Rector’s Letter – February 2025

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

 

1st February 2025

 

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

 

Rector’s letter for February 2025

 

Personal Notes

 

I occasionally dip into the American faith magazine called ‘Sojourners’. In a recent edition they had a list of the best faith and justice books of the century, so far! Although with an obvious American slant, it did include several books I have read. If you want to have a look at the list, here is the link. https://sojo.net/articles/culture/best-faith-and-justice-books-century-so-far

 

In a book I have just finished reading, ‘Four Seasons in Rome’ by Anthony Doerr, he explained the derivation of the name for the month of February. In the Roman calendar, there was a ritual of purification prior to Lent, around the full moon on 15th February (in the Julian calendar). The ritual was called Februa, from Februum for purification. Along with January, they were the last months to be created in the Roman calendar, because at one time winter was a ‘monthless time’. And one more useless fact, February can be a month without a full moon. It last happened in 2018 and will next happen in 2037, for those of us living close to the GMT meridian.

 

On 1st February we will be half-way between the winter solstice and the Spring or Vernal Equinox. At the Spring equinox there is equal day and night all over the world. The 1st February is the Celtic festival of Imbolc, to say farewell to winter and welcome Spring. It is also St Brigid/Bride’s Day. Brigit came from Kildare, and she is one of the patron saints of Ireland, sadly somewhat overshadowed by St Patrick. Only since 2023 has 1st February been a public holiday in Ireland, to reflect her equal status with St Patrick, who has a public holiday on 17th March, of course. In America it is Groundhog Day on 2nd February, with its tradition of discerning whether winter will continue or Spring will come based on whether a groundhog comes out of hibernation and casts a shadow or not, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania! I’m not sure I would want a group of people staring at me as I came out of four months of deep sleep!

 

For us, this year, February will continue to be the season of Epiphany. Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent is on 5th March. Our Bible readings in February continue the theme of revelation, of the manifestation of God in his Son, Jesus.

 

Since January we have been undertaking some new activities. One has been to read through, at a gentle pace, ‘The Bible in the Early Church’. Taking one or occasionally two chapters at a time, our discussions on a Monday evening are about 45 minutes long. Also, we have started a four-week discussion group to reflect on four podcasts. Each podcast is about an hour long, and well worth listening to, even if you aren’t able to join us on a Monday morning to discuss the podcast.

 

The storm Eowan was a clear indication of the impact of global warming. The power of the wind was destructive for so many people. Despite the pronouncements coming from President Trump, we are all called to care for God’s wonderful creation, and each one of us can and is called to make a difference. Green energy solutions are proving to be cheaper than burning fossil fuels and in a free market will succeed, but the world is crying out for quicker action, and we do need to respond. At St James’ the tall Cypress tree in the north-east corner of the garden suffered damage and one large trunk fell across the road and one fell into the driveway of No. 17. Tree surgeons will assess the tree and decide how much it needs to be cut back to be safe from causing damage in storms in the future. You will not be able to enter the church grounds through the wooden gate for now.

 

On Wednesday 29th January, our evening prayer used the Week C set one choice of psalms. It is psalm 73. It has verses which relate to our current times, of billionaires and those without empathy for others, those who get angry and upset at the very notion of showing grace and mercy to those less fortunate, to those in positions of power. It can help us cope with some of the news and our responses to what we see and hear, through prayer to God. I commend it to you.

 

News and new things happening

St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – Sunday 2nd February

The collection at the lunch will be for additional funds to support a water purification project in Ghana. This was the subject of the Bishop’s Lent appeal last year. The financial target was met, but the costs of equipment had increased so much that it was not possible to complete the project. Please do give generously to this good cause.

 

Monday Study Group – ‘The Bible for Normal People’ – Mondays 3rd, 10th, & 17th February, at 10:00 am

We commenced a discussion group on 27th January, based around some of the podcasts in the ‘Bible for Normal People’ series. The idea is that you will listen to each podcast in the week leading up to the Monday and come ready to discuss what we have heard. Most of the podcasts are about 55 minutes long. You can access them direct from the Bible for Normal People website, or by searching on YouTube, to listen on that platform. There are other podcast platforms that I am sure will also provide access to them. We started this week with an interview with the Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann. You can access the podcast from the link below. On Monday 3rd Feb we meet again to discuss the interview with the late Rachel Held Evans. Do please listen and come along for the discussion.

27 January: Interview with Walter Brueggemann.

https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/b4np-podcast-episode-4-resurrecting-the-bible-in-the-mainline-church-with-walter-brueggemann/

3rd February: Interview with the late Rachel Held Evans

https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/b4np-podcast-episode-3-unraveling-and-re-raveling-the-bible-with-rachel-held-evans/

10th February: Two podcasters discussing the topic of teaching the Bible to Children

https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/b4np-podcast-episode-7-teaching-bible-children-pete-jared/

17th February: interview with Diana Butler Bass

https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/b4np-podcast-episode-20-reading-bible-experience-relationship-diana-butler-bass/

These meetings will be held in the church hall at 10:00.

 

 

 

St Mungo’s 3rd Sunday Services – New from 16th February.

For a trial period of up to a year, there will be said service of Holy Communion at 09:00 and a service of the Word at 10:30 on the third Sunday of each month. We shall start this on 16th February. The service of the Word will allow greater flexibility to include more hymns and praise songs, and time for prayer. There will be a time of refreshments and fellowship between the services, from 09:45 to 10:30, when those attending either or both of the services can meet together in the Undercroft.

