LOCHNAGAR

What a beautiful country we live in. A few photos from a recent trip to Lochnagar.

LIGHT HOUSE VOLUNTEERS

Due to a combination of staff illness and holidays, it has been a challenge to keep the Light house cafe running efficiently over the past few weeks. Through this blog, I wanted to highlight the sterling work done by some of our teenage volunteers. Becki, Keri, Eilidh and Fiona (sorry if I have forgotten anybody else)together with a Canadian team were all fantastic, but the stand out volunteer was Tom Barlow who has been helping nearly every day for the last 3 weeks. What a great job he has done along with Gwen. Thank you Tom! The Light house is always on the look out for willing volunteers. If you can help, please drop in and have a word with Gwen.

THE BEST HOLIDAY CLUB EVER!

At the end of each Olympic Games (with the exception of Atlanta 1996), The President of the IOC would declare that this has been the best ever Olympics.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the (Sydney) Closing Ceremony "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever."

It's always difficult to make any objective assessment of these matters. What we can declare with some confidence at Hilton Church is that Chris Watt along with his team of volunteers has led a quite exceptional holiday club. The holiday club service was jam packed this morning, and in my personal opinion, it was the best holiday club service I have ever been too! Thank you and well done to all the team members.

Holiday Club Photos taken By Arnold Maniquiz (the guy in the Elvis wig)

HILTON'S GOT TALENT!

Showstoppers Holiday Club held there very own "Hilton's got talent" last night. A large crowd turned out for the event. The children and leaders performing all excelled themselves. There was also a surprise contribution from the local boy band North Life which "brought the house down". I have it on good authority that North Life will be creating history at the 10 am morning service by performing for the last time in their short but illustrious career. A performance not to be missed!

LENT 2010

In 2007, a significant number of folk in Hilton Church followed Maggi Dawn's Beginnings and Endings. In November 2009, Giving it Up, a series of Readings and reflections for Lent is being published. I intend to follow it through Lent 2010.

SUTHERLAND LANDSCAPES

On a wet and dismal day, its good to remember the days when the sun was shining this summer. . I had such a day climbing Ben Loyal, near Tongue in Sutherland.

A QUESTION!

I am currently re-reading "LEADERSHIP NEXT - changing leaders in a changing culture" by Eddie Gibbs. The following question by Eddie is worth reflecting on:

Every local congregation should ask this question: If the Lord were to remove us overnight from our neighbourhood, in what ways would the surrounding community become aware that we were nolonger in their midst?

HOLIDAY CLUB 2009

Day 3 of the Holiday Club. Over 70 kids every day. Chris has a great team leading the Club. The atmosphere across the church this morning was superb.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide:

A very disturbing article about persecution of Christians in Nigeria which you can read here.

HOLIDAY CLUB

Yesterday morning, The Showstoppers Holiday Club for P1-7 children began in the Church. Chris Watt has a great team of volunteers working with him and over 70 children have registered for the week. Hopefully, Chris will post some pictures from the Holiday Club as the week goes on.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Readings for Sunday August 16, 2009
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20;
John 6:51-58

THE STATE AND SCRIPTURE

This morning we were reflecting on nation state leadership. Can a nation be led in a way which leads towards peace rather than enmity. If time had allowed this morning, I would have shown the following slide show. John Drane has an interesting commentary on this.

OH HAPPY DAY!

This is a day for celebration at Hilton Church. Isabel Waite and Fiona Hutchison are publicly professing faith in Christ and joining the church later this morning. It's a thrill to see these teenage girls taking this important step in their lives. We don't really live in the kind of culture where many people make this kind of commitment anymore. In a previous generation everybody joined the church. We seem to have swung to the opposite end of the spectrum in recent years. Perhaps its something we need to think about afresh.Steve Taylor in his blog, outlines some of the reasons why membership of a church is such an important aspect of discipleship.

The gospel in 10 words or less!

How would you sum up the gospel in 10 words or less? Here's a few attempts.

RUBY CELEBRATION

Congratulations to Bill and Margaret Lamond who are celebrating their ruby wedding anniversary today.

Sunshine and shadow

Many days bring a mixture of sunshine and shadow. Today was no different. Along with a number of the shops, we were hit by an overnight attack of grafitti. It's disappointing to see this happening, when so many people are working hard to make the area look so good. The sunshine came in the form of a Canadian youth group who have been sharing in helping at the Light house all week. They have been a great blessing to the cafe, and we hope that the friendships made will lead on to lasting links.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Sian Jones and Stuart Swanson who have just announced their engagement. They are planning to get married next May.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Last night,WDYTYA? featured the search for the comedian David Mitchell's roots. The search took him from London up to Sutherland in the far north of Scotland and to Skye. The programme provides a fascinating insight into the social history of the Highlands in the 19th century. One of Mitchell's ancestors had been a Church of Scotland minister in Sleat on the Island of Skye around 1850. It was certainly striking to learn about the actions of the church at that time, both positive and negative. Well worth a watch if you have time. The scenery in Sutherland was spectacular. It has inspired me to climb Ben Loyal in the near future.

emergent psalter

The Lectionary psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 130. In my research today I discovered an emergent psalter website. There is a podcast for each psalm. There were one or two thoughts on the podcast for ps130 which were very helpful. Have a listen, if you have time!

