Wedding

Congratulations to Jenna Cumming and William Morrison married at the RNI Chapel this afternoon.

ONE WEEK TO GO!

The General Election takes place in one weeks time. If you want an insight into the local candidates, here's a link to help you. In relation to our PM's recent unguarded statements , here's a piece to give the matter a bit of perspective!

Moderator visits Lighthouse

The visit to the Lighthouse by the Moderator William Hewitt went very smoothly. He has a very relaxed manner and spent about 45 minutes meeting and chatting with a variety of people in the Centre. It can't be a very easy role having to meet with numerous people day after day (ask Gordon Brown!) but this moderator is certainly able to perform this job well.

LIGHTHOUSE GARDEN PROJECT

The Lighthouse is taking shape step by step. One of the next major steps is to do something significant with the garden area. We're delighted that Emma Watson has agreed to become the co-ordinator for this Project. Do you have ideas, plants , green fingers, time ( all or any!). We have a blank canvas! A planning meeting, to which everyone who is interested in being involved is invited to, will take place in the Lighthouse on Thursday 13th May at 7.30pm. If you would like any further information speak to Duncan or contact Emma at

emmawatson@doctors.net.uk

Minister cut

On a week when the Moderator of the Church of Scotland is in Inverness and on a day when he is visiting the Lighthouse, here is an interesting report outlining the shape of the future. It is proposed to cut the number of ministers by 20% in the next 4 years. This proposal is primarily driven by decline - not enough members to pay the salaries - but I believe it's impact may well be very positive, in that it should effectively vest more responsibility on the people within the church rather than one "professional". Personally, I believe paid staff/ministers have a vital role to play within the life of any missional church, but a key focus in that role should be releasing and engaging the gifts of all the people. We are facing challenging times ahead, but I welcome the challenge and think that it may well lead to a much more purposeful and engaged Church of Scotland.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

We are facing some major expenditure issues in relation to our buildings, which are now over 50 years old. Tonight at our Board meeting, we were considering our medium and long term vision for our buildings. Should we persevere with a scenario where the church isn't big enough for the number of people who attend every Sunday morning or should we look at increasing the capacity? Do we need a major overhaul of our large hall which is pretty drab and doesn't really provide the right kind of enviroment for anything other than a game of badminton? Over a meal and coffee, we talked around these issues for a couple of hours, and it was very helpful to listen to all the various points of view. There appears to be a strong consensus that it's important to reflect together on our vision for the buildings over the next few months. It will be discussed again next month. In the mean time, our chairman Mike Robertson will be consulting with and recruiting a number of folk within the congregation with particular skills and insights to contribute to the discussions.

CIVIC RECEPTION

I attended a civic reception last night in the Town House for the Moderator who is currently visiting Inverness. The Town House is a remarkable building and well worth a visit if you have never been in. Perhaps people might accuse me of being a fundamentalist, but one of the things which struck me last night was that in this gathering to honour the visit of a church leader and the contribution of the Church to the local community, I don't recall in any of the speeches one informal mention of the person of Jesus/Christ! It's striking how often He is marginalised, when He is ultimately the reason we are here in the first place.

RAYMOND MANSON

A service of thanksgiving for the life of Raymond Manson is to take place in Hilton Church on Friday at 7pm. The funeral will take place at 12 noon on Saturday in Mallaig. We continue to hold Marion and the family in our prayers at this difficult time.

MSM AVIEMORE

The MSM weekend in Aviemore went really well. Thank you to all who prayed for us.

PHOTOGRAPHY

If you enjoy looking at outstanding photography, here's a treat for you. Shona and I spent 2 months in 1992, travelling around the same area, so it brings back a lot of memories. All my pictures from a year of travelling are on slides, so one day I hope to be organised enough to transfer them onto my pc.

MODERATOR VISITS LIGHTHOUSE

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is going to pay a visit to the Lighthouse around 10.45 am next Thursday morning. If you're free and would like to call in to meet and welcome him, it would be great to see you.

THE TAILOR OF INVERNESS

I've just noticed that THE TAILOR OF INVERNESS is coming to Nairn in June, as part of their Books and Arts Festival.If you didn't see this remarkable production when it came to Inverness, I would strongly recommend getting a ticket.

celebrity

‘Has there ever been a time in history when so much time, energy, and money has been devoted to following the exploits of people we have never met, are never likely to, and who don’t know we exist?’ Ellis Cashmore

Sieger Koder

Thanks to Morag for the gift of this picture from the German artist, Sieger Koder. An image of the Father which reminds us " of the unstinting generosity of God, whose love casts reason, convention and dignity aside!"

EAST ON LINE!

It's striking to note how few churches locally have well developed communication via the net with websites and blogs etc.. It's good to see the East Church has a new website and for anyone who is interested there is a job being advertised.

