St Columba's Portree Newsletter

Scottish Episcopal Church Diocese of Argyll and The Isles Somerled Square, Portree, Isle of Skye, IV51 9EH E-mail: [email protected]

Assistant Curate, The Rev’d Rosemary Bungard, Tel: 01478 660248, 07719585732 Lay Leaders: Steve Fennell Tel: 01471 820168 Robert MacDonald Tel: 01478 613069 Stephen Plant Tel: 01470 582735 Interim Rector: The Rt. Rev’d Kevin Pearson, Bishop of Argyll and The Isles General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church: SC015962 Charity Number: SC020146

Welcome to our visitors and parishioners

St Columba’s, Portree

Eucharist each Sunday at 11am. Morning Prayer every Sunday and Wednesday at 10am. Sunday school meets during the service in term time. Candlelit Taizé Hour is held the 1st Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm. The chants are simple and the silent

meditation periods between each song are short. Contemplative Prayer is held 3rd Tuesday and one Sunday as advertised. The Church is open daily 10am to 3pm.

St Michael and All Angels, Raasay

nd

March2018 Eucharist 11am fortnightly, 2 Tuesday and one Sunday as advertised.

– St Mary’s, Sleat

Liturgy of the Word and Communion or Eucharist

5pm on 2nd Sunday of each month in the Parish Rooms of the

Servicesand Prayers February Church of Scotland, Kilmore.

Intercessions, Prayers and Thanksgivings

Everyday St Columba’s is open for Prayer.

A book is on the table at the rear of the church for

any prayer requests.

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Letter from Rev’d Rosemary

Dear Friends in Christ,

February opens with the ancient celebration of Candlemas on the 2nd. Candlemas commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of her son Jesus. This day also marks the ritual presentation of the baby Jesus to God in the Temple at Jerusalem.

Jesus was met at the temple by Anna and Simeon. Simeon held the baby Jesus and called him a Light to the World. The festival is called Candlemas because this is the day that all the Church's candles for the year are blessed. Our celebration will be at 7pm so that we can enjoy a candlelit service during which, if fine, we will take candles outside to take the Light of Christ to the world. Do join us.

As Easter is early this year, there is a short time before Ash Wednesday which falls on Valentine’s Day. During Lent we will use various resources to help us consider our own relationship with God including a couple of Sunday afternoon film studies and a quiet day which Rev Canon Sister Clare hopes to come and lead. There will also be a Bible study and a prayer group. Please consider joining one of these activities as we meet as a community to listen to God’s word and discern his calling to us. At our recent AGM Barbara Rutterford retired from Vestry and from Bread Basket after many years faithful service. Margaret Greer retired from being Treasurer but remains on Vestry. Archie Edwards stepped down from Vestry but is continuing in his role as Buildings Officer. Thank you to all for your invaluable service. John

Henderson, formerly our Examiner of Accounts, was elected to Vestry and becomes the new Treasurer. Welcome to this vital role John.

A Special Meeting followed the AGM at which a new constitution was proposed and unanimously accepted. This has to be ratified at a further Special Meeting to be held on Sunday 4th February at 12.15.

Grateful thanks to Rev who has covered my January holiday leave.

Wishing you many blessings for 2018

Rosemary

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Christingle at St Columba’s

Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these children's hearts that theirs like Thine become.’

John and I are ‘newcomers’ to St Columba’s, newcomers to the form of worship, newcomers to the Liturgy but not to the Message of Scripture which transcends all styles of Christian worship so, I thought, I can deal with whatever ‘she’ throws at me. That was until she said, in that cheerfully optimistic way she has, ‘It’s Christingle on Saturday and it will be messy. Will you play?’ Have you ever tried to say no to Rosemary?

So, with some measure of trepidation we turned up at the appointed time to find our leader boring holes into oranges and threading pieces of dried fruit and sweets onto cocktail sticks - they don’t do this in the C of S, I thought. Primarily designed for the children, it was, none the less, an extremely moving and rewarding experience for all of us who took part.

Not common in Scotland, Christingles have been taking place in England for nearly 50 years but the idea of them originated much further back in time, in the 18th century. It began in Marienborn in Germany in 1747 where, at a children’s service, Bishop Johannes de Watteville looked for a simple way to explain the happiness that had come to people as a result of the Lord Jesus Christ’s coming to earth. He decided to have the children illustrate this joy symbolically by giving them each a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon. At the end of the service, whilst the children held their candles, the bishop said the prayer,

‘Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these children's hearts that theirs like Thine become.’

In 1968, John Pensom of The Children's Society adapted Christingle and introduced it to the Church of England. This involved children’s decorating an orange with a red ribbon, dried fruits, sweets and a candle to create a new visual representation of Christ, the light of the world, celebrated by the lighting of the Christingle candles.

