Registered Charity No: SC016009 www.corstorphineoldparish.org.uk Service of Harvest Thanksgiving : Sunday 27th October Diary Dates 6th Oct (Sun) Sacrament of Holy Communion with services at 8.30am and 10.30am 13th Oct (Sun) Service at 10.30am 14th—18th Oct Church Office closed 20th Oct (Sun) Service at 10.30am Third Sunday Club at 3.30pm 21st Oct (Mon) Last date for November church magazine material 27th Oct (Sun) Service of Harvest Thanksgiving at 10.30am with coffee served in church after the service 1st Nov (Fri) Open Mic Night in the Church at 7.00pm 1st and 4th Nov Church Office closed 3rd Nov (Sun) Service at 10.30am followed by short service of Holy Communion 6th Nov (Wed) Kirk Session meets at 7.30pm in the Session Room 7th Nov (Thurs) Office Hour 7-8pm (No appointment necessary) 10th Nov (Sun) Remembrance Sunday with services at 10.00am and 11.30am You are invited to attend either service. There will be a Public Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial at 10.50am. Kirk Loan will be closed to traffic from 8.00am. (There will be a retiring offering on behalf of Poppyscotland after the 10am service) (No Tea and Coffee today) (No wee service today) 13th Nov (Wed) Fabric Committee meets at 7.30pm in the Session Room 17th Nov (Sun) Guild Week Service at 10.30am 20th Nov (Wed) Finance Committee meets at 7.30pm in the Committee Room Corstorphine Old Parish Church, Kirk Loan, Edinburgh EH12 7HD Scottish Charity number: SC016009 Wee Service at 9.40am - Short service for families with young children. Every Sunday, followed by coffee and croissants. Sunday Worship at 10.30am - On the first Sunday of every month there is a short service of Communion at 11.30am except March, June, Oct. and Dec. when there are services of Holy Communion at 8.30am and 10.30am Church Office - 2A Corstorphine High Street EH12 7ST. Office Open : Monday-Friday - 8.30am-1pm Contact details : 334 7864 [email protected] The Thursday Office Hour - In the Church Office, High Street Hall, on the first Thursday of every month 7.00-8.00pm (except July and August). No appointment necessary. Church Hall - High Street Hall, 2A Corstorphine High Street EH12 7ST 1 Letter from our Minister Dear Friends, There is a rhythm of life at this time of year that I find both frenetic and reassuring – Christ- mas (sorry to mention it so early) is fast approaching and is always at the back of my mind as dates of services and celebrations are put in the diary. Remembrance Sunday too demands plan- ning and thought, but that is still a month away. We’ve had a number of different services over the past couple of weeks to think about – our new Third Sunday afternoon service, and our Up- side Down service at the end of September. So although it has been busy and will be busy, the month of October brings a little bit of calm, and a time to give thanks for Harvest, which alt- hough has a changing date, returns us year after year to the seasons and the recognition that we have food on our tables. There is a distinct change to the feel of the weather – chillier days and longer nights, and a sense of bedding down for the winter. However, those familiar feelings come with unrest as our days have been unseasonably warm and our gardens confused as a result. October brings with it the promise of Brexit, and although we have heard that promise before, and seen the date come and go without any resolution, we live with a sense of uncertainty and frustration. At a time of year when we should be recognising the ‘usual’ we find ourselves living with the unusual, and although we see familiar feasts and dates coming over the horizon we live too with the unfamiliar and the unsure, a combination that caus- es any number of emotions from fear to anger, and panic to denial. The events and feasts we celebrate in the church have been markers of thanks at times of un- certainty for many years if not centuries. As local schoolchildren are often reminded, the Octo- ber holiday week existed to bring in the harvest, all hands on deck, no long lies or days in front of the television, but a real community effort to pick potatoes and store up food for winter. While those harvests would have good years and bad years, neighbours would rely on one anoth- er to share and ensure there was enough – perhaps not much but enough – to go round, and the church was a place to celebrate what was harvested and what was shared. Today our attention tends to be