Inverness East Church is looking for a secretary to support the Minister. It is anticipated that this will be a full time job, with a salary not less than £12,000, although we are willing to negotiate on the hours and the salary depending on qualifications and experience. For example, we would consider offering a 9.15am - 3pm post, to help someone with children at school, if that person was sufficiently able and experienced to do the work within those hours. Applications with full CV should be sent to The Rev Professor A.T.B. McGowan at 2 Victoria Drive, Inverness, IV2 3QD by 30th April or by email to: ATBMcGowan@gmail.com

fresh expressions

While we are still on the theme of fresh expressions, Andrew Jones, a prominent Christian blogger recently did a post on "10 types of emerging church that will no longer upset your grandfather!" Yet again this illustrates the sheer diversity of ways in which church can develop. It also illustrates that in many ways, fresh expressions are simply that - fresh! They're not new expressions insofar as many of these kinds of initiatives have happened before. The only difference is perhaps we recognise the fact that they have the potential to develop into full expressions of Church.

the heart of church

What is at the heart of church? The simple answer is Jesus. The question is not what is at the heart of church, but who?Church is what goes on when people meet Jesus, meet each other and meet Jesus in each other. Church happens when people gather regularly round Jesus.

This reality of Jesus at the centre leaves a lot of space for diversity!

FILLING THE GAPS

I've just remembered something from yesterdays worship service in the morning. I was sitting at the far end of the church and was able to watch the consternation of a sizeable number of folk who arrived for the service late, as they looked around for a seat in a room which was packed. There were a few seats left, but they were very hard to spot, because they were mostly in the middle of rows of seats! I think we'll have to be a bit more proactive in helping folk to find seats, and maybe also in getting people to fill the spaces, leaving room for others who arrive late.

Fresh expressions

Today I am preparing a presentation on fresh expressions of worship to share at an MSM event in Aviemore next weekend. There is so much material to draw from, so I am struggling to contain it to the 90 minutes allocated for the session. One of the websites linked to MSM is called SHARE and it has some excellent material on fresh expressions. You may be wondering, what a fresh expression of church or worship is? You can find some helpful pointers here! At Hilton Church, we are especially interested in exploring fresh expressions of church in the context of a cafe. Share has so many creative suggestions like come and go.

archeological dig

Over the past few weeks, I have been under the impression that Asda must be doing some preparatory work on the site they have purchased for a new store in Inverness. Various digging activities have been taking place, despite the fact that there are still a number of planning issues which require to be resolved before the development begins. I have just discovered that in actual fact an archeological dig is taking place before the site is covered irrevocably by tons of concrete.The area was apparently host to a Pictish settlement.

Lighthouse day

The monthly elders prayer time took place this morning at the Lighthouse. Brian Gunn and I were there at 7.30am preparing bacon rolls. It's good to get together regularly as a leadership to pray. We were a bit thin on the ground today as many of the elders are away , but the time spent together was really good. With Michelle on holiday, Brian and I remained on, working at the cafe until 3.30pm. Thankfully Shona came in to head up the team for the busy lunch hour period which was especially hectic today, and we were brilliantly supported by Eilidh macritchie and Debbie Grant, along with Stuart Wallace. Holiday times are quite difficult to cover when full-time staff are also off, but I think many of us are now much more knowledgable about how the Lighthouse works after the last 2 weeks. Having said that, I will be really glad to see Michelle back on Tuesday morning!

Christians in Politics

After last nights debate, here's another pitch from the 3 leaders from Christians in Politics.

GRADUATION

Congratulations to Ingrid Hutchison and Iwona Grant who are graduating today in Edinburgh after 3 years of counselling training through Crossreach. The services of trained counsellors are frequently sought, and we are delighted that Ingrid and Iwona are able to offer this service through the Lighthouse.

CLIMATE QUESTIONS

Residents throughout the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency are being encouraged to challenge their prospective MP on environmental matters ahead of the General Election. All 5 candidates will be attending the Environmental Question Time, to be held on Monday 3rd May in Hilton Church. The event begins at 7.30pm, with each candidate given 3 minutes to set out their environmental agenda.

The audience will then get their chance to raise questions on a range of environmental matters, which can concentrate on local issues or include topics of national concern. Chaired by Peter Nimo, a local minister, this event will give local residents a chance to find out how well informed the candidates are, and whether they regard the environment as an important campaign topic.

Anne Thomas, co-ordinator of the local Friends of the Earth Scotland group, said “In previous elections the environment got very little mention and yet it is the most important thing for our civilisation. We are living at a crucial time in history. If we make the wrong decisions now we may be condemning our children to a very unstable world with risks of millions of people dying. On the other hand if politicians make the right decisions we have a chance of a much brighter future“.
With recent media attention on climate change following the talks in Copenhagen during December 2009, it is expected that this topic will feature in discussion. However, there are many other environmental issues which have been hitting the local headlines in recent years, such as renewable energy, public transport services and wildlife crime.

TED

Hilton Community Centre

While much of the focus in this election campaign is centred around the huge budget cuts which are going to follow which ever party wins, the reality of major cuts is already facing Councils up and down the land. Highland Council have to find tens of millions of pounds in savings and one of the possible casualties is Hilton Community Centre. The Centre provides excellent facilities for all ages across the community, and it would be a devastating blow, were it to close. Copies of the petition against possible closure are available in the church and the Lighthouse. I will be encouraging everyone of sign it on Sunday.

floor

I keep forgetting to mention what a difference the recent work on the floor has made to the whole feel of the sanctuary. It has lifted the whole room. Thanks to the team for such an excellent job

.

