PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH

OCTOBER 2013

WELCOME TO PILRIG St PAUL’S OCTOBER 2013

SUNDAY 6th OCTOBER HARVEST FESTIVAL Please bring gifts for the foodbank, see inside back cover.

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ALL MEMBERS AND FRIENDS ARE INVITED TO THE INDUCTION OF OUR NEW MINISTER MARK FOSTER AT 7pm ON THURSDAY 24th OCTOBER IN THE SUNCTUARY, FOLLOWED BY REFRESHMENTS IN THE HALL Please contact LINDA GILL (669 7409) if you would like transport to this Service

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THE MINISTER AND KIRK SESSION of PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH INVITE

ALL MEMBERS AND THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, SINCERELY, TO

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION AT 11 am ON SUNDAY 27th OCTOBER

---------- SUNDAY SERVICES AT 11 AM The “OPEN DOORWAY” is open each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am - 1.00pm. Enter by the main door. Our wheelchair entrances are in Pilrig Street. PILRIG St PAUL’S ORGANISATIONS (please contact leaders for time and place) Sundays - Sunday Club, 10:45 am for ages P1-S4 (Mark Wexelstein 665 6881) Mondays - Rainbows and Brownies (Christine Buchanan 554 2941) Tuesdays - The Guild 2.00pm (Irene Wexelstein 476 1385) SEE PAGE 8 Wednesdays - Lunch club 12 noon (Marjory McArthur 553 2323) All youth choirs Contact Colin Gray 07901 556 217 Thursdays Rainbows and Brownies(Ann Urquhart 554 8387) Guides (Karen Wood 554 5493) Tuesdays The 5th Leith Scouts (Pilrig Edinburgh North East) Beavers, Cubs and Scouts 5 3/4 14 years PASTORAL CONVENER Mrs Linda Gill (669 7409) helpinghands@pilrigstpauls.org.uk

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October 2013. Dear all, When I first came to Leith in May 2011 it was to act as Locum minister at South Leith Church. Two and a half years later I now find myself bidding farewell to the third of the three Leith congregations that I have worked with over that time, the other being, of course, Leith St Andrew’s. It has been a very interesting experience to see the Church of Scotland in Leith from 3 perspectives. Each congregation has its own strengths and weaknesses, its own character and its own take on what the Church should be doing in Leith. I really hope and pray that, now that all 4 congregations have their own minister in post once again, there will be more collaborative action and worship between the congregations. Many people in each of the congregations know that the Church has to find new ways of being the Church. What is needed now is the leadership to take these 4 congregations forward into a new future. And I’m not just talking about the paid ministers here. I’m talking about the people of vision within each congregation, some of whom need to be encouraged to come out of the shadows to take their place in leadership roles.

I would like to thank you all at Pilrig St Paul’s for being such a warm and friendly congregation to work with. I have been particularly heartened by the energy and commitment that are evident in the setting up of the Pastoral group and by what it has achieved in the short time since its inception. It just goes to show how much can be accomplished by small groups of people focused on a particular task. Maybe this is the way ahead along with a discernment of where the energy of the members would best be directed.

Radical change is never easy for any of us but change is part of being alive – and very often we are surprised by the benefits that change can bring. So let me encourage you to dream dreams and to share with each other your vision of how you, the Church in Leith, can reach out in love to the wider community. Rev. George MacLeod once said that the Church is the only institution that does not exist for the benefit of its members. So my prayer for Pilrig St Paul’s – and for all the churches in Leith – is that you will find new ways to share the love of God with all those who will never be members of any church but who need to know that God loves them and that God is with them.

May God direct you and bless you in all that you undertake in His name.

