Rector’s Letter – January 2026
St James the Less Penicuik and St Mungo West Linton
Scottish Episcopal Churches
The Rectory
23 Broomhill Road
Penicuik
EH26 9EE
01968 678254
07950 607574
Rector.pandwl@gmail.com
31st December 2025
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Rector’s letter for January 2026
Personal Notes
As I write this we are on the seventh of the twelve days of the liturgical season of Christmas. I never tire of the nativity stories and of the prologue to John’s gospel that we hear in this season. And it seems, that it is true for many others.
The Lessons and Carols service at St James on Sunday 21st December drew about 115 people into church and the choir augmented by some ‘visitors’ shook the rafter with their singing. The family crib service at St Mungo’s on Christmas Eve was also well attended, with about 65 people present. It is always a lovely service to lead, and to see the excitement in the eyes of the children. It is an important service, as for many children this will be their only exposure to church and the story of the birth of Jesus, and what that means for us all. Many thanks to all who supported our services over this Christmas season, many working away in the background to ensure our churches looked lovely, refreshments were available, and the services ran smoothly.
Next Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, when we remember and celebrate the arrival of the Magi, gentiles who travelled from foreign lands to worship the King of the Jews. The Epiphany is a time to acknowledge that Jesus ministry was to all peoples, and this ‘showing’ or ‘revelation’ of the Messiah to people from other faiths and kingdoms was indicator that Christ came to earth for all people.
By the 2nd week of Advent I finished reading ‘The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope’ by Kelley Nikondeha, (ISBN 979-8-8898-3825-8) which explores the context of the first Advent, of Roman occupation and the struggles of the people, and describes the current context and struggles too. It was published in August this year. I recommend it to you, as it explores issues which are faced today by people who live in the Holy Land. I am happy to lend this to anyone who wishes to read it.
The process of electing a new Bishop is well underway. The shortlisting of candidates to be presented to the Electoral Synod should be completed by now and members of the Electoral Synod will be sent papers on each nominee in January. All members of the Electoral Synod are sworn to secrecy – there will be no public list of who the shortlisted people are, so please don’t ask us who is on the list.
The two meetings of the Electoral Synod are provisionally set for:
- 7th February 2026 (meeting with the candidates)
- 14th February 2026 (meeting to elect a Bishop)
The service in the style of Taizé at St Mungo’s on the second Sunday of every month, and at St James the Less on the 3rd Sunday of every month are going well. At St Mungo’s on 11th January at 3.30pm I will give a talk on the history of Taizé and give an account of my time there last summer.
The Beers and Carols in Penicuik and West Linton went well. Although there weren’t many people in the Gordon Arms for it, I had some good conversations with some of the people there.
The advert for a Priest-in-Charge of St Peter’s Peebles and St Andrew’s Innerleithen did not elicit any formal applications. A revised advert is being published in January. Please pray that someone feels called to that particular ministry.
The introduction of Night Church in both churches has been interesting, and although numbers attending are low, those who have attended have appreciated a space with quiet music and various resources, including poetry. The positive comments about having access to a range of poetry books has led me to offer an afternoon of poetry, on Saturday 17th January at 2pm in the hall at St James the Less. Do you have a favourite poem? Do you like finding out about poets and poems you haven’t encountered before? Why not join us for a relaxed session over tea and biscuits, where we can explore some poems and poets together? Bring along your favourite, or come along and look through some poetry anthologies and see what speaks to you.
Over the last year we have experimented with two services at St Mungo’s on the third Sunday of the month. We have decided to revert to having one service on the third Sunday at 10.30 am at St Mungo’s, from January.
News and new things happening
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – 4th January
At the first Sunday lunch on 4th December, we will be asking for donations to support the work of the Broomhill Day Care Centre.
St Mungo’s AGM – Sunday 11th January
We shall be holding the AGM for St Mungo’s directly after the 10.30 am service of Holy Communion. Although the AGM sounds like we are ticking a bureaucratic box, it is an essential part of the church’s life, and is an extension of our coming together to worship our Lord. Please do join us at 10.30 am for the service and then stay for the AGM.
