hogmanay

Another year is nearly at a close. A time for looking back on all that has taken place and a time for looking forward in faith and hope. A short all age service takes place at the usual time of 10am on Sunday morning (2nd January).

I watched an astonishingly moving programme last night featuring the gaelic poet Angus Peter Campbell, (bbc 2 at 7pm). It's not on iplayer yet, but worth watching if you can find it. I would love to invite him to Hilton Church at some point. The image is of the Cape of Good Hope which I was able to visit in October.

Wishing you all a good New Year.

christmas day 2010

happy christmas

A clip from joyeux noel, a film which tells the story of the truce on Christmas Eve 1914. What an amazing story - the child born in the poverty of a stable has the power to stop the guns on the day his birth his celebrated.

passing it forward

Here's a heart warming story of a modern day Good Samaritan to inspire you on Christmas Eve.

winter solstice

A great image from visual theology.

winding down for christmas

I imagine the shops are pretty chaotic in the run up to Christmas after all the problems caused by the snow. Here at Hilton Church things are beginning to wind down. The Lighthouse closes tomorrow. Youth Inclusive and Hilton Youth Project are now on holiday from the office. Tomorrow evening we have our watchnight service at 11.15pm and on Christmas morning there is an all age worship service at 10.30am. On Boxing Day, there will be a short time of worship at 10.30am with no evening service.

christmas assembly

We were delighted to welcome Cauldeen Primary School to the church for their Christmas assembly this morning.

carols & cake

We had a very large gathering for our carol service last night. We began at 6pm in the hope that this might be a better time for families with young children. There were many children present, so I can only assume that we got this right. The hot drinks and all the various cakes were much appreciated. I'm beginning to wonder whether we should perhaps be seriously considering a regular fellowship/worship event -maybe bi-monthly - which centres around sharing food together on Sunday evenings, possibly 5.30-7pm. There is something very special about these gatherings where all ages share, and food is a significant part of it.

nativity 2010

The children all did really well at our nativity service this morning. I especially enjoyed hearing them read the gospel accounts of the events surrounding Jesus' birth.

welcome

We were delighted to welcome Isabella Mhairi Kuzma to Hilton Church for the first time today. She was born last Monday. It's a real privilege to be part of a church where we are frequently welcoming new borns into our midst. In recent weeks, while I was away in South Africa, we also welcomed Samuel Houston and Isaac Noble. All being well, we look forward to welcoming at least two more in the next few weeks.

OUT OF THE BOX

Chris Watt has been very busy with Out of the Box in the lead up to Christmas. You can read all about it on his facebook blog here.

16

This is a landmark day for us with Rory celebrating his 16th birthday. I was being reminded this afternoon of taking Rory along to the watchnight service with us in 1994, our first Christmas in Hilton. Much has changed in that time including, thankfully, the introduction of paternity leave. On the evening of Rory's birth ( a Sunday!), with Shona already at the hospital, I decided to take the evening service before joining her. We didn't have a team ministry in these days.I reckoned that if the labour reached a critical point, I could just leave the congregation to it! Thankfully, Rory thoughtfully delayed his arrival until 11.58pm so I was able to complete the evening service.

Sunday Club Christmas Party 2010

Santa pays a visit to the Sunday Club party this afternoon.

the dance of the trinity

I'll be tuning in to Strictly Come Dancing tonight, and I hope Matt wins! I thought his dance last Saturday night was amazing. Here's a little post about dance which was in my mind as I watched the sheer beauty of the dance.

Parent & Toddler Christmas

The snow has returned, and there is more forecast. Parent & Toddlers Christmas service and party took place despite the weather. It was great to have Chris and Out of the Box sharing in this time.

ethical shopping

BLUE CHRISTMAS

Many congregations are holding Blue Christmas services at this time of year, recognising that for many people this time is especially hard. Here's a very poignant song which was played at one of these services.

