Duke Chapel

When doing a bit of research for Sunday morning, I came across the Duke Chapel website, where William Willimon used to be chaplain. We came across him when we were visiting Charlotte, North Carolina, last year. There are numerous sermons and services which you can watch. The services are very traditional, but Willimon's preaching is quite exceptional.
DM

Christmas Reflections

A few years ago, we were given The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder. For a number of years, it became a family tradition to read this zany story of the journey to Bethlehem with our children each day during advent. With no little children to read to any more, I felt the lack of a good book to focus my mind at Advent.

Beginnings and Endings by Maggie Dawn has changed that. A beautifully written book with countless gems from the Christmas story to think about, this is a book I can't recommend highly enough. You can read it at any time of the year, but I would recommend keeping it until advent in 2008 and using it on a daily basis then.

For those more into the Web than a book, I thought the small daily videos by Paperless Christmas were nothing short of outstanding. If you have some quiet moment this week, time spent watching the clips on this site would not be wasted time.
DM

Christmas Surprise

The Services over Christmas were all very special. On Christmas Eve the church was packed and the singing was uplifting. My main reflection from that particular service was that if it was only people from our own congregation who were coming, it would be a very quiet service, as the vast majority present were visitors.

The Christmas morning service is normally a fairly quiet and intimate affair with 70 or 80 present. What a wondeful surprise this year to have around 100% increase in the numbers. People just kept coming and coming. Perhaps this change has something to do with the age profile of our congregation with many from our own congregation swapping watchnight for Christmas day with their young children. It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas morning in the company of so many children and to baptise Gavin William Thompson at the end of the service.

Back to some normality today as preparations need to be made for Sunday morning. There is communion at our first service at 10am. It's proving to be a weekly challenge to find musicians to lead the second service at 11.30am and this week is no different. I'll need to make one or two phone calls about that today.
DM

Come and Join the Celebration

Christmas morning at Hilton. What a wonderful occassion and such a celebratory atmosphere.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

It's Christmas Eve and in a few hours time (11.15pm) we will gather for our watchnight service to celebrate the birth of Jesus who we believe is the great hope for our world. This is always a magical service with many visitors joining us. Tomorrow we will be having a short service at 10.30am which is normally attended by many families with their children. During this service, Gavin Thompson will be baptised. After a period of intense activity, there is a sense of relief at being able to enter a few days of rest (hopefully!). For all those reading this blog, I hope you have a very happy Christmas. May the message of God coming into our world bring you hope and joy.
DM

Christmas Eve blog - Does this ring true?

Nativity Stars

Memorable service this morning with the entire Sunday club taking part in various dramas in the church. All the children played their parts brilliantly. Thanks to Morag Macritchie, the sunday club leaders, the musicians and all the children for making our time of worship so special today.
DM

The ongoing adventures of ASBO Jesus

Double Parking

Last Sunday we announced that the back car park would be reserved for people with mobility problems. What happened this Sunday? The carpark was full of cars parked there by able bodied folk! I guess people just need to be reminded over a few weeks or someone needs to stand at the gate. Perhaps all who parked there weren't at the service last week. I didn't mention it from the front today because I didn't want to make a big issue of it. Something to work at in the New Year.

Carols from Kabale

Tomorrow night, (6.30pm) we are having a candle lit carol service. We will seek to raise funds for Laurence and Mairi's work in Uganda. Laurence has sent more imformation and picutres about the community outreach work below.
DM


Rugarama Health Centre (RHC) is currently doing 4 community outreaches per month plus dental and eye outreaches. The community ones which are the most vital, are also the ones which are about to run out of funding. The government through its public health initiative is failing to come up with the money, and this service will be axed if funding is not found from elsewhere.

There is need for another 6 community outreaches per month for infant immunisation & Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMCT) PMCT has been shown to be crucial in not only educating, but treating HIV positive mums and reducing the number of infected children enormously.

The average cost of each outreach trip is 64,000UgSh which is about £18

During these community outreaches immunisations are carried out for 7 infectious diseases. Also Health Education talks are done on how to prevent the spread of infectious diseases eg. HIV, TB, Malaria, dysentery.

Before an outreach programme to an area, a Mobilisation Meeting is held to consult village elders, pastor, local coucil chairman, stretcher groups, traditional birth attendants, etc. on the medical needs of the area.

There is a need for subsidised mosquito bed-nets for prevention of malaria. This has been shown to reduce the rate of infection enormously. Distribution of them (for a small cost) during community outreach could drastically reduce the number of malarial deaths in an area. They can be purchased in bulk for around 10,000UgSh (£3) and distributed for about 3000 shillings.

Another function of outreach is to provide training 'workshops' for voluntary health mobilisers; health education on main problems/diseases of their area.

These are a few thoughts from someone whoo knows little about health, has never been on outreach, and famously never achieved even O-grade biology. I shall get mairi to update you when she returns from the office. I hope this is enough to be getting on with...

Many thanks for all your help,

Laurence

Carols at Eastgate

A morning to get you feeling that Christmas is close. The musicians and singers from Hilton performed for 2 hours opposite Waterstones raising funds for the Vine Trust. The singing by the group was great and the puppeteers put on a show which drew a large crowd. Great to see so many people from the congregation working together for an event in the City Centre.Well done Ingrid Hutchison for organising such an outstanding morning. I saw quite a few folk taking photos and video. Hopefully they will post some of their pictures on the blog.
DM

Christmas letter from Paul Clark, Peru

Dear Friends,
My Christmas story this year is about little Fernando; the one, and the ninety nine!

Dr. Bill Allen, MTW* missionary friend of ours wrote from Cusco wondering whether we might have room in one of our Lima homes for abandoned boys for just one more kid. He had come across Fernando, and the Judiciary in the famous old Inca Capital did not know what to do with this boy who had an incredible record for his age, in the streets and children's centres in the city. Bill was happy to hear that early next year we are opening a new Home in the nearby Sacred Valley and that yes, indeed, we would not only make a temporary home for him in Lima, but would soon move him back to the Cusco area as the first boy in the new Home!

We have all fallen in love with this boy. Given his track record, we have not only kept a special watch on him but also taken the time to understand this boy whose background is different from any other we have ever encountered.

It so happens that Fernando was brought up with animals - mainly sheep, rather that with other human beings. He was put out to live in the pens, sheep folds much like those of Bible times, very common in Peru's Andean slopes.

Some abandoned boys never cry, which is very sad. Others, like Fernando, can. Except that he does not cry like a little boy. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he bleats, just like a baby lamb.
We offered him shoes. "Please not like the ones these boys wear!" He pleaded. "I want ojotas". These are what shepherds on the Cusco hillsides wear - a sole and straps made of old car tires. Someone brought us a pair recently and you should have seen Fernando running and jumping once he had them on!

We were told by the police in Cusco that every time he was captured and taken to some institution, he would smash windows and escape. None of that has been done in our Girasol home.

We now look forward to taking him back to our new home in Urubamba, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, near the world famous ruins of Machu Picchu.

Our desire now for this little one and for the other 'ninety-nine', is that they may feel safe in the arms of the Good Shepherd whose birth we celebrate during this Season. Pray that they may learn to recognize his voice and follow in his footsteps.

