Mungo Messenger
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Mungo Messenger December 2020 Newsletter of St. Mungo’s Church Penicuik Church mouse Christmas at St. Mungo's & Penicuik churches From the mouse of Editor’s PC The celebration of Christmas will be very different this year, given the Covid restrictions placed upon us. However the churches in Penicuik have created a programme of events, some physical but most Date / Time Activity / Location virtual, that allows us all to Sat 28 Nov -10am to 2pm Advent at the Community Hub with Penicuik North Kirk in the precinct, join together and welcome 42 John Street the new King. Sun 29 Nov -11 am Advent 1: Waiting for a King. Includes Holy Communion St. Mungo’s & online Sun 29 Nov - 4 pm Prayer Service St. Mungo’s church hall (Call Neil 674276 to book your seat) December Sat 5 - 10 am to 2 pm. Advent at the Community Hub with St. Mungo’s in the precinct, 42 John Street Sun 6 -11 am Advent 2: Joint Penicuik Church if Scotland service. Theme, ‘Gladness & Joy’. Led by Rev Peter Wood, Penicuik South & Howgate church. St. Mungo’s & on- line Thu 10 - 6.30 pm Christmas Memories (for bereaved people) North Kirk (invitation only) Sat 12 - 10 am to 2 pm. Advent at the Community Hub with St. James the Less church in the precinct, 42 John Street Sun 13 - 11am Advent 3: Service at St. Mungo’s & online Sun 13 - 11 am Service at North Kirk Big Sing link to follow. St. Mungo’s Carols on the doorstep Fri 18 - 6.30pm Hope for Penicuik Christmas for all ages Click for more details Sat 19 - 10 am to 2 pm. Advent at the Community Hub with Penicuik South & Howgate in the precinct, 42 John Street Scented Lament Sat 19 - 4.00pm Hope for Penicuik Christmas for all ages St. Mungo’s Sunday 20 December Sun 20 - 11.00am Advent 4: Nativity Service St. Mungo’s & online Sun 20 - 11.00am Nativity Service (Young Kirk) North Kirk Sun 20 - 10.30am, 6.30pm 10.30 Holy Communion. 6.30 Evening Carol Service St. James the Less Zoom Sun 20 - 10.30am 6.30pm Sunday Service Baptist Church www.penicuikbaptistchurch.org.uk/ During December, Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair, Moderator Mon 21 & Tue 22 - 7.30pm Evening Carol Service St. James the Less Zoom of the General Assembly of Wed 23 - 7.30pm A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. St. James the Less Zoom the Church of Scotland, will be inviting people to send a sprig of rosemary, to repre- Thursday 24 December - Christmas Eve sent their own personal ex- Thu 24 - 5.30pm & 6pm Carols @ 5.30pm; Vigil Mass @ 6pm Sacred Heart perience of 2020. These book online [email protected] or 01968 673709 sprigs will then be incorpo- rated into a giant rosemary Thu 24 - 6.30pm Sunday Service. North Kirk online only www.penicuiknorthkirk.org wreath, a symbol of the na- Thu 24 - 6.30pm All Age Family Celebration Penicuik South and Howgate online tion’s lament for a sorrow- Watchnight Service St. Mungo's online only filled year, so that we can Thu 24 11.45pm all look forward to happier as we worship together the birth of Jesus www.stmungos.freeuk.com times. Full Details Friday 25 December - Christmas Day Fri 25 - 11.00am Welcome the newborn King. St. Mungo’s & online Happy Christmas to you, St. James the Less Zoom your family and friends, Fri 25 - 10.30am Holy Communion from all at St. Mungo’s in Fri 25 - 10.30am Worship for Christmas morning. North Kirk online only Penicuik. Fri 25 - 11.00am Christmas morning Mass . Sacred Heart All services from St. James the Less on Zoom. Contact [email protected] for details. Jim Paterson All services from Penicuik South & Howgate online. See www.psah.uk for details Newsletter Editor All services from North Kirk streamed. See www.penicuiknorthkirk.org/ [email protected] Full list of Christmas Services available on www.stmungos.freeuk.com. Remembrance at St. Mungo’s - 8 November 2020 Last month we reported that this year the Remembrance service times long ago, and the Lord as the would be quite different. Your church decided not to try and emulate protector of the people, against previous years, but to present an alternative service, whilst those who would do them harm. maintaining the dignity of the occasion. John drew similarities with the more We reached the full 50 person capacity for our church during this recent kidnapping in 2014 of 276 period of pandemic restrictions, with the various organisations, visitors, girls from a school in Chibok Nigeria, dignitaries, special guests, along with members