PSP 202204

This is a web and mobile friendly version of the magazine

For a more immersive experience see the interactive version at https://issuu.com/psp_church/docs/psp_202204

THIS IS A REDUCED VERSION OF THE MAGAZINE FOR GENERAL PUBLICATION. MEMBERS AND ADHERENTS WHO WOULD LIKE A FULL PRAYER, PASTORAL and BEREAVEMENT OR THANK YOU LIST, OR A FINANCIAL UPDATE OR ARE ASKED TO CONTACT: [email protected]

[email protected]

INFORMATION re PILRIG St PAUL’S MAGAZINE

WE WELCOME ARTICLES AND THANK YOU LETTERS FROM MEMBERS AND FRIENDS. ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED IN BOTH THE PRINTED MAGAZINE AND ON-LINE, UNLESS OTHERWISE ARRANGED WITH THE EDITOR (EG. WHERE PERSONAL INFORMATION IS CONCERNED, INCLUDING THE NAMES IN THE PRAYER CORNER, IT WOULD NORMALLY BE OMITTED FROM THE ON-LINE VERSION). ALL CONTRIBUTORS MUST PROVIDE THEIR NAME, PLEASE, WHICH IS NORMALLY ATTACHED TO THE ARTICLE. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT ARTICLES. CHANGES OTHER THAN SPELLING OR GRAMMAR WILL, WHERE POSSIBLE, BE DISCUSSED WITH THE CONTRIBUTOR. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF PILRIG ST. PAUL’S CHURCH OR THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

PILRIG St PAUL’S CHURCH APRIL 2022

ALL WELCOME

APART FROM MASKS, RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED,

THE PEW CUSHIONS ARE BACK, YOU CAN SIT WHERE YOU WANT, NEXT TO ANYONE.

(1 metre spaced seating also available if you prefer)

SEE PAGES 4 and 7 FOR FULL DETAILS

Services take place at 11am in the Sanctuary and are also live streamed on Facebook, to watch live or later.

Tuesday 12^th April 2pm The Guild

Easter Readings and Hymns

Venue: Open Doorway or Session Room, to be confirmed.

Sunday 17^th April. Easter Sunday Service 11 am. Communion will be celebrated at this service, see page 8

Flowers in the Sanctuary

We have moved to a system of seasonal artificial displays most Sundays, and fresh displays for significant events in the Church calendar. We are still sending flowers or plants to members and friends to support them through joyous or difficult times.

From our minister:

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. – Isaiah 43:1

Dear All,

As the restrictions surrounding our everyday activities are ending, I hope that many of you are thinking about attending Sunday morning worship in person. You will no doubt have numerous questions and perhaps even a few concerns about coming to church, and I hope that these are answered elsewhere in this issue of the magazine. Listening to many of you, I realise that one of the big questions on your minds is whether it will be a case of “back to normal” or “a new beginning” as far as worship is concerned? The answer is a bit of both.

As a congregation we had to adapt our worship due to COVID restrictions and in many cases the changes we made will return to normal in due course. We have also seen the potential for new ways to express our faith as we worship together, and we would like to further develop many of these. A small example of this to is display the words of our scripture readings on the screens as they are being read during worship (A change that many people have appreciated and asked us to continue with).

At the time of writing this letter we are hopeful that all COVID restrictions will be lifted in time for Easter Sunday (17 April) and the Kirk Session have agreed that this service should include the celebration of Communion. As you arrive at the service you will be given an individually wrapped and sealed portion of bread and grape juice so that we can celebrate the sacrament together. We are also considering other ways to make this a special service as we celebrate the Easter message of resurrection and the promise of new life.

Throughout the history of our faith God has called men and women, both young and old, to step out on journeys into the unknown, to experience new things, and to open their hearts and minds to new life-changing experiences. This is reflected in the motto of the Church of Scotland, “Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda” (The Church reformed and with the continuing ability to reform). As we continue to grow and develop in our relationship with God may we embrace the opportunities that lie before us to reform our lives and the life of our congregation.

I look forward to seeing you again in person as we begin another new chapter in our faith journey at Pilrig St. Paul’s.

Blessings

Mark

SAILORS’ SOCIETY AND LCT CHRISTMAS GIFTS

This year the response from the congregations to support the Christmas Gift bags was overwhelming. The donations enabled the 50 bags to be full of small ( mostly edible) gifts. Thank you to LCT for funding these bags and to George Banks for his generous donation of a little Christmas card and booklet.

The Cruise Ship visitors over the last 2 years have been unable to visit ships as ships have been scarce (3 in total) but we were all able to meet up and complete the bag pack.

I anticipate this year should see an increase, although whether access will be permitted we will need to wait and see.

Over the last year the port has seen a lot of changes, mostly structural. Sadly the main focus point of the port the 1930’s Silo/ Grain store has been demolished.

The vessels continue to berth and their needs continue to be wide and varied. Most crew are vaccinated but in Scotland/ UK there really is no joined up thinking when it comes to vaccine certification for seafarers. This in turn means that many, although eligible to receive boosters etc have not done so as they can’t get a vaccine certificate accepted internationally for work.