Paul & Marty
Los Cedros 470, Chaclacayo, Lima 08, Peru

What Christmas Meant to C S Lewis

CS Lewis was one of the great Christian writers of the 20th century. I learnt today, that he died on the same day that JFK was assasinated. I wonder how you are feeling in this final run up to Christmas. I thought you might be interested, as I was to read here Lewis' take on Christmas.

From Peru

4 years ago, when I spent time on study leave in Peru, I met pastor, Alejandro, who was doing great things in a very poor part of Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. He has now established an outreach work to a very remote valley in Peru and you can read about him here and here.
DM

Reflections from Keri Fishlock

For those of you thinking and praying about the incident a few days ago at YWAM in the States, you'll find a moving update from Keri here.
DM

Advent Prayer

A wonderful Advent prayer by the theologian, Walter Brueggemann, that seems doubly apt as a prayer into a world of inter-religious conflict:

We give you thanks for the babe born in violence.
We give you thanks for the miracle of Bethlehem, born into the Jerusalem heritage.

We do not understand why the innocents must be slaughtered;
we know that your kingdom comes in violence and travail.
Our time would be a good time for your kingdom to come,
because we have had enough of violence and travail.

So we wait with eager longing,
and with enormous fear,
because your promises
do not coincide with our favourite injustices.

We pray for the coming of your kingdom on earth
as it is around your heavenly throne.

We are your people grown weary with waiting.

We dwell in the midst of cynical people,
and we have settled for what we can control.

We do not know that you hold initiative for our lives,
that your love planned our salvation
before we saw the light of day.

And so we wait for your coming,
in your vulnerable baby
in whom all things are made new.

Amen.

Christmas Frenzy

Today Chris Watt and I were doing the Christmas assemblies at Inverness Royal Academy. Last night, we were at the annual P7 Dance at Hilton Primary School and tomorrow, Chris will be taking the assemblies there. Yesterday, Catriona Patton had all the Nursery Classes from Hilton School in the church for a Nativity service. The church was packed for both services, morning and afternoon, and it was good to be able to offer hospitality to all the families who attended. Thanks to all those who helped with serving. On Saturday, we will be at the Eastgate Centre carol singing from 10 -12 noon, raising funds for the Vine Trust, and on Sunday evening, we are having a carol service for Kabale, which we hope will raise funds for Laurence and Mairi's work in Uganda. All in all it is a very full on time, but also a very exciting one, as we celebrate in many public spaces, the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the World.
DM

SPIRITUAL Journey

I was pointed in the direction of this fascinating website today. The site is packed with resources around the themes of exploring, looking, asking, dreaming and doing.

"I am convinced if churches had more emphasis like this on connecting with spiritual seekers we'd be in better shape." Jonny Baker
DM

Lesotho Night

Great to hear the stories at Church yesterday of so many people who were inspired and moved by the Concert for Lesotho on Friday night. We are delighted to hear from Julie Keen that the event raised nearly £1000. We hope that the figure raised will top the £1000 mark before Christmas, and pray that the money will make a positive difference to the lives of children in Lesotho.
DM

Liverpool Nativity

I have just watched the Liverpool Nativity for the second time tonight. Wonderful! Amazing! If you didn't see it, try and catch before Christmas. The review which you can read here sums up my enthusiasm for it.

Stewart and Maggie's Wedding

Stewart and Maggie were married yesterday in Aberdeen. Some 150 folk were present for the celebration including a large number from the Chinese Christian community. The Hiltonites present all appreciated the outstanding banquet of chinese food after the wedding ceremony. Stewart and Maggie will be taking up residence near Edinbugh, while Stewart completes his ministry training at Loanhead Parish Church.
DM

Kids Christmas Party

Life and Work Magazine

December's issue of the magazine has an article which explores the subject of Christian Christmas Art with John Leighton Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, and discovers a treasure trove on our doorstep. Quite literally on our doorstep! The National Galleries have lent pictures for an exhibition entitled "Maternity" which is presently on show at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery. The most famous picture on display is the Sandro Botticelli "The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child." Other interesting articles in this issue include an interview with composer and hymn writer Graham Kendrick, a report from the National Youth Assembly & Children's Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a seasonal reflection on Nativity plays by the Very Rev Dr James Simpson along with the Letters page which is always worth reading. Complimentary copies of this issue are available at the church and if you wish to subscribe to the magazine please add your name to the list in the vestibule or contact me by telephone at 01463 242883.

Jean Barron, Life & Work Organiser

Music For Lesotho

Can you picture it? It's Friday evening and you've had a busy week. You've had your meal and you sit down and already you feel your eyes getting heavy and then a head pops in and says,
'Remember we're going out tonight'.
'Where?'
'I told you half a dozen times. We're going to the Music for Lesotho concert at the church.'
'Right. I had forgotten,' I replied enthusuastically!
In the car. 'I hope it's good. Julie was saying that not that many tickets have been sold.'
At the church, 'Gosh, there's a lot of cars!'
In the church, 'Gosh, there's a lot of people and I don't recognise half the faces!'
Not a great classical music fan I sat down and still a bit sceptical awaited to endure whatever was to come. What was to come was the most amazing and beautiful mix of music and song and poetry performed to the very highest standard. Such was the quality I was absorbed, enthralled and any other superlative you can think of. The tiredness fell away and I could feel my spirit soar...the power of good music. One song in particular, 'Wonder Child' was utterly enchanting and I was surely not the only one to feel my eyes beginning to fill up.
Anyway this is to say thank you to Julie Keen for organising a great concert and to all who gave their time and talents for a wonderful cause. A thoroughly enjoyable evening and lots of dosh raised for the Orphanage in Lesotho.
Barry

Patrick Lennon

Christmas is a time for catching up on peoples lives through the anual letters slipped into the cards. Today we received one from Sonya Lennon who, along with her late husband Dennis shared in a couple of wonderful weekends at Hilton Church around the turn of the millenium. I was reminded through the letter that their son, Patrick is now an acclaimed crime writer. Dennis was a wonderful writer, and based on that experience alone, I shall be investing in one of Patrick's novels over the Christmas season.
DM

Bill Gates: The skills you need to succeed

Found this fascinating article by Bill Gates on digital technology. One of our great challenges as a church is to harness this technology for kingdom purposes. I can't help thinking that the Apostle Paul would most certainly have been ahead of the field in this regard, while in actual fact most churches and their leaders are lagging far behind.
DM

Aberdeen Wedding

Tomorrow Stuart marries Maggie at Hilton High Church in Aberdeen. I am taking the wedding, so I'll be heading along the dreaded A96. I think a number of folk from Hilton Church are also attending. Please pray for safety on the roads. Pray also for Stuart and Maggie that tomorrow will be a great day for them. I'll try and remember to take some picture to show on the blog when I get back.
DM

Parent and Toddler Christmas Service

This is a time of year when the congregation go to great efforts to celebrate the birth of Jesus across all the groups we run in and for the community. Last night at 6pm, there was a short service for Parents & Toddlers, which we run on Tursdays and Fridays between 6-7.30pm. Aileen and Emily did a fine job of leading this service for all the families who had gathered. There was a lovely atmosphere and it was good to have time afterwards to share in various drinks along with mince pies. Thanks to all the people who came along to help with hospitality and do so such to make Hilton the welcoming church it is. You know who you are! We are really grateful to you. On a personal note, I began to feel my age when one of the young mothers spoke to me, and told me that she remembered me from her days at Hilton Primary School. Tempus fugit!
DM

Gravity

Came across this poem by Mark Greene on a Christmas card produced by LICC.

