If you would like to consider this question then can we invite you to join any one or more of the BOOK DISCUSSIONS planned for this year?
During 2023 our minister, Alan Childs, invites anyone who would like to join in a monthly book discussion group with a PROGRESSIVE theological inclination.
If you would like to develop and refresh your understanding of God, the Bible, faith, the church and your life as a Christian, and be challenged in the process, then please consider joining the group for a monthly, in person, conversation about one book at a time.
Here are the books that form the reading list, divided into two parts for the year. The books are available through any of the online bookstores (including Bookshop.org which feeds profit back to independent bookshops), many high street bookshops, or from the authors themselves.
February to May (4pm on the last Sunday of the month at Craigsbank Church hall)
Each book’s discussion will be held late on a Sunday afternoon over a glass of wine or a mug of coffee (your choice). Send us a message if you would like to notify us of your interest … but you are also welcome to simply drop in on the day.
The organisations, Everyday Plastics and City to Sea are calling for all UK supermarkets to remove plastic packaging from five top-selling fruit & veg products –– potatoes, apples, bananas, carrots and onions –– so we can fight the plastic problem, reduce food waste and save money.
It is estimated that selling these five items loose (unpackaged) would:
Prevent an estimated 1.7 billion pieces of plastic packaging from being thrown away.
Avoid more than 77,000 tonnes of food waste by allowing people to buy what they need.
Save shoppers a combined total of over £85m per year in uneaten food.
The organisation have joined forces to launch a petition and our Eco group are encouraging as many people as possible to sign it.
You may have seen the upsetting images from Turkey and Syria, showing the devastation caused by the earthquakes.
The Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an urgent appeal to provide vital lifesaving aid to those in need. Please donate, if you can, either through Christian Aid or direct to DEC by clicking here for the DEC appeal.
On 27 January 1945, the Red Army arrived at the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau to liberate the camp. Since 2005, this date has been remembered as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and every year, ceremonies mark the anniversary across Europe and the wider world.
Throughout these seventy-eight years survivors of the camp have spoken out about their experience and the need for remembrance. They have retold and recreated the most painful of memories and have done so with great dignity. They have taken school children by the hand and looked world leaders in the eye and they have pricked the conscience of the world again and again as they spoke of the unspeakable. They have done so in the name of those who did not survive.
Many of these survivors are now elderly and a high percentage have died since the last major anniversary. It is now up to others to tell the stories of those who died and those who survived but who are no longer here to speak for themselves.
This then is a fitting date on which to remember the life of Jane Haining, a remarkable Scots woman who died in Auschwitz just a few months before the liberation of the camp. Recognised in 1997 as Righteous Amongst the Nations for her part in protecting Jewish school children and their families, Jane Haining was born and raised a country girl in Dunscore, Dumfriesshire. She trained as a Church of Scotland missionary and was posted to Budapest as matron to the Church of Scotland School there. Against all advice, she refused to leave when the war drew closer to the city. She knew that the children needed her ‘in their darkest hour’ and she fought to keep them out of the camps. She made the ultimate sacrifice. She herself was eventually charged with working amongst Jews and was taken to Auschwitz where she died aged 47.
Our annual Burns Supper took place on 21 January 2023 in Craigsbank Church Hall. It was a superb occasion. All who attended were rewarded with a relaxed evening of great cheer with an outstanding meal, readings, traditional addresses, highland dancing, music and song. Grateful thanks go out to all involved, in particular those on the Hospitality Team who prepared and served the meal.
Used stamps are still being collected throughout the year – boxes at both church centres – but especially just now. Do bring them with you next time you come.
Wee request – Please ensure that you leave a visible surround of the paper from which the stamp has been cut all round the stamp. Last year some had to be discarded as the edge of the stamp had been cut rendering it invalid. This year money raised is hoping to fund a Pastor for a year to support projects in Lebanon.
Craigsbank Parish Church and the Old Parish Church are partnering on a project with our local Craigmount High School and Christian youth workers from Young Life International to offer a very affordable lunch option in a welcoming environment to the pupils. We are now offering this on Thursday afternoons over the school’s lunch break.
A similar project has developed over a few years as the ‘Liberton Northfield Toastie Tuesday’ lunch club, which serves toasties, a cookie and a drinks can to schoolchildren for £1 every Tuesday of term time. They have served more than 100,000 toasties since they started a few years ago. An outcome from the project is a well-established youth ministry amongst the local churches.
We will be running a similar project on Thursdays from this week, 27 October. The price of the lunch is £1.50, with free fruit if we can. The main aim is to offer Christian hospitality to the children in the parish high school. The catchphrase for the Toastie Tuesdays at present is ‘The best welcome of the week’.
We need your prayers and a few volunteers to help in the kitchen and ‘front of house’ – welcoming, chatting and serving the food. We plan to use the Craigsbank kitchen and large hall, recognising that it will be tweaked and improved as the weeks progress. There was a very successful training and first public session held on Thursday 13 October, when we served some 30 pupils.
Craigmount has two 40 minute-long lunchtimes, juniors at 12:20 and seniors at 13:10. If we offer it for both lunchtimes it will practically mean starting preparation around 11.00am and closing up at around 2.00pm. The pilot scheme will run through the autumn school term and then we will review it for 2023.
If you are interested or would like to volunteer (even if just once or twice a month) then please contact Alan Childs or the church office.
The Rev Moira McDonald, minister at the Old Parish Church, was also Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. Last week, as one part of a small team, she kept vigil with the Queen’s coffin in the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and again at St Giles.
On Sunday, she spoke on BBC Radio 4 about the experience.
‘The Queen weathered many storms, both public and private, but her steadfast faith always carriedher through‘
Margaret Rhodes, first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II
As we mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we give thanks for her life and her exceptional reign, her deep affection for her people, her lifelong desire to serve the common good, her humility and grace, hard work and dedication, and her Christian faith.
Our thoughts and prayers are with King Charles, III and members of the Royal Family as they mourn the loss of a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother as well as a friend and monarch.
The Corstorphine Old Parish Church is open for private prayer and reflection on Friday and Saturday from 10.00am until 4.00pm.
A reminder that our own Sunday service this week is at the East Craigs Church centre at 10.30am.
A warm welcome is extended to women of all ages to come along to Network for social events, guest speakers and friendship. Meetings are held at Craigsbank (Main Hall) on alternate Mondays at 7.30pm.
Network will be meeting on the following dates:
Monday 3 October – Talk – Museum on the Mound – Gillian Paterson
Monday 17 October – Musical Evening – Music and Words for an Autumn Evening – Robin & Mairi Leach
Monday 31 October – Talk – Massive outpouring of Love – Julie Smith
Monday 14 November – Talk – The Refillary – Olga Fatica
Monday 28 November – Christmas Crafts – Cherry Gilmour
Monday 12 December – Christmas Meal at Turnhouse
Monday 9 January – Logo Quiz
Monday 23 January – Talk – Robert Burns his life, his poetry, his songs – Roy Johnston
Monday 6 February – Talk – History of High Constables Edinburgh – David Halliday
Monday 20 February – Talk – Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance
Monday 6 March – Talk – Experiences of a Tour Guide – Pat Blair
Monday 20 March – Cheese & Wine and AGM
All meetings commence at 7.30pm at Craigsbank and are open to all. If anyone wants to attend and transport is an issue contact Susan Ross
