Beloved in Christ

As this is typed, I have just come out of a 2-hour Zoom meeting with 32 others, entitled, ‘Our Digital church’. It’s one of those times when I sit looking at a massive mountain, comprised of technology available and accessible, to share information and be invitational to the world! I know we have to get to the top, or at least, start the climb. How, is the issue? I am well aware that you are each working very hard for, and loving church, and that moving into the future will require yet more effort and time. Let’s start another leg of the journey by faith and foot!

When last did you look at our church website? Could you, and give us your views as to how useful they are, what you’d suggest could be updated or changed, and what you like most? \in what way could you help us to get it user-friendly and accessible?

Psalm 23, (in this Sunday’s readings) is pertinent: it shows us how to put each foot into the next spot, no matter how tough the terrain.  When I have had to climb a mountain, metaphorically, that is, to move into a new space or place, I take heed of the psalmist’s testimony and direction.  In lyrical terms, David walks us through his own spiritual, physical reflection and journey, and in so doing, invites us to pick up our burden, and follow God. We do not know the final destination, apart from the assurance that it will give us peace and ‘I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

Psalm 23 calms the soul. It is beautiful to anticipate a service when the hymns undergird the themes of God’s provision and protection, giving us assurance.   Covid and sustained lockdown is today’s valley of the shadow of death.  The psalmist urges us to put our trust in God, as the need for a journey is upon us, as is the acceptance that we lie by the roadside desiring attention, help, knowing that the good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25 to 37) will notice and care for us, rescue us, and take us to a safe space for healing. We are supported along the way, to return to a season of fresh and new green pastures.

READINGS

Isaiah 25: 1 – 9; Psalm 23; Philippians 4: 1-9; Matthew 22; 1 -14

HYMNS

All my hope on God is founded

SUNG PSALM 23

The God of love my shepherd is

Tell out my soul

Immortal, invisible, God only wise

We have been pondering how to make up for our after-Sunday service chat over a cup of coffee, and here is our idea!  It is a cuppa, at a safe venue, at your own table with your friend, during the week, in our home town…….

1.    JOIN US FOR A WEEK-TIME COFFEE AND CHAT.

We can meet at tables within the rule of 6 maximum (no more than 2 households).  Why not bring a friend, not necessarily from church, or even our congregation! We can greet each other, and share space in togetherness!

We plan to do this on a rolling weekly basis!

Thursday afternoon from 1pm at the Larick centre, Tayport

and/or

Friday afternoon from 1pm, at Manna Coffee shop, Newport on Tay

I will be there, with a friend, to host you.  No pre-booking is allowed, so let us hope that we can all fit in.  You will pay for whatever you would like to order.

Feel free to email if you will be coming – it will not be taken as a booking, but good to know if you can come!

Really look forward to seeing you there next week!

2.    ALPHA COURSE IN NOVEMBER

Scottish interfaith week is from the 8 to 15 November, and we hope to gather our faith communities together, sharing and talking. We are planning an ecumenical Alpha on Zoom course!

Thus far, the Church of Scotland, in Newport, with Minister Dr Amos Chewatong, and in Tayport, MoragAnne Elder-Flett are delighted to bless this and give it full support. There are a few others who have offered to help and support too.

We are praying that each congregation will participate fully.

More details will follow but please pray into this and give us your support as well. We are planning for a weekly Zoom video at 7 to 8 on a Tuesday evening.  If you would like to sip coffee or have your meal during the half-hour video, do relax into that!

We suggest that we start in mid-November, carry through till mid-December and resume mid-January

Lots on the go together!

Blessings

Kathy Barrable

07552 503859

Dear brothers and sisters in Chist 

Last week’s Harvest Festival was lovely, and thank you for your kind donations.  Those in need, through various food banks, will be most grateful. It was a wonderful privilege to enter St Margaret’s and St Mary’s and witness the indoor beauty of the changing season in flowers, and appreciate your gifting to the church!

What weather! On one of my sorties this morning, I encountered people actually apologising for the weather, saying, ‘It’s not usually like this….’ However, thanks to my little dog, and my son, and grandchildren, the weather is undampening to my enthusiasm! It is glorious in its own way, with rain noisily pattering on the newly-fallen leaves, brown, and glistening freshly from the goldening, yellowing rustling treetops.

I am sure we would agree that a Christian can never complain about being confined to an increase in indoor cosiness, as there is an invitation to deepen our faith through reading, reflection and personal prayer.  We have been following themes of self-reflection, particularly of our past, re-visiting phases or incidents which might provoke joy, poignancy or maybe helplessness and a sense of loss.  It is cathartic to feel the crucifixion of the unwanted traps in memory, and to arise from their tomb, feeling more free and light and positive.  For Christ comes to set the prisoner free, and make our burden light.