Gravity
The apple, unlike Adam, had no choice but to fall
Speeding to fulfil its Creator's call.
But what force drew Him down to us?
He, with a starlit infinity to explore,
He, who could peer into a neutron's core,
He who had spoken a thousand-million times
And known the sulphuric spit of our self-vaunting crimes,
He, who we called murderer, liar, thief
And left for dead with enlightened relief.

What force drew him down from above
To reap the grim harvest of rebel pride,
Hammered with nails of truth denied?
What force drew Him down from above?
What force but this: THE GRAVITY OF LOVE.


Doda

GadgetVicar:Preparing the Way

Rob Barlow has been doing a great job in putting an invitation together to hand out, inviting people to our Services at Christmas. You can read here about St Silas' in Glasgow who are getting out there to invite people to their services. Could we perhaps do this at the shops across the road from the church?

The ongoing adventures of ASBO jesus

Peace Labyrinth Promo Video

Steve Taylor continues to do imaginative things in Christchurch, which I would love to go too, but it's a bit far this Christmas!
DM

Dumisani

I am contacting you on behalf of Rev Dr Alistair Wilson, Principal of Dumisani Theological Institute in South Africa, formerly Lecturer here at HTC. Alistair is back in Scotland for a few weeks and will be speaking at Smithton and Tain. You and members of your congregation are invited to come to hear Alistair speak about his work in Dumisani.

Alistair will be preaching at Smithton Free Church on Sunday 16th December at 6.30pm. After the service (approx. 8pm) he and Jenny will be speaking about Dumisani.

There is also an evening meeting scheduled for Tain Free Church on Wednesday 19th December at 7.30pm.

Alistair, Jenny and all at Dumisani appreciate the prayers, interest and support of friends in all the denominations and welcome everyone to the meetings at Smithton and Tain to hear about their work in South Africa.

National Gathering

We have our Leadership team (kirk sesion) meeting tonight. One of the things we will be discussing is the National Gathering on the first weekend in May which you can read all about here. It looks like a superb event and hopefully many folk from Hilton might take a trip down the A9 that weekend. The Church without Walls events to date have been inspirational and this one looks like it will be great too.

Reflections on Impact

Sunday evening proved that Impact Cafe is now well established and is favoured by young and old within the church as a wonderful way of following Jesus's example - food, serving one another, fellowship, praise, worship and the proclamation of God's kingdom.
The sanctuary was ablaze with colour and candlelight. The Christmas menu offered a great choice of drinks and seasonal titbits. We have to admire our young waiters and waitresses, who were under a great deal of pressure in serving so many people. They did it all with a smile and made no mistakes with the orders. Well done and thank you - the service was better than Rocpool Reserve.
The opening praise and music was certainly anointed and one could feel the presence of God's Spirit.
Shortly after Rob started speaking, I heard a commotion in the foyer. I went to investigate and found up to 10 teenagers going through our lost property. Of course they scampered, but I went out and invited them in. Duncan quickly organised a table for them,sat with them and our young folks served them with drinks and food. From then on, I have to confess, I was not paying a lot of attention to what was going on at the front .
My thoughts were more along the lines of THIS IS CHURCH. These kids are looking for security, love and identity. They may be disruptive, disrespectful or even drunk, but that is our mission and I would love to see our church full of people like them. On talking to one of the boys, he told me he would like to know more about Jesus and what the Bible says.
I am really excited about all the community events organised by different folk in Hilton church at this time of year. Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will sweep over the Hilton area and that God will use us to bring those who are NOT YET His into the Light
The idea of Impact Cafe came from Rob Barlow. It has gone from strength to strength. I believe that as a church we should use this format more to interact with the unsaved and needy in our community.
Father God I wonder how I managed to exist wihout the knowledge of your parenthood and your loving care.
Doda

Revolution

At last nights Impact Cafe it was great to see some young people from the community coming into the church. I think it was quite a challenge for them to come in. I find it hard to imagine them easily coping with the services we have on the other weeks of the month. What are we to do if we are serious about being a church for the young people of the Hilton area? A fascinating interview with the leaders of Revolution : Inverness UK may give us some clues.
DM

the cartoon blog

Christmas Hyphop

Friday night saw the church packed out with parents and children from the community. The church was set out cafe style with tables beautifully adorned with Christmas decor. It was wonderful to see these parents who wouldn't normally come near the church up on their feet singing Christian songs and thoroughly enjoying it. They enjoyed taking part in a Christmas quiz, they heard the true meaning of Christmas and they were invited to come to Sunday services. While their children were through in the big hall, the parents were treated to sausage rolls, mince pies and scrumptious home baking. This gave them an opportunity to interact with one another and more importantly with folk from the church. They all knew Chris from his work in the schools. I certainly felt this is what outreach is about and it is great to have this link with the community.
Well done, Chris and all who helped to make Friday a successful evening.
Doda

Hilton Community Project

The mail today contained an exciting letter from The Lloyds TSB Foundation. An award of £22,000 to cover the costs of the new kitchen for the Centre. We are immensely grateful to the Foundation for their generous award and with other applications for funding pending, we are beginning to get excited.
DM

DOG COLLAR NO MORE

A fantastic post here from Jim Gordon on a church leader for whom I have the highest admiration.

message from Keri - shooting at YWAM

There was a shooting last night at YWAM. This is just to let you know that Angie and I are not hurt. I only found out this morning, Angie was woken by shots and spent the night at the police station. Please pray for us all here.
Keri

Burnside Christmas Service

Once a month, members of Hilton Church run a service for the residents of Burnside Care Home. Burnside is a wonderful place.The residents are cared for by a dedicated staff team who continually go the "extra mile." The atmosphere is always so warm and positive. For the last few years, the Home has been under continual threat of closure by the Council, which has been a great source of worry for the residents and their families. We hope and pray that Burnside will be around for many years to come, providing a wonderful home for the elderly. This afternoon we had a Christmas service at 3pm and it was a real treat to have so many of the children from our Sunday Club there. Thanks to all the parents who came along with their children at such a busy time. We sang some carols and Iain Polworth told a story about Tobias the Shepherd from Bethlehem, for the children (and the adults!) A good reminder of the Good Shepherd's care which always goes out in search of those who have lost their way. We were then treated to a veritable feast of cakes and biscuits by the staff, which was much appreciated.

Three services down, and in 20 minutes, I'm off to help set up for tonight's Impact Cafe. I think I'll leave someone else to blog about that!

The second service - how's it going?

"How is the second service going?" is a question I am now regularly asked.

