Rector’s Letter – March 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
28th February 2026
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Rector’s letter for March 2026
Personal Notes
I woke up this morning to the news that the USA and Israel have carried out ‘pre-emptive strikes’ on Iran. In my opinion this action is unwarranted and could have been avoided. It will no doubt lead to some retaliatory missile launches by Iran, perhaps on targets not so well defended as much of Israel, but on nations who have military links to the USA. As in most military actions, it is mainly civilians and the young members of the military who are the casualties, not those in political leadership positions who have made the decisions to take military action. There was an enforced nuclear treaty with Iran that the current President of the USA decided to withdraw from. And now we have a belligerent act in the name of peace, because there is no treaty!
This week has also shown horrific footage of a 14 year old Palestinian boy shot by IDF soldiers who then stood around him and watched him bleed to death, which took about 45 minutes. Two ambulances dispatched to the scene were not allowed through. The boy’s alleged crime was to throw a rock at soldiers, for which there is no evidence. Israeli settlers have increased their attacks on communities in the West Bank and forced some to abandon their homes.
The war in Ukraine continues to result in so many deaths – again of young soldiers, the majority of them Russian.
With such news it is hard to have a sense of hope for our world. But, we are challenged to work to bring God’s kingdom, small step by small step,. That is the true definition of hope: in spite of the news, to aim for the vision of God’s kingdom of love and peace for all and be part of the effort to achieve it, in our own ways, where we are.
At such dark times, it may be surprising to you to hear, but reading what is probably the bleakest of the psalms can be useful. Psalm 88 is full of complaints to God about how miserable life is. Unlike other psalms that pivot into praising God, this one doesn’t. It remains bleak to the end. It contains a series of questions at heaven – and they seem snarky and sarcastic. The wonder of this psalm is that it lets out our anguish, and it is directed to God, so it is clear the writer has faith, knows the imprecations are being heard by God. I don’t think the writer, and anyone who is brave enough to read this psalm wants or expects a quick, shallow and patronising response. It is enough, at that moment for God to hear the pain and distress of the speaker. God hears our cries. Psalm 120 v1, 142:2-3, 145:18-19 give us the reassurance that God listens. I might then turn to Psalm 85, and verse 10 sings out to me, “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.”
Please pray for peace; especially in the hearts of the leaders of nations whose hearts have a complete absence of peace in them.
We have now entered the Season of Lent, and this Sunday we come to the second Sunday in Lent. Our readings focus on journeys. Abram being guided by God, asked to follow God to a new place. Nicodemus on a journey of faith, transitioning from sceptic to a follower of Jesus.
As I have said many a time, we are all on a journey through life. Lent can be time to be more reflective, to take stock, to notice where we are and who we are just now. In our modern world we can find ourselves stuck in certain ways of being and doing, and many of these habits are quite addictive – for instance, do you spend more time staring at the screen of your smart phone than you would like? We can become stuck with the same thoughts, fears, or anxieties, and easily use food, alcohol or drugs to provide a never satisfying level of comfort and inner peace.
In Lent, as we slow down and reflect, we can seek the support of God through prayer, and support of friends to help us move forward. That forward movement can make us feel more alive, and moves us away from all that harms us and restricts our ability to be the best version of ourselves. Lent is a good time to reflect, take stock, and walk with God, towards a better version of ourselves. Sitting in quiet meditation may provide us with the companionship of Christ, and feed us sufficiently for the journey forward. It can help us change a number of small things that can make a big difference.
The Electoral Synod met the candidates for Bishop of Edinburgh on 7th February, listened to their presentations and a session of further questions. The following Saturday, 14th February, we reconvened to undertake the process of electing our next Bishop. The clergy and laity voted in the majority for Bishop Dagmar Winter to be appointed. She is currently the Bishop of Huntingdon, a suffragan Bishop within the Diocese of Ely. As she is already ordained Bishop, the term used to describe her appointment is that she will be ‘translated’ to become Bishop of Edinburgh. The date of her translation will likely to be the 30th of May. Please pray for Bishop Dagmar as she prepares to leave the Diocese of Ely and join us in Edinburgh.
The re-advertisement for a Priest-in-Charge of St Peter’s Peebles and St Andrew’s Innerleithen was to be published in mid-February. Please pray that someone feels called to that particular ministry.
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. We will do another Songs of Praise in June this year. If you fancy choosing a hymn and recording a short introduction about why you chose that hymn, please let me know.
News and new things happening
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – 1st March
At the first Sunday lunch on 1st March, we will be asking for donations to support St James’, including funds to replace some of our old and rather tired altar coverings.
Lent Course – Art in Lent
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. This will be on 2nd to 23rd March at 10.30 am at St James the Less. This will also be run in West Linton on Tuesdays at 10.30 am between 3rd and 24th March, at Joy’s home.
St James the Less Fellowship Lunch – April and May
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 April or May’s lunch.
Penicuik Churches Together Prayer Breakfast – 9.30 am on 28th March
The next PCT prayer breakfast to pray for all the Penicuik children’s and young peoples’ work, which will be on Saturday 28th March at Trinity Church Hall, between 9.30 and 10.30 am. Please consider going along to pray and also to enjoy breakfast together. It’s a very informal gathering and it’s been great at the previous ones to have people from the different Penicuik churches coming along.
There will be tables set out to pray for the different aspects of the work with young people.
Night Church at St James
These quiet contemplative sessions are held in the church hall at 7.30 pm to 9pm. The last session of this season will be on Tuesday 10th March on the theme of ‘Family’.
Night Church at St Mungo’s
The same sessions will be run in St Mungo’s church from 7.30 to 9pm. The last session of this season will be on Wednesday 18th March on the theme of ‘Family’.
Monday Study Group ‘Meeting Jesus’ – 13th April to 11th May 2026 at 10.30 am at St James the Less
This is the second set of five sessions, on the Miracles Jesus Performed. Please do consider joining us and discussing aspects of our faith. We had some interesting and wide ranging discussions in the first five sessions on ‘Stories Jesus Told’.
In Other News…
Over the last year I had been discerning whether, on my retirement at Easter 2027 when I will be 67, I will return to my house in Edinburgh or not. During the autumn I made up my mind that I would sell my house and start a new chapter in a new location.
In January managed to sell my house within 6 days of it being on the market, much quicker than I expected. The consequence of this, is every day off since early January has entailed me going to my house and clearing the attic of so much ‘stuff’, much of it mine and my daughters. Anything that could be has been donated to charity shops, most of the rest has gone for recycling. I have quite a few boxes of photos, that at some stage I will look through and sort out. I did find the suit I wore at my wedding in 1983 – I always wondered where it went! A good quality suit, but it is too small for me to wear it now. Another thing for the charity shop.
I am glad I have done this ‘clearing out’ now, and I vow to reduce further the amount of ‘stuff’ that goes into my new house – I am determined I won’t fill the attic up there. It is quite an exhausting and emotional thing to do, especially sorting through things my wife put into the attic over the years. But better to do it now than for my daughters to have to clear through all that stuff after I die!
Reflecting on this clear out has been tough but a necessary step, and I feel ‘lighter’ for having done it. Sometimes that ‘stuff’ acts like a weight, and it needs to be processed and only the useful stuff retained. A bit like how we need to review our lives from time to time, and make decisions about what we need for the next phase of our life. What was useful in the past may not be useful for the future.
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 15th March.
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 25th 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 12th March.
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.
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 5th April 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. Tony has decided to demit office from the West Tweeddale Churches at the end of May this year.
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 16th March.
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