Talk on the Ecumenical Christian Community at Taizé – Sunday 11th January at 3.30 pm, St Mungo’s Church
I am going to repeat the talk I gave at St James in November, at St Mungo’s, prior to the 2nd Sunday Taizé service there.
I will give a talk about the origins and history of the ecumenical community at Taizé in Burgundy, describe the weekly programme and offer some personal reflections on my week there in July alongside the group from the Diocese of Edinburgh. Refreshments will be provided.
Poetry Afternoon – Saturday 17th at 2pm, St James the Less
Do you have a favourite poem? Do you like finding out about poets and poems you haven’t encountered before? Why not join us for a relaxed session over tea and biscuits, where we can explore some poems and poets together? Bring along your favourite, or come along and look through some poetry anthologies and see what speaks to you.
Monday Study Group ‘Meeting Jesus’ – 12th January to 9th February 2026 at 10.30 am at St James the Less
During 2026 we shall hold a number of sessions under the title ‘Meeting Jesus’. In the first set of five sessions we will explore and discuss some of the stories Jesus told. The scripture readings for each week are in the Monthly List. We shall run a second set of five sessions after Easter, on the Miracles Jesus Performed.
Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study, on Zoom – 13th January to 10th February at 2pm. Reading the Gospel of Matthew.
The new liturgical year started on Advent Sunday. In our three-year cycle of Bible reading, we moved from Year C to Year A. The main gospel for the Lectionary in Year A is Matthew’s gospel. This will not be a classic Bible Study; more a chance to share reading the gospel in large sections, to appreciate the flow of the story and where Matthew’s focus lies.
Penicuik Churches Together ‘Songs of Praise’ Saturday 24th January 2026 at 11:00 in the Cowan Institute.
After the success of last year’s Songs of Praise, we are holding another one, this time in the Cowan Institute. Please come along and listen and sing along to hymns chosen by members of our congregations. Please invite friends and neighbours.
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – February and March
We ideally need three volunteers each month to make soup for about ten people each. The soup is to be vegetarian and gluten-free. Please contact me or Marion Mather if you wish to help out for February or March’s lunch.
Night Church at St James
These quiet contemplative sessions will be held in the church hall at 7.30 pm, with a short closing service of night prayer in the Peace Chapel at 8.45 pm. The sessions will be:
Tues 13th January – theme of ‘Community’
Sat 14th February – theme of ‘Love’
Tues 10th March – theme of ‘Family’
A publicity flyer has been produced for the Night Church. Please do spread the word and encourage people to come along who may not ‘do church’. And, of course, come along yourself and experience it.
Night Church at St Mungo’s
The same sessions will be run in St Mungo’s church from 7.30 to 9pm. If you would like to support Night Church in West Linton, do let me know. The sessions will be on:
Tues 27th January – theme of ‘Community’
Mon 16th February – theme of ‘Love’
Wed 18th March – theme of ‘Family’
Lent Study
The Diocese is not providing a course to support study during Lent. I am consulting with people about what they would like to do. Please let me know by 18th January if you have any suggestions. We may also incorporate St Peter’s in Peebles and St Andrew’s in Innerleithen into our Lent Study.
In Other News…
I am taking the week off from 29th December (apart from the 31st). Time to settle down with some books, put the phone to one side, and have a fairly relaxing week. The following week I am also taking some days off, claiming back some of the Fridays I worked in Advent.
Misty has been showing her age. Her arthritic hips are giving her mobility issues, and she is now likely to decline a lunchtime walk if it is wet and cold. She has also had quite a few small seizures of late. The Vet is advising to just keep an eye on them and have a sense when her quality of life is really declining. But, for now, she seems mainly OK and wants to play and eats well.
