St Nicholas Parish Church, Lanark Winter 2018 St Nicholas Parish Church Lanark (Church of Scotland) SCO11368 lanark-stnicholas.co.uk www.facebook.com/lanarkstnicholas
2 December Already How have we got here? It seems like only a few weeks ago that the warm summer days were upon us. It has been a busy few months both in the life of the town and our church. A wonderful sunny Lanimer week, scrumptious strawberry teas, a sell out variety show showcasing the amazing talent in our congregation, a delicious congregational lunch and now onto the run up to Christmas, Oh - not forgetting the minister getting engaged! It has been a whirlwind but a good one. I believe St Nicholas has grown and flourished this year. My hope is that we can leave 2018 feeling positive, but at this time of year tensions can run high. Things can get out of focus. The Christmas hype seems to begin earlier and earlier each year. Christmas displays opening as early as Remembrance Sunday seems surreal but that is the world in which we live now. However, I believe our task in this advent period is not to lose ourselves in the madness. I pray that during the weeks coming you will be able to take time, time to stop, time to reflect, time to pray, time to ponder what Christmas truly means to you. Is Christmas about the celebrations? Is Christmas about time spent with loved ones? Or more importantly is Christmas the coming of light, the coming of peace and the coming of love. Amidst the festivities stands a stable in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago where love was born in the form of a tiny baby, a baby who would become our saviour. Who gave up his life for you out of love. We are reminded of this in the beautiful words of Isaiah 43. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you
3 Love is a word which is used a lot at this time of year. Christmas cards signed with love, gifts bought with love. Christmas films based on love but what greater love is there than that of God shown through his son Jesus Christ. To misquote the famous advert, God s love is for life not just for Christmas. So take hold of God s love this Christmas and take it with you into 2019. We don t know what next year will hold for us. There will be joys, there will be sadness, there will be challenges but we can face each event in life with the knowledge that God loves us. Each one of us is known to him and special. Christ was born in the manager for you. My hope is that you will remember that, when life is busy over the next few weeks, when you are knee deep writing Christmas cards, when you are ferrying children to parties and nativities, when you are searching for brussels sprouts in an empty supermarket on Christmas eve, remember how loved you are by God. As we enter a new year, I pray that as a church we will remember that as well, that our church family will grow and flourish and in doing so will become closer to God and to each other. 2019 will be an exciting year for me personally as Jason and I have set the 7 th September as our wedding date in St Nicholas and we look forward to celebrating our special day with you all. We have both been overwhelmed by cards, gifts, flowers and best wishes from so many people, so thank you all so much. I am very much looking forward to starting this new chapter in my life here in Lanark. I pray that 2019 will be a wonderful year for our church and for each one of you. I wish you all a very blessed and peaceful Christmas and a year full of love, joy and hope. Love and Blessings Louise
4 As you can see from the pictures below the members of the flower group continue to make our sanctuary beautiful with their attractive floral decorations. Their talents are appreciated by all the congregation week by week. Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy an afternoon of flowers and fellowship. Nessie can give you all the details. Louise and Jason Congratulations on your engagement from all your friends in St Nicholas.
5 And did it happen that in a stable long ago a weary couple, whom no one wanted to know, should choose a manger, in spite of the danger, to hold and hallow the Lord below And did it happen that in the stillness of the night, the woman laboured to let God see the light, and bathed and dressed him, breastfed and blessed him, the Word incarnate whose time was right? And did it happen that news of this first reached the poor, compelled by angels to tiptoe to the door and see no trappings, just linen wrappings, a baby for certain and God for sure? And did it happen that all of this was meant to be, that God from distance should choose to be set free and show uniqueness, transformed in weakness, that I might touch him and he touch me? (Cloth for the Cradle/ Wild Goose Worship Group, 1901557014)
6 The girls and Leaders at 1 st Lanark have had an extremely busy start to the session with 20 girls and 6 leaders regularly attending. Our door is always open to new members. This year celebrates 125 years of the Girls Brigade as we know it today when the Girls Guildry,, The Girls Life Brigade and the Girls Brigade of Ireland amalgamated. Our motto remains Seek, Serve and Follow Christ with out aim being To help girls become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through self control, reverence and a sense of responsibility to find true enrichment of life. This all sounds very serious but it s actually s lot of fun and very enjoyable Thank you to all who attended and supported our quiz. I hope you all enjoyed your evening. We raised an amazing 200 which will go towards our annual fees to Girls Brigade Scotland. We have been extremely lucky to receive funding from Lanark and District Round table which we are using for our 125 th Anniversary Celebrations. The Juniors and Brigader are heading to the Science Centre for a sleepover I use the term lightly as I can t imagine there will be much sleeping going on! We helped out the Round Table at their Annual Fireworks display by selling Glowsticks. We also entered our mascot Gracie Bee into the Build a Guy competition. Our busy session continues with us taking part in Remembrance Day, Sing a Song for Christmas, attending Lanark Panto, a stall at the Christmas Fayre and having our Christmas party. Thanks to Lanark Rotary we are able to raise funds by selling Border Biscuits in the run up to Christmas. Heather Paterson Captain www.facebook.com/1stlanarkgb
