Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and almost all the preparations for Christmas are done. We are going to have a candlelit watchnight service at 11.15am. I'll need to go down to the church in the late afternoon to sort out the lighting for the band, so there is enough light for reading music! It's already Christmas day in New Zealand, so heard from Eilidh who is later going to enjoy a bbq and a day outside on the beach! I'm now taking a break from blogging until the beginning of 2012. This blog is written mainly to keep folk linked to Hilton Church in the loop as to what is happening and what we are doing. It remains for me simply to thank you for your company on the journey through 2011. I am very privileged to share in the life of such a vibrant church with so many good people. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.Wishing you a joy filled Christmas and a 2012 full of peace and grace.

Duncan.

volunteer Friday

After a very slow start at the Lighthouse, the cafe took off and was very busy up until 3pm. The cafe now closes until Monday 9th January. Next year, we may well look at opening over the Christmas holidays with a mix of staff and volunteers.

Christmas Services

WATCHNIGHT SERVICE @ 11.15PM ON 24TH December.

CHRISTMAS DAY ALL AGE WORSHIP @ 10.30AM

Bon Voyage

Wendy Budge, our most recent Lighthouse manager returns to New Zealand on Monday. She has been such a blessing to us all over the 6 months she has been with us, and we wish her well as she returns home with her family. The picture was taken of Sarah and Wendy at the recent staff and volunteers Christmas party. We hope to confirm the appointment of a new manager in January.

Volunteer Friday

This Friday will be a Friday with a difference at the Lighthouse! Annie will have a band of faithful volunteers - Eilidh, Shona, Brian, Barry, Doda and myself - to help her. Why not come along and see us all in action!

photos of 2011

Here a fantatsic photo of Lorne from "Are you in the picture?" A few more emails arrived yesterday with photos of 2011. I would love to have some of yours too, if you haven't sent me any yet. duncan@hiltonchurch.org.uk

photos for 2011

The photos of 2011 started coming in today. If you have a moment, please have a look and email me some of your favourites. duncan@hiltonchurch.org.uk

2011 photos

I want take a look back at 2011 at the service on 1st January. I have taken lots of pictures during the year of many different events and experiences linked to Hilton Church. If you would like your memories reflected in the presentation, I would love it if you could email me some of your pictures. duncan@hiltonchurch.org.uk

carol singing

A group of around 20 went out carol singing around the local area tonight. It was good to get out of the building and onto the streets, but it was also good to have some mulled wine and mince pies to warm up with afterwards. I'm especially struck these days by the fact that there are such diverse tastes within any one congregation in relation to what people are drawn towards and want to do. As far as I could make out, none of the folk who turned up tonight came to any of the recent Storylines evenings or would regularly be at an ordinary evening service, but they were keen to get out onto the streets and do something public to celebrate advent. I received this note from Peter Neilson last night, which I thought about when I saw the turn out tonight.

‘Sacred Pathways’
Find your spiritual temperament.

If our spiritual need is not being met in our congregation, we grow dull and disillusioned and may even move on to another church – or none – thinking that we no longer believe. More people leave church because of the method of their worship than because of their theology.

Each of us has been created to find God and to worship in different ways, but so often we expect everyone to be just like us. Based on two books, "What's Your God Language?" by Myra Perrine, and "Sacred Pathways" by Gary Thomas, this retreat will be a day to explore how God has uniquely wired each of us to pay attention to Him, to worship Him, and to come alongside others.

Our goal for the day is that it will expand our view of ourselves, of others, and of God, and will invite us to appreciate the ways that God has been calling to us.

So what is your spiritual temperament?

The day will be facilitated by Dorothy and Peter Neilson
A booking form to be filled in and returned to Ann at annvt@btinternet.com

Saturday 11th February 2012
10am – 4pm.
Cost £40.