Nick Bowry
Regular Activities
Ministry in Care and Nursing Homes
Cowan Court, Penicuik: We have been part of a rota with the other Penicuik churches, visiting Cowan Court on a Sunday afternoon for the last year. We visit Cowan Court about once every 5 or 6 weeks. Our next visit is on 4th January.
Aaron House, Penicuik: We are part of a rota with the other Penicuik churches, visiting Aaron House on a Wednesday afternoon at 2pm. As with Cowan Court we will visit once every 5 or 6 weeks. Our next visit is on 31st December. If you able to join the team offering this ministry, please let me know.
Whim Hall, Lamancha: We visit Whim Hall Care Centre on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Our next visit is on 22nd January.
If you are interested in supporting this rewarding ministry by being part of the visiting teams then please let me know. Normally three of us attend each time, so we can support and guide people through the service and have a chat afterwards with whoever attends. We use a simplified form of the Liturgy for Reserved Sacrament and sing a few well-known hymns. Your prayers are welcome for this increased activity in and for members of our local communities.
Bible Study for all
We hold our weekly Bible study at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon, online, for up to an hour and a half. We recommence after Christmas, reading through Matthew’s gospel, from 13th January to 10th February.
We come together with the common aim of exploring the texts, understanding their context, and just as importantly, exploring how it speaks to us and how it informs us today. We enjoy exploring our different understandings and learning from each other. Please do join us, we are always happy to include more people.
Monday Study Night (on Zoom)
We shall commence new sessions in February.
Faith Development ‘Faith Books’
When we have a fifth Monday in the month, we hold a discussion at 7.30 pm about a book as a way of introducing people to different authors which may pique an interest to read more of their work (or not!). In looking for new or used books, I have often used www.bookfinder.com I am sure there are other search sites that will help people find the books on our reading list. The books we shall be discussing in 2026 are:
30th March: ‘Communion with God: An Uncommon Dialogue’ by Neale Donald Walsh (published by Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 0-340-76784-7)
29th June: ‘A Big Enough God: Artful Theology’ by Sara Maitland (published by Mowbray ISBN 0-264-67331-X)
31st August: ‘The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to be Christian’ by Brian McLaren (published by Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 978-1-473-62677-5)
30th November: ‘Places of Enchantment: Meeting God in Landscapes’ by Graham B Usher (published by SPCK ISBN 978-0-281-06792-3)
Morning and Evening Prayer
We meet online Monday to Friday at 9.00 am and at 5.30 pm. It is a good way to start and end our day, coming together for worship, with daily readings including the psalms; a good rhythm for worship in the Anglican tradition of saying the Daily Offices. Please do consider joining us.
If you wish to access the Daily Office liturgy with the daily scripture readings, go to the Provincial Website, www.scotland.anglican.org and place your cursor on the ‘Spirituality’ heading. A submenu appears and you can select the appropriate Daily Office from the right-hand side of the page.
I circulated the Daily Intercessions booklet we use by email on 26th February. If you would like a paper copy, please let me know.
Mid-week evening services on Zoom
On the first Wednesday of each month, at 7.30 pm, we hold a service of Prayers for healing online. If you wish someone or a situation to be prayed for, send an email to me or Marion Mather.
At 9pm every Wednesday evening we hold the service of Compline. Please do join us for this short service of calm and settling prayers before sleep.
Continuing our Mission: Leading Your Church into Growth Prayer
Each weekday morning, we pray for growth in our church. If you are not able to join us online for Morning Prayer at 9 am, can I encourage you to pray this once a day. The prayer is given below.
God of Mission, who alone brings growth to your Church,
send your Holy Spirit to give:
vision to our planning, wisdom to our actions, and power to our witness.