 

Shrove Tuesday – 4th March

This year Lent starts on 5th March. This means the Shrove Tuesday pancake party in St Mungo’s undercroft will take place on Tuesday 4th March at 6.30pm. Put it in your diary now and let other people know about it.

 

Ash Wednesday services – 5th March

There will be services for the Imposition of Ashes at 12.30pm at St James and at 7.30 pm at St Mungo’s.

 

World Day of Prayer – Friday 7th March at 2.30 pm at St Mungo’s.

This year the liturgy for the World Day of Prayer has been developed by the women of the Cook Islands. I will need help in running the service and decorating the church etc. Please let me know if you would like to help.

 

Cursillo ‘Ultreya’ meeting– Saturday 8th March at St James Church Hall

If you would like to explore what a Cursillo ‘faith refresher’ weekend is like, please contact me. There is an annual Cursillo weekend, which is free to attend.

By invitation you could join the ‘ultreya’ being held at St James, from 10 o’clock to midday on 8th March. Be begin with tea an coffee, and after midday we share food together. At an ultreya we get into small groups and share something that has touched us deeply. We spend a time in prayer, study and action, where we reflect on how each of those three impact on the other two. We also have talk to the group and response to the talk by a nominated person. Ultreya is a Spanish word of encouragement, and is often used to encourage pilgrims looking tired as they walk towards Santiago de Compostela.

 

Rugby and Curry – Saturday 8th March at St James Church Hall

The Ireland v France game kicks off at 2.15 pm followed by the Scotland v Wales game at 4.45 pm. We shall provide curry and rice to be served between the matches – there will be vegetarian and meat curry.  If you wish to join us in the hall, please contact me for a ticket, at a cost of £5. Please let me know at that time if you wish a vegetarian curry or a meat curry. It will be BYOB.

 

Lent Study Group – Mondays between 10th March to 7th April

The Diocesan Lent Study Course for this year is called ‘Christ has no body now but yours’. These are words attributed to Teresa of Avila. The course will also use ‘God be in my head’ from the Sarum Primer as an inspiration.

It will run on Monday morning’s in St James’ hall at 10:00, from Monday 10th March through to Monday 7th April. It will also run online at 7.30pm on the same Mondays. A copy of the course booklet will be sent by email to all on our circulation list, so even if you don’t attend the course, you can read through the materials.

 

Monday Study Group – ‘Superstar’ – Mondays 28th April, 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th May, & 2nd June

Lots of advance notice that we shall be running a discussion group using the York Course called, ‘Superstar’ commencing on 28th April. It is being held in the church hall at 10:30. If you wish a copy of the course booklet, please let Nick know. The cost will be £5.

 

In Other News…

I did manage to get my tax return completed and submitted before the end of the year, which was a good thing. It made sense to clear such a seemingly daunting task first so the rest of my week off didn’t have it hanging over me. I can just hear my mum saying, ‘work first, play later’. At least I listened to that advice from her!

I am enjoying singing with the Crescendo Choir that practices in St Mungo’s every Thursday evening at 7pm. We are always looking for more tenors and basses (aren’t all choirs?). It is good fun and the music isn’t too hard to sing along to, and occasionally I think I might even sing the right notes in the right order.

 

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 23rd 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 12th March. 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 13th 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.

 

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 have a break for July and August.

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.

We are currently reading Paul’s letter to the Romans.

 

Monday Study Night

We are using ‘The Bible in the Early Church’ by Justo Gonzalez, published in 2022, as the basis for our discussions. We shall explore Part 1, ‘The Shape of the Bible’ in the eight weeks prior to Lent. Please join us for these discussions. You don’t need to have read the book.

 

 

 

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 2025 are:

31st March: ‘The First Paul: reclaiming the radical visionary behind the Church’s conservative icon.’ By Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan (published by SPCK, ISBN 978-0- 281-06158-7).

30th June: ‘Making Sense of God’s Love: Atonement and Redemption’, by Lorraine Cavanagh (published by SPCK, ISBN 978-0-281-06403-8).

29th Sept: ‘A Rabbi’s Bible’ by Jonathan Magonet (published by SCM, ISBN 978-0-334-02506-1)

 

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 2nd February 2025. 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 have attended a meeting of the Diocesan Personnel Committee in January and we have one scheduled for February too. I am the interim Pastor for Peebles and Innerleithen during their vacancy. Please pray for both congregations as they discern their futures and the profile of the person they wish to be called to lead them. I meet the other Episcopalian priests in Midlothian once a month for a time of conversation and prayer, which helps us share ideas and support each other in our ministry.

 

The Ministry Team

We continue to meet monthly 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)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/6289561588?pwd=aGtNeE1ZM3l1Tkluckp3bVJtZkRHQT09

Meeting ID: 628 956 1588          Password: 040775

 

St Mungo, Holy Communion at 10.30 am on Sunday.

Join Zoom Meeting

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.

Join Zoom Meeting

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)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96303841875?pwd=YmZiYkdNNzZJeWI5cmtZL2RLUWc1Zz09

Meeting ID: 963 0384 1875        Password: 040775

 

Wednesday Evening Compline at 9 pm (all year) (Zoom only)

Join Zoom Meeting

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