abbotsford.org.uk

Watch Night Service 2011

Well what can I say?

What a turnout! (We even had people from Holland and the Outer Hebrides)

What participation!

What singing!

And above all - What a service! 

Thanks to Ruth and to Sandy for a night that will be remembered and for Sandra & her team's part in its organisation.

THANK YOU!

(See pics in photo album to the right)

The Christmas message...

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.

Peace be with you, wherever you are reading this.

Have we lost our way?

This and That make me believe that we are up the proverbial creek and the paddle has been sold off.

It is a standing joke, and it has been since I had circa 1175 working days to go, that I have a "count down to retirement". Some may say that I am wishing my life away. Others may say that I am looking forward to a real life.

I remember when I was at school from the mid fifties to the late sixties being told that, in the future, computers were going to take the drudgery out of working life and that we were all going to have more time for leisure.

50 years later, when we can claim to have found "Higgs boson", the discovery of a new particle, and planets like ours on the edge of our galaxy, we are being told on the one hand that we will have to work longer and on the other hand that the young cannot find employment. 

People will be working till they drop; others will be on stand-by to take over before the 'screen saver' on the computer kicks in.

I really think that we have lost the plot. 

Why?

To make more money for greedy people. People who have stripped pension funds during the good times, only to be caught out when the going got tough.

As we wait for Christmas Day, how many are so tied up in what they left behind in work today, that they will miss the real message of that day. Checking emails to make sure that they stay ahead of a problem created by someone else.

Happy Christmas! (?) 

(BTW -118 working days and counting)

Solstice Service 2011

As promised, below is the start & ending pieces from this evening's Solstice Service.

Again a terrific amount of work put in to an excellent evening shared by an enthusiastic bunch of people, including visitors from Dalmuir Barclay and Radnor Park churches. There are some pics in the 'Solstice 2011 Photo Album' to the right. If you have any others to share send them in. Thanks to all!

Celtic Christian Solstice

The group gathers in a rough circle around the fire. Four readers stand approximately at the cardinal points, north, south, east and west, each with a sprig of holly.

 

"THE Solstice Cupcake" (double click on image for larger view)

 

NORTH:            We come from the darkness to the firelight

 

EAST:                        From the east, where frozen lands lie sleeping

                                    <throws holly into fire>

NORTH:            From the north, where the aurora dances

                                    <throws holly into fire>

WEST:                        From the west, where the oceans roll.

                                    <throws holly into fire>

SOUTH:            From the south, where the sun still shines.

                                    <throws holly into fire>

 

NORTH:           We come to mark the Solstice

EAST:              The tuming of the year toward the light

WEST:              The promise of re-birth and renewal

SOUTH:            For the world and our community

NORTH:            We come together as the people of God

EAST:                        Anticipating a greater light to come

WEST:                        Waiting for the Star to rise in the East

SOUTH:            … for incarnation.

At the end of the Service the group again gathers in a rough circle around the fire. The same four readers again stand approximately at the cardinal points, north, south, east and west.

 

NORTH:            We leave the firelight for the wider world

 

EAST:                        To the east, where the land will awake

NORTH:            To the north, where the polestar glistens

WEST:                        To the west, and the wild wet wind.

SOUTH:            To the south, from where the sun will return.

 

NORTH:            To be the light of the world

EAST:                        The salt of the earth

WEST:                        A channel for peace

SOUTH:            A voice for justice

 

NORTH:            We depart as the people of God

EAST:                        May we walk confidently into the new year

WEST:                        A community of shared hope and dreams

SOUTH:            With the light of renewal strong in our hearts

 

Carol Service 2011

Our Carol Service 2011 seems to have been well received.

On a bitterly cold night ('bleak & crisp & even') a good number of hardy souls from 9 to 90 turned out to make it an evening to remember..

All who attended had to enter the church building through 'the stable' at the front door. The night started with mulled ginger wine and those gathered then sung, quizzed, sung, listened, sung, laughed and sung their way to a warm, cosy Christmas feeling before finishing with a cuppa and some Christmas fayre in the hall afterwards.

One visitor from another local church made the only criticism of the night, that I heard... 
"It wasn't long enough".

To ALL concerned a big thank you in your quest to keep Abbotsford alive and kicking!

You can see some pics taken on the night in the "Carol Service 2011" Photo Album (right hand column).

If you have any photos that were taken on the night, then please send them to me at lifeatabbotsford@gmail.com] and we will add them to the album. New pics added daily.

SEE 'DECEMBER@ABBOTSFORD' POST FOR OTHER EVENTS!