a. I travel alone in my car.
b. I use public transport or lift share.
c. I cycle or walk.

Do you reduce, reuse and recycle?
a. I rarely recycle or reuse items.
b. I use recycling bank and reusable bags in place of polythene carrier bags.
c. I try to buy items with less packaging.

Do you try to buy local produce?
a. I never worry where my food comes from.
b. I buy some organic vegetables or grow my own.
c. I buy seasonal, local vegetables when possible.

Do you conserve energy in the home?
a. I always leave the TV and video on standby.
b. I turn off all appliances when going on holiday.
c. I always turn appliances off when not using them.

How far do you fly?
a. I fly more than 10 hours a year.
b. I fly between 1 and 10 hours a year.
c. I never fly.

Answers
Mostly a: Your footprint is larger than the average Scot.
Mostly b: Your footprint is about the same as the average Scot.
Mostly c: Your footprint is smaller than the average Scot.

LIGHT RELIEF
An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. His doctor arranged to have him fitted with hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100%. The gentleman went back to the doctor a month later and the doctor said, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be so pleased that you can hear again.” The gentleman replied, “Oh, I haven’t told them yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my Will three times!”

Hospital regulations require a wheelchair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found an elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn’t need my help to leave the hospital. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. On the way down I asked if his wife was meeting him. “I don’t know,” he said. “She’s still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.”

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because, although it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human.
The girl said, “When I go to heaven I will ask Jonah”. The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”
The little girl replied, “Then you ask him”.

We welcome Murray Earl…..

I am delighted that my husband, Murray, is here again for a two week visit. He has come direct from Turkey, where, as Principal Chaplain of the Royal Australian Air force, he led some of the remembrance services that took place on the Gallipoli Peninsula on and around Anzac Day, 25th April.
This is the most significant day in Australia’s calendar, a public holiday when street parades and various services are held, now attended by increasing numbers of people, including the young, surprisingly, when the events being celebrated belongs to the annuls of history rather than living memory.
The original Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 was really an abject failure costing many thousands of deaths and injuries to Australians, New Zealanders and Turks. But it has become part of the Australian national psyche, and a defining moment of courage and bravery, observed in tiny rural settings as well as in major cities and state capitals.
Murray estimates that there may have been 10,000 people present at Gallipoli for this year’s ceremonies, all of whom had made the extremely arduous trek via Canakkale, many staying out overnight in freezing temperatures.
The day always begins with the Dawn Service at 4.30am, the time of the original landing in what came to be known as Anzac Cove. This is the main Australian commemoration. Australia has only a modest memorial, essentially three flagpoles on the beach and Lone Pine on the top of the hill, at which the second service takes place. There are dozens of other memorials spread over about ten square miles, some of them inconspicuously set in the bush, but the Turkish memorial is by far the largest, and is visible as far away as Troy. The British is the second largest.
Britain suffered 21,255 casualties in the campaign with more than 52,000 wounded. Australia, with its tiny population by comparison, lost nearly 9,000 with more than 19,000 wounded.
The British Chaplain (C.of E.) came from Ankara to lead the service at the British memorial.
The Turkish leader and hero Ataturk is never far from anyone’s lips during these ceremonies. Murray says that it’s a bit like the typical children’s address where you know that the answer to every question must be ‘Jesus.’ You can find yourself saying ‘Ataturk’ safely in every circumstance.
One of his final comments was that he was extremely impressed by the Dardanelles, a hive of activity, with hundreds of ships passing the coastline every day he was there!
Jenny

Verdi Requiem
The Rev. Marion Dodd will be fulfilling a long-held ambition when she conducts the Yetholm Symphony Orchestra and Massed Border Choirs performing the Verdi Requiem in Springwood Hall, Kelso Showground on Saturday, 10th May at 7.30pm.
The soloists are; Margret Einarsdottir, soprano, Thora Kerr, mezzo soprano, Yung Jung Soo, tenor and Ivor Klayman, baritone.
See posters on all church noticeboards.
Tickets, £8.50 (accompanied children free) are available from Hector Innes, Kelso and at the door before the concert.
This promises to be a memorable musical evening so buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment.

I have been asked to spread the news that the Newcastle Male Voice choir will be performing in Yetholm Parish Church on Saturday, 17th May at 7pm. Tickets (available at the door) cost £5 and accompanied children are free. Light supper.
Contact number 01890 850 227.

Stichill Church Summer Fayre
In Stichill Village Hall
On Saturday 7th June
2pm
Stalls
teas, bedding plants, cake & candy, bottle stall, books/ CDs /DVDs, raffle

Tickets £2, Children free

Fun for all the family.

Diary - May 2008
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4 10 Smailholm, 11.15 Stichill, 11,15 Roxburgh
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7 Presbytery 7pm Ancrum Church
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10 Verdi Requiem, Springwood Hall, 7.30pm
11 10 Mak.11.15 Stich.6.30KCT C.Aid service,St Andrews C.
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16 Christian Aid Quiz Night, Cross Keys Hotel, 7.30pm
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18 10 Smailholm,11.15 Stichill, 11.15 Roxburgh Christian Aid Lunch, 12.30pm, Church Hall, Stichill
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24 African Children’s Choir evening, KOP Church
25 10 Mak.11.15 Stich. Youth ser. Roxburgh 6.30pm
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