EASTERN EUROPE FOR CHRIST CAMP

This morning Angus Macleod began his travels to help at an 'Eastern Europe for Christ' camp for a week, along with Camp Leader David McLean Barnie and others. Above is a photo of last years campers and leaders from the first EEFC he went to last year in Tivadar.

Eastern Europe for Christ organise English and Bible camps and he is going to be helping at the camp held in Debrecen (Eastern Hungary). They will have a team of 8 Scottish people including himself and they will be ministering to 32 kids for a week from Saturday 8th - 15th August. The camps will include Bible talks, English lessons, Bible studies, games & just general hanging out time with the campers.

Please pray for:

* God to prepare the hearts of the campers to receive the gospel.

* God to prepare us so that we are able to communicate the saving message of Jesus Christ.

* Us not to be too tired and crabby (it is 35c at the moment!)

* God to use all our talents, time and skills to let these campers know how much God loves them.

* Us to be challenged and to become more like Christ.

* Protection against the devil trying to stop the camp going smoothly.

* God to be glorified at camp.

* Good relationships with the Hungarian staff, translators and campers.

* Kids to be know Jesus as their personal saviour.

Here's a link to the EEFC website: http://www.eefc.org.uk/about

MAKE A DATE!

Great news! Roy Searle and a team from the Northumbrian community will be joining us for the weekend 13-15th November. The theme of the weekend will be 'Building Community,' looking at how Jesus built community and how we build community today.

There will be Sessions on Friday evening and Saturday morning with some workshops; including possibly music, dance, storytelling. On Saturday evening possibly an open public evening with musicians, dancers and storytellers, sharing something of the story of Celtic Fire which tells one of the stories of how the gospel came from Ireland through Iona, Scotland, Northumbria and then throughout Europe, based on the life of Aidan.

The little white lie that grew

Some time ago I found this article by Clive James on the BBC website. The story has echoes of The Bonfire of the Vanities. The story is a good advert for righteous living!

LEVI in LESOTHO

It was good to have Robyn and Palesa sharing in our worship at Hilton Church yesterday. As well as making a presentation to the congregation, R&P also did a q&a session with the Sunday Club. Last night there was a very striking feature about Lesotho on the news. You can find some of the images here. and the report here.

CONGO CALLING

David & Ruth Shepherd have been keeping in touch with Matthias and Sabine in the Congo. Here's an email from David which gives a taste of some of the challenges of life that they are currently facing:

We spoke with Matthias and Sabine a couple of weeks ago when they contacted us (via skype) .... they had travelled by motor bike ( I know how much you enjoy this form of travel) to Isiro which is 40 miles away by bush road. Having seen a photo of Matt on a donkey I tried to imagine the 2 of them on a bike ! I think it took about 2 hours travelling which is quite good since a MAF magazine article some time last year said that "going by car when the road is open takes 4 hours in the dry season and a whole day in the rainy season - if possible at all" Communication at the moment at Nebobongo is impossible and the power lines are often down. Sabine spoke of their problem of finding time for themselves since the house is right next to the hospital and it is too easy for staff and others with problems to call on them. Another doctor ( Congolese/European) has arrived at the hospital and this is a help for Matt and apart from helping in the work it gives him someone to communicate with. Sabine however does not have any female company. Sabine says that getting the staff to think in "modern ways" is difficult since everything is 30 years out-of-date. Matt described the situation as like living on an island snce the only way out is by air. No doubt having read "Blood River" you'll be able to visualise things ! Recently the staff threatened to go on strike since their wages hadn't been paid which I imagine will be par for the course in Congo these days as it has been for decades. They are in good health which is a blessing and are looking forward to a break in Kampala with friends from around 11th August.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Readings for August 9, 2009

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2;
John 6:35, 41-51

DISQUIET

That's why I'm suffering from
Disquiet. Unease.A persistent mood of ethical anxiety. Discomfort like toothache of the conscience. Awakening suspicion that something is wrong. Hard to place and hard to ignore anger.An inner resistance to saying nothing.

A quite brilliant commentary on the Gary MaKinnon case here. Living Wittily is a prophetic blog.

Sophia network

A while ago, I gave a link to a new website for women called the Sophia network. It has recently received a top award, which prompted me to take another look. Plenty stimulating discussions like this one and the one below....

A survey in the UK said that men want to sing proper ‘macho songs’ in church and don’t like touchy feely worship songs, and yet most worship leaders and song writers are male. What’s going on there? Is this true in your experience?