Sara 2

Induction of Rev. Mark Foster The induction of our new minister, Rev. Mark Foster, will take place on Thursday 24th October at 7pm. Presbytery approved the call made by us when it met on Tuesday 17th September and approved the date for the induction. We hope you will all attend this service to mark the beginning of the next chapter in the work of Pilrig St. Paul’s Church. This brings to the end a year of hard work by the nominating committee. We considered 5 applications and out of these listened to 4 ministers preach and also interviewed all 4. At the end of this there were 2 candidates we considered for sole nominee and were pleased to ask Mark to preach on Sunday 1st September as sole nominee. As many will know the vote was 80 for and 0 against. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the nominating committee for all their work over the last year and for making all the time required available when asked. Mark Wexelstein Convener of the nominating committee

FROM THE CLERK’S DESK On Sunday 1 September the congregation voted unanimously to appoint Rev Mark Foster as our new minister. This marks the conclusion of our period of vacancy which began when Rev John Tait retired on 27 October 2012. The date for Mark’s induction has now been set by Presbytery last week as 24 October and this will mean we have spent 362 days or 51 weeks 5 days in vacancy. This is not considered to be a long time in the sometimes glacial progress of church business and we’re delighted to have concluded the vacancy as quickly as possible. We have taken time during this last year to reflect on what we want for the coming years as a church in Leith and have chosen a minister who we feel can lead us into a period of revitalisation and perhaps growth. One era has ended and a new one begins, let us hope that we can make the most of the

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opportunities which present themselves to become a more vibrant and effective congregation serving our parish and our members. During our period of vacancy we have been fortunate to have worked with a variety of people providing locum cover, Gary Peacock, Maggie Hunt and Sara Embleton as well as pulpit supply from George Whyte, Nikki Macdonald, Ron Smith, Murray Chalmers, Andrew Morton and Fiona Tweedie and I’d like to thank them all for their contributions to the life of Pilrig St. Paul’s over the last year. I’d also like to thank our Interim Moderator Rev Jack Holt for his guidance and advice during the vacancy. I’d also like to thank the many people who kept the life of the congregation going during the vacancy by doing the many tasks needed to run all the organisations and events which make up our living witness here at Pilrig St. Paul’s, without your efforts we would be nothing. The next big milestone is the Induction Service on 24 October where the congregation along with Presbytery and the other Leith churches will join together to welcome Mark Foster as our new Minister. We are planning to have a buffet after the service so I hope you can come to the service and stay on for a bite to eat and to hear us thank everyone who has supported us through our vacancy. I was saddened to hear of the death of Andrew Morton’s wife Marion earlier this month. Andrew had been scheduled to provide pulpit supply but had withdrawn due to Marion’s illness. I ask that you hold Andrew in your prayers at this difficult time. John Innes Session Clerk

Many of the congregation have commented on the hard work by John and Mark during the vacancy, and all the regulations they have had to come to grips with. These pages seem to be an appropriate place to pass on our thanks to them and to the nominating committee – we had the easy bit, staying at Pilrig St Paul’s each Sunday. I am sure they all put in many more hours than we shall ever know. Thank you all. Catriona Blackwood Editor

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Pastoral Care - Helping Hands Things continue to go well and the team are pleased with our progress to date. Thank you, once again, to those who have helped us. Thanks also go to Sara who has continued to make pastoral visits to our members. The good news is that all requested visits have been made and in some cases Sara has visited individuals more than once. Pastoral Care Team Sara Embleton Catriona Blackwood Christine Edington Ella Gilfillan Linda Gill Cathy Purdie Fiona Rankin Jeanette Sime Since our last update we have held another meeting where we reviewed progress and feedback to date. I thought it might be useful to provide a summary of the processes we have put in place to date.

We now have a comprehensive record of all pastoral activity ensuring

all requests are actioned. There is regular information in the Parish Magazine about our activity. We link with Roy Eprile in relation to the Prayer Corner. We now send Pastoral Care cards for a variety of occasions to

members and people linked to our Church. We have a supply of gospels that will be available on Sundays and at

the Open Doorway for people in need of support. We are also developing prayer cards and sourcing a book of readings and prayers to be handed out where appropriate.

The pew cards are in place for Sunday service and at the Open Doorway.

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Our pew cards are working on Sundays and the Open Doorway. Please remember to fill in a card if there is anyone you think who would appreciate some pastoral contact. We have included a copy of the card in this month’s magazine for you to cut out and retain should you need it at some future point. The team is also happy for you to approach them at any time or you can phone or e-mail me per the details below. (Apologies that this was not included in last month’s issue, this was due to the large content relating to the vacancy). Fiona Rankin and Cathy Purdie have designed some lovely new bespoke Pastoral Care cards for us to send out to members of the congregation and those in need of our support. Samples of the cards will be made available for you once they have been produced. Ella Gilfillan and I are setting up a car pool of members who have access to a car and would be willing to bring members, unable to get to the service on their own, to the service on Sundays. This would be as and when you are able to help out rather than a request to provide transport every week. If you can help out in any way please let us know. This month I would like to extend the thanks from the team to those who deliver flowers from the service each Sunday. As we see in the Parish magazine each month people are so pleased with the visit from you as well as receiving the flowers. If you deliver flowers and think that some other form of contact would also be appropriate, perhaps a follow-up visit or a card through the post please let me know.