of our congregation, by Boko Haram. The girls were being allocated their seats by the St. Mungo's stewards. pressured to give up their Christian faith. Some escaped and were Our service started rescued, others died, and yet others earlier, at 10.45am, both may still be in captivity. The in the church and online extreme test of their faith, to ensure we would as described by one of the arrive at the 2 minute escapees after her rescue, silence at 11.00am. Our was the anger toward God, minister had devised a that he had forsaken her. contingency plan should How it was countered by we arrive too early, which her belief in God's promise he used. This added a to never leave or forsake short passage from the bible prior to the her, giving her the strength Act of Remembrance; to keep going. You can hear John's full sermon at Bugler Anna Florence from the Silver Band, https://youtu.be/KbaZLEjIGV4?t=21m14s played the Last Post, as she has for several past years, though on this occasion Our closing prayers and standing in the stairwell outside the praise led us to the National sanctuary. The lament followed, played by Anthem before we departed. our lone piper Scott Wright leading us to No colours, silver band, or exactly 11.00am and the 2 minute silence. parade to march to the Anna then struck up Reveille to announce memorial in the park. Indeed the end of the silence. no formal service at the memorial, rather individual Our praise 'God is our Strength', led into the bible readings and the memories shared of those ministers short address. John took our first reading from Psalm 121 as people, many friends and his theme, introducing it as a poem of confidence in a God who is families that had fought to personal, living and active. Part of 'A song of Ascents', the psalm preserve our freedom today. offers an insight into the poets view of the world in those dangerous Lest We Forget. Light Up Christmas CHRISTMESS CHRISTMESS! Surely that’s a mistake! Not really! Sometimes Christmas can be a messy time of year. Perhaps that’s Light Up Christmas is an exciting free resource produced by SU especially true for you in 2020? Scotland and SU Ireland to help P6-P7 pupils look at the Christmas story in a fresh and enjoyable way. Tying in with Curriculum for Remember messy Christmas days - presents torn open, wrappings Excellence, the 90-minute programme can be run as one lesson or everywhere? Or think of the post-Christmas-dinner mountain of plates split into three, and includes three videos, quizzes, crafts and in the kitchen and the pile of Celebration wrappers (the chocolate ones!) group work. between the sofas. The resource is being launched at the start of December and SU It’s fair to say there was a quite a bit of mess at the very first Christmas Scotland want to make sure every school gets to hear of it! too. As Mary and Joseph trekked down to Bethlehem for a census, there was nowhere for them to stay. So the young couple welcomed If you work with a local school, please pass on the web link to Jesus into the world with a bunch of animals as his roommates (some teachers, or whoever works most closely with local schools: scholars claim it was almost as bad as living with students). www.suscotland.org.uk/lightupchristmas. Jesus didn’t just enter the mess of a downstairs room with a feeding Christmas Angels knitting project trough, he entered the mess of our world too. For hundreds of years Penicuik churches will be hanging knitted there had been promises that someone would come to fix up the mess. angels to the church railings for people to 'take Now he had come. one' and put on their tree at home. Each will carry a label wishing people a Happy And that’s what Christmas is all about. For the mess isn’t the central Christmas and giving service times. story of Christmas Let’s remind ourselves whatPPE Christmas Face shields is all about and the hope it brings. The intention this year is to 'yarn bomb' around the town centre and maybe up by Tesco's on the evening of Friday It’s about the one who was born in the mess, the one who came to clear 11th December: i.e. tie angels to available railings and trees for it all up. For ‘Mess’ is only central to the Christmas story when you add people to discover and take home. another three letters – i-a-h. – ‘Messiah’. If you want to get involved, Download the pattern. Those letters change everything for they point us to Jesus. And if we ask him to, Jesus even enters the mess of our lives and offers to fix us.