INTIMATIONS
Welcome to worship, with a warm welcome especially to visitors. Please sign our visitors’ book on the Welcome Desk in the vestibule. Any who wish further information about Morningside Parish Church or a visit from the Minister are invited to complete a Pew Card and give it to an office bearer as you leave.
A Loop System for the hard of hearing operates throughout the Church. Additional personal infrared hearing equipment is also available in the vestibule. Please ask for assistance.
Large Print hymnbooks are available in the vestibule. Please return them to the vestibule after use.
Hospital and home visits: the Minister and Pastoral Assistant will visit those who need pastoral care at home or hospital. If you know of anyone who needs a visit, please let the Minister or Pastoral Assistant know by contacting them directly, or leaving a message at the office, or using one of the pew cards.
Joining the Church Family: If you would like to become a member of our Church family please contact the Minister for further details.
Good Neighbours: Has someone new moved into a house near you? Invite them along to church, or contact the Minister or Church Office with the name and address of your new neighbour. If they live in our parish, we will send a welcome letter and some information about the Church.
Baby and Toddler Group: the group meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am-11.30am in the church halls. This group is open to everyone – please spread the word.
Wednesday Coffee Morning: 10am-12 noon in the church halls. Please spread the word to everyone in the church & community.
Gift Aid envelopes are at the end of each pew for members and visitors to use.
Loose Change Offering: at the beginning of each Sunday morning service there is an opportunity to contribute to the charities supported by Morningside Parish Church namely, Scottish Love in Action, The Edinburgh Clothing Store and Edinburgh Headway, by placing any loose change in the offering plate that is on the Welcome Desk in the vestibule.
Morningside Parish Church Website: can be found at www.morningsideparishchurch.org.uk with details of services and sermons and information about the Church.
***
Intimations 19th February
1. 9.30am: Early Morning Service: (in the Church Hall).
2. 10.30am: Morning Worship: Afraid to ask. Tea and coffee will be served in the hall after both services.
3. 6.30pm: Evening Worship: A time for peace.
4. Magazine Delivery: A person is required to deliver Church Magazines in Balcarres Street. This is a very small, compact district of only 3 households. If anyone can help, they should contact Audrey Riddell (445 2330).
5. The Guild: meets on Tuesday 21st February at 2.15pm in the Church Halls. The speaker on that afternoon is George Laing who will be taking us on an "Armchair Tour of the Royal Mile" I am sure this will be most interesting and we invite anyone interested to come and join us.
6. Messy Church craft planning meeting: Tuesday 21st February, Room 2 Cluny Centre. Please note change of meeting venue.
7. Education Committee: Meets on Wednesday 22nd February at 7.30pm in the Cluny Centre. Agenda and previous minutes available from members’ pigeon holes.
8. Lent Study Group: a group will meet for informal discussion and Bible study on topics of the day for 6 weeks, starting on Thursday 23rd February, from 10:15-12pm, at the home of Ms Peggy Bee at 14/3 Maxwell Street. Any new members are very welcome; please telephone 452 8766 for information and to let the hostess know if you are coming. The materials are based on discussion topics prepared by the Church and Society Council (including mental health, nuclear weapons, multicultural Scotland, money matters, Fairtrade).
9. Holiday Club Planning Meeting: Monday 5th March at 7.30pm in Room 7, Cluny Centre. If you are interested in helping out at this year’s Children’s Holiday Club 6th – 10th August or can help with the craft preparations on the run up to the club, please come along to the meeting and find our more or contact Lesley Fraser 449 2447.
10. Flower List: The list for 2012 is on the Noticeboard in the vestibule. There are still a few dates to fill. If you wish to supply flowers one Sunday choose the date and put your name and telephone number against said date. You can give by Gift Aid by filling in and signing a Gift Aid Envelope. The price stays at £40 and cheques are made out to ‘Morningside Parish Church Flower Fund’. Monies can be sent to Mrs Caroline Reid c/o the Church Office, 1 Cluny Drive, Edinburgh EH10 6DN or put in the pigeon hole labelled ‘Flower Committee’.
11. Wednesday Coffee Morning: 10am-12 noon in the church halls. Please spread the word to everyone in the church and community. Now with home baking! This is becoming a popular event with numbers growing so we require more help. We want to build up a larger rota of people – two for each morning – who will use the coffee machine and dishwasher (instructions given!). Anyone with 2 hours to spare on a Wednesday morning please contact Doreen Reekie 664 8431 or Norma Ronald 334 8736. This is becoming an important social opportunity not simply for the congregation but for the wider community. Please help.
12. Volunteer Rotas: All volunteer sheets are located on the church vestibule Noticeboard. Please check the rotas regularly and volunteer whenever you can – your service here is much appreciated.
13. Nursing Home Weekday Services: the next service is on Wednesday 29th February at Ashley Court, 33 Craighouse Terrace at 2.15pm. Singers to help boost the singing would be appreciated.
14. Heart and Soul Event: This year, on Assembly Sunday (20th May) there will be another large family and church event in Princes Street Gardens (west) stretching from the Mound to St Cuthbert’s. This follows on from last year’s very successful event where over 5,000 attended. Information about the event will be appearing in the Church Magazine and Life and Work and on the Church of Scotland website. This year’s event is bigger and will provide a wonderful opportunity for the Church of Scotland to show what it does across the country and across the world. Stewards for the event will be required, so if you would like to help, please contact the Revd Tom Gordon 22 Gosford Road, Port Seton, Prestonpans, EH32 0HF, Tom by phone on 01875 812262 or by e-mail at revtgordon@gmail.com
15. 4th March Communion: The congregation is asked to note that there will be some changes to the format of this Family Communion – where children and their families will be present. During the service questions will be asked by children, or the wider church family, about what we do at communion and why we do it. This follows a Jewish Passover tradition where children also play a role. The Sunday before this communion the children will have explained to them what will happen. Some have already shared in the 9.30am communion services last year when we had children present at those services.
Some changes to note: instead of the usual communion wine, grape juice will be used in the common and individual cups. Also, because the children and their families will be encouraged to sit in the front half of the church in order that they are able to see what is going on more clearly, the individual cups will be served in the front, with those wishing to receive the common cup invited to sit in the back half of the church.
This is an important development in our church’s communion practice, and will take place only at this communion in March. It should be noted that the practice of having children participating in Communion was approved by the General Assembly of 1992. The Kirk Session will review the service once it has taken place. It is hoped that we will make our children and their families welcome at this service as we share the Lord’s Supper as an enlarged Church family.
There will be no changes to the 9.30am service’s traditional format.
16. Scottish Love in Action - India Trip. The 6.30pm Evening Service on Sunday 4th March will be held in the church hall and will include a presentation about a recent visit to Tuni, India. Last November a group of volunteers, including one member from this church, spent time at SLA's 'Light of Love Children's Home' in south-east India. As SLA is a charity generously supported by our congregation please come along to hear and see the difference your support makes to the children of Tuni. Tea/coffee will be served after the service.
17. The Minister will be on holiday from Thursday 23rd to Wednesday 29th February. All urgent pastoral calls to Miss Norma Ronald, DCS, 334 8736
18. Next Sunday:
9.30am: Early Morning Service: The Children of God (in the Church Hall).
10.30am: Morning Worship: Be Yourself! Guest Preacher, the Revd Dr George J Whyte, Presbytery Clerk. Tea and Coffee will be served in the hall after both services.
6.30pm: Evening Worship: Omega – the End Time.