We now have a core group of people attending the service which is good to see. The group is still relatively small. Today we had about 45 present which was great. There are still quite a number of folk from the main congregation who are dropping in to see what it is like. The size of the second service means that we can do some things which are more difficult in the main service. I'm looking forward to the communion at the second service next week. I hope to introduce one or two elements to the communion service which will be easier to do in a smaller setting. In general terms, we want to be a bit bolder in a variety of ways at the second service, and we hope to try a variety of different things over the coming months. The whole set up still feels quite unfamiliar, and I think it is only by running it for a much longer period of time, that we will get a clearer picture of the answer to the question - "How's it going?"

On a practical note, we are still struggling with the lack of a regular person to lead the worship at the second service. It was our hope that we might have someone to lead, who had a commitment to being involved in the development of this service. We're still praying and planning in this direction, and waiting for God's answer. I was reminding myself last week, that its only a matter of about 9 years since we didn't have a single person who was able to regularly lead worship at the main service. We prayed about that, and look where we are now with so many different bands and musicians. I'm sure God has plans too for the second service. As always, I find it very difficult to wait and to be patient for his time.

A DRAMATIC MORNING

"You never quite know what you're going to get when you come to Hilton Church" was a comment I heard after the service this morning. David Whillis, one of our elders was taking the service which consisted of a 2 Act play on the appearances by the Angel Gabriel to Zechariah and Mary, followed by a short sermon. David who wrote the play, brilliantly highlighted the responses of the various characters to what God was calling them to do at Advent. I'm sure everybody left the service with some of the scenes from the drama etched in their minds. The whole experience served to underline the fact that drama is a very powerful medium of communication. We should use it more. Thank you to David and his dramatic team for such a memorable worship experience today.
DM

Christmas Hyphop family night

Every second Friday, Chris Watt along with a very able team of leaders runs a club for Primary School children in the church called Hyphop. The group has really caught the imagination of many of the children that Chris works with at Hilton School, and around 50 attend every week. Most of these children have no involvement in the regular Sunday gatherings of the congregation. Last night was a Christmas family night for the children who brought along various members of their extended families. It was wonderful to see the church filled with so many children and their families from the community. There was time for the adults to chat as the children played games with Chris and some of the leaders in the large hall, there was a fun quiz and a great atmosphere. Well done to Chris and the Hyphop team for all the fine work that you are doing through Hyphop. Chris finished last night by pointing the children to Jesus - the one who is at the heart of the Christmas story. Pray for these children and their families, that Jesus would make Christmas very special for them this year.

Do they know about Christmas?

Interesting report by Theos about the level of knowledge people have about the Christmas story. The report, which you can read here, found that peoples knowledge was poorest in Scotland. The following quote made me smile:

Christian churchgoers know the story best with 36% answering all questions correctly.

That is hardly an overwhelming level of knowledge on the part of Christian churchgoers. It makes you think!
DM

Vision, Risk, Excitement, Praise

The title of this post gives but a few words which were spoken this evening during our Hilton Project prayer meeting. What an exciting time to be at Hilton, what a great time to be a Christian in our community, what a privilege to serve and step out in Faith. We heard about money raised so far, the hurdles overcome, the progress on many fronts, the VISION we share for the premises and all through a calling to serve as Christ served. In a strange way I felt a real tangible link back to the journey that Joseph and Mary took to Bethlehem as we continue in Advent. Joseph and Mary had a tough journey ahead with difficulties and disappointments. But what a blessing at the end in the birth of our Saviour. We're on a journey with the Hilton Community project and all present this evening caught a glimpse of the power of our collective calling to serve as Christ served. Exciting times indeed. Come, join the journey, be part of the ups, the downs and the realisation that Christ is breaking into Hilton in a powerful way.
Stuart

IF WE BUILD IT THEY WILL COME

My first prayer meeting at Hilton Church was in the company of 2 retired men around a 2 bar fire in a very cold and dreich room. It wasn't a very encouraging experience. I contrast that with the prayer meeting I have just been at in the old manse for the Hilton Community Cafe Project. Powerful praise, earnest and faith filled prayer, prophetic words and Doda's outstanding coffee. Thank you God for a sense of excitement and anticipation about what you are going to do, and thank you for the signs of it, which we are already seeing.
DM

New Start

Tonight, we have a prayer gathering for our Hilton Community Cafe Project ( we'll come up with a better name in due course, but that will do for the moment!) We have now been out of the old manse for 2 years, but the massive loft was still full of our stuff! It has been a case of "out of sight, out of mind!" but today was the day to get rid of as much of it as possible. Four trips to the re-cycling centre and the house is beginning to look empty upstairs. We also called New Start Inverness who help homeless people moving into accomodation with furniture, and they took away more stuff in their lorry. Tomorrow, I will be going to Blythswood with a car full of books. For 1 year before moving to Inverness, I lived with what I could carry in my rucsack, which wasn't a lot. It's quite disturbing to see how much stuff is accumulated over the years. Hopefully some of it will be put to good use by New Start and Blythswood.
DM

Paperless Christmas

For those who want to have some kind of a reflective focus for advent, but books aren't your thing, here's an interesting alternative. The site has been so popular that they have had to extend their bandwidth today.

A New Arrival

This Tuesday morning Samantha Noble gave birth to a little baby girl, Polly Maria (6lb 13oz) in Raigmore hospital. Dad Peter, mum Sam, and baby Polly are all well and are delighted with their first child.

Hilton Rediscovered

Just to let you know that there will be a programme about the photoexhibition for "Hilton Rediscovered" on Radio Scotland - Highland Cafe -tomorrow (Wednesday) - at 12-2 pm. During this programme there will be an interview with the youths who tookpart and also with Claire Richardson, who was in charge of this event. If you miss tomorrow's airing, there will be a repeat on Friday evening at 7-8 pm. You can also listen to programmes on your pc via the bbc website for up to 7 days after the programme is aired.
DM

International Volunteers Day

This is International Volunteers Day, a suitable day to express gratitude for the many people across the congregation who volunteer to serve in many different capacities both within the church and with various organisations across the city and the world. Hilton Church seeks to be a serving Church and in fulfilling this aim, it requires the dedicated service of many volunteers. We are thankful for the many people in our congregation who give so freely of their time and talents. I think that it is this willingness to get involved and to share the gifts that we have with others, that makes Hilton Church the very special place that it is.

Thank you

Duncan

A WEEKEND OF ADVENT HOPE

We have just had a very memorable weekend with Jim Gordon, Principal of the Scottish Baptist College. The various meetings - a cafe on Friday night, a teaching session on Saturday morning and the various Sunday services - were all about looking together at the message of the prophet Isaiah. On a personal level, I found the teaching from Isaiah inspiring. While the people were walking in darkness, Isaiah spoke a message of hope, of God's light which would come. When the circumstances seem bleak in our lives and a way forward seems impossible, Isaiah encourages us to believe in a God who is a much bigger than our limited horizons. The stories told on Friday night of people like Martin Luther King who challenged the darkness will stay with me, as will the memory of watching the Blind Brothers of Alabama singing Amazing Grace. It was a great blessing to have Jim with us, and if you want to read about what he made of the weekend, you can read all about it here.