Herewith the video we used last week, on our Wednesday Zoom chat.  You can pick it up and watch the YouTube video, entitled, ‘Coronavirus: God can you hear us?’ by Nicky Gumbel – HTB at home (HTB stands for Holy Trinity, Anglican church, Brompton. London).  It is both interesting and provocative in terms of our prayer life which sometimes becomes stale, or we feel, even irrelevant in tough times.   Nick Gumble and his team have transformed countless people through Alpha courses (videos on Questions on Life, and then allowing time for group discussion.) I know how much congregations enjoy the course, as I have been part of Alpha for many a year.  I am finding that other denominations locally in Tayport and Newport would like the idea of joining an Alpha group together with us in the near future. (It works very well on Zoom, as we can all watch a theme video, then break into a little group, then come together to chat afterwards!  The great thing about it is that you can watch the video on YouTube should you miss a session!)

I do commend those of you who have taken the leap into using online videoing such as Zoom, wassap, Facebook and so on: our children and grandchildren, every business and even shopping is moving that way. If you would like us to help you with getting connected to join us, we can certainly help you.

The readings today are not altogether comfortable, as we are urged to reflect on how we are behaving in our world, often turning to material comforts before the comfort God alone can give us when things are not going well – perhaps at this very moment locked into Covid. There are strong images of wine farming, from the perspective of tenants, owners, workers…. bearers of cultivating a culture from cherished old stock, to bear fruit in a new land. Paul gives a striking testimony on his Christian value system and code of conduct.

Readings for this week are:

Isaiah 5: 1 – 7

Psalm 80: 7 – 14

Philippians3: 4b – 14

Matthew 21: 33 – 46

God bless and look forward to seeing you soon!
Kathy Barrable

07552 503 859

Beloved in Christ

This week we break away from the teachings of the Pentecost season, to celebrate harvest!

It is necessary to halt our life journey to gather to say thank you to God for the abundance of the earth.  We have moved so far from co-existence and co-operation between nature and humankind, yet this vulnerable living earth has continued to hold us, keep us and sustain us.  After just passing the autumn equinox on the 22^nd, Tuesday, we look on a wonderful harvest.  I have never lived so close to the farmland before, its produce growing alongside our paths, the harvest, the bales of hay, fresh ploughing and seeding.  Thank you Lord for awakening us to your bounty, the changes, as a good season has yielded its harvest, and that there are good prospects for the next season.

Of course, our liturgical colours echo this green season, and we have much for which to be thankful and grateful.  In our prayers, let us enumerate our blessings, and in community for their faithfulness and positivity.  I endeavour to, like you, keep close to all the churches in our two villages, and share the desire to live together, and explore ways of deepening our bonds.  I ask for your prayers please. I am delighted that St Mary’s and St Margaret’s cross-pollinate so much and within their respective communities, sharing our spiritual harvest with others.

I urge you to look at your own harvest in this past year.  How have you changed, allowed God to breath newly into you, heal you, comfort you, restore you? It is my first harvest here, and it was hard not to seek to be part of the flower arrangers and helpers.  I am trying to ‘be’ not ‘do’! Tomorrow, I will share and I feel excited at the prospect. Harvest time, in the midst of bounty and beauty, is a good time to consider your life, and what your lifetime harvest brings in, how you are serving others as part of your covenant with God, as his chosen one in a chosen community, and of faith.  It has been a time of poignant memory for me, and bit by bit each part has been a coloured growth of my own harvest.  A lifetime is a short season, and you, I and God have more seasons to share. 

Tomorrow awaits and we will take lots of pictures to share with you, if you cannot be at church.

Regarding church matters, I attach the latest in the guidelines for Covid safety. I think we are doing our best to keep safe, but do read, especially the part about sanitising before and after taking communion.  I see a number of us are bringing our own sanitisers which is easier than using the positioned ones in church.

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Message%20on%20behalf%20of%20the%20College%20of%20Bishops%20(24.09.20).pdf

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Revised%20Phase%203%20Guidance%20(Version%205%20-%2024.9.2020)%20(marked%20up).pdf

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Revised%20Pastoral%20Guidelines%20for%20Phase%203%20(Version%204%20-%2024.09.20)%20(highlighted).pdf

file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/%7B17B2B1A2-50A2-4777-90F7-AD0BF5579720%7D/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20for%20Phase%203%20(Version%204%20-%2024.09.20)%20(highlighted).pdf

Here are the readings:

READINGS

Deuteronomy 8: 7 – 18

Psalm 65

2 Corinthians 9: 6 – 15

Luke 12: 16 – 30

You might like to look up and sing some of the harvest hymns:

105, 128#, 291#, 290

And now, some poetry, to let you adventure into a new or familiar time, and glorify God! They are selected by Ann Bridges, for your pleasure.  You might like to use some of the words for your prayer:

1. A Thanksgiving to God

Tis Thou that crownst my glittering hearth 

         With guiltless mirth; 

And givst me wassail-bowls to drink, 

         Spiced to the brink. 

Lord, tis Thy plenty-dropping hand 

         That feeds my land; 

And givst me, for my bushel sown, 

         Twice ten for one; 

Thou makst my teeming hen to lay 

         Her egg each day; 

Besides my healthful ewes to bear 

         Me twins each year; 

The while the conduits of my kine 

         Run cream, for wine. 