INVEST

We hosted part of the one year course at the Lighthouse this year. An intensive long weekend course is being offered in February for anyone who is specifically drawn towards church planting.

digital nativity

Michelle Tumes

I've spent most of today planning towards the various services for Christmas. I often look at Mustard Seeds for inspiration and today I discovered the music of Michelle Tumes.

soul survivor 2011

Already, we are looking towards 2011 and planning........

You might be thinking that it's way to early to be thinking about next summer - we've not even survived Christmas yet!
But here's the thing... if your child(ren) wants to attend Soul Survivor next summer, if you get your ticket before the end of January you'll get it for £81 - a saving of £18! That's not to be sniffed at.
Soul Survivor 2010 proved a really significant event for the teenagers who were there. Everyone in Nitelife's invited (S3-S6). Basically, if you don't know, it's 5 days camping (29th July-2nd August) with about 4,000 fellow teenagers, spent worshipping God, learning from his Word and being changed by his Spirit. Oh, and it's at Stafford Showground and it's great fun. If you think this is something your child would be interested in you can find out more at http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/ss2011/index.html.
And, as I say, you can save £18 per ticket if you book and pay in full before 28th January.

carols for christmas

Well done to all the carol singers from Hilton Church, who successfully raised £300 for the Vine Trust in their hour of singing at the Eastgate Centre on Saturday morning. The songs are also a reminder of what Christmas is all about, as Colin Wilson reports

EVENINGS 2011

I have returned from the Lausanne Capetown Conference with so many different experiences and insights which I would like to share. The best forum for sharing the experience is not an ordinary service, but one which makes it easier for the congregation to share together and discuss their own responses. We also need a venue which has good multi media facilities.To fit in with all that criteria,, we are shifting the evening services for 6 Sundays from 12th January from the Church to the Lighthouse. It will be an interesting experiment to actually change the venue of the service.

ALL AGE CAROL SERVICE

We are continually in a process of experimentation, (like the image above!) trying in a variety of different ways to encourage a deeper and fuller engagement with all the many and varied themes of advent. This Sunday night, we are holding an informal carol service from 6-7 pm. We hope that this will be an opportunity for many people to come together to sing the well known Christmas carols. We will be serving hot drinks as folk arrive, and we are inviting the congregation to bring along mince pies/cakes to share as part of the experience. We are starting slightly earlier than normal, (6pm)in the hope that it might be as accessable as possible for a wide age range.

concert for joy

Music for Joy is always an opportunity for expanding my musical range and this year was no exception. Today I've been listening to Secret Garden. Last night, Elaine Kirkham , Catherine O'Rourke and Aileen Thomson played a couple of their tunes including Hymn to Hope. I've also been dipping into some of Jeremy's poetry last night which included Brendan Kennelly, Simon Armitage, Wendy Cope and Steve Turner. The final song at the concert sung by Julie was quite awesome - TIME TO SAY GOODBYE.

3rd Sunday in Advent

A special day for the Cload family today with Hazel's baptism. We also had a wonderful time of worship led by David Whillis. The sermon will be on line within the next 24 hours, and is well worth having a listen to.

IAIN WHITE

Hi,
Sorry to trouble you in the midst of December & Advent and all (so why have you troubled us? you ask). Just to give forewarning that Ian White (known to many throughout the Highlands - music appreciated throughout the world) an old university friend of mine - is about to start a Silver Jubilee Tour (25 years of writing and performing Christian music). He is coming to Drumnadrochit on Friday 11th February to do a concert in our Church (Urquhart & Glenmoriston Church IV63 6UG) at 7.30pm. I'm guessing loads of people will want to know - he is not planning to come to Eden Court this time - or anywhere else in Inverness. Concert is free (donations) - check out littlemistymusic.com
Thanks for your help at a busy time
Hugh Watt

music for joy

Another wonderful concert tonight - joy is an apt title for the evening. I can't read a musical note, but for over 2 hours I was entranced by every performance. The only pity is that it is a whole year until the next one! Perhaps we can encourage Julie and Jeremy to start having one for spring/summer as well.