Over the last two months shore leave has been has been on the increase and more crew are looking for assistance to get to various locations across the city. The castle is still the favourite destination but also the most awkward to get to!

Article by Niall Martin on behalf of Pauline Ryecroft, Port Chaplain of the Sailor’s Society.

RELAXATION OF COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS

With the Scottish Government removing most of the legal requirements regarding COVID 19 precautions from 21 March 2022, the Kirk Session has agreed we can relax many of the protective measures the church has been obliged to take during the pandemic.

From the Sunday following that date (27 March 2022) we will remove the following requirements.

Track & Trace, we will no longer collect the contact details from those attending church
Social distancing, the congregation can mix freely, sit where they wish and don’t need to keep 1m apart
Capacity limits no longer apply to any area in the building
The One-way system will be removed, people can move about and sit as they wish
Pew cushions and hymn books will be returned to the sanctuary
We will retain the hand sanitizers and encourage their use on entry to the building and encourage thorough hand washing when using the toilets
The Sunday offering will continue to be collected in the Open Doorway as you enter
We will restart refreshments after the service once the repairs to the Session Room are complete

We are aware that some people may wish to continue to take additional precautions while the pandemic continues, and the Pilrig Street side pews will remain marked out at 1m separation for those who wish to use that.

The legal requirement to use a face covering in public buildings has not yet been removed so everyone not already exempt must use a face covering until otherwise advised.
People can, of course, continue to use a face covering after the legal requirement is removed if they wish to do so.

John Innes

Session Clerk

We are looking for some more volunteers for the welcome team, anyone willing to help, including those who were on the rota pre-covid, please speak to Maria Croall or email [email protected]

EASTER OFFER

▪ Print: 12 issues for the price of 10 offer price £30 –
enter promotion code EAST22 to receive £6 discount. UK delivery address and new subscribers only.

▪ Digital: 12 issues for £14.99 (normally £20.99) no code required – simply select the introductory offer option.

Anyone wishing to take advantage of the offer should visit www.lifeandwork.org/subscribe. The offer is valid until 30.04.22. The print offer will be purchased as a personal subscription and delivered to the person’s address. It will not be added to the congregation’s order if you have one in place.

Subscribers to Life and Work support the vital and vibrant work of our Church while keeping connected with the Christian community in Scotland, and further afield.

We hope there is an opportunity for you to share news of this promotion with others and we thank you in advance for your loyal support.

Best wishes
The Life and Work Team

18th March 2022

If you prefer to pick a copy up from Church, please let me know.

Catriona Blackwood

Hello Everyone,

As you will have read earlier in the magazine, we are preparing for a return to Worship with reduced restrictions and look forward to seeing more people who feel able to join us on a Sunday. As soon as the work on the halls is completed, we can go back to refreshments after the Service and welcome back hall users.

I will continue to post magazines out to the housebound and those who send stamps. If you are now able to collect your magazine from the Church, please tell me. It would be good to restart some deliveries if possible. If you can do this, please let me know.

Articles for May should be with me by 17^th April, please.

Catriona Blackwood

Pastoral Committee Member and Magazine Editor

554 6183 [email protected]

You can now join a WhatsApp Prayer Group to receive daily prayers. To join, reply to the intimations email with your name and phone number. You obviously need to be signed up to WhatsApp on your phone as well. We are also looking for people who are prepared to write prayers for the group, please let us know if you can do that too.

Please consider making a donation by visiting our website www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk and donate using the PayPal button. You can also use the QR code below by scanning it on your mobile phone.

We have also set up a JustGiving page and the url is

https://www.justgiving.com/edinburghpilrigstpaulsparishchurch

We do have to pay a handling fee for any donations received through PayPal or JustGiving so don’t receive the full amount donated.

If you shop online you can support the church when you shop on Amazon. If you are using their webpage can you go to https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ and you can select Edinburgh: Pilrig St Paul’s Parish Church of Scotland as the charity. For certain purchases we will receive up to 1.5% as a donation. You can now change the settings on their app and select the same charity name.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mark Wexelstein

Email [email protected] Phone 0131 665 6881

See also the Easyfundraising advertisement on page 13

CHURCH ACTIVITIES AND GENERAL INFORMATION

Radio, TV, Internet Audio and Visual clips and some live streaming worship services that you can listen to and watch from home:

Thought for the Day: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00szxv6

BBC Radio Four Sunday Worship. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnds

Songs of Praise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006ttc5

Recommended Podcast: https://robbell.com/portfolio/robcast/

WordPress site at https://onecfl.wordpress.com/ where you will find prayers, reflections and other items provided by the Ministers from the four Leith churches.

Church website: https://www.pilrigstpauls.org.uk

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pilrigstpauls/

If you wish to follow the readings that we use in church each Sunday you can access them at https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

For information regarding Girl Guiding and Scouts:

www.girlguiding.org.uk

[email protected]

https://mailchi.mp/f8740e88c94b/pilrig

Prayer Corner

Please remember in your prayers members and friends of the congregation who are ill or infirm at this time.

A full list is available in the printed version of the magazine.

Please let the minister or me know of someone to include in this section.

Catriona Blackwood