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: