Bible in a year...

Two years ago a number of the young people here in Hilton, decided to try and read through the whole Bible in one year.  Some of us managed, some got bogged down in parts of Leviticus and Numbers and bailed out part way through.  But it was an amazing experience and, whether we made it all the through or only managed to stick with it for a few months, we all discovered parts of God's word that we hadn't really focussed in on before. 
The other thing we did was blog everyday on each of the passages so as to create a kind of youth friendly, easy to access commentary on the entire Bible. 
Well, this year I'm planning on doing the whole thing again and I want to invite anyone who wants to join me to do so.  Some young people are coming along for the journey too.
I'm going to repost all the blogs from last time round, editing them where I think they need it.
It started yesterday so, if you want to try this, you've got one day of catching up to do.
Until the Youth Project website is revamped I'm posting my blogs on Facebook, so you can find them by clicking here.

This Sunday...

This Sunday the young people are leading the morning service to kick off the youth ministry for 2013-2014.  It promises to be a great morning, with a review of last year, someone joining the church by profession of faith and a youth band.  If you can make it along to support our young people, I know they'd appreciate it.
Jonathan

 

Last year's Curry House for a Cause was a great night, with a selection of three authentic curries and home made naan.  This year's event - to fundraise for the youth mission trip to Romania - promises to be even better.  The curries are:

• Chicken Rogan Josh
• Dum Bara Gosht (a baked beef curry)
• Kaddu Korma (a creamy butternut squash curry)

Home made breads included in the ticket price.  Bring your own bottle.

 

In a change to the bulletin, please note that the venue is the Lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

Hilton Youth Project

 

Romania fundraising

I'm running the Edinburgh 10k on May 25th - words I never thought I'd write!
I'm putting myself through this to raise money for the summer camp in Romania that a team of our young people are running in conjunction with Carpathian Aid. Below is the link to my just giving page if you're feeling in a generous mood (which I'm sure you are!).

www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Fraser1

 

Light House Cafe Assistant

Café Assistant (1 post)

Light House Cafe

Salary £6.50 per hour

We are looking for enthusiastic individuals to join the existing team within the Light House cafe, to help us provide a quality cafe service.    The Light House is located in the heart of the community of Hilton and is part of Hilton Parish Church.  In addition to providing high quality, good value meals for customers it offers facilities and catering for specific events.

In this role your responsibilities will include preparing and serving food, keeping the kitchen area clean and hygienic, receiving cash takings, washing down tables in the cafe area and generally maintaining the whole cafe clean and in line with Health and Safety legislation.

Previous experience of a similar role would be advantageous but equally important to the role is your ability to work flexibly as part of team to deliver high quality customer service.

The hours of work will be 10.5 hours per week.

Application forms and further details are available from the Light House Café Manager…Adrienne Dempster adrienne@hiltonlighthouse.org

Closing date for receipt of applications is …3 May 2013.

The abiding presence...

‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.’

Luke 15:20

 

Often, when our illusions about ourselves are uncovered (see the last blog), we are convicted of our sinfulness, the mistakes we’ve made and the mess that our lives are in.  And though we ascent to idea that Jesus knows us as we really are and loves us anyway, we often fail to grasp it as truth.  So, instead, we’re left stripped of our illusions and conscious of our sin and shame.

That experience echoes how the prodigal son must have felt as he was longing to eat the pods that he was feeding to the pigs in that far off country.  As famine strikes, his illusions of a life of luxury are well and truly over.  There he was, knee deep in pig dung and thinking, in all probability, how apt a metaphor that was for what his life had become.  So, without even entertaining a thought that his father would receive him back as anything more than a hired servant, he decides to return to the family home.

All the while, the prodigal’s elder brother has been in the family house the whole time.  All that time this brother had been dutifully fulfilling his responsibilities, under his own illusion that love is earned.  In his world, you are either ‘in’ or ‘out’ depending on whether or not you have kept the rules and remained obedient.  And I suspect many of us think that way too.

And yet, when the younger, wasteful, disobedient brother appears as a dot on the horizon, ‘the father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.’

What the older brother – with his worldview built round rules, obedience and responsibilities – had failed to appreciate was what Miroslav Volf, in his brilliant book Exclusion and Embrace notes: ‘before any rule can apply, he is a father to his son.’  It is not, of course, that rules and obedience aren’t important.  It’s simply that, as any parent will tell you, love and compassion triumph over rules and obedience every time. 

A.M. Hunter is quick to remind us that parables, in the specific way Jesus used them, are ‘earthly stories with heavenly meanings’ or, if you want to get more precise, ‘comparisons drawn from nature or daily life designed to illuminate some spiritual truth.’ As such, then, this parable is about the way in which God the Father loves us.  1John 3:1 reads, ‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!’  We are not subjects governed by a rule of law but children embraced by a king who governs by the rule of love. 

We need to grasp that truth, even in the midst of our shame, and whether out of humility, courage or sheer desperation, throw ourselves into the arms of God; God who, even in the midst of our self-rejection, self-contempt and self-loathing – our perception of ourselves as an unwanted child – thinks we’re worth scanning the horizon for.

Jonathan

Uncovering illusions...

Here's the third of my Lent reflections:

‘After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets,”’
(Luke 5:4-5)

I think Simon-Peter grudgingly obeys, humouring the carpenter who thinks he knows better than the fisherman, perhaps meaning to show him up, or make him look foolish. Was their sarcasm in his tone? Whatever the case, Siom-Peter soon realises there’s more going on here than meets the eye. This is not just a fortuitous catch of fish and neither is it a lucky guess on the part of Jesus.
All of a sudden Simon knows that Jesus isn’t just a good man, a wise teacher, a dispenser of ideas or a kindly friend. Face to face with the full reality of all that Jesus is, he becomes all too aware of who really is too. In that moment, Peter feels ashamed, like Adam and Eve when they realised they were naked: “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Or like Isaiah in his vision in the heavenly throne room: ‘“woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…”’ (Isaiah 6:5). Peter, a little more bluntly, simply blurts out, ‘“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man’” (Luke 5:8).
When we truly encounter Christ we cannot maintain our facades of holiness, our vain attempts at charity, our continuing shortcomings. Any true encounter with Christ in his righteousness strips away the masks and illusions we put on to allow us to have our own way whilst keeping our consciences sufficiently distanced from the scrutiny of God and others.
The problem, of course, is that we desperately want these illusions about ourselves to be true. That’s why W.H. Auden can write:

We would rather be ruined than changed.

We would rather die in our dread

than climb the cross of the moment

and see our illusions die.

But as we encounter Christ, our illusions of ourselves cannot survive.
The French painter Georges Rouault was walking past a circus caravan one evening and saw an old clown repairing his costume. What struck him was the contrast between the costume and make-up worn by the clown and the ‘infinite sadness’ that rested just below the paint. Rouault wrote, “I have seen clearly that the clown was I, was us, almost all of us… That sumptuous sequin covered costume is given to us by life, we are all clowns to a greater or lesser extent, we all wear a ‘sequin covered costume.’ But if someone surprises us as I have surprised the old clown, oh! Who would then dare say that he has not been overwhelmed, down to the pit of his stomach, by an immense pity?”
Christ surprised Simon-Peter on the shore of Lake Galilee that day and Simon-Peter was ‘overwhelmed , down to the pit of his stomach, by an immense pity.’ And he was right to be, as we all should be when face to face with Christ in his glory. But the amazing truth to hold onto this Lent is the word Jesus speaks into Simon-Peter’s moment of agonising self-awareness: “Don’t be afraid” (Luke 5:10).
In our world of illusions, masks and make-up, only Jesus has the authority to say those words at the moment of our unmasking, because he alone knows us as we really are, and yet loves us anyway! And only Christ’s love can redeem the poverty that we so desperately seek to hide. No wonder Simon-Peter ‘left everything and followed him’ (Luke 5:11).

‘Because of your all-embracing, wonderful plan

which you have carried out in our regard,

we give you thanks and glorify you ceaselessly

in your church which you have redeemed

through the precious blood of your Christ.

With open mouths and faces unveiled

we present you with praise and honour,

gratitude and adoration,

to your living, holy, and life-giving name,

now and always

and forever and ever.

Amen.

The Anaphoras of Addai and Mari

 

Jonathan

Pancakes with a purpose...

Pancakes with a purpose, Hilton Church, Saturday morning, 10:00-12:00. £2 gets you a large pancake, toppings of your choice and a tea, coffee or juice - and it helps get the youth mission team to Romania to run a summer camp for some of Europe's most disadvantaged children. There are crafts for the children too. It'd be good to see you there.
Jonathan

The desert of temptation...

So here's the second of my Lent reflections:

 

‘The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendour of our God.’

Isaiah 35:1-2

When we begin to follow Jesus we inevitable end up in the desert. Jesus, of course, went straight from his baptism into the physical desert of the Judean wilderness. Many people have followed him into literal deserts too, the desert fathers of the 4th century being the most obvious example. More often, though, disciples find themselves in spiritual deserts and often against their will.
But why does the journey of dsicipleship involve a journey into the desert? Many of us were taught to believe that when we decided to follow Jesus all out troubles would be over. Yet, if we want to walk in his footsteps over during Lent and beyond, they lead deep into the wilderness. You see, the desert exposes and lays bare; it exposes our vulnerability and lays bare our weakness in the face of temptation. The desert reveals the harsh reality that we are sinful but, in so doing, it also reveals our absolute dependency on God’s grace.
There are dangers in the desert… we can quickly start to dehydrate and despair can overtake us. If we’re not careful, soon we’ll dry out and allow the evil one to overcome us. Equally, we can take mercy for granted and ignore the harsh lessons that the desert teaches us. If we cheapen grace then we risk being duped by the devil who wears the ‘deceitful face of hope,’ as T.S. Eliot put it. But, if in the desert we sense our own poverty and guilt, all the while keeping the vision of Christ before us, then the desert experience will strengthen us for the journey ahead. The desert represents an encounter between our misery and God’s mercy, our guilt and his forgiveness.
Self-sufficiency is all the rage at the moment – in food, energy, finance and so on. The temptations of Christ in the desert were all designed to lure him out of his relationship with God and into a self-sufficient life. The temptation to turn stones into bread was about exercising power on his own behalf rather than trusting himself to his Father’s care. The temptation to fling himself from the pinnacle of the temple was about making use of God rather than serving him. The tempatation to rule over all the nations of the earth was about setting himself up as an idol. Each temptation is an appeal to self-sufficiency: to rely on his own devices for securing power, pleasure and position.
Each of Christ’s responses, all from the Scriptures, show that he remians faithful to his relationship with his Father. You see, sin is not just breaking a moral code but – first and foremost – the fracturing of a relationship. All temptation is a call to selfishness. If we remain faithful and obedient, as Christ did, we acknowledge that are lives are fundamentally relational. Self-sufficiency should not be all the rage for the Christian. In the desert of temptation we live either obediently within relationship to the Trinity, or alientated in the hell of our own disobedience.
In the desert we can give up or we can embrace our emptiness, vulnerability and guilt with complete trust… and find God. And in finding God we find ourselves and the strength to journey on.
Jonathan

The Invitation

I thought I might share some of my reading and reflection through Lent this year. I plan to post seven reflections using the same headings Steven D. Purcell uses in his Lenten Book, Even Among these Rocks, namely:

1. The invitation
2. The desert of temptation
3. Uncovering illusions
4. The abiding presence
5. The abundance of joy
6. The movement outward
7. The final act

So here goes...

'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'

Matthew 11:28-30

 

As a Scottish presyterian I probably shouldn't admit that I'm strangely fascinated by icons, and none more so that Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity. Jesus, the Son, is seated in the centre, with the Father on the left and the Holy Spirit on the right. The more you look at it, from the point of perspective, it seems wrong. It subverts the commonly held convention that the vanishing point should be in the distance. Here, quite the opposite is the case: the vanishing point appears to be placed where we are, almost piercing our innermost being. And before us is an empty place at the table of God.
The thing is, whatever you think of icons, this one was never meant as a lovely decoration for a place of worship or as a helpful explanation of a difficult doctrine... this icon is an invitation. It is an invitation out of ourselves and into the house of God; an invitation out of fear and into love. And, with the vansihing point located in us, the perspective opens before us. What Rublev is trying to say is that, as we accept God's invitation, our life opens beyond us into the ever-widening life of the Trintiy
Lent - and, for that matter, the Christian life - begins with an invitation. It begins with the call of Christ to leave ourselves behind and follow him. George MacDonald once worte, 'Christ is the way out, and the way in: the way from slavery, conscious or unconscious, into liberty; the way from the unhomliness of things to the home we desire but do not know; the way from the stormy skirts of the Father's garments to the peace of his bosom.'
The problem is that such an invitation seems almost too good to be true and, as such, is difficult to accept. We become all too aware, like the invited guest in George Herbert's Love Bade Me Welcome, that we are 'guilty of dust and sin.' The truth is this, though, that Love does bid us welcome... he draws near to us... he takes us by the hand... he implores us to sit at his table.
The invitation is there. All we have to do is make a movement towards Christ. And every step taken toward him confirms the mystery that our journey into the community of the triune God is our journey home. My prayer, as Lent unfolds before us and as we contemplate Rublev's icon, echoes that of Steven D. Purcell: 'that we might move beyond the confines of ourselves into the life and infinite possibility of the triune God.'

Jonathan.

Stephen Hutchison's CD will be launched at the morning service on Sunday 18th November.
Allan McKinlay doing the lead vocals and Yvonne Lyon doing backing vocals. Other talented musicians playing!

Available in Inverness from Stephen or Ingrid, and from CLC bookshop in Castle Street.

Available on line from www.stephenhutchison.bandcamp.com where you can hear a sample.
Soon to be available on Amazon, iTiunes, Spotify, and MediaNet

Employment opportunities within the church

Please do prayerfully consider if either of the two positions below could be for you or someone you know of...

 

Employment Opportunities
Hilton Parish Church

Church Administrator – 16 hours per week post holder to provide effective co-ordination and support to the church and the wider community through the various groups that operate through the church building.

Church Officer – 8 hours per week post holder to provide effective and responsive janitorial and caretaking services to support the various groups that operate through the church building as well as the programme of Sunday services and activities.

Job descriptions are available and if more information is required please contact:

Jonathan Fraser

Email: jonathan@hiltonchurch.org.uk    

Phone: 01463 233310


 

Congregational lunch

After the morning service on Sunday 4th November there's going to be a congregational lunch. 
I think some people may have misunderstood the information, thinking that 'church family lunch' meant that it was a lunch for families within the church as oppossed to for everyone - single, married, with children or without - who belongs to the family of the church itself.
I hope that clarifies any misunderstanding and hopefully lots of you can make it along.  All the congregational lunches I've been part of in the past heave been really enjoyable times of fellowship and getting to know one another better.
If you could indicate if you'll be bringing a dish with you (hot savoury, cold savoury or dessert) on the sign-up sheet in the church lobby that would be great. 
Jonathan

Annie and Mark's Wedding

Congratulations to Annie, Assistant Manager at the Lighthouse, on her wedding day on Thursday, 5th July.

Soul Survivor...

Iwona Grant and I are looking for an extra adult to come down to Soul Survivor with us this year.  We're leaving Inverness on Thursday 26th July and we get back on the evening of Wednesday 1st August.  The ticket will be paid for by the church. 
If you were willing to help out with some of the driving (it's a nine seater car, just so you know) that would be great.  But, other than that, it would essentially just be spending time with 23 brilliant teenagers from the church, 5000 others from across the UK and God.  What more could you want?!
Oh, and maybe I ought to mention that you'll be camping!
It'll be awesome fun.  Let me know if you're interested by dropping me an email (jonathan@hiltonchurch.org.uk) or giving me a call (07540 168744).
Jonathan.

EVENING SERVICES

During the holiday period, there will just be one Service each Sunday at 10am. The evening service will begin again at 6.30pm on 24th August.

CAN YOU HELP?

We are trying to get some much needed maintenance and cleaning done at the Lighthouse this week. If you have an hour or two spare on Thursday night to help with painting, we would love to see you. Please bring your own tray and roller/brush. We only had 3 volunteers from Hilton Church last night. I'm concious that life is very busy for people at the moment as the summer holidays begins this coming Friday. I think we will need to reflect on how to be more effective at engaging volunteers from the congregation Some folk have suggested that Saturday would be a better day than a mid week evening. I have wondered whether we could actually do some volunteering together as a congregation on a Sunday when we are all together anyway. What a lot we could achieve with 200 plus volunteers! We could worship God by painting as well as praying together. 

 

Julie Keen had organised a concert - Music for a Summer's Evening - here in the church on Saturday, 30th June, from 7:30pm.  If previous concerts are anything to go by this will make for an excellent evening of entertainment.  All the proceeds are being split between Tiyanjane and Ndi Moyo Paliative Care Services in Malawi.

christian vision for men

Dear Guys


I want to let you know that the first Scottish Regional Day of the national movement Christian Vision for Men (CVM) is taking place in Inverness this June as part of the aLive Festival. It takes place on Saturday 23rd June at Culduthel Christian Centre and will run between 9.30 – 4.00pm.

I am very excited about this event, it is the first of it's kind to be held in Scotland, and it is happening right here in Inverness!

The ethos of CVM is for local men to reach local men and they want to help you to do just that. The day will feature food, music, seminars, fellowship and teaching from CVM General Director Carl Beech and will address real issues men face in today’s world. I attended one of their regional days in London last year and can highly, highly recommend the event, it is a very relaxed, enjoyable day.

Can I PLEASE ask that you consider coming along, and to encourage as many men as possible from your church or ministry to come along to this worthwhile day? Tickets (which include lunch and refreshments) are now only £15 per person but there is a saver price of £10 for bookings of 10 or more! We are also running a buy one get one free offer, so you can invite a friend for nothing! Click here to get your ticket.

You can find out more about Christian Vision for Men at http://www.cvm.org.uk/ and the aLive Festival at www.alivefestival.co.uk and I have also attached a booking form. If you don’t think you’re the right person to “rally” everyone together for this could you forward on to someone who may be able to and therefore ensuring the men at your church don’t miss this.

Please can I ask you to consider supporting this special Men's Day, uptake has been very low so far, and it is proving hard to encourage Christian Men to come together for an event such as this, Your support would be really appreciated.

Thank You

David Maclean
aLive Festival

Curry House for a Cause

This should be a great night.  Come along with family - invite friends - and be cooked for and waited on by the young people in the church.
The cause, just so you know, is getting all the young people down to Soul Survivor (hiring a minibus, petrol and so on) and making sure that they're fed and watered when they get there.  Our funds are still a bit short for this so come along and help us out!
If you want to book a table please call me on 01463 233310 or email me at jonathan@hiltonchurch.org.uk.
Thanks,
Jonathan

MODERATOR @ THE LIGHTHOUSE

The blog has been pretty quiet over the last few weeks. I will try and update it, with some of the things which are happening, over the next few days. Later today we welcome the Moderator of the General Assembly, Albert Bogle to the Lighthouse. We are also hosting an event for the Moderator in the Lighthouse tomorrow evening.

worship

ordination service

Jonathan's ordination service last night was a wonderful occasion. A large congregation in great voice, a magnificent worship band, a brilliant sermon from John 10 by Peter Donald, and a joyful time of fellowship through in the Hall afterwards. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the preparation of food , and to those who helped serve during the evening. It was also marvellous to see so may of our youth and children there together with their families. All in all, one of the landmark occasions in the history of Hilton Church.

JONATHAN'S ORDINATION

Tomorrow is a very special day for the Fraser family. At 7pm in Hilton Church, a service of ordination will taking place and Jonathan will be ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament.

messy church

Our first Messy Church took place this afternoon from 4-6pm. We really didn't know what to expect, but the reality was certainly very encouraging. Elna who was administering the event counted over 100 into the building, with the vast majority of children and adults not being part of the congregation.. It was great to have so many folk from the Hilton Church and Inverness Community Church willing to help with running the event. We could probably do with even more for the next one on 24th June. There is always plenty to learn on the first day. Cooking a meal from scratch for up to 100 people in 2 hours is a major logistical achievement. Simon Varwell gets a gold star for leading the catering team so well. Highlights of the afternoon for me were seeing so many folk sharing food together in the large hall and watching all the children playing in the Lighthouse garden. A great start to Messy Church, and plenty to build on for the next one.

cherry blossom

Angus & Angela's Wedding

Afternoon Teas

A good number shared yesterday afternoon in afternoon tea. The next meeting on 30th May will mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

MESSY CHURCH - 1 WEEK TO GO!

Mairi Crawford and her team have done an amazing amount of work bringing together all the plans for the first Messy Church at Hilton. It's been great to see so many folk envisioned by this new opportunity for service and outreach.

easter sunday 2012

Bacon rolls and porridge on dores beach. No rain! Baptisms, professions of faith and testimonies to God's grace. Christ is Risen. Hallelujah!

new doors

The new doors for the various entrances to the church have been completed. It's amazing how bright the various areas inside the doors are now! The old wooden doors meant that the areas were so dark without lighting. The whole area is now visually far more welcoming.

Mike and I would be keen to see whether it might be possible to clear away the very dark back corridor and the whole stage area in order to create a much more welcoming gathering space. I think there are major structural issues involved in such a ploy, but it's always good to have dreams and visions to work towards!