I'm wondering whether it's largely a matter of spiritual temperament as to why there is such a striking difference between who wants to go out onto the streets to carol sing and who wants to go to a more indepth bible study group. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Maybe folk just didn't fancy the cold! Anyway, it's inspired me to read further and I'm going to order copies of the books in the advert above. Watch this space.

christmas all age worship

I'm just back from the all age service this morning which was absolutely outstanding. Jonathon led it, and there were fantastic contributions from OUT OF THE BOX and the Sunday club (great singing!) with Nitelife sharing the readings and some more reflective spaces. . It was great to see so many different people involved in the service. What especially struck me today was the relative simplicity and excellence of everything that was shared. It felt like a morning when we were able to celebrate the heart of the Christmas message - Jesus born to save the world! Thank you to everyone who made the morning so special.

news from kiwi land

Eilidh isn't the most prolific blogger, but it sounds like she is having a good time in New Zealand.

Some of the things I have learnt in New Zealand:

You cannot call jandels flipflop, they are jandels

The weather is just like Inverness

I can navigate myself around a new city without getting too lost

Its easy to make friends when you have a Scottish accent

All New Zealands love the Scottish

Sport is very important and is better organised than in the UK

It snowed in July and everyone was very excited

Most public secondary schools are single sex

The rats tail hairstyle and the mullet is very much in with boys here

Everyone has a Scottish relation

I have made lots of friends that I know I will keep even when I leave NZ

New Zealand like Scotland is a very Patriotic country

I love New Zealand

x

christmas 1967

This is a short extract from Dr Martin Luther King's last Christmas Eve sermon:

"I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many white citizens' councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws and abide by the unjust system, because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country, and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, and we'll still love you. But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory."

roses are red

I used this song in the Service last Sunday morning. It's a song which challenges us to reflect on the way our lead can shape the lives of others, especially those setting out on the journey.

TED TALK

During Advent we are reminded of the pivotal role which God gives to women at critical times in history. Naomi Klein has an important message for the world today.

fischlock update

This is the time of year when emails and letters arrive from afar with news of happenings over the past 12 months. Hilton (and Inverness in general) is a church that many people have passed through en route to some where else. It's great to receive news of how people have grown and developed in their faith, and that's certainly the case with Keri, who with his wife Angie are serving with YWAM near Denver. Here's their Christmas letter.

60 plus

Our pastoral care team have been running a monthly afternoon tea for the 60 plus age range. This event has drawn in a lot of people for a blether and some company. Many of those who come have been living in the Hilton area for 50 plus years. We have plenty capacity for more folk to come to these gatherings in 2012, so we will need to work out ways in which we can make folk more aware of this opportunity for friendship and company.

plain song

ht to Sally

carol singing

At the moment, the rain is pouring outside and the wind is howling! I'm praying that by 6pm on Sunday it will be a calm star lit night and you'll be able to join us on a carol singing tour of Hilton. Let's take the joy of Christmas out onto the streets! I will try and organise some warming beverages in the Lighthouse for afters!

mission shaped evangelism

I have just finished reading MISSION SHAPED EVANGELISM by Steve Hollinghurst. I wish I had read it 2 years ago when it was first published. It's a book I would strongly recommend to anyone involved in church leadership. Personally I think churches in general are experiencing a missional crisis in the West today insofar as we seem largely incapable of impacting with our good news beyond the boundaries of the church and its culture. If you were to have a show of hands in any average church today, there would be practically no one present who hasn't had some kind of church background. "The vast majority of those our curent evangelism reaches come from the dwindling minority who have church backgrounds."We appear to be fishing in an ever decreasing pool. This reality is one which really troubles me, and so I'm glad to have read a book that looks at this very issue and asks how we might look at our situation today in Scotland as if we were cross cultural missionaries.

Hollinghurst doesn't offer any quick fixes. Indeed he writes, "We will need long term projects in the new foreign mission fields of the once Christian nations of the West."