All these, and better, Thou dost send 

         Me, to this end, 

That I should render, for my part, 

         A thankful heart, 

Which, fired with incense, I resign, 

         As wholly Thine; 

But the acceptance, that must be, 

         My Christ, by Thee. 

Robert Herrick

 2. The Harvest

Sun on the mountain,

Shade in the valley,

Sun, like a gold sword

Plucked from the scabbard,

Striking the wheat-fields,

Splendid and lusty,

Close-standing, full-headed,

Toppling with plenty.

Shade, like a shield,

Kindly and ample,

Sweeping the wheat-fields

Darkening and tossing.

Acres of gold wheat

Stir in the sunshine,

Rounding the hill-top,

Crested with plenty,

Filling the valley,

Brim with abundance,

Laden with odours

Of peace and of plenty,

Soft comes the wind

From the ranks of the wheat-field,

Bearing a promise 

Of harvest and sickle-time,

And wagons of bread,

Slow-laden and lumbering

Through the gateways of cities.

Duncan Campbell Scott

3. Tis sweet, when fields are ringing

With the merry crickets singing,

Oft to mark with curious eye

If the vine-trees time be nigh:

Here is now the fruit whose birth

Cost some throes to Mother Earth.

Sweet it is, too, to be telling,

How the luscious figs are swelling;

Then to riot without measure

In the rich, nectareous treasure,

While our grateful voices chime,–

Happy season! blessed time. 

Aristophanes

Thank you to each of you for your non-perishables, for your steadfastness, the time preparing the loveliness, and for a beautiful leaflet!

God bless! Be thankful! Keep joyful and share, so that others might benefit from your kindness.

Kathy Barrable

07554 805 359

Beloved in Christ
Grace and peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ!
I pray that you are coping within the spots of resurgence of Covid, and finding that the ‘Rule of 6’ (people and 2 households) is not frustrating you too much. From what I hear from the PrimeMinister, we should be very cautious as we expect to enter a possible wave of Covid. Let us pray together for safety, and awareness of the needs of others. Let us pray too for the development of a vaccine before winter sets in. I know we are finding this time a challenge, and please know that you are prayed for by name.
I am very proud of our community, and the caution you are exercising, yet coming to church and being in communion together. For those of you shielding at home, it has been a great privilege to visit you and receive your loving hospitality. The weather has been fine enough to be able to sit outside!
Newport today is scented with the whiff of manure, so farmers are preparing for winter crops already, as they plow their fields again after the summer harvest. It is a privilege to have the country so close to us that we are a part of seasonal movement, and encounter some of the dear little animals along the way: I speak of toads, hedgehogs and squirrels, and the birds chattering away in their language of uninhibited cheerfulness. I believe that there are otters in Tayview estate! (I have
spent a lifetime of hide and seek elusiveness with them and look forward to an encounter!)

So of course we look forward to HARVEST FESTIVAL next Sunday. I hear whispers of plans and organising for the occasion, and I look forward to sharing it all with you!

This week we will be looking at the readings in the framework of James Fowler’s 6 stages of faith development. I have found it very interesting to look at this model once again and in the light of the week’s readings, after many years of studenthood, and apply those stages to Jonah, running from God, railing against God, and witnessing God’s compassion for and love of the people of Nineveh,
outsiders to the Hebrew faith. How many examples do we not have of Jesus
healing and addressinSamaritans, travelling itheir country, welcominthe outsiders, those whare reviled and outcast? Iis a salutary lesson for us. The gospel parable of the
landlord who pays those who might not have worked as long and hard as those faithful ones reminds me of the Prodigal Son, whose elder brother adopts much of the same attitude. I thought that you might like to look at your own faith path through a refreshing although challenging new lens today. See how your life’s religious path has been, whether you yearn to break out of a stale pattern of thinking and into a broader faith, or whether you know others who have moved along and a step up. It might be that lockdown has made you slip backwards, in the isolation and frustration which affects us so keenly. I also know that outsiders imagine that the Christian doctrine has either hurt them or put them off entering the main doors of the church. I do know, from Jesus, that every soul on this earth yearns for a spiritual connection, and we who have that can learn from them as to how to share it. Enjoy the exercise!

The readings are: Jonah 3: 10 – 4: 11; Psalm 145: 1 – 8; Philippians1: 21 – 30; Matthew 20: 1 – 16
Hymns are:
St Mary’s: 224 Lead us heavenly father lead us….1,2,3; 233 O thou who camest from
above…1,3,4;104# Holy, holy, holy, holy…1,4,5;91# Great is thy faithfulness… 1,2,3
St Margaret’s:1. Be thou my vision 70; 2. Lord, thy word abideth 420; Holy, holy, holy 286 Great is thy faithfulness

Collect: Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth, and ourselves in your image. Teach us to discern your hand in all your works and to serve you with reverence and thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

OUR ZOOM meeting on Wednesday at 8 will look at Fowler’s model in more depth. Hope to see you there. Otherwise, let us share what you think?
Remember that the online service from the SCE is on from 11am on Sundays and the Service of the Word on Thursday evening.
May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
And give you peace
Kathy Barrable
0755 503 859