advent activities

It's only Saturday afternoon, and already there has been a variety of different events and activities this weekend. Thank's to Dougie and Mhairi Robinson for donating the Christmas tree from their garden, and to Brian Fraser who transported it to the church. Shona decorated it last night and Jonathan "reached for the stars" and just managed to get the star on the top of the tree. This morning, a choir from the church, led by Audrey Whyte ( who has just arrived back from Peru) sang for an hour, and hopefully raised some funds for the Vine Trust. Last night, Ceildh for a Cause filled the large hall with a large number of young people. Tonight, at 7.30pm it's Music For Joy.

I WAS A STRANGER

Here is a truly remarkable picture from Dot Walker.

ALIVE FESTIVAL

Something else I also learnt about last night was the ALIVE FESTIVAL scheduled for June 2011. Alive Ministry have been organising occasional concerts over the past couple of years with worship leaders like Noel Richards. Their latest venture is of a completely different order, and the programme reads like a "whose who" of speakers and worship leaders who you would want to go and see. Alive Ministry is one more exciting sign of Christians across the Inverness area having a vision beyond their own congregation. This Festival will be a great gift and resource to the Church across the Highlands and I hope that it has the success and support it deserves.

St Columba NCD

Last night I was at the leadership team meeting (Commission) for St Columba NCD. I've missed the last couple of meetings because of study leave, but in the interim, there has been a significant amount happening. An alpha course has been running each Sunday which has been well attended, there is a very dynamic prayer gathering happening each week, and the closing date for the Ministers post is 31st January 2011. There is a very committed and gifted core group of leaders within this congregation, and I'm sure that whatever happens in 2011, the new congregation are in for an exciting journey ahead.

LIGHTHOUSE

On Wednesday evening, we had one of our regular Lighthouse management team meetings The general mood music for the Lighthouse is one of steady and encouraging progress. The Lighthouse cafe remains busy during the day. The evenings so far haven't taken off as we would have hoped, and we still have plenty of capacity in relation to room use. Our discussions highlighted the need for someone within our team who has marketing skills. We really need someone who has a little time each week to raise awareness across the area of the services which the Lighthouse has to offer. At the moment, I'm praying and thinking about who may be able to bring that skill to our team! Could it be you?

GREENBELT

Over lunch today, conversations turned to the amazing and wonderful experience that is Greenbelt. I've been for the last 2 years, and have enjoyed it so much. Camping for a weekend on the race course at Cheltenham seems a million miles away as we shiver up here in Inverness at the moment. I heard some great talks this year, including this one from Mike Yaconelli.

CAPETOWN 2010

Capetown is set in a beautiful location with Table Mountain towering above it. I'm a keen hillwalker, so one of my hopes was to get to the summit of Table Mountain on foot. Jamie Grant was also very enthusiastic to do the climb, so we took a taxi from the Convention Centre to the starting point for the walk. Two hours later we reached the summit, but sadly the weather had closed in, and we had no view. The views on the way up, however, were excellent ( as you can see) and it was much more rewarding to climb than to take the cable car.

sacred space

Too busy to think?
Too busy to pray?
No room for sacred space in your life?
We want to help.

Saturday January 22nd - 7am to 10pm The Lighthouse.
Come and experience a conversation with God.
P.S. you can come for a minute or the whole day or anywhere in between. You can even join us from home. All are welcome
Speak to Stuart MacQ. for more info.

THE BIG SILENCE

Now that "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here" is over (mercifully!), could I recommend a much more life changing reality TV programme. I watched the final episode of THE BIG SILENCE, and the impact of silence on each of the participants was actually quite remarkable.