On a wider level, it was personally disappointing to have put so much effort into organising the weekend and to have had so little engagement from the congregation as a whole. During the next few months, (and in the spirit of the prophet Isaiah!) I am keen to explore whether there is any kind of an event of this nature beyond a Sunday morning which can unite a congregation. These times together are just so good, that it seems such a pity that so few people from our congregation make time for them.
DM

Anticipating the Golden Compass

A great post by our very own Simon on the much heralded film Golden Compass which is creating such a stir. I particularly warm to his comments about God in the context of all the controversy.

"An infinite, timeless, all-conquering God who created the universe… versus Philip Pullman. Hmmm, let me think. I wonder whether any Christian who might protest against this book on the belief that it is damaging to God, is actually paying Pullman an alarmingly inaccurate compliment and therefore also underestimating the God they believe in."

Let us Spray

You can read here a fascinating story of how the British grafitti artist Banksy is seeking to transform Christmas in Bethlehem.
DM

Guitar Wanted

Colin is on the look-out for an old guitar for a friend of his. Ideally, an old one that you wouldn't miss. Drop him an e-mail if you think you can help.
Admin

Prayer Meeting, Old Manse, This Thursday

Just a reminder that there is a prayer meeting on Thursday evening from 7:30 -9 in the Old Manse. The groups that normally meet on Thursday evening might wish to forego their normal meeting to attend the prayer meeting. Iain Ross and other members of the manse re-development project team will be present to give an update on the current state of the project. The team believes that prayer is a vital dimension of the project and hopes that many folk will come along to share with them during this evening.
Barry

Advent Blog

St Silas' church have set up an advent blog here, which looks interesting.
DM

Thinking outside the box (Plus)

Shortly after blogging about Thinking outside the box, I came across this clip from youtube of Michael Frost, who I believe is one of the grittiest and most inspiring speakers around these days. I have read a number of his books and listened to some conference mp3 downloads. I never fail to be challenged by his words.

Thinking outside the box

This morning I have been doing some preparation for a variety of services during Advent. I spent a bit of time researching some fascinating statistics about the continuing influence of Christianity in a post Christian era. In the most recent cencus,71% of the population ticked the box for Christian in the form., but 66% of the population have no actual conection to any church or religion.

The statistic that really struck me between the eyes was this:

Between 1979 and 2005, HALF of all Christians stopped going to church on a Sunday.

I know what they say about statistics, but whatever way you look at this, the picture across the nation is very bleak. It presents a massive challenge to any church in the UK today. The blog by Jon Birch below is worth reflecting on:

Willow Creek Repents

I found a fascinating article last night which you might want to read here.

What happens when the church which thousands of other churches have been looking to for a lead, declares that a lot of its priorities have been a case of "barking up the wrong tree!"

The Manse Project

For all those keen to find out more about what is happening with the manse project - click here. The update by Iain Ross (who is Chairing the emerging team) will give you a feel for what is currently happening. We'll keep you updated on progress here as things pick up pace but in the meantime your prayers are very much needed at this stage on the resourcing of the vision - both in terms of people sharing in the vision and feeling that they have skills to contribute and in terms of £'s for fixing the place up. We're busy applying for funding at the moment so pray over the festive period that the answers to these applications will help us clearly determine God's will in all of our plans.

'Where there is no vision, the people perish' Proverbs 28 v18

What do you think?

We are currently beginning to make plans for the content of various teaching streams during 2008. I was intrigued tonight to note on the Mars Hill Church website, that the pastor there asks the congregation to identify areas they would like some response to in his teaching. If there are particular topics or questions you would like to be covered during 2008, please feel free to comment below.
DM

Hilton Hits the Courier - Twice!

Here's an article that will be of interest to all those following the adventures of our Peru Adventurers... Click here for a letter from our own Colm Black on his family work within the community.

Advent Celebration

Just a reminder to everyone of our weekend ahead where we hope to make a good beginning to Advent. You can read all about it here.

Hope to see you at the ALL AGE CAFE (7- 8.15PM) on Friday evening.

We also have a short teaching session from 10-12noon on Saturday. If you have primary school children, you could drop them off at CCC at the new JUMP event, and come along for what promises to be a very special time.
DM

Iain MacRitchie on Pastoral Care

Inspirational snippets from Iain MacRitchie's third and last sermon on Pastoral Care.

John 15
We need to be radically inclusive - an inclusiveness rooted in the love of God.
We are all a work in progress and we need to question our inclusivity.

Acts2
We should be a radical community which is prophetic.
The prophetic voice models an alternative way and contradicts our false gods eg the shopping mall mentality.
We are not sovereign individuals and intimacy is the alternative to individualism.

Romans 12
We should be a therapeutic community where we see one another as both limited and gifted.
Modeling Godly behaviours in our community ( the church ) means that gifts are shared in a healing way.
Pastoral Care should result in God taking us from exile into a therapeutic community where we can experience deep healing for ourselves and others around us.

I found it all very challenging and thought provoking. Thanks, Iain.
By the way I like the idea of a giveaway table--I am going to think more about that one.

Doda

3 Hectors at Hilton

We were delighted to hear of the safe arrival of Hector last weekend to Gillian and Andrew MacLennan. A baby brother for Harriet and a 3rd Hector at Hilton Church, along with Hector Morrison and Hector Waudy West. Congratulations to Gillian and Andrew and we look forward to seeing them at a worship service in due course.

SECOND SERVICE

This mornings second service was very confirming in terms of encouraging us to see the value of a gathering which offers something different from the 10am service. Today, there was a variety of spaces for various different people to share - an unaccompanied solo of Before the throne of God above by Chrissie Cumming and a very moving personal testimony by Alison MacCallum of what "Jesus is Lord" means to her. After Barry Dennis' talk on Jesus is Lord from Matthew 8&9, we had an opportunity to respond to Jesus' Lordship by placing our written prayers (on post its) in a bowl at the front. These are all little steps, but we trust that God will take them, and prepare us through them for opportunities for His kingdom that are as yet unseen.

Hilton Family Project

Christians Together recorded an interview with Colm about the 'relationship' work as part of the Hilton Family Project; and you can listen to this interview by clicking here. Colm is using the Prepare/Enrich materials but also using material from a variety of other sources. He is encouraging other couples to become involved in bringing their own experiences of 'being married' into play in order to work alongside others in this area of ministry. Colm has had a letter to the Inverness Courier published (13/11/07) as "Editor's Choice". The letter was a response to a recent Courier article about the renaming of Marriage Counselling Highland to become "Relate Highland"

Street Pastors

Over the last two weekends, the Street Pastors had their first taste of being in the city centre late at night and early morning. Ingrid and I were out on different Fridays-Ingrid had the luxury of being driven in a police car!! No cars available last Friday though. Having reported to and warmly welcomed at Burnett Road police HQ, 10 of us, accompanied by two policemen, set out on foot and walked for three hours along the streets, lanes and alleys of Inverness City centre. We were introduced to all the bouncers standing in the doorways of the pubs, clubs and even some takeaways. They had already been informed of our role on the streets and they were all most encouraging. We were invited in to the RAGS DISCO on Academy Street. It was fine! Baron Taylors Street and Lane was something else. On the whole the city was very quiet-some pubs closed at 12.30 because there were so few customers. The police told us that everybody was saving their money and energy for Christmas and New Year, but I rather think that God was breaking us in gently. This first taste was part of our training with the police and the main purpose was to show us the cameras and the no-go areas.
Looking down on the river from the castle I thought " What a beautiful city". Stepping into the backyard of Love2Love, the entrance to which is from the top of the Raining Stairs, I thought, " Yes, Lord, You are here in the midst of it ALL"
"But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him."
Oh, and by the way the owner of Mojos has offered us coffee and sandwiches at any time. We shall definitely take him up on that one. I came home buzzing and couldn't sleep thinking what a wonderful opportunity , albeit a scary challenge, to bring the Kingdom of God to the streets of our city. We shall be starting in earnest in the New Year. Please pray for the Inverness Street Pastors--there are 25 of us--a very mixed bunch, but united in purpose.
Doda

Home Group Material

Background notes for part 4 of our Matthew series available here. Questions and another of those entertaining ice-breakers available here. Leave a comment or send in a post and let us know how you are all getting on working through the material.

Community Engagement?

Reflections on Home Group Material

The west of Inverness home group gathered together on Wednesday to read and study the third installment of Hector's Matthew Bible Study notes. We have found the material quite challenging and the supporting reading very informative. It has been really helpful looking at Matthew as well during Sunday services. I was challenged by the call to treasures in Heaven this week. At this time of year in particular when we are bombarded and tempted to hoard things that 'moths and rust will destroy', I've been challenged by Christ's counter-culture exhortation to store up treasures in Heaven. It would be good to hear how other groups have been challenged over the material.
SMacQ

Light a candle in the darkness

try this. You need five minutes and get to say a prayer. it's very cool
DM

You are the salt of the earth

Fascinating article you can read here from the salt of the earth project on the impact of churches within their community. Many people in society fail to see what a massive impact churches have in terms of contributing to the well being of communities.
DM

What? No morning service?!

Before attending the conference in Sheffield which began on Monday morning, I had intended to go along to St Thomas' morning service to get a flavour of their congregational life. When I checked their website, I immediately encountered a problem - there was no morning service that Sunday! It was Cluster Sunday, a day when the small groups cluster together to engage in a variety of forms of outreach. Instead, I went along to their evening gathering when all the clusters gave testimony to what they had been doing together and what they had seen God doing through them and with them that day. It was such an uplifting service and you can get a flavour of it by listening to the sermon here. I found the experience of that day challenging and deeply searching. To what extent do our services make the connection with our every day lives?Does our tradition over emphasise the significance of Sunday worship at the expense of Monday to Saturday worship? I like what Michael Frost has to say on the matter:

"....worship services ought to be corporate expressions of the overflow of the regular life of a community that churches together at some level every day."

Peru Reflections

Here's a piece worth reading which Barry has pulled together on his reflections of the recent Peru trip. Download it here and find out how the trip impacted Barry and his take on life. Inspired reading.

A Book for Advent

For anyone who is perhaps looking for a spiritual accompaniment to go alongside their advent calendar (chocolates and all!), could I recommend "Beginnings and Endings: And What Happens in Between" by Maggie Dawn. You'll find a recommendation for it here.

Chaplaincy and Listening

During my week in Sheffield, I was staying with Richard and Linda Benn who are good friends of Stuart and Emily MacQuarrie. Richard works as a GP and during my time with him, I was able to visit his surgery. Two things struck me from the visit which I wanted to share on the blog for people to think about.

The first was, that the GP practice has a chaplain. In Scotland, we have chaplains in hospitals and many other places, but I haven't heard of chaplains linked to GP surgeries. In a country where a majority of people believe at the very least in God, a chaplain may be a great asset to a surgery.

The other thing that struck me from the noticeboard in the waiting room,was the LISTENING SERVICE which the surgery offered. Time to actually listen to patients is at a premium for hard pressed GP's. Local churches have trained up people in listening skills to help in this service offered to the community. Many of our congregation have been trained in Listening skills through the Acorn Foundation. Is this a service which we could offer to help a local GP practice with?
DM

WORSHIP in SHEFFIELD

The various musicians who led the times of worship in Sheffield during the visitors week were outstanding. At the close of the week, they made it clear that they were in the business of encouraging and helping in any way they could. For worship leaders who are interested, they have opened up a worship network on the new FACEBOOK site. If you sign up for Facebook, type in newwineleadworshippers and request to join the group.

Church v Footie

simple church!

Nelson Mandela

I'm back! I've had an amazing week in Sheffield, but more about that next week.

I came across the following fascinating quote by Nelson Mandela last night which I offer without comment.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Come on folks! There must be more going on than what I try and blog about. No pieces about Peru yet! I understand the street pastors were out on the streets for the first time last night. It would be great to hear all about it. "Time out", I hear is going really well. It would be good for us to know a little more about what is going on. "let your light shine."

Home Groups - Part 3

This weeks home group commentary notes available here. Study material available here.

Christmas - Celebrating or Surviving? Some Practical Tips

Here's a useful guide to navigating your way through the festive season prepared by our own Colm Black. Colm must have spotted the earliest Christmas tree this year (October 12th Perth! - are you sure this wasn't still up from last year Colm?). Download and read his thoughts here.

Bible Study Downloads

Small group Bible study material now available to download on-line for home groups. Click here for the commentary notes on Matthew 4. Click here for the accompanying questions (and a sneak preview of the ice-breaker!)
Admin

Richard's Installation

1ST PRESBYTERIAN , GREENVILLE, have posted a slideshow on their webpage of Richard's recent installation. You can see it here.
DM

St Thomas' Church, Sheffield

Every once in a while it is a useful exercise to step back from one's own church to reflect from a safe distance on what is going on. A good way to do this is to visit another church whose lifestyle and witness may be able to give some signs and encouragement in relation to possible ways forward. St Thomas' is such a church and you can read some of its fascinating story here. I am travelling down to Sheffield this weekend to share in their twice yearly visitors week. You can read a little of what is in store for me here. If I can, I'll send a few blogs from there. If not, I look forward to telling you all about it when I get back.
DM

'Aye, that's what you think'

I received an email from Jim Gordon this morning - Living Wittily - outlining his ideas for a weekend at Hilton Church to mark the beginning of Advent.

He wants to call it "Aye, that's what you think!" The Counter Intuitive Theology of Isaiah.

I think I'll leave the bit about counter intuitive out of our publicity as it sounds a bit academic, which knowing Jim, it won't be!
Isaiah was living at a time when morale was low amongst the people of God. They were in exile, and any positive word of hope was very likely to be met with the response "Aye, that's what you think!" For so many Christians in Scotland today the situation is very similar. The church is struggling, there are signs of death and decay all around. We are going through a time which feels like exile. Many people find it difficult to hear words of hope. "Aye, that's what you think!"

Over 30th November to 2nd December, we want to celebrate the fact that God's light has invaded the darkness and the darkness will never put it out. There will be a cafe service aimed at all ages from 7 - 8.15pm on Friday night, there will be a teaching time from 10-12 noon on Saturday and then on Sunday, Jim will be sharing at our 3 worship services. We are praying that this will be a superb weekend for us all as we engage with the Prophet Isaiah who brought the people of God a word of hope in the darkness.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9 v2)

Jim has also thought very deeply and written on a whole variety of very important pastoral issues, as his post today on bipolar disorder and his post last week on autism illustrates. I'm sure the weekend will also give us some very significant insights into many dimensions of pastoral care within our fellowship.