7 Annual Budget Actual to 30/09/18 Actual to 30/09/17 Difference Standing Orders/ Envelopes 63,500 47,517 50,797 ( 3,280) (6.5%) Open Plate 19,500 8,033 9,236 ( 1,203) (13%) Total 83,000 55,550 60,033 ( 4,483) (7.5%) As you can see we are in the situation of facing another deficit. At the moment this is not a critical situation as we do have a large amount held in reserves, however this deficit could be reduced if every member of the congregation increased their weekly contribution on average by 50p. We as a kirk session recognise that our church is kept going by the generous offerings of our congregation but we would urge each member to prayerfully consider their giving. If you would like to make your offering by Banker s Order you will find a form included. If you need any further information please contact the Church Office. lanarkstnicholas@outlook.com 01555 666220
8 Due to the introduction of General Data Protection Regulations on 25 May this year we are unable to obtain names for needy families in our community from our usual sources. Social work was contacted and they will distribute anything we collect to those in need. They especially ask for gifts for teenagers as last year they had lots of gifts for younger children. It would be helpful for anyone in our congregation donating to wrap gifts and label them for boy or girl and age group it is suitable for. Foodstuffs are also required to make up food hampers. If you are donating anything please bring it to church by 9 December Community and Our World Group
9 After our summer break, the choir has been practising new pieces for the Christmas Concert which will take place on Sunday, 2nd December, 2018 at 3p.m. For this concert, we are always delighted to welcome our friends from Greyfriars Choir and Forth who add their talents to our performances every year, when we raise money for St Andrews Hospice. We are also very pleased to have a few new members at the Choir this year and we hope they will enjoy themselves at our practises which take place every Thursday evening from 7.30 to 9.00p.m. Everyone looks forward to a break in the middle of the practise for a cup of tea/coffee and a chat! If there are any budding choristers out there, please come along and join us on a Thursday night, when we experience great company, a few challenges and some great laughs. No auditions necessary!!! Eleanor McCallum
10 The Fellowship Group has taken steps to improve health and spirits by organising family friendly walks.
11 The walks, which started on 7th October, have so far been easy on welldefined footpaths and with minimal uphill, for example, Lanark Loch via the Beeches and New Lanark from Castlebank Park, finishing at The Inn on the Loch. The walk on 25th November, was up Cleghorn Road to Linthill, Potters Wynd, Smyllum and finishing at Lanark Golf Club. Everyone is welcome at any of the walks. A group of happy wanderers
12 The Guild nationally is continuing the three year, themed cycle of work which has seen its members reach record levels of giving, the focus of the Guild's work is to journey together with our communities, nation and world, both in sharing our faith and resources, and in doing everything in our power to bring about positive change. 2015-2018 projects The final total for 2015-2018 projects was an incredible 733,440 Ascension Trust: 130,099 Care for the Family: 111,592 Christian Aid: 111,038 Feed the Minds: 145,142 Mission International: 120,252 Prospects: 115,315 2018 2022 projects Free to Live Trust Boy s Brigade Malawi Fruits Sailor s Society World Mission Council CrossReach Join up the Dots You can find out more about these projects on the following webpage. http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/serve/the_guild/projects
13 The team from the Church were on duty outside St Nicholas providing hot chocolate and mulled wine for the crowds coming out to see the procession. We went through 42 pints of milk and 26 bottles of mulled wine!! The volunteers involved on the night had a whale of a time and have been thinking of ways to make any future similar events successful. It was a cold night but the warm hearts more than made up for the temperature.
14 Forthcoming services and events for Christmas 2 December 2018 3pm Choir concert 9 December 10:30am Sacrament of Holy Communion 9 December 3pm A Space for Reflection 16 December 10:30am Service of 9 lessons and carols followed by fellowship with mulled wine 23 December 10:30am Family Nativity Service 24 December 11:30pm Watchnight Service 25 December 10am Christmas Day Service 30 December 11am Service in Greyfriars 6 January 2019 10:30am Service in St Nicholas Please come along and celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.
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