The strength of the book lies in the fact that it is the fruit of a life rooted in experience as an evangelist in a post Christian culture. For any Christian leader who is becoming increasingly disillusioned today by the churches seeming irrelevance, this is a must read. The review on Amazon sums it up well:

This book is essential reading for all church leaders who have a passion to engage with the local community they serve. As the iceberg of Christendom melts, many still see the task of evangelism as catching the drips and freezing them back on to the iceberg! Steve Hollinghurst addresses the need for a new approach, rooted in the truth of the gospel and suited to the post modern culture that is emerging around us. Earthed in practical experience and careful research, this book encourages churches to 'wake up to the cultural changes around us' and points the way to an programme of evangelism which reflects the radical inclusivity of the kingdom. A must read!

music for joy

The 5th anual Christmas concert took place last Saturday evening in the Church. This musical evening organised by Julie and Jeremy Keen is an advent highlight for me. The numbers attending this year were slighly down on last year, which was probably due to the poor weather and the number of people who were ill. The quality of the concert is such that it's a pity that the building isn't absolutely packed out! Perhaps we need to get a little film of the event, so we can show a trailer of it at Church to encourage more folk to come along.

cloth for the cradle

What are you hoping and waiting for: for yourself? for your church? for the community in which you live? for the world?

We invited the congregation to reflect on these questions over 2 weeks and to write/draw their responses on a piece of cloth. It would probably have worked better if we had all done the exercise together rather than have a gap of 2 weeks, but it's difficult to do arty things with such a large number. I loved the creativity of some of the responses, especially the one where the cloth is wrapped around a candle.

nobel peace prize

Tomorrow morning I am preaching from the OT lectionary reading - Isaiah 61. During the sermon I am going to tell the story of this remarkable woman who today was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I have also ordered the film about her campaign called PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL, and hope to show it soon.

storms

Scotland is being hit by the most almighty storm today. The wind was so strong that it was hard to keep the car straight on the road home this afternoon.

loft

Thank's to the team who installed additional insulation into the roof space above the church office. Hopefully it will lead to a warmer office and cheaper heating bills over the coming years.

strings

SNOW

The roads and pavements haven't been gritted following the overnight snow, and as a consequence are very dangerous. A recipe for broken bones for anyone who falls.

paradise

Paradise - Chelsey's Story from Central Online on Vimeo.

Barry Dennis is currently running a training course in the Lghthouse which we hope will lead to our community and Church being a place and a people where those facing various addictions can find love and compassion, and hopefully release. Here's a video which Steve Aisthorpe has just sent me which I hope will inspire and encourage

STRINGS @ HILTON

Last month, we had an all age time together at Hilton focused around bubbles with Philip Noble. This Sunday night at 5pm, it's an hour with string. It's not quite going to be all age since apparently it's a little difficult for under 7's, but I'm sure there will be some fun for them too in the midst.

ARE YOU IN THE PICTURE?

This week the Lighthouse has been offering free family/individual photographs taken in front of a Bethlehem tableau. Costumes have been provided and Chris Watt has been taking the photos.

Singing God's song

Come to the Launch of Singing God’s Song

70 of John Dempster’s Christian Viewpoint columns
from the Highland News, North Star and Lochaber News

@CLC Bookshop
23 Castle Street, Inverness
Monday 12th December 3pm All welcome!

Published on 12th December by the Merkinch-based
charity For the Right Reasons which supports people who are addressing and overcoming addiction problems.
All profits from the book will go to support the work of For the Right Reasons
Available from local bookshops - £6.00

advent

taize @ advent

advent

I think we all feel as if Advent has arrived early this year. It doesn't feel like a year has past since the last one. After two very demanding advent seasons in terms of activity and creativity, we are having a much simpler time this year. Along with the lectionary, we are simply re-telling some of the advent accounts with the help of Cloth for the Cradle. Angela and Angus retold the story of Mary and Gabriel today and did it brilliantly.

For the last 3 years we have followed the lectionary readings as part of weekly workship. From today, I am going to use the daily lectionary readings. Over the last 2 years I have used the daily readings in Celtic Daily prayer, and found them exceptionally helpful. For me, they have the great attraction of not being too long.

If you are looking for something inspirational this advent, I would recommend Common Prayer - a liturgy for ordinary radicals. For something on line, I would recommend Advent Synchroblog.

the divided brain

I have just watched a most remarkable 10 minute presentation on the human brain. I don't understand a fraction of what is being said, but find it completely awesome. ht to Jonny Baker.

sunshine

We are having the most beautiful weather I can ever remember in November. Last year, we had to cancel services in November because of the bad weather. This November it has been constant sunshine and blue skies.