DM

Remember - We Are At War

This Sunday is Remembrance day. There will be a 2 minute silence as part of our worship at 11am. GadgetVicar has posted an excellent piece today, which is well worth reflecting on, in the run up to Sunday.

TAIZE

A Taize service is to take place at St Stephen's Church on the 2nd Wednesday of every month (eg 14th Nov, 12th Dec...) from 7.45 - 8.30pm.
DM

life in a day campaign

Hilton Chuch particiapted in Compassions Life in a day campaign in September. As a result of the campaign 1,500 children have been released from poverty through the support of new sponsors. Quite a number of new sponsors came through Hilton Church. In Compassions words,

"Each number represents an individual child loved and valued by God, whose life has been transformed......."

As a family, we sponsor a 5 year old girl called Angie in Lima, Peru. While Shona was visiting Peru as part of the recent workparty, she was able to visit Angie - an experience which was very humbling and underlined the value of compassions work. Hopefully she will write about her visit in a future blog.
DM

Tonight, I am speaking on behalf of the Vine Trust at Trinity Parish Church, Inverness. One of the strengths of the workparties to Peru has been the variety of people who have come from many different backgrounds. On the most recent trip, we had a group of 4 guys from the Free Church of Scotland in Portree. On our next trip, perhaps we'll have some team members from Trinity Church.

STOP PRESS: The fund raising for the most recent workparty in October is now touching £30,000. Amazing - well done and thanks to everyone who worked so hard to raise such a remarkable sum. The money raised is enough to pay for running of one of the street boy centres for one year.

DM

Last Night at Presbytery

It took all my efforts to supress a hallelujah at Presbytery last night. During the ministry committee report, its convenor, Rev Hugh Watt revealed a nugget of information. The Church of Scotland is generally having to up its game in terms of its charitable status as new charity laws have been passed by the Scottish Parliament. It appears that the church has so much money that it may have to give some of it away! I have long felt that it is an absolute scandal and a denial of the gospel that the National Church through its Councils and Boards holds vast sums of money, while so many needs are crying out for funding. It will be intriguing to see how this ends up.
DM

Building Warrant

Today, we received confirmation from our architect that the building warrant for alterations to the former manse has been granted by the local authority. All we need now is the balance of the funding and we can start! Pray on.

The ongoing adventures of ASBO Jesus

Hilton Manse Project

For all those that missed Sunday's update on progress with the manse, take a look here for an update. Use the comments below to leave us your thoughts on what is a fairly ambitious project for us all at Hilton.
SM

Dot

For anyone flying from Inverness airport over the next couple of months, Dot Walker's latest exhibition, beginning there on 9th November would be well worth a visit.
DM

Free North, Inverness

The Free North Church has recently become vacant following the retirement of Ronald MacKay. A number of folk from Hilton Church have taken services there in recent months. On Sunday, I took their evening service. I was impressed by the grandeur of the building and its outstanding acoustics. It was a very enjoyable experience to share with such a warm and welcoming fellowship. It was also good to see Iain Polworth, one of our own members, who now works for the Free North. He is doing an outstanding job, working with families who are living with the challenges of alcohol and drug addiction.

Calling All Workparty Members

If you are interested in viewing photos of the recent workparty to Peru, another of the team members, Bill Roger, has posted a link to his photos here.

We would also love to hear about some of your adventures and your reflections on the trip so send a mail to us and we will post them up.

A post to make you smile!

2 Chronicles 31:7, is the 30638th most popular verse in the Bible out of the 31101 verses that make up the Bible. This is according to TopVerses.com, a site that ranks all of the verses in the Bible in order of the number of times they appear on the internet. Read more about it here.

Baptism

At our 10am service today, Palesa Mary Hammond was baptised. It was a very joyful occasion for her mother, Robyn together with all the congregation. Robyn adopted Palesa while she was working as a teacher in Lesotho, and they returned to Inverness last July. Today we instituted a new tradition as part of the baptism, which we hope will be helpful to children and their parents in the years to come.

While we were visiting friends in the German Lutheran Church last year, one of the children had a birthday. In the centre of the dinner table along with the cake and birthday candles was a large candle with the child's name on it and the date of her baptism. An annual reminder of her baptism and the new birth in Jesus which it points to. We plan to give each child a candle with their name and date of baptism on it, as a way of reminding them of their baptism from year to year.

DM

Peru 2007 photos

To view these amazing photos from Duncan Maclauchlan- all 770 of them!- click on the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25105658@N00/?saved=1

Matthew's Gospel

This morning, I have been preparing a sermon from Matthew 3 for tomorrow morning's services. There is so much in chapter 3, and with the services now lasting only an hour, it is going to be quite a discipline to keep the sermons at a suitable length! Only time for 2 main points!

I am comforted by the fact that Hector Morrison has put together some excellent materials for discussion, as well as highlighting access to the Bible Gateway commentary on the net. The congregation will therefore have easy access to good resources to follow up on the sermon.
DM

Iain Goodwill

"Death lies on him like an untimely frost,
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field."
(Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.)

The funeral took place this afternoon of little Iain Goodwill, aged 17 months, tragically killed in an accident last week. During the service the following words from the hymn When grief is raw were sung.

O Christ, you wept when grief is raw,
And felt for those who mourned their friend;
Come close to where we would not be
And hold us, numbed by this life's end.

Please pray for Mark and Helen, together with their children, Alan and Douglas, in the midst of such a terrible loss.

Hilton Inclusive Youth Project

Youth Inclusive do some outstanding work with young people in the Hilton area. One of their recent iniatives was a photographic project. Pictures were then exhibited at the Inverness museum and art gallery. The event is also on the BBC website.

Advent Celebration

This year we plan to do something special to mark the beginning of Advent. Over the first weekend of Advent, Jim Gordon, Principal of the Scottish Baptist College and arch blogger -Living Wittily - is going to be sharing with us.

On Friday, 30th November we are going to have a Advent Cafe Celebration which will be suitable for all ages. There will be a teaching time on Saturday morning, and Jim will be sharing in all our services on Sunday, 2nd December. More details to follow soon.
DM

Manse Re-Development Project

The manse re-development project, for a variety of reasons, has struggled to get off the ground. In recent days there has been very encouraging progress with the establishment of a new project team under the leadership of Iain Ross. An update will be given to the congregation next Sunday morning, and we will post the update on this blog. We are grateful to God for the way that a team of very able members of our congregation has come together so swiftly with an enthusiasm to see the project suceed. At our Kirk Session meeting last night, we agreed to have a gathering for prayer in the former manse at 7.30pm on Thursday, 6th December. We believe that prayer is a vital element in this project and we hope that as many people as possible will be able to gather that evening.

DM

Musicians welcome!