John the Baptist is a major focus of the lectionary readings in this week of advent. He spent a lot of time in silent places out in the desert. I'm inclined to think that we need to look for places of silence, not only in the desert, but in the midst of our frantic lives. If the lives of the participants of the The Big Silence are anything to go by, the impact will be very positive.

trust me on this!

The arguments continue over higher education at Westminster. Labour introduced tution fees, and now the Con Dems want to triple them. It is undoubtedly the case, whatever spin politicians want to put on it, that these costs will be a major disincentive to students from poorer families - that's why I'm writing about it here. Despite all the policies aimed at helping the poorest in our society, the gap between rich and poor has never been wider. But beyond that, this whole controversy has raised the question of trust within politics. The Lib Dems were elected on a pledge to oppose tuition fees. Now their leaders are voting in favour of them! This article by Jim Gordon sums up the sad state of affairs we have reached in our public life.

LAUSANNE CAPETOWN 2010

I had 12 very memorable days in Capetown in October. My time there was centred around attending the Lausanne Conference, a gathering of 4000 Christian leaders from nearly 200 countries. I have returned to Hilton Church with plenty of fresh inspiration, and I intend to use a series of Sunday evenings in early 2011, to share more fully about the key themes of the Conference. More information about this will follow in due course. Over the next few days I'll try and give you a flavour of CT 2010 through some of my pictures.

homegroups

I was delighted to be invited along this morning to share in the advent celebrations at Brian and Marea's homegroup. This group has met fortnightly for many years, and is a great source of encouragement and blessing for all those involved. The anual advent celebration is always a high point in the year. You can't beat a good warm glass of muld wine and I can't speak highly enough of Marea's meringues!

Fear for Pakistan's death row Christian woman

There is growing concern over the fate of a Christian woman on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy. The BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Punjab Province.

VOLUNTEERS

I asked for help from the elders yesterday setting up the communion service,and received an excellent response in terms of several turning up at 9am. I then asked for help with picking up a christmas tree for the church during this coming week, and have been inundated with verbal and email offers of help. Sometimes it feels like a bit of an uphill challenge finding people to help in various aspects of the congregations life, but these two situations have been exceptionally heartening. Thank you to everyone who offered to help, and thank you to so many people who do so much in a whole variety of different ways within the congregation.

congratulations

christians in sport

Hi friends in Inverness

Hope you are all well and coping with the big freeze!

Just wanted to remind you of three important dates in the New Year to get in your diary.

1. Next Inverness PPS group is on Wednesday 19th January – I’m hoping to be there so would love to see you and your friends. Please make a big effort to be there. We are in danger of having to stop the Inverness group due to lack of numbers which would be very sad

2. ‘Champions event’ is on Saturday 29th January in the Aquadome’s sports centre from 10am-12.30pm. This is an outreach event - a multi-sport tournament which gives you the chance to invite friends along, compete against other teams, and hear a half-time gospel talk. My colleague Wellsy and some of our gap year students will be helping run the event which is in conjunction with ‘Roots’. It will be a great morning and there are already 7 teams booked in. I have reserved a team for you and your friends so first come-first served – get back to me asap to book a place – it costs NOTHING! Teams must consist of between 5-7 players and must include at least 2 juniors (1st-2nd yrs) and 2 seniors (3rd-6th yrs). See flier and booking form attached.

3. For those in the 4th-6th year age bracket I would really encourage you to come to our Sports Plus Xtra weekend from 11th-13th February. This is being held at the BB headquarters in Larbert (nr Falkirk). Lots of sport, banter, friendship and a great opportunity to get God’s word open together and learn what it has to say to us today. Again I have attached the booking form.

Any questions on any of the above do get back to me and remember to book early for Champions.

Go well friends,
Kirsten

A WHITE WEDDING

It's certainly going to be a white wedding for Amy and Alex who get married tomorrow at 1.30pm in Ardross Church. It has been exceptionally cold this week, so there is plenty of snow around, but hopefully there won't be any more before tomorrow. The picture is of the band rehearsing for the wedding this afternoon.