NOEL DUE VISIT

Noel Due is visiting Scotland in May, and is speaking at various locations across the Highlands. You can find out more details here.

MATT IN ZIMBABWE

Matt has now departed for Zimbabwe. You can follow his adventures here.

FRESH EXPRESSIONS

Over the last few months, I have been helping to lead a Mission Shaped Ministry Course in Inverness. Tomorrow, I am leading an introductory session on MSM at Highland Theological College and the weekend after next I'm leading a session on worship within a Fresh Expression of Church at the MSM retreat in Aviemore. I have been doing quite a bit of research on some of the many fresh expressions that are springing up all over the UK, and this one called tubestation looks really cool! An expression of christian community aimed at the surfing community in Cornwall. I think one of the main things I want to do ever the next year is to try and stimulate the imaginations of people within my congregation to think outside the box. To try and imagine how they can impact their context and culture for Christ. I find it so exciting to see the way that this is happening all across the UK and hope that we'll see plenty of it in the Highlands in the coming years.

NOEL RICHARDS CONCERT

I've just received details of a Noel Richards concert to take place at Culduthel Christian Centre on Saturday 29th May at 7.30pm. Many of you will be familiar with the name Noel Richards, for those who are not you may well recognise some of his songs "To be in your presence"; "All Heaven declares" "You laid aside Your Majesty" and lots more.More details available here.

ASSISTED SUICIDE

I was present tonight at an excellent session on assisted suicide led by Stephen Hutchison and Jamie Grant. I was especially struck by the following quote from Lord Carlile:

"Laws aren't like precision-guided missiles. You can't draft them in the comfort of a Westminster chamber and then just 'fire and forget'. Once they are on the statute book they have a habit of causing collateral damage well beyond the intended target area. With something as fundamental — and as crucially important as the safety of us all — as the law on murder, you need to be quite sure that the law is defective and needs fixing, and that the provisions you are making are robust enough to stand up to the rough and tumble of the real world. In real life we have to design laws which protect the greatest number of people, and especially the vulnerable members of society. And that is what the law as it stands does."

I find it striking that around two thirds of the public are in favour of assisted suicide while two thirds of the medical profession polled are against. It would seem that the very real prospect of being involved in such a process is very problematic for the majority of doctors. For more information on this very emotive issue, you can go to Care not Killing here.

majestic

I had to travel down to Glasgow over the weekend, and for a change I decided to go via Fort William rather than the usual A9. What an amazingly beautiful country we live in. The views of the mountains bathed in sunshine were quite spectacular. I'll hopefully get out into the mountains again in the very near future.

Saturday team

Before the wedding on Saturday, I dropped into the Lighthouse and was delighted and amazed to see such a big team helping out. I'm working there next Saturday, so hopefully there will be plenty support then too!!

FIRST SERVICE

The first service for the new St Columba charge took place at 4pm in Holm Primary School last Sunday afternoon. After months of praying and planning it's great to see the reality beginning to take shape. We pray for Murray McCheyne, who is secretary of this new congregation together with others from Hilton Church committing themselves to this new church.

SATURDAY CELEBRATIONS

What a joyful time we had celebrating Rosie and Jim's marriage on Saturday. The joy was increased by the news that Ross County had humbled the mighty Glasgow Celtic!

Jim and Rosie's Wedding

What a real pleasure, if a tiny bit stressful with all that glaring sun, it was to photograph Jim and Rosie's wedding on Saturday. It was such a great day.

Here are just a few of the many hundreds of photos I took. I'm sure the happy couple will let you see the rest if you ask them.

Chris Watt. (yes, I do a little photography on the side, http://www.cwphotography.org/ )

Technology

I spent a huge amount of time this week preparing for Sunday am. Powerpoints,video clips and music take an inordinate amount of time to co-ordinate. You can only imagine my frustration this morning when the music I had downloaded from amazon and then burned onto a cd suddenly got stuck on the cd player, just as the powerpoint and music was reaching its climax point! Such are the frustrations of life. I think I know what the problem may have been, so hopefully the next time will go smoother.

Greenbelt 2010

The programme for Greenbelt 2010 has just been announced. One of the keynote speakers last year was Rob Bell. Here's one of his talks which is being offered free on the greenbelt website.

TENEBRAE SERVICE

The tenebrae service on Friday evening led by Jonny and some of our youth was quite exceptional. The service was significantly shorter than the one described here, but in many respects, less was more, when so many of the congregation were children. On a personal level, the part of the service which affected me most was the repeated hammering of nails into the cross during our prayers of confession. It brought home to me, the absolute agony of the Cross, in a way which nothing else has done before.

EASTER SUNDAY

Easter Sunday at Dores beach was special with Robbie, Tracey and Aaron Ross being baptised. The weather wasn't cold and the rain only began to drizzle near the end of our time. At our 10am service, Gemma and Finlay MacRae were baptised. What a joyful day. Happy Easter!