Oxnam Parish Page JULY 2015 Oxnam Parish Church of Scotland Registered Charity Number SCO10593 www.oxnamkirk.co.uk From the Locum Minister Dear Friends, It’s now over a year since I first preached at Oxnam, and nearly a year since I became ‘attached’ as your Locum Minister. Many lovely events have been shared, some very sad events have been shared. The most recent is the sad passing, after months of trial with pain and frustration of Frank Clayton. I think it was the very first service when I preached as a Supply Preacher, that they told me there was this lovely man in the church who was celebrating his 90th birthday. So what else could we do but sing Happy Birthday. It was a lovely way to meet Frank and Margaret, and over coffee after the service, we had a lovely chat. How sad it is now, not so long after his 91st birthday, we should have to say farewell to him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Margaret and her family. Both Anna and I visited on the day before he died, and I was more than delighted to stand back and allow Anna to take the service. She has walked the journey with you for much longer than me, and I am so pleased that so many of you are still in touch with her. Please never feel bad about asking Anna to do one of your special services. If she possibly can, I am sure she will, although we all know that she has a busy schedule down in Kelso, which she fulfils with great energy and flair. Back at Oxnam, we are making plans for the way ahead, one of which involves a Worship Group service on Sunday 19th July, which in this second anniversary year of the Great War is going to focus on those young men from the valley who went to fight for our freedom, and some of them came back, but some didn’t. In a moving service, which will contain lots of stories from local people, and some from people outwith the parish, we will be asking how did it all affect the valley, and how did the young men cope at the front. Do put this service in your diary, as you will learn stories that you should know about people who gave up the home comforts that we now take for granted around Oxnam, to go to a place they didn’t know, into a situation they would never have wanted to be in, and into a future that was terribly uncertain. Further ahead, we are planning a diary of events throughout the year, utilising the church building, which is not only the loveliest building in the valley, but also the biggest space. Projected events include concerts of various types, with different groups and soloists, drama and choral workshops, a Question Time discussion evening, and we hope to have a day exploring icons - which seem alien to us in the Church of Scotland, but are a central part of other denominations, and also offer discussions on aspects of the faith led by distinguished people working in the Borders. As well as our Harvest Supper in the Village Hall in October, we are suggesting a social evening with Scottish food after the Evening Service on 29th November, the night before St Andrew’s Night. Watch out for all of these, and do support your Church With blessings and warmest love, Marion E Dodd From the Session Clerk … Once again time to put pen to paper to catch the Summer Parish Page which will be with you just before our next Communion Service on 5th July. Our first evening service to be held on the 5th Sunday in the month was held on St Andrews Day, 30th November, and was a great success. The remaining evening services this year will be on 30th August and 29th November starting at 6.00 p.m. Marion certainly makes these evening services different and far better than watching Songs of Praise on a Sunday evening! It is a long way away till our Harvest Supper in the Village Hall in October but we do require four volunteers to help organise this popular biennial event. If you would like to help, do contact me (01835 850394 or [email protected]) or any elder. Presbytery has instructed all congregations to sist all major fabric projects at present while a Presbytery review of church property is carried out which sadly means that the Summer House project which was mentioned in our last Parish Page has had to be put on hold till the embargo is lifted which will not be till 2017. Our Kirk website has been recently updated and we are grateful to Jan Scott of Dolphinston for arranging for this project to be completed. Any news that you have which you think should go on our website please do get in touch with Jan who wants to ensure that it is kept up to date and fresh. The Library Café is very much still in operation and it is hoped that it will remain very much part of Oxnam valley life. Please support the Library Café and if you would like to help produce some home baking on the day please contact me or an elder. On Good Friday evening the Roxburgh Singers performed “Faure Requiem” to nearly a packed audience in the Kirk who had come from far and wide. This was much enjoyed by all those who attended and it is hoped that the Roxburgh Singers will return in the not too distant future. Over £500 was raised for Combat Stress and also a generous donation was made by the Roxburgh Singers to Oxnam Kirk. Elsewhere in this Parish Page is a short article on how we are remembering those from Oxnam who lost their lives during the First World War. I would like to emphasise two points. The first is if you are in any way related to one of the twenty two please do get in touch with me as we would very much like to know the story behind the name. The second point is that the restoration of the plaque which will ensure that it will last another hundred years will require funding. If you would like to donate towards this work please contact our Treasurer. Col. Colin Hogg Session Clerk Thanks Howdenburn Primary School Parent Council would like to thank those who purchased plants at the May Library Café. A total of £60 was raised that day making their total from selling plants £375. Presbytery Presbytery have appointed a Vocations Champion in the Borders to ‘raise the profile’ of the church and encourage more people to think of a career in the church. This could be full or part time ministry, a reader, Sunday School teacher, elder or in any other way according to their gifts and talents. A team will be set up in Jedburgh Presbytery, Duns, Peebles and Melrose. They are starting in Jedburgh Presbytery and a team will have a small stand at Kelso Show on 24th and 25th July. It will be located with the Kelso Churches Together stand at the Show. We would love you to visit to discuss our leaflets, our aims, give us advice, tell us what we are doing right or wrong! Anything! Moira Land Sunday School Sunday School continues as before, sometimes with lots of children, sometimes with very few. However, we’re always at the Kirk on the 3rd Sunday of the month and wish that more young parents could find the time to bring their children to join us. Marion masterminded a wonderful Nativity Scene at the Christmas Eve Carol Service when children and several adult members of the congregation hastily donned suitable cloaks and head-gear and took part most effectively. Everyone enjoyed it immensely. Weather permitting, we spend Sunday School time outdoors, be it for an Easter egg hunt, a treasure hunt or for tending our little gardens. Earlier in the year we sowed seeds for lettuce and broad beans which are now planted out and growing slowly. Adam is helping to organise the large plot and we hope for a good variety of vegetables later in the season. Val Hunter From the Interim Moderator Some people always work better under pressure! Give them a deadline, and they’ll start at the last possible moment to meet it— even if the deadline was intimated weeks before. Whereas, others begin as soon as the deadline is set and have time to refine, redraft and finalise their document. There’s no prizes for guessing which group I belong to—the deadline for “the Parish Page” was put back 6 days, so here I am, with one hour to go, trying to assemble my thoughts—yet 6 days ago, I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say on what was at that time, the last day for handing it in. But we are all different and at the Kirk Session meeting the other week we read the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul speaks about everyone having different gifts, but these gifts all come from the one Spirit. How good it is to be reminded of that! Every one of us has something to offer back in our service to God, but sometimes we’re so busy looking at and admiring others’ gifts that we ignore our own. Yet we all have something to contribute. That’s true in our lives in the family, in the workplace, in the church, in the community— indeed wherever we find ourselves.