UPDATE - Today I saw someone on the golf course playing in shorts! Apparently the temperature in the Highlands this month is five degrees higher than average.

Vine Trust in Tanzania

Tomorrow morning, some of the Hilton team members from the recent workparty to Peru will be sharing during the morning service. In the evening, I have been invited to share in a service at Dalneigh Church where several of their congregation will be sharing about their experiences on the same workparty. It's been quite amazing to see the development of this ministry through the Vine Trust over the last few years, and to see so many people going to Peru and now Tanzania. It's also exciting to hear that the new Barge HQ has received a design ward. , the first of many I suspect. It's an amazing place.

Lighthouse

Over the last 3 years, Primary school children have been coming to the Lighthouse in ever increasing numbers at lunchtime. Sometimes we have had as many as 40 children queuing at the hatch! In reality, the Lighthouse (in terms of staff and size) simply isn't big enough to cope with that kind of number of children. The management team therefore decided to limit the number of children at lunchtimes by requiring children under the age of 12 to be accompanied by an adult. We still have children coming, but the atmosphere is much quieter. We also became aware that many adults had stopped coming over the lunchtime period because of the noise and general commotion created by so many children being in such a small area. We hope the new arrangements will encourage them to come back.

missional church

The link to the video is here. Several of us within the Lighthouse and Hilton Church have been exploring Missional Communities. How do you make and raise up disciples who have a heart and a passion for those who are not yet followers of Jesus? A great deal of Christian life in Inverness seems to be about already Christians joining and/or moving around different congregations rather than the congregations actually growing with new believers. I think that is a pretty common phenomenon across the Western world. In the main, larger congregations aren't better at mission or evangelism, they simply offer a more attractive context for already Christians to share in.The Missional Communities website shares some wisdom as to how that might be different.

lighthouse volunteers

Over the past 3 years, we have not really suceeded in recruiting many folk linked to Hilton Church to serve within the Lighthouse. This has been a bit of a surprise to many of us who were in the vanguard of the project, since we thought it would be an ideal way of serving and sharing the local area. On Sunday, Christine MacDonald, one of our management team members shared the need for volunteers during the service, on the basis that a diffferent voice might have a different outcome! We also stressed through Christine, that 2 hours per fortnight could make all the difference to the Lighthouse, and you could serve in a variety of different ways according to your gifts. After the service, I was immediately approached by a lady who is in her 80's who feel she is fit and able to welcome and serve in the Lighthouse for one session a week. She has now met with Wendy our manager, and begins this Thursday lunchtime. An encouraging start to the week for those of us who long to see the Lighthouse growing in its service to the local area.

update I have just heard from Christine that we had a further 2 offers of volunteer help on Sunday, so a very encouraging outcome indeed!

71,000 at prayer meeting

Here's an account from Andrew Jones of an extraordinary prayer meeting in Cairo on Friday night.

Os Guiness in Inverness

The Solas Centre For Public Christianity (www.solas-cpc.org) have arranged an evening with the well known author and apologist Os Guinness at Smithton on 17 November at 7:30pm.
Os’s subject will be “Challenging The Darkness – Towards a new Christian renaissance”, in which he argues “for the vision of a new Christian renaissance that is faithful, hope-filled, and culture-shaping at the same time.”

LIGHTHOUSE MANAGER POST

We had a very productive Lighthouse management team meeting last night. Wendy Budge has done an outstanding job as manager of the Lighthouse over the past 5 months, but sadly (for the Lighthouse) she is returning to New Zealand with her family at Christmas. We now find ourselves in a position where we need to recruit a new manager before Christmas. In the very near future, I will post a more formal advert, but if the possibility of being involved in a leadership role within the Lighthouse excites you, why not give Wendy Budge a ring to find out more 01463 224477.