Keep a light in your eye and a song on your lips

And you can face today Keep a good friend in your heart

And you can face tomorrow Keep a little hope and faith in your soul

And you can face the world.

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As ever, if you would like to help by delivering flowers, posting a card or visiting one of our members please speak to any one of our team. Finally a big thank you to Gary, Maggie and Sara for all their pastoral work during our vacancy. Sara has also been a great support for us while we were establishing our new processes. We look forward to working with Mark going forward. More news for you next month. Linda Gill Pastoral Care Team 669-7409 or helpinghands@pilrigstpauls.org.uk

THANK YOU

Thanks to all for my Birthday cards and to Irene Eprile for giving me the church flowers. Maureen Eunson

Jean Ramage would like to say thank you for the church flowers, the many cards and birthday wishes she received - including the rendition of Happy Birthday in the church! - to mark her 80th birthday. She was very touched, and it added to her enjoyment of her birthday celebration. Shelagh Collier-Green would like to say thank you for the church flowers which she received, after she had some minor surgery. "It was such a lovely surprise and very much appreciated." A big thank you to everyone for the lovely flowers I received from Aileen. It was a kind thought and very much appreciated. Nancy Fleming. Irene and Maurice Wexelstein would like to thank the church for the flowers they got recently.

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MORE WHAT’S ON…

Craft Corner @ Ocean Terminal, 14-18 October, 10.30-12.30. This will be a cosy and fun 'drop-in' space for children aged from 5-12. It is organised by the Leith churches during the school holiday week!

Could you help for an hour or two? If so, please contact Jennifer Stark (0777 9900024, outreach@leithchurchestogether.org.uk) or Pauline Rycroft (07759436303, pauline70@rocketmail.com). Look out for posters in the church.

THE GUILD ALL MEETINGS ARE AT 2pm IN THE SESSION ROOM October 8th Afternoon Tea October 22nd Sound of silence

The Magazine Thanks for everything received for this magazine. Please may I have contributions for November by 20th October?

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PILRIG PARLOUR I would like to thank everyone who helped to make the parlour a success once again. We raised the sum of £2563.00 Included in this sum are about £200 in donations and £200 from the lovely knitting we sold. I would like to say a big thank you to Jean and the rest of the committee who helped in many ways and a special thanks to Ronnie and Margaret Cameron for going shopping nearly every day for the bread and anything else we needed. Also, to Alex and Mark for keeping us supplied with toasties and all the people who supplied the ingredients and made the soup and crumbles. We were a bit disappointed with the support from the congregation. Irene Wexelstein and the Parlour Committee A big thank you from all the congregation for the excellent job done by Irene and the committee. BACKCARE – LOTHIAN BRANCH Please come along on Saturday, 19th October between 10.30am and 12.30pm to our annual coffee morning. Treat yourself to some home baking, buy a book and try your luck on the Tombolla stall. Tickets, £1, include tea/coffee and biscuits. They will be available form Fiona Rankin from Sunday 6th October. Entry is free for accompanied children. Remember to write your name and a contact number on the reverse of your ticket for entry into the ‘lucky ticket draw’ Last year’s grand total, including donations, was £503.00