Each piece of the Christingle holds special symbolism to help children understand the importance of Jesus and the Gospel, and its relevance at Christmas time.

The orange represents the world; The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises God’s love wrapped around the world and blood of Christ; The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations; The lit candle represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.

So, on Christingle Saturday we all got stuck in to the task of making our Christingles, interspersing the various stages in the construction with singings of carols, readings and prayer.

‘She’ was quite right. It was messy but it was wonderful to watch the concentration on those little (and not so little faces) as they laced the sweets onto the cocktail sticks, wrapped the ribbons round the oranges and finally lit their candles lighting up their lives and ours as they showed The Lord’s continuing love and providence to the whole of mankind.

Many thanks to Rosemary for her imagination and industry and a wonderful start to the whole Christmas season.

Fay

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Christmas Day Service

Where else would you want to be but at St Columba's on Christmas morning?

Our church was full of families. Everyone from the youngest to the not -so -young came to join in the worship and to sing the carols with feeling and enjoyment.

The main event of the service was the Towers family Christmas play which as always surpassed all expectations. Our thanks have to go to Eilidh, Ciorstan, Iona, their cousins and our own church school children who put such a lot of effort into performing the play. This year Fiona had written a play about the journey of Christmas following the star. This highlighted our life journey and how Jesus came at Christmas to start his journey walking by our side.

Thank you Fiona for all your artistic endeavors on our behalf. We must also thank Jim and all of the other adults who helped with the play.

All the Children in the church came together to make a choir to sing the carol Away in a Manger. The singing led by Fay was superb (not a dry eye in the house).

The Christmas Day service celebrates the announcement of God's supreme gift to the world and our exultation in the coming together of our families and friends.

Thank you once again to one and all who worked to make this service so special.

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Images from Christmas

Photographs clockwise –

Christingle

The Three Kings

Eastern corner

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Lions Club International - Used Spectacles Appeal

The Lions Club has partnered with Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Lions of Ghana to build and run an Eye Hospital in Ghana which suffers from a high level of blindness.

The unit will train surgeons from the whole of West Africa in the basic skills and sub-specialities necessary to carry on this work over a wide area.

The Lions Club are appealing for old spectacles which they can have re-used in this project.

Please drop off any spectacles for which you have no further use at St Columba’s.

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Office Refurbishment

The office refurbishment is now completed providing an efficient working environment and a calming and comfortable area for those who want a private chat.

Rosemary And a calming would and privatelike tocasual thank seating all area those for those who who helped. wish

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General Notices

Car Drivers

Occasionally some members of our congregation need transport to enable them to come and worship with us. It would be very helpful to have a few volunteers who could be called upon to offer this service. Please talk to Beth or Rosemary if you would like to be involved.

Volunteers needed

Help needed! We are short of volunteers for the following Church Duties

Leading intercessions during the Sunday service - Training can be offered

Providing and arranging Flowers in Church

We would welcome offers from people willing to make a cake for Bread Basket on a rota basis.

Gift Aid Envelopes

Our Gift Aid Coordinator requests that people donating in this scheme check that they have paid sufficient tax in the last tax year to cover their donations.

Thank you

Come and Join Us – every Wednesday 11am to 2pm

St Columba’s Bread Basket

Open every Wednesday

2 course lunch and drinks available

11am to 2pm

All are Welcome

St Columba's Bread basket opened on 20th November 2013 and been greatly supported.

We are now open every week for those who want

Company, Warmth and Friendship.

Rosemary is generally available for anyone requiring a private chat.

If you would like to help out or contribute, we are always delighted to have offers of help

especially for holiday cover.

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St Columba’s Church Calendar

February Fri 2nd Feb Candlemas 7pm

Sun 4th Morning Prayer 10am Eucharist 11am Wed 7th Morning Prayer 10am Taizé Hour 7.30pm Sun 11th Morning Prayer 10am Eucharist 11am

St Mary’s Eucharist 5pm th Tues 13 St Michael & All Angels 11am

Wed 14th Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes 10am Sun 18th Morning Prayer 10am Eucharist 11am th Tues 20 Contemplative Prayer 11am Wed 21st Morning Prayer 10am Sun 25th Morning Prayer 10am Communion Service 11am St Michael & All Angels Eucharist 11am Wed 28th Morning Prayer 10am

March th Sun 4 Morning Prayer 10am Eucharist 11am Wed 7th Morning Prayer 10am Taizé 7.30pm Sun 11th Morning Prayer 10am

Eucharist 11am St Mary’s Eucharist 5pm Tues 13th St Michael & All Angels 11am Wed 14th Morning Prayer 10am Sun 18th Morning Prayer 10am