EILIDH

I haven't had much time for the blog lately between one thing and another. It's been a time of change for us with our daughter Eilidh departing for a gap year in New Zealand. Eilidh is going to be doing an internship with the Pacific Partnership Trust. If you want to keep up with her news , you can find her blog here.

Stuart Farmes

Congratulations to Stuart Farmes who was inducted at Pultneytown Parish Church last Thursday evening. Stuart recently completed his probationary time at Hilton Church. We wish him and his congregation well as he begins this new chapter in his ministry.

last night

We began our Sunday evening experiment last night. An extravaganza of Bubbles with Philip Noble from 5-6pm, with Storylines or Christianity Explored from 6.15 -7.15pm. We had a very encouraging start, and the Lighthouse also worked well for hospitality and sharing. We will probably tweak some things as we go along, but trying something different definitely feels like the right thing to do.

congratulations

Delighted to hear that Jody and Muir Morton had a baby girl, Niamh Grace on Wednesday 19th October.

tanzania

The workparty to Tanzania during the October break was a great experience judging by all the reports I have heard over the past week. We look forward to hearing all about it over the coming weeks.

MONEY TALKS

The media has been awash with news on the camp outside St Paul's this week, and the question of "What would Jesus do?" has never been far away. The Guardian described St Pauls as a "whitened seplulchre" echoing Jesus' rebuke to the Pharisees. These are tough times, and the news that on average the directors of ftse listed companies received 50% income increases during the last year is nothing short of obsence. Mammon is alive and well, and it seems that St Paul's in the popular conciouseness has aligned itself with Mammon rather than the poor. Where ever you look, things don't feel or look right. Jesus would have wept according to Visual Theology. I am inclined to agree.

john stott

highly recommended

I would highly recommend these events. I saw Mark Green in Capetown last year, and his talk was nothing short of inspirational.
Open Meeting with Mark Greene, Exec Director of LICC Wednesday 2nd November Kinmylies Church of Scotland 7.30pmEvent Free of Charge – donations welcome

Business Breakfast with Mark GreeneThursday 3rd November. Waterside Hotel 8.30amBooking is essential for this event and places are limited.Costs £5 per head which includes hot breakfast roll and tea/coffeeinfo@alivefestival.co.uk

spiritual fair

Dear Friends of Blue Flame,
As many of you know, we have been using a "Spiritual Fayre" format in recent years to help people in an unchurched culture to step into an encounter with Jesus. We use non-church language to offer prophetic ministry and healing ministry.
At our largest annual fayre at the Belladrum Tartan Heart festival we have ministered to queues of literally hundreds of people, helping people to take steps closer to Jesus at their own pace. At a smaller fayre in Hilton we saw a hunger within the local community for spiritual answers to life and "like scales falling off people's eyes" as they encountered the presence of Jesus for perhaps the first time.
So our next Blue Flame event will be a Spiritual Fayre. We will be running this one in a building that is normally associated with church and we are making a special invitation to churched folks who are intrigued by this style of evangelism to come along to "taste and see" for themselves. Perhaps you've never received prophetic ministry or healing ministry before? Perhaps you have a current need? Or maybe you're intrigued to see how we organise a Spiritual Fayre and to find out first hand "what it feels like". You can also invite churched and non-churched friends who are wanting ministry.
All the details are on the flyer below which uses non-church language to describe the use of biblical spiritual gifts. Please feel free to share it with friends, churches, and anyone else.

moderator

Over the past 7 years, we have been blessed though our involvement with the Vine Trust in Peru. We are therefore delighted to note that the next Moderator of the Church of Scotland is going to be Albert Bogle, the founder of the Vine Trust. I wonder how the work with street children and the medical ships will be reflected on the floor of the Assembly?

congratulations

Congratulations to Steven and Leanne, who were married today.

tanzania workparty

Tonight, a Vine Trust workparty from Inverness which includes quite a number of folk from Hilton church departs for Tanzania. We look forward to hearing all about their experiences when they return and pray for a safe and enjoyable journey.

change and transition

Sacred Space at Linne Bheag
School Green, Anstruther, KY10 3HF
01333 310477www.linnebheag.co.uk

Change and Transition
Saturday October 15th 2011
The only certainty in life is change. Nothing stands still. We have to cope with external changes, in the wider world and in our own personal circumstances. Internally we struggle with change too as we try to re-orientate and make the best of things.
This day course addresses these issues. How to make the transition from the secure known to the scary uncertainty of the future. How to find a secure standing place whilst we negotiate the next stage. Where to find courage. How to live with indecision. How to remain at peace while the world turns you on your head.

