There will be a service of communion conducted by Rev Dougal Edwards in St Vigeans Hall, Thursday 18th October, 2018, at 2 p.m.  This will be followed by a cuppa and a blether.  A good attendance would be most appreciated.

The Guild Presbyterial Council Autumn Meeting is on Wednesday 17th October 2018 in Barry Church at 2.30 p.m.

I am writing to let you know about an event that we are organising around Scotland from the 22nd to 25th October with Michael Harvey (founder of Back to Church Sunday). Michael will be encouraging churches to think about how they can become an invitational church. As well as some teaching on this, there will be a chance to hear from churches who have been working through this over the last year and they will report back on some of their experiences.
 
We are encouraging churches to bring a group of people along to hear what Michael has to say and to see how invitation could become part of the culture of their church.
 
There are a number of videos online from churches who have gone through the process and have shared their experiences. These videos can be found on the Resourcing Mission website (www.resourcingmission.org.uk) and the Mission and Discipleship Facebook page. I have also attached a PowerPoint slide which could be used to announce the event (please choose the slide with your nearest venue), as well as a flyer. For more information and to register for this free event, please click here.
 
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
 
Kind regards,
 
Diane Knowles
Development Assistant 
Church Without Walls
Mission & Discipleship
 
0131 225 5722 (ext. 2365)
dknowles@churchofscotland.org.uk
​

​To Session Clerks
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
The General Assembly of 2017 issued a call to the Church of Scotland to come together in prayer, and this call was reissued by the 2018 Assembly. Together We Pray is a national initiative to support the Church in responding to that call to prayer. The intention is that people will join together in praying for each other, our communities and for the future of the Church of Scotland within the changing spiritual, political and cultural landscapes of Scotland and beyond.
 
As part of this initiative, a National Day of Prayer is planned for 3 November and downloadable resources are available online at Together We Pray including:
 

• a Themes and Prayers booklet with easy-print handout;
• a Prayer for the Church prepared by the Moderator, the Rt Rev Susan Brown;
• a publicity poster to advertise your local prayer events; and
• a Prayer Diary for use at any time of year.

 
Over the next few weeks further material to help you will be posted online that aims to encourage Conversations in Prayer and includes extracts from the forthcoming Pray Now – Together We Pray book.  This book will be launched on 3 November and one copy will be distributed to every minister (and to Session Clerks in vacant congregations) by that date, along with a selection of printed resource material to back up that which is online.
 
If you are planning a special event around the National Day of Prayer, we would appreciate hearing from you – so that we might share your creative ideas with others. This way we can encourage each other to try different things. Furthermore, please let us know if any themes emerge from your prayers together so that, together, we might discern God's voice and leading for the Church of Scotland.
 
Sally Bonnar
Convener
Council of Assembly
The Church of Scotland - Scottish Charity Number SC011353 This email transmission is privileged, confidential and intended solely for the person or organisation to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you must delete the message immediately without processing it further and you are asked to notify us of the error by email to the sender. All messages passing through this gateway are checked for viruses but you are strongly recommended to check for viruses using your own virus scanner as the Church of Scotland will not take responsibility for any damage caused as a result of virus infection. 

RINGING OUT FOR PEACE
 
Appeal for bell ringers to join unique WW1 Centenary Commemoration
 
An appeal has gone out to church bell ringers around Britain to join in a major event this year to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War 1.
 
The organisers of Battle’s Over, a national and international event marking the Armistice, wants to see more than 1,000 churches and cathedrals participate by ringing their bells simultaneously at 7.05pm on the night of November 11th 2018.
 
Pageantmaster Bruno Peek LVO OBE OPR is encouraging bell ringers to take part in Ringing Out for Peace. “We want this to be the most widespread ringing of church bells since the first world war,” he said. “It would be a fitting and moving tribute to the 1400 or so bell ringers that we understand lost their lives during World War One.
 
“I have no doubt that dedicated campanologists in Britain and around the world will want to join in this once-in-a-lifetime tribute to everyone who served on the battlefields, the high seas and the home front.”
 
Ringing Out for Peace is part of Battle’s Over, a unique day-long commemoration of the end of the first world war taking place throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and at scores of locations overseas, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Somaliland, the United States and Germany.
 
It begins at 6am on November 11th 2018 with lone pipers playing Battle’s O'er, a traditional tune played after a battle, outside every cathedral in the country. At the same time, pipers everywhere will be playing the same tune in their local communities around the world. The tribute is being organised with the assistance of the Glasgow-based College of Piping, local pipe bands around the world, the Air Training Corps and the Army Cadet Force.
 
At 6.55pm buglers will sound the Last Post at more than 1,000 locations, where at 7pm WW1 Beacons of Light will be lit, signifying the light of peace that emerged from the darkness of war.
 
Then at 7.05pm church and cathedral bells will be Ringing Out for Peace, organised with the assistance of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, the representative body for groups who ring bells in the English tradition with rope and wheel. It was founded in 1891 and represents 65 affiliated societies of local ringers from all over the British Isles and in Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa and Italy.
 
 
Mr Peek said: “The stirring sound of church and cathedral bells will provide a fitting conclusion to a day of contemplation, commemoration and, ultimately, celebration as the United Kingdom and other nations reflect on events a century ago, on the battlefields of Europe and at home in our factories and farms.
 
“I hope as many people as possible will join us in the Battle’s Over events to mark the conclusion of the first world war and pay tribute to the loved ones who played their part.”
 
The event is supported by the Society of Editors in the UK. The Society’s executive director Ian Murray said: “As a Society we strive to protect freedom of speech and expression which is integral to our way of life. However, no matter how important our part in this struggle, the role played by those brave men and women who fought to preserve our freedoms on the battlefields and the home front in the Great War and those that have followed towers over us. I am delighted that the Society is able to support Battle’s Over this year and will be urging our members and the media as a whole to follow suit.”
 
Churches can register their involvement by completing the Ringing out for Peace entry form found at – www.brunopeek.co.uk
 
The event has four charities linked to it – The Royal Naval Association, Army Benevolent Fund – the Soldiers Charity, RAF Benevolent Fund and the Merchant Navy Association.
 
More information on Battle’s Over – A Nation's Tribute 11th November 2018, and how to take part, can be found at www.brunopeek.co.uk
 
Ends
 
For further information or interviews please contact
Bruno Peek LVO OBE OPR, Pageantmaster
on 44 (0)7737 262913 or brunopeek@mac.com
 
o edit.

There have been several emails from the Church of Scotland regarding conferences or other things and these can be found in four separate posts on this website on this NEWS page.  Scroll down until you find the (4) items that have been posted on 18th September.