Rector’s Letter – February 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
29th January 2026
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Rector’s letter for February 2026
Personal Notes
I was sad to let the congregations of both our churches know of the news of Sue Crosfield’s death on 13th January. A post-mortem was carried out on 27th January, and the family are awaiting the issuing of the death certificate so funeral arrangements can be made. It is hoped the funeral may be in the week commencing 9th February, but this is contingent on the formal process being concluded. Please continue to hold all who loved and cared for Sue in your prayers. I will advise when we have a confirmed date for the funeral.
As we reach the end of January, the hours of daylight are starting to make a difference, with eight and a half hours of daylight and four minutes more each day. The 1st February, St Brigid’s Day (or St Bride), is half-way between the winter solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is when the Gaelic people celebrated the quickening of the earth, the first signs of the warming of the earth as the sun reaches 16 degrees above the horizon at the meridian. St Bride is joint patron Saint of Ireland, but you wouldn’t really know it given the apparent supremacy of St Patrick with celebrations solely on 17th March!
This marking of the time of the year is also when people lit candles to welcome back the sun’s warmth, and it got incorporated into the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, also known as Candlemas. People brought their year’s supply of candles to be blessed in church, so that the light and warmth they gave would also reflect God’s blessings on their home and all who lived there. This coming Sunday we shall once again enjoy that fabulous story of Simeon and Anna as told in Luke’s gospel. Please do bring any of your household candles in to church so they can be blessed this Sunday.
The season of Epiphany is of variable length, based on the date of Easter. The last Sunday in the season of Epiphany, often called ‘the Sunday last before Lent’ is when we have the Gospel reading of the Transfiguration. It is read to be the significant pivotal point in Jesus’ ministry, when his divine glory is revealed to his chosen disciples immediately before he turns and journeys towards Jerusalem, towards his Passion, towards the Cross. It also helps us as we journey through the season of Lent to hold that image of Jesus and to once more know he was and is God’s beloved Son.
I am reading Neale Donald Walsch’s book, Communion with God at the moment. This is our Faith Development book, for discussion on Monday 30th March. The first half of the book is where he lays out his notion that we have misunderstood our faith, and he breaks this down into ten ‘illusions’. I am just starting the second half of the book where explores how we can ‘master the illusions’ and goes on to talk about ‘meeting the Creator within’. If you fancy reading it and discussing it with us, I have one spare copy I can lend, or you can buy a second hand copy for about £3 from www.bookfinder.com
The process of electing a new Bishop is well underway. The shortlisting of candidates to be presented to the Electoral Synod has been completed and members of the Electoral Synod have been sent papers on each nominee. 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 confirmed as:
- 7th February 2026 (meeting with the candidates)
- 14th February 2026 (meeting to elect a Bishop)
In between these two meetings we shall be praying to discern who is the called to be our Bishop. Please hold all involved in this process in your prayers.
The re-advertisement for a Priest-in-Charge of St Peter’s Peebles and St Andrew’s Innerleithen is to be published in mid-February. Please pray that someone feels called to that particular ministry.
I held an afternoon of poetry, on the afternoon of Saturday 17th January. There were about fifteen people present and a wide variety of poems were recited and discussed. We may do it again, sometime.
The Penicuik Churches Together Songs of Praise on Saturday 25th January in the Town Hall followed the same format as the one we ran in June last year. There was an interesting range of hymns. If you fancy choosing a hymn and recording a short introduction about why you chose that hymn, please let me know. I am sure we will do another Songs of Praise in June this year.
News and new things happening
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – 1st February
At the first Sunday lunch on 1st February, we will be asking for donations to support the St James’, including covering the cost of three new soup kettles, to keep the soup hot and reduce the need for people to stand over pots on the stove stirring them all the time!
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 have been exploring and discussing some of the stories Jesus told. The discussions have been interesting and have hopefully helped us understand some of the parables and the over-arching message Jesus wished us to have about the kingdom of heaven. There are two sessions remaining, on 2nd and 9th of February. Why not join us – you don’t need to have attended any of the earlier sessions. 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.
Shrove Tuesday Pancakes at St Mungo’s- 17th February at 6.30pm
Join us in the Undercroft for some lovely pancakes prior to the start of Lent the following day.
Shrove Tuesday Pancakes at St James the Less – 17th February at 5.30 pm and at 7pm
We are inviting Primary 4 pupils from Cornbank Primary School to join us for pancakes between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm, and need two more volunteers to help cook and serve up pancakes.
Members of the congregation are invited to attend to eat pancakes from 7 pm to 8 pm. Please let me know if you intend coming at 7pm, so we have enough pancake mix to feed you.
Lent Film – 23rd February at St James, 2nd March at St Mungo’s at 7pm
I was talking about Psalm 85 in a sermon a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of the wonderful film, Babette’s Feast. As an excuse to watch it once again and to introduce it to people who haven’t seen it, I have decided to show it as a one-off during Lent. It is a Danish film with English sub-titles. It is 1 hour 42 minutes duration. There will be time to watch it and also have a discussion about it afterwards. It will be shown in the hall at St James and in the Undercroft at St Mungo’s.
Lent Course – 2nd to 23rd March at 10.30 am at St James the Less
This year Joy Middleton will be leading four sessions in Lent, exploring various paintings, in a similar way to the Advent sessions she successfully ran.
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – March and April
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 March or April’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:
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:
Mon 16th February – theme of ‘Love’
Wed 18th March – theme of ‘Family’
In Other News…
As most of you will know, Misty, my faithful companion for the last three years was put to sleep on Monday of this week. It will be hard to adjust to life without her loving and calm presence, and quite a few of you have said how much she will be missed in church, bringing her own calm presence, and her greetings to anyone with treats.
One lesson I learnt after losing Jep about five years ago, is that I need to get out for a lunchtime walk even if there isn’t a canine pestering me to go out. It is good for my physical, mental and spiritual health to get out into God’s beautiful creation and do some physical exercise. Yesterday, the sun actually shone and it was good to get out for a walk. Of course, I met plenty of the regular dog-walkers to whom I had to break the news, but I am sure the dog-walkers network will kick in and word will get around. It isn’t the same as losing a partner, relative or friends, but there is a sog-shaped whole to adjust to.
I had a catch up meeting of Piskie Midlothian clergy on Tuesday, and all of us had a dog euthanised in the last four months, so there was a lot of empathy, support, and damp eyes.
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 8th February.
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 11th February. 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 12th February.
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.
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 Diocesan Personnel Committee next meets on Monday 2nd February.
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