Help our church to grow:
in numbers, in spiritual commitment to you, and in service to our local
community, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Touch Magazine for St James the Less and St Mungo’s
In Touch is circulated to all on email and is issued in paper format to those who do not have email. The cost of a paper copy is £2 for an A4 version, and about £1.50 for an A5 version. We print a very limited number of paper copies to keep out costs down, and to reduce our consumption of paper. If you receive an email version but would also like a paper copy, please let Sue Owen know and we invite you to make a suitable donation (preferably by bank transfer rather than in cash) to cover the cost. The deadline for content to be submitted for the next issue is 1st February 2026. I would like to encourage you to submit something for inclusion in the magazine; a poem, a review of a book or a film, an article on a subject of interest. If you wish to submit an article, please send them to intouch@stjamesthelesspenicuik.org
Financial giving to St James the Less or to St Mungo’s
If you are able, can I ask you to prayerfully consider setting up a recurring monthly payment to the church via on-line banking, to contribute financially on a regular basis. Details of the bank accounts are given below for each of the churches.
St James the Less:
Monthly donation by bank transfer (include your name in the reference line when setting this up – only the Treasurer knows the name of the donor). Bank details are: St James Episcopal Church Penicuik, acct no 17117264, sort code 80-22-60. If you wish to make a donation by cheque, please make out the cheque to ‘St James Episcopal Church Penicuik’.
St Mungo:
Monthly donation by bank transfer (include your name in the reference line when setting this up – only the Treasurer knows the name of the donor). Bank details are: St Mungo’s Vestry, acct no 00817851, sort code 80-09-39.
Ecumenical Relations and Community Involvement Work
The Penicuik Ministers continue to meet every month in the Storehouse for a chat. Once a month the Penicuik Churches Together (PCT) has a joint Sunday evening service. The schedule detailing where the services are each month is on the PCT website. http://penicuikchurchestogether.org.uk/ I continue to meet with Revd Dr Tony Foley to discuss joint services and matters of mutual interest, in West Linton.
Diocesan and Provincial Activities
I continue as the interim Pastor for Peebles and Innerleithen during their vacancy. Please pray for both congregations.
The Ministry Team
We continue to meet to plan for the coming months; planning services and faith development activities as well as exploring other aspects of what is offered to the congregations and to our local communities.
Zoom Links for Services
We have a regular pattern of services. Details of these are set out below. You can access them using the Zoom links.
Morning Prayer at 9 am, and Evening Prayer at 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday. (Zoom only)
https://zoom.us/j/6289561588?pwd=aGtNeE1ZM3l1Tkluckp3bVJtZkRHQT09
Meeting ID: 628 956 1588 Password: 040775
St Mungo, Holy Communion at 10.30 am on Sunday.
https://zoom.us/j/93417190423?pwd=K1ZoS0xKUWpRVENGTzFYL3NvakFHQT09
Meeting ID: 934 1719 0423 Passcode: 062021
St James the Less, Holy Communion at 10.30 am on Sunday.
https://zoom.us/j/92002197798?pwd=REp5NHQwVEdSd3A4a09lN1lHOUdnUT09
Meeting ID: 920 0219 7798 Passcode: 040775
1st Wednesday Evening Service at 7.30 pm (not July or August) (Zoom only)
https://zoom.us/j/96303841875?pwd=YmZiYkdNNzZJeWI5cmtZL2RLUWc1Zz09
Meeting ID: 963 0384 1875 Password: 040775
Wednesday Evening Compline at 9 pm (all year) (Zoom only)
https://zoom.us/j/95345457224?pwd=TDNoT20vR2dYMVQ5STdsS0lzR0dMQT09
Meeting ID: 953 4545 7224 Password: 040775
Zoom Links for Activities
‘Monday Evening Studies’ at 7.30 pm (Zoom only)
https://zoom.us/j/97670406222?pwd=WWUzL0dLNHdWdFJ0YVNnLzdvY2w2Zz09
Meeting ID: 976 7040 6222 Passcode: 202101
Use this link for Monday Evening Studies and the ‘Faith Book’ discussions.
Weekly Bible Study: Tuesdays at 2pm (Zoom only)
https://zoom.us/j/92510962481?pwd=L1hsaCtiWTh0ZFFib3N0WlluaVlaUT09
Meeting ID: 925 1096 2481 Passcode: 040775