10am – 4pm
Cost £40

This course will be facilitated by Dorothy and Peter Neilson. Lunch and snacks will be included in the price. Contact Ann for a booking form.
annvt@btinternet.com

CAKE HEAVEN

Over the past 3 years I have maintained a reasonable level of self discipline when it came to the Lighthouse. I have tried to limit myself to the occasional bacon roll. I have to confess that my self discipline has been faltering over the past few weeks, as Wendy has begun baking the most amazing cakes. Today's cake was as tasty as it looks!

WWW

The world wide web may have its downsides, but it most definitely has so many positives. I am so grateful for the daily opportunity to key into what many different people and groups nationally and globally are thinking and doing. Today I have been especially encouraged by this post and this post. Frank Skinner and the gift of not fitting in. Plenty for me to mull over as I get on with various meetings and visits during the day.

youth inclusive too

Youth Inclusive is a small youth work charity which began in 1999 and now works largely but not exclusively with young people in the Hilton area of Inverness with the goal of building bridges between young people and the community.
http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk/project/256
Take a look at Youth Inclusive with RBS CommunityForce. Vote for them to win £6,000. http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk

dornoch firth

Hi Everyone
If you would like to help the Dornoch Firth Group to raise £6,000, please visit the RBS Community Force website and vote for us. If you really want to help, pass this email on to others.
http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk/project/213
ThanksJohnJohn McMurray

Community Outreach Worker

Dornoch Firth Group SCIOScottish Charity Number SC042553

Mobile 07801496609

flying upside down

For anyone of a nervous disposition (like me!) when it comes to flying, here's a flight to remember for some passengers.

POST NUMBER 2000!

I have been noticing over the past few weeks that we have been approaching the 2000th post, and today is the day! The blog began in March 2007 as a means of keeping folk in the loop with the happenings around Hilton Church and generally highlighting other matters of interest. For the 2000th post, I want to highlight the plight of an Iranian pastor who today faces the very real threat of the death penalty for refusing to recant his Christian faith. You can read more about him here.Please pray for Pastor Nadarkhani, his family and legal team.

sunday evenings @ hilton

We hope to have the lighthouse cafe open on Sunday evenings for 7 weeks from 30th October, so we can increase the level of opportunities for service,fellowship, sharing and hospitality. We will probably experiment with 5-8pm and make some changes as we go along depending on how it all goes. To do this, we need volunteers to help with the lighthouse kitchen and serving drinks and cakes. Can you help. If you can, please email me at duncan@hiltonchurch.org.uk

We are also going to run a Christianity Explored Course (6.15pm - 7.30pm) To run this, I need a few folk who can be helpers on the course. If you have been a Christian for a year or two, or even a bit or much longer, I would love it if you would consider helping out on the course. Email me if you would like to help.

At the same time time as Christianity Explored, there will also be a course for those who want to go deeper into the Bible called Story Lines. This course will be led by Jamie Grant. The aim over the seven weeks will be to demystify the Bible and make it fun to read with the help of the Soul Survivor crew. Using Andy Croft and Mike Pilavachi’s book Storylines: Your Map to Understanding the Bible as the basis for our discussion. We will look at six of the Bible’s main themes – Jesus, Covenant, Presence, Kingdom, Salvation, Worship – to see how these key ideas help us make sense of the whole book.

On Sunday 30th October and 5th December, there will be 2 special sessions from 5-6pm led by Philip Noble. These events will be all age and everyone is welcome. The first will involve lots of Bubbles!