Over the past few years, we have come to a place where we have 4 different bands playing at the various services. Last Sunday, we launched a new service at 11.30am. It was encouraging to see over 40 people there, and we see exciting possibilities in terms of new people being able to exercise their gifts. We have 4 bands for the first service, but as yet we have no definite commitments from any musicians to lead at the second service. It may be that you are reading this and you would like an opportunity to serve through playing at the second service. If so, we would welcome you with open arms. You can contact me here.
DM

IYFC

IYFC are doing a marvellous job working in very creative ways to reach out with the gospel to young people across the Highlands. You can read about some of their outstanding work here.
DM

A Historic Day?

We live in an age that is uncertain about the future and obsessed with the past. Cynicism prevails too often and sows subtle but deadly seeds into the hearts of any that dare to look orward and dream of what could be. Relationships are not expected to last, new jobs will turn sour and we will be left dispirited and disillusioned....at least you could be forgiven for picking up these signals.

Contrast that with Gods people who look forward to eternity, a people that encourage, support and forgive one another. A people that dare to plan, and believe in a good and better future for all. A people not living on past glories (or failures!) and then you have to wonder whether yesterday was a historic moment for Hilton Church. After all, starting a second morning service is a daring and risky move. Failure would be visible to all and lets face it we all hate failure!

I have to admit that I wondered how it would go. Would anyone turn up for the second service at all? Would the first service still be full and buzzing in its usual manner now that we had moved it back half an hour to a 10am start? One of my Dad's favourite expressions is 'If it ain't broke don't fix it', and I am sure that many of those involved in the decision to change the format at Hilton worried that we might be doing just that, messing up something that was clearly working well, even though we have been planning and praying for growth for some time now. So, what happened.....?

Well, it was a great day of encouragement. The 10am service was packed with all of our usual folk, old and young, some back from holiday, and the team back from Peru. Murray and the gang led us in worship and a multi-national team from Operation Mobilisation told us of there work both at home and overseas. Phew!... one down and two to go...

The second service started a little late but we had 40 plus people present which was just great. Rodney from OM led us through the service and even led us in worship as a one man band (no problem he was given 5 minutes notice after all!). I was on the sound desk with Tom and we had to keep turning up the guitar because folks were drowning it out with their singing. Oh sure we had lots of empty seats but we had left them deliberately to remind us of all those folk that God has planned to come and fill them. So the second service had finally happened... great!

On to Impact Cafe and I am sure we had our biggest attendance yet. We had 10 tables out and must have seen 70+. As usual I had great difficulty getting them to stop talking and start the 'not so formal' proceedings. Our youngsters did their usual immaculate job of serving everyone and OM once again did a great job of informing and encouraging us; in fact it was very fitting that all of the services were led by OM, a Mission organisation about to celebrate Fifty years of International Mission. We learned of work in India where there have been thousands of so called 'untouchables', or Dalits as they are known, renounce Hinduism and embrace Christianity - a faith that would give them value, purpose and hope. We also learned of the work that OM is doing in London amongst the 1 million or more Muslims that now live there. The team from OM gave us a glimpse of what is happening around the world and I found it very encouraging against the background of our own efforts to 'mobilise' and go for it.

There are not many moments in life which one can look upon and say 'that was a Historic day', but I look forward to some time in the future when we all might look back and say ' that was indeed a Historic day for Hilton', a day that meant Hilton could go forward, a day without which many would not have had the chance to hear or know about the goodness, the hope and future certainty that is available for all those that belong to God's people in Christ.

Thanks to everyone for your prayerful and practical support.
Now lets move on and fill those empty seats! Amen.

Rob Barlow

Words of Thankfulness

Christine Grant and family would like to thank everyone in the Hilton Church family for their love, care and for all of the practical expressions of support that we have received over the last months of Hugh's life. Thanks also to all those who attended Hugh's funeral on Tuesday and to
Duncan and Hector for the beautiful service. Hugh would have been delighted by it all! We greatly appreciate the many examples of true care and fellowship that we have experienced over the past weeks and months.

Richard Gibbons

This Sunday, Richard Gibbons is installed as senior pastor of Ist Presbyterian Church, Greenville. You can read his latest prayer letter here.
DM

Hugh Grant

It has been a very sad week for us all at Hilton Church. On Tuesday, the funeral took place of Hugh Grant, a greatly loved and much respected member of our congregation. Hugh was with us for only two years, but in that short time he made a huge impact on us all. Last Sunday morning, one of our elders Doda Dennis gave the following tribute during our morning worship service, which reflects our thoughts at this time.
DM

Peru 2007

The members of the Peru workparty began arriving home last Sunday night, with a sizeable group arriving home in the early hours of Thursday morning. Some members of the group are still exploring various parts of Peru, and one member of the team is heading for Bolivia. From all accounts it was a wonderful trip, and hopefully the various members of the team will write about their expereinces in some future posts.
DM

Social Action

I see my role as being one of stirring the pot and seeing what inspires people. Here's an idea which I think would be well worth exploring at Hilton.
DM

Gibbons Update

Many folk have been asking about how Richard Gibbons is getting on in Greenville. I hadn't heard from him since his departure in August, until last week when he phoned. He was asking warmly after everyone. It sounds like it has been quite a challenge to come to grips with the sheer scale of the church, with 600 attending the contemporary service and another 2000 going to the other services. They have bought a house which they move into in mid August.Ruth and Michael are both settling in well too, although for all of them they still feel the distance in terms of missing family and friends. Hopefully, Richard will find some time when he gets to grips with his 60 plus committees to send us an email with all the news.
DM

Arrivals as well as departures

Great news from the Brown clan! Yesterday, Gillian gave birth to Grace Molly, who weighed in at 10' 15.'' Congratulations to Alan and Gillian and we look forward to seeing you at Hilton in the near future.

WOW!

Less than 48 hours until departure for the Peru Workparty, and a final e-mail has just arrived from Calum Munro, the Vine Trust co-odinator of the trip. He writes,

"Many thanks indeed for all your fundraising, so far the group has raised over £25,000- an absolutely amazing total."

That is a remarkable fund raising effort! Well done team members and thank you to everyone who has given to the project in so many different ways.
DM

LIFE

Shona received a card this morning wishing her well for her trip to Peru, and on the front were the following words:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away."

These words gave me a real boost in terms of thoughts for Sunday morning worship. What are the moments in life which have taken your breath away?
DM

Compassion

On Sunday morning, we will be promoting the work of Compassion, a remarkable child sponsorship scheme which supports some 850,000 children in the developing world. I have just watched the main video clip for the day, and it is very moving and inspiring. A significant number of people in Hilton Church sponsor children and we hope that more will be inspired to do so after Sunday. As a family, we sponsor a girl called Angie who lives in Lima, Peru. Shona hopes to visit her at the end of the trip with the Vine Trust next month.
DM

The National Gathering

Church without Walls has been a significant shaping influence across the Church of Scotland during the past few years. Albert Bogle has posted the following blog which includes information about an exciting event planned for Ingleston Showground in May, 2008. Hopefully, this will be an event that we can key into at Hilton Church.
DM

Sunday Sermon

I've been trying to work on a sermon for tomorrow morning, and the following cartoon made me laugh!

Compassion

Here is a story from todays update from compassion which underlines the positive work they do.
DM

The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus

The Other Side of Air

This looks like a really interesting project. It would be good , if one or two of our more artistic folk were able to get along to the launch.

DM