further afield but still we celebrate neighbourliness, looking out for one another, sharing what we have and giving thanks for our daily bread. We think too of our planet and how our actions can have a positive effect on the environment as well as our neighbours around the globe. This October we might find ourselves in the supermarket looking for Fairtrade items rather in potato fields with our neighbours, but our care of one another and of the environment is an im- portant act of worship and discipleship in which we can all play our part. Best wishes, 2 Guild News Church Magazine Diary Dates Donation Envelope Thursday 3rd October at 7.00pm Edinburgh Guilds Together Issued with every copy of the St Michaels Parish Church Church Magazine this month Guest Speaker - The Very Rev Albert Bogle is a Magazine Donation enve- Communion with Rev Andrea Price lope. This is to provide an op- portunity for all who receive Tuesday 8th October at 2.00pm the Church Magazine to help Origins of Community Nursing offset the cost of paper and Speaker : Jane Walker production. Tuesday 5th November at 2.00pm There are nine copies of the Church Magazine Scottish Sailor’s Society — Guild Project produced in a year. The cost of producing the Port Chaplain : Pauline Robertson magazines continues to rise and a donation of £5 is suggested. We would be grateful if en- velopes could be returned as soon as possible and certainly within the next four weeks. As in previous years, those who receive their Tuesday 5th November at 7.30pm magazine by post will receive a separate re- Area Joint Meeting - St Anne’s Church quest for the cost of postage if they wish to Speaker : Ian Donaldson, Forestry Commission continue. Scotland As always if you would like to receive your We apologise that our Guild Project talk is on magazine as an email attachment (usually a the same day as the Area Joint Meeting, but few days before they are placed into the our Syllabus was printed before we had con- church) then please contact Christine in the firmation of the date ( This would usually be Office ([email protected]). You can also view at the end of Oct) I do hope as many mem- the magazine on the church website: bers as possible can support both speakers. www.corstorphineoldparish.org.uk A warm invitation is extended to both men David Drummond, Magazine Editor and women to any of our meetings. If you would like a syllabus or more information about the Guild please contact myself or Do- ris Crichton, Joint Convener 477 0067. We hope everyone enjoyed their Afternoon MacMillan Coffee Morning Tea at our Opening Social. We hope to have some photos in the next magazine. Many Thank you to everyone who came along for thanks to the Leadership Team, Dougie, Angus a coffee or who helped in any way at our and Lorraine and everyone who helped us on MacMillan Coffee Morning on Friday 27th the day, well done all. September. We raised the amazing amount of £470 for MacMillan Cancer Brenda Russell Support. Joint Convener, Tel: 629 1456 3 A Church Romance Being able to get access to the church when no one else is around means I have a private view of the creatures who inhabit both the church and the graveyard. Some mornings I am entertained by the antics of the jackdaws, crows and magpies who raid the bin next to the bench outside the graveyard. They carry their prize onto the grass or path and extract as much as they can to eat before abandoning the litter for me to pick up. Sometimes the gulls try to get in on the scene. Watching all this drama from the hall roof is the grey squir- rel. On one occasion a wee mouse ran past. There is a great variety of bird life in the trees. Black birds, sparrows, woodpigeon, robin, tits, grey wagtail, chaffinch and the beautiful goldfinch but to name a few. One morning I nearly stood on wren which was lying stunned on the road. I scooped it up and put it in a polystyrene cup and incubated it near the radiator in the vestry. By the time I had swept and dusted the church it had recuperated. I opened the large oak doors of the church and it flew out the cup into the Yew tree, success! This tiny bird with its stubby cocked tail is a joy to hear in the Spring, for such a small bird it has a loud and melodic song. Insects, bees and butterflies flit from plant and flower. In fact we have had butterflies in the church during a Sunday service. I think the conditions in the church suit the peacock butterfly for hibernation.