GOOD FRIDAY

This depiction of the Cross highlights the suffering of Christ on the Cross, which we especially think about today. There is a Good Friday Service in the Church at 8pm tonight.

HILLWALK.

After a break of 12 months from hillwalking, I climbed my first Munro of 2012 last week. The day involved a 10 mile cycle each way -Dalwhinne to Culra Bothy, together with a bit of a slog of a climb. It was also quite stormy on the summit of the mountain, so we were glad that we were well equipped for the conditions.

april snow

After record temperatures in March, we are back into the snow again today.

EASTER 2012

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE @ 8PM in Church.

EASTER SUNDAY

DORES BEACH @ 8AM

ALL AGE WORSHIP @10AM in the Church

Evening Worship@ 6.30pm in the Church

solar pv for community cafe

I see that our solar panels have hit the press.

Jonathon's ordination

The date hasn't been confirmed by the Presbytery yet, but it seems very likely that Jonathon's ordination service will take place at Hilton Church on Friday 4th May at 7pm

THE CROSS in HOLY WEEK.

Currently planning towards the morning service on Sunday. I'm wondering about concluding the service with the congregation gathered around a Cross in the front garden. Jesus was crucified in a very public place on Good Friday. To take the congregation outside the building may help to remind us of the reality of Jesus' public humilaition and our need to take a step outside the church walls with our faith. Jonny and I are working on some ideas to engage with people through the Cross during Holy Week.

palm/passion sunday

We have a real treat in store this Sunday, with El Gruer leading our evening worship. I have just spent some time talking over the content of the hour with El, and I think it's going to be a really special time. Sunday is the first of April, and marks the beginning of a 3 month residency for El at the Lighthouse. She will be with us at the Lighthouse for a couple of days each week, and we hope that this new venture will lead to all kind of creative developments.

WORKS

Everywhere you look, there appears to be works going on at Hilton Church and Lighthouse. This week the solar panels for generating electricity are being installed on the Lighthouse roof. The accesses are also nearly completed and the new doors are being installed at the end of the week.

IAIN & MAIRI HOLD RYDER CUP.

PHILIP CREATES BUBBLES IN STORNOWAY

aLIVE FESTIVAL

Hello there,
Hopefully by now you will have received programmes and information on all the events taking place as part of the aLive Festival this June. We don’t wish to clog up people’s inboxes with lots of emails and tend therefore to do most of our updating through our facebook page but as not everyone is on facebook I just wanted to highlight a couple of important things:

31st March (next Saturday) is the last date for the “early bird” prices for the Equip conference, Ladies’ Night and the Christian Vision for Men Day. Tickets will of course still be available after that date, they just cost a bit more! The Equip conference in particular has the potential to be an outstanding day. To be held at Smithton & Culloden Free Church, it is packed full of inspiring speakers, seminars and workshops and we have 18 different local and national ministries represented at the day. The whole day is aimed at “equipping” you and your church to impact your community. Please encourage as many folks as you know to book their place early. The early ticket price of £10 covers the whole day, people can stay for it all or come and go as they desire – it also include the worship evening with Dave Bilborough. Tickets are available at www.alivefestival.co.uk or CLC bookshop in Inverness.

Eden Court have now released the rear circle seats for the Keith & Kristyn Getty with Stuart Townend and New Scottish Art Choir concert on 6th June. The tickets have been selling rapidly for this event – could you please help us ensure that people are aware tickets are going fast and if they are hoping to attend should be considering purchasing their ticket soon – these are available from Eden Court box office only.

If you are a “facebooker” please do “like” our page following the link in the first paragraph of this email. This is the most effective way of keeping up to date with what’s happening. Our own website is at www.alivefestival.co.uk . If you have yet to see a programme for this year’s festival please let me know by return email and we’ll get one to you.

Kindest regards
Annette Maclean

Communion

We shared in communion last Sunday morning, and the feedback I have received since the Service has been very positive. Church of Scotland communions can be very formal. We have tried to loosen up the formality by involving a variety of different folk in serving communion, both young and old. We have also stopped using the wee communion cups, and now use common cups with the bread being dipped into the wine. The congregatiion are invited forward to receive communion.At the same time, we also have a number of our elders at various stations around the church, offering prayer accompanied with annointing with oil. During all of this time, the band plays and the congregation can continue in worship and praise. Communion is now an experience for the whole church family to share in. We didn't sing this song on Sunday, but it's a particular favourite of mine for communion.