Housecall
Articles taken from the November Edition of the St James’ Monthly
Magazine
New Beaver Group
St James has a new Beaver Colony and this will be
starting late November, running on a Monday evening, 6.30-7.30pm. Beavers are
for boys and girls aged 6-8 years old. It is about having fun, challenges and
spending time with friends. If people wish to register their interest or find
out more, then they should contact the Regional Office on 01312293756 or info@southeastscotlandscouts.org.uk
Christmas Fayre
Like last year, the Fayre
will be on the first Saturday in December. (3rd) This year’s theme for
the Tombola is simply is ‘Christmas ! If you can, please donate any type of
‘Christmas item for the stall. We would appreciate donations of bottles
of wine (unopened) with screw top lids and bottles of any shape, size, new,
unopened and with various contents for our bottle stall. We will also be having a soup stall and
if anyone is interested in making a pot of soup please speak to Alison
MacDonald, who will supply the bags for selling it in. All Donations can be
collected if you are unable to carry them. Please just ask. Thanks.
Advent at St James’
The Advent Group will meet on the following dates,
all at 7.30pm in the small hall - Wednesdays 23rd & 30th November, 7th
& 14th December.
The theme is tenatively
called 'What is Christmas like in ...........’ but at the time of writing
all the Speakers have yet to be finalised, please keep an eye on the Order of
Service and website for details. If doesn’t matter if you can only make
one night, you are welcome at one or all of the nights. Transport can be
provided. For more information please any member of the All Age Learning Group.
Tea Party
We will be holding our Annual Christmas Tea Party
in December (likely to be the 11th, date is being confirmed). The invitations will be ready for Elders
to deliver a few weeks before the party. If you have any questions about the
tea party or wish to help, please speak to Elizabeth Anderson.
Christmas Cards – An alternative
Every year we spend what seems a fortune on
Christmas cards. Many of the
cards we send are to people we see regularly. We are again running the opportunity to
do something different.
This year, instead of giving cards to each other
at St. James’, why not give something more valuable – a donation to
Christian Aid’s Present Aid, where the money can be used to buy gifts for
people in real need. This is more effective than buying charity Christmas
cards, where very little of the purchase price actually goes to the charity
concerned.
If you want to be part of this scheme, this is all
you need to do:
1. Take the money you would have used to buy and
send cards to people in St James’ and put it in an envelope
2. Put your name(s) on it – so we can send
greetings from you to all at St James’ via the projector in church on Sunday 19th
3. Put the envelope in the offering plate, or in
the special box at the back of the church.
This way we can make Christmas a little less
commercial and a bit more caring. Grant Hutchison and Paul Mitchell are
co-ordinating this and once the money is collected, they will order various
gifts from the present aid. For
example– 20 fruit trees can be purchased for £16 Fruit trees could
provide healthy, nutritious fruit for a struggling family in Nicaragua. School
desk for 2 children
100 Up
Next year St James’ celebrates its 100 years of
worship on the site of the current church, with the Church building having
opened in 1912.
We’ll
have a special service to mark our anniversary and we are already looking at
other ways in which we can mark this milestone. If you have any ideas on any
other events we could have to celebrate then please share them with your Elder
or with Peter.
Junior Church
The Junior Church meets every Sunday morning, in line with
the school holidays. We have undertaken a major
‘spring’ clean of our cupboards and materials and found a few
interesting things. We have focused on the bible in the first part of
the term, exploring the books of the bible, how they were chosen and who wrote
some of them. This is a huge topic and we’ll be returning to it
throughout the year. We continue to watch the new DVD series
‘What’s in the Bible with Bucky Dent’ which is both packed
full of information and funny ! We are also investigating using new material developed by
Scottish Churches called ‘Spill the Beans’. We would love to
welcome new children and families into the Junior Church and the congregation
is asked to invite any families along to St James’ that have children of
Junior Church age..
Old Laptop ?
The Junior Church laptop is now well over 10 years old and
is no longer ideal for Junior Church work. If you are replacing your laptop or
have an old one lying around, the Junior Church would be happy to have it !
Playgroup
The playgroup runs 4 mornings a week and currently have
places available . Children aged 3 and over are
eligible for a free place from the term after their third birthday. For those
who are not yet 3, the current fee is £30 per week. Anyone interested in
a place, children from 2.1/2 to 5 years are accepted, should contact Emma
Milton on 07847602329 or Amanda on 669-6626. Parents/Carers can also contact
Emma or Amanda if they wish to arrange for a visit