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THE CHOIR is busy preparing for Mark Foster’s induction and we all look forward to welcoming, hopefully, some new recruits. It would be really good to have some more people in the choir so that we can sing anthems more often. Give it a try! INTERESTED IN THE CHOIR? PLEASE CONTACT COLIN GREY ON 07901 556 217 OR SPEAK TO HIM AT CHURCH Prayer Corner Some of you may have seen the name Matthew Green in prayer corner over a long period. I'd like to tell you a bit about him and say thank you for your past and continued prayers for him. Matthew is my brother-in-law, younger brother of my late husband James, and sadly he has the same genetic heart condition which caused James' suddenly death aged 34 - Matt is also something of a medical celebrity. Matt's heart started failing around 5 years ago - a very scary prospect for a 37 year old with a 2 year old little boy. And as it continued to fail he was placed on the transplant list and had to wait for tragedy in another family to offer him and our family a more optimistic outlook. As Matt continued to deteriorate and no donor heart emerged, the medical team at Papworth Hospital began to consider an alternative option: buying some time by making Matt the first person in the UK to receive an artificial heart. Another scary prospect but better than the alternative as Matt became increasingly weak and vulnerable. So in Spring 2011 Matt's heart was removed and replaced with an artificial heart made from plastic and rubber and driven by compressed air. An amazing piece of science & technology and medical care that eventually enabled Matt to walk around accompanied by a small shopping trolley containing the large battery operated pump (and back up pump!) - although he spent most of his time plugged into the mains.

For two years his noisy pump attracted a fair amount of attention and made sleeping a challenge for his poor wife, Gill. Then in April 2013

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Matt received a real donor heart. He spent 99 days in Papworth before being allowed home to try to re-establish a normal life with Gill and Dylan. Matthew's kidneys were damaged as a result of the trauma his body has suffered so he receives regular dialysis and the future is still uncertain, but Matt remains one of the most optimistic, cheerful and uncomplaining people I know. So thank you for the prayers for Matt, they're much appreciated by me and all the family. It would be nice to keep Matt (and Gill and Dylan) in your prayers from time to time, and I would also ask that you remember the many donor families who, in their suffering and loss, provide happiness and hope to others. Thank you Shelagh Collier-Green (nee Ramage)

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PRAYER CORNER Ina Grierson Margaret Scott Jean Stark Barbara Graham Isabel Hannay Cathie Galbraith Matthew Green Frances Chambers Jimmy Rennie Marion Thomson Jeanette Sime Maurice Wexelstein Lorna Burke June Welsh Murdo and Joy MacLeod Charlie and Joyce Forman Linda Connolly Phil Howe Jack McArthur Helena Aide Morag Davidson Isabel Pert Lillian Kane Agnes MacAuley Helen Grieg Marion Murray Diane Davies Please contact Roy Eprile with any names you would like included in this section.

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PLEASE USE THIS LIST AS A GUIDE WHEN BRINGING THINGS FOR THE FOODBANK – OUR EXCITING AND WORTHWHILE NEW PROJECT CONTACT ROY EPRILE FOR MORE INFORMATION

MINISTER From 24th October 2013 Rev Mark Foster Locum Minister - Rev Sara Embleton (0131 667 3981)srembleton@gmail.com SESSION CLERK John Innes - 33 Monktonhall Place, Musselburgh (07563 248722) pilrig@btinternet.com THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD CLERK Aileen Fraser (07936 716 765) aileen.fraser@btinternet.com ASSISTANT CLERK Maria Croall (07747 071 545) croallm@hotmail.com CORRESPONDENCE to: The Clerk to the Congregational Board Pilrig St Paul’s Church, 1B Pilrig Street, Edinburgh EH6 5AH TREASURER Mark Wexelstein (665 6881) mark.wexelstein@googlemail.com ROLL KEEPER Mrs Jeanette E. Sime - 1 South Trinity Road (552 9652) PASTORAL CONVENER Mrs Linda Gill (669 7409) PASTORAL LINK ELDER and SAFEGUARDING CO-ORDINATOR Mrs Catriona E.W. Blackwood - 4 Cambridge Gardens (554 6183) bill.blackwood@tesco.net PROPERTY CONVENER Eric Fisher (552 8982) 104 Crewe Crescent HALL LET GROUP psp.halluse@gmail.com ORGANIST and CHOIRMASTER Colin Grey (07901 556 217) SUNDAY CLUB LEADER Mark Wexelstein (665 6881) mark.wexelstein@googlemail.com CHRISTIAN GIVINGS CONVENERS Mrs Ella Gilfillan - 8 Paisley Terrace (661 2281) Mrs Irene Wexelstein - 15 Upper Hermitage (476 1 385) MAGAZINE Editor - Mrs Catriona E.W. Blackwood - see above Distribution - Mrs Margaret Cameron - 35 Lorne Street (554 2139) Scottish Charity no. SCO07277 www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk www.leithchurchesforum.org.uk