PASSING THROUGH

Hilton Church is the kind of fellowship that many people have passed through over the years. It's very refreshing to have a regular engagement with new people. It's also encouraging to keep in touch with the lives of others who have moved on.

This week we recieved news from our first ever youth worker , Stephen Webster (1995-96) of the birth of his first child.

"We are proud to announce the birth of our daughter Sylvia Rose on Sunday 12th July. She and Carol are doing well and we are enjoying getting to know the new member of the family.

Love and best wishes to everyone in Hilton. "

The Morrison family were also with us for a number of years, and this week Derek emailed with news of an exciting devlopment in his life.

"Friends Received word from Andrew MacGowan my minister that the Beechwood Alcohol Rehab Centre are delighted to appoint me as their new Chaplain. It has been agreed that this Chaplaincy service will also cover Cale House, the sheltered accommodation provided for homeless persons who have been admitted to the city centre facility from some other setting such as Beechwood or hospital. This Chaplaincy position may also be incorporated in the new post of Parish Assistant being created at my fellowship. I would like to thank the many who prayed for the meeting Andrew and I had with the Beechwood Manager and the hosp Chaplain (representing Crossreach). In my lifetime, I don't remember being involved in such an important meeting where I felt so at ease and where I was conscious of such a free and wonderful Spirit! I feel both so humbled and honoured to be called into such a critical and challenging ministry where I can give help, encouragement & hope to those who are struggling to put their broken and troubled lives back together. In God's eyes & grace there is not such a thing as a hopeless case. Additionally, I will also have the responsibility and the important task of providing encouragement and essential spiritual support for the staff at both locations. Thanks again. Derek. "

"I'm not going!"

Did you see this on the news yesterday!

MINISTRY MILESTONE

Jonathan Fraser and Rob Barlow both had their final ministry reviews yesterday. This is the last hurdle after many years of study, placements and attachments. We are thrilled that both of them are being recommended for ordination, and pray that they will know God's clear leading as they seek to decern the next step in their lives.

READING MATTERS

The leadership (kirk session) in Hilton church are going to spend some extended time together in the near future. We decided to read a book over the summer which could serve as a stimulus to our sharing and chose The Missional Leader. The book sets out the challenges and the opportunities for the Church in an exceptionally helpful way.This is a book I would recommend for anyone involved in leadership within the Church.

LIGHT HOUSE GARDEN TAKING SHAPE

The garden is now beginning to take shape. In the autumn we plan to do some brainstorming, out of which some theme and shape to the garden will hopefully emerge. There are some really interesting websites to garner inspiration from.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Readings for Sunday 2nd August

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Psalm 51:1-12
Ephesians 4:1-16;
John 6:24-35

BANA TRUST

Last night the Bana Trust had a very special meeting. Robyn and Palesa who are currently on holiday in Inverness were able to be present to bring back first hand accounts of all that has been happening in Lesotho. So much progress has been made in such a short time. Robyn will be sharing at the 10am service at Hilton Church this Sunday.

LAURA'S TEA ROOM

After a very enjoyable holiday, it's good to be back into some of the daily disciplines of life. I thought this story from Jim Gordon was particularly inspiring, and I hope reflects the kind of welcome and hospitality people receive at Hilton and the Light house.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Readings for Sunday 26th July 09

2 Samuel 11:1-15 Psalm 14
Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21

LECTIONARY READINGS

As I will be away on holiday for two weeks, here are the Lectionary Readings for:

Sunday 5th July 09
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10Psalm 48
Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13

Sunday 12th July 09
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19Psalm 24
Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29

Sunday 19th July 09
2 Samuel 7:1-14aPsalm 89:20-37
Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sandra

ROAD DIGGING OPERATIONS AHEAD!

The Council have just laid a lovely new surface on the road in front of the Light house and Church - Tomatin Road. Judging by most other new roads around Inverness, this must mean that we will soon be seeing the Gas Board Board, the Water Board and various other groups soon moving in to dig it up again!

GARDEN TRANSFORMATION

We are very dependent on volunteers to make progress in terms of so many aspects of our work as a fellowship. You would always be glad of more volunteers, but in truth we have many outstanding people in the church who really go "the extra mile" I want to particularly highlight the magnificent work done by Steve along with his wife Ailsa in the Light house garden. The garden is now beginning to take shape and should be ready for use in 2010.

Next Saturday morning, we are going to concrete the area at the rear of the Light house. The lorry is arriving at 8am, and we hope to have it all unloaded and down by mid morning. Lewis and Iain are leading these operations. If you have a couple of hours to spare, your assistance would be much appreciated.

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE

The boys really enjoyed themselves, as did the staff who came along. They were really taken with the warm welcome and how 'up-beat' the service was. In fact they enjoyed it so much that some are hoping to come back next Sunday morning.......The sum raised was £ 470 which is just magnificent! Many many thanks again.
Annice Morrison