Communion Service 11am th Tues 20 Contemplative Prayer 11am Wed 21st Morning Prayer 10am Sun 25th Morning Prayer 10am Blessing of Palms and Eucharist 11am Tues 27th St Michael & All Angels Holy Week Eucharist 11am

th Wed 28 Morning Prayer 10am th Thurs 29 Maundy Thurs Washing of Feet and Eucharist 7pm Fri 30th Good Fri Service 2pm April Sun 1st Morning Prayer 10am

Lighting of Paschal Candle, Renewal of Baptism Vows & Eucharist 11am

Other Events at St Columba’s

Every Tues Skye Cancer Care 1 - 3.30 Every Wed Bread Basket 11-2pm Every Thurs (not Portree Slimmers 8 – 9pm th 13 March) Every Fri Tiny Tots 1.30 – 3pm 4th Feb Special Meeting to ratify Constitution 12.15 5th Feb Vestry Meeting 10am 6th Feb & 13th Skye Chamber Music March th th 6 & 7 March Diocesan Synod, Oban

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Readings and Rotas

Candlemas Mal 3.1-4 Reader Fri 2nd Feb Heb 2.14-18 Intercessions Rev’d Rosemary Luke 2.22-40

th 5 Sunday after Isaiah 40.21-31 Reader Muriel Watson Epiphany Ps 147.1-12 Intercessions Robert MacDonald 1 Cor. 9.16-23 Welcome Trevor Mann 4th Feb Mk 1.29-39 Teas Chrissanne McInnes Flowers

Sunday before Lent 2Kg 2.1-12 Reader Marion Roberts Ps 50.1-6 Intercessions Eileen MacDonald th 11 Feb 2 Cor 4.3-6 Welcome Trevor Mann Mk 9.2-9 Teas Flowers Ash Wednesday Jl 2.1-2, 12-17 Reader 14th Feb 2 Cor 5.20b-6.10 Intercessions Robert MacDonald

Mt 6.1-6, 16-21 st 1 Sunday of Lent Gen 9.8-17 Reader Muriel Watson Ps 25.1-9 Intercessions Stephen Plant 18th Feb 1 Pet 3.18-22 Welcome Trevor Mann Mk. 1.9-15 Teas Barbara Rutterford 2nd Sunday of Lent Gen 17.1-7,15-16 Reader Jackie Torrance Ps 22.22-30 Intercessions Jackie Torrance

th 25 Feb Ro 4.13-25 Welcome Trevor Mann Mk. 9.2-9 Teas 3rd Sunday of Lent Ex 20.1-17 Reader Ps 19 Intercessions Eileen MacDonald 4th March 1 Cor 1.18-25 Welcome Archie & Beth Edwards Jn 2.13-22 Teas Archie & Beth Edwards th 4 Sunday of Lent Nu 21.4-9 Reader Jackie Torrance Ps 107.1-3,17-22 Intercessions Jackie Torrance th 11 March Eph. 2.1-10 Welcome Trevor Mann Jn 3.14-21 Teas Barbara Rutterford Passion Sunday Jeremiah 31.31-34 Reader Psalm 51.1-13 Intercessions Stephen Plant 18th March Hebrews 5.5-10 Welcome Archie & Beth Edwards

John 12.20-33 Teas Archie & Beth Edwards

Palm Sunday Palm Blessing: John 12.12-16 Reader Muriel Watson Isaiah 50.4-9a Intercessions Robert MacDonald 25th March Psalm 31.9-16 Welcome Trevor Mann Philippians 2.5-11 Teas Chrissanne McInnes

Mark 14.1-15.47 Maundy Thurs Exodus 12.1-4(5-10)11-14 Reader Psalm 116.1,10-17 Intercessions Rev’d Rosemary 29th March 1 Corinthians 11.23-26 John 13.1-17,31b-35

Good Friday Isaiah 52.13-53.12 Reader

Psalm 22 th 30 March Hebrews 10.16-25 John 18.1-19.42 Easter Day Acts 10.34-43 Reader Psalm 118.1-2,14-24 Intercessions Stephen Plant 1st April 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 Welcome Archie & Beth Edwards Mark 16.1-8 Teas Archie & Beth Edwards

Flowers

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Contact Us

Scottish Episcopal Church

Diocese of Argyll and the Isles Somerled Square, Portree, Isle of Skye, IV51 9EH

E-mail contacts

General [email protected]

Web Address: www.argyllandtheisles.org.uk

Sat Nav coordinates:- Latitude N 57° 24’ 50” Longitude W 6° 11’ 44”

General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church: SC015962 Charity Number: SC020146

Dolly Parrot Productions Kildonan, Isle of Skye. February 2018

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