Sundays changing @ hilton & the lighthouse

You can read about some of the changes here and here. We hope to have the lighthouse cafe open on Sunday evenings for 7 weeks, so we can increase the level of opportunities for service,fellowship, sharing and hospitality. We will probably experiment with 5-8pm and make some changes as we go along depending on how it all goes.

To do this, we need volunteers to help with the lighthouse kitchen and serving drinks and cakes. Can you help. If you can, please email me at duncan@hiltonchurch.org.uk

We are also going to run a Christianity Explored Course (6.15pm - 7.30pm) which you can find out more about below. To run this, I need a few folk who can be helpers on the course. If you have been a Christian for a year or two, or even a bit or much longer, I would love it if you would consider helping out on the course. Email me if you would like to help.

new hq from scratch

MINISTRY IN THE WORK PLACE

I would highly recommend these events. I saw Mark Green in Capetown last year, and his talk was nothing short of inspirational.

Open Meeting with Mark Greene, Exec Director of LICC
Wednesday 2nd November
Kinmylies Church of Scotland 7.30pm
Event Free of Charge – donations welcome

Business Breakfast with Mark Greene
Thursday 3rd November. Waterside Hotel 8.30am
Booking is essential for this event and places are limited.
Costs £5 per head which includes hot breakfast roll and tea/coffee

info@alivefestival.co.uk

Mark has produced a number of workplace resources, notably Thank God it's Monday and the widely distributed Supporting Christians at Work - Without Going Insane. In addition, he has developed Christian Life and Work, a 6-part small group DVD resource, and edited Pocket Prayers for Work. He is also the writer and presenter of the Imagine DVD and, with Tracy Cotterell, the editor... of Let my People Grow - a collection of essays on whole-life disciple making. Most recently he edited and contributed sections to Trevor Cooling's LICC resource Supporting Christians in Education.

SLEEPERS WANTED!

In the past, I have been very successful in sourcing various items for the Lighthouse and Church through the blog, so I am enboldened to ask for something which might be a bit more challenging. For some time now, we have been speaking about getting railway sleepers for the Lighthouse car park, so we can zone the area more effectively for parking. If you have sleepers which are surplus to requirements or know of a source, could you let me know. Many thanks.

THE ART OF HEARING GOD

THE ART OF HEARING GOD a course by Streams Ministries International
October 27-29 INVERNESS, Kings Fellowship
A fantastic course for anyone who wants to increase their ability to hear from God through a solid biblical foundation. It can help grow in confidence, character and spiritual gifts and is strongly recommended for those interested in serving on mission teams
For booking and more info go to www.northatlanticdreams.net

10 YEARS IN AFRICA

Marsali Campbell (who is Laurence Phin's cousin) of Dwelling Places in Uganda visited us at Hilton about 18 months ago. She has just celebrated 10 years of service in Africa and you can Click Here to read her latest newsletter.

help needed

Our Lighthouse manager, Wendy Budge is in need of additional help during the 2 weeks of the October holiday. If you can help, even with a couple of hours during that time, she would be grateful if you could contact her in the Lighthouse 01463 224477.

street pastors

Street Pastors are looking for more volunteers … with a twist … in addition to our usual night-time work in the City Centre, and evening work in Merkinch and Hilton, we're also looking for people who want to volunteer for daytime work in the City Centre mid-week and/or Saturday.
AND we're looking for applicants for an Assistant Coordinator's post who will be based in the City Centre working with our volunteers and partners to help the wheels turn smoothly.
ALL of this is dependent on the outcome of a funding application we're waiting on, but we've been advised to start planning on the basis that we will get it. That will mean if the funding is approved we will be appointing an Assistant Coordinator in October, and training volunteers throughout November and early December for street work starting in January. So we need to be receiving interest NOW.

for more info -inverness@streetpastors.org.uk

NEW VINE TRUST HQ

After 9 years of operating from an HQ in Port Seton, the Vine Trust moves this week to a state of the art HQ in Leith, just next to Ocean Terminal. The Barge was formally opened by HRH Princess Anne yesterday afternoon. It has been a massive task for Willie MacPherson and his staff to pull off this amazing project. Carpets were being fitted right up until the last hour before the formal opening!