SUNDAY BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENTS should be sent to Joy Cossar The deadline for all items is Wednesday at noon.

NEWS FROM OUR CONGREGATION

CAMERON HIGHLANDERS MEMORIAL Please visit this page for information about the proposed Memorial Area.

LUNCH CLUB The Lunch Club will meet at 12.30pm at the Craigmonie Hotel on Thursday 20 June. All welcome. For further information please contact Val Cantlay.
GOLF OUTING is proposed for Tuesday 16 July at Cameron Course, Nairn West Golf Course. Tee off time 5.15pm. Price which includes golf and high tea £17.00–high tea only £14.00. Everyone welcome and all golfers are invited irrespective of handicap. Details from John Clarkson.
UPCOMING OLD HIGH EVENING SERVICES:
KENNETH STEVEN 30 June 2013, 7.30pm: Kenneth Steven, writer, author and poet, is published by St Andrew’s Press, and his poetry regularly appears in Life and Work, the magazine of the Church of Scotland. Over the past 20 years, Kenneth Steven has become one of the country’s most popular poets. Drawing on a quiet Celtic spirituality and a love of wild Scotland, his engaging poetry offers us something beautiful, evocative, moving and captivating. He is also a highly successful broadcaster, featuring regularly on national radio. His BBC Radio 4 documentary on the island of St Kilda won him a prestigious Sony Award. More details from Iain Todd or here.
21 July 2013: Rev John L. Bell, Iona Community member, hymnwriter, lecturer, broadcaster on ‘the strange silence of Biblical women’.
11 August 2013: Rev Martin Johnstone, Priority Areas Secretary of the Church of Scotland and Chief Executive of Faith in Community Scotland
More details from Peter.
UPCOMING MUSIC AT THE OLD HIGH One of the conditions of the grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Common Good Fund was to set up recitals and concerts in the Old High following the restoration of the organ. After a quiet year in 2012 a short programme of recitals has been arranged for this year. It is hoped that over the winter a full programme will be organised and published for 2014.
Saturday 22 June: Aurora String Quartet
Saturday 21 September: Merlewood Ensemble
Saturday 12 October: Richard Steele: Organ Recital
All recitals at 12 noon, and will last one hour. Donations for The Highland Hospice and The Archie Foundation Raigmore Childrens Ward Appeal. Details- Jim Monro or here.

SUMMER OPENING OF THE OLD HIGH CHURCH Once again the time has come to open the Old High to visitors during the summer months. We propose to open between June and September and are looking for members of the congregation or friends to assist with this. It is necessary for two people to be on duty at any one time for a minimum of 2 hours There is a lot of information on the history of the Church available to assist with any questions raised by visitors, and meeting people from all over the world is very interesting and satisfying. If you can help please contact Margaret Sutherland.
KIRK SESSION OF INVERNESS will meet at the offices of Frame Kennedy Chartered Accountants, on Thursday 20 June at 4pm. More details from Margaret Sutherland.
THE OLIVE GROVE We have a vacancy for a volunteer who could help as a waitress (or waiter!) on Friday afternoons. (1-4.30pm). This could be weekly or fortnightly.(Days off no problem –we have supply staff) Also, for a baker –either tray bakes to be made at home (cost of ingredients refunded), or someone who is willing to come in and bake in the Olive Grove. Please come in and speak to the duty manager any day.
SILENT AUCTION/CRAFT FAIR It is proposed to hold the above event, in aid of church funds, in early December. For the event to take place it would need to be well supported, so if you can donate any of the following: Knitted or sewn items; Floral arrangements; Paintings; Woodcraft; Home made cards; Christmas decorations; Any goods in unused condition; Unwanted gifts; Your services for a few hours or day i.e. handyman, gardener, joiner etc. If you are able to help please contact Christina Cameron or Mary Home.

OTHER NEWS

INTERFAITH PICNIC Inverness Interfaith group’s annual picnic will be in Whin Park on Saturday 29 June, 11.30am- 3pm. We welcome people of all ages, cultures and faiths, or none (!), to meet and share in our Picnic- in the vicinity of the boating pond. Friendly and informal, from Elgin to Skye, to enjoy the good company of diverse cultures and faiths, to exchange our stories and to sample some nourishing treats and soft drinks. More details from Tom Mackenzie.
2 CHRISTIAN SUMMER FESTIVALS:
ALIVE FESTIVAL is a series of events in Inverness from 20- 26 June. Details on their website .
SOLAS FESTIVAL takes place near Perth 21 – 23 June 2013. Art, music and discussion for all the family. Details here.
WOMEN’S INTERFAITH EVENT Interfaith Scotland is organising dialogue afternoons for women in locations across Scotland, looking at our ‘Values and Visions for the future of Scotland’ in the light of the referendum in September 2014. In Inverness on Monday 24th June from 2 – 4pm. The venue will be announced shortly. A buffet will be provided and the event is free. Any women who are interested contact Frances Hume
CLASSICAL GUITAR CONCERT a Classical Guitar Concert by Martin Aelred will be held in St Mary’s RC Church on Wednesday 19th June at 7.30 pm. All welcome

What a great and terrible story is today’s Old Testament tale. King Ahab covets a nice property near his palace- he wants a vegetable garden (perhaps a vegetable garden was a status symbol for kings back then). Naboth has a vineyard on the site, and Ahab offers him good money for it, or even a swap to another vineyard. But these are not the best of times in Israel. The King Ahab has entangled his nation in a web of foreign alliances. He has married a foreign queen, Jezebel, and at her behest is encouraging the worship of foreign gods. The old God of Israel- the Lord- stood for justice and mercy and the protection of the week. We don’t know much about Jezebel’s gods, but for someone like Naboth they clearly represent a threat to all he holds dear. Naboth has an old understanding of the land. The land is sacred- given my the God of Israel to his ancestors, it is not his to give away or sell. And so he answers the king with these incredible, defiant words, in which he names his God: “The Lord [the God of Israel] forbid that I should let you have it!”

King Ahab no doubt thought his vegetable garden would be an improvement on Naboth’s vineyard. And to us, who are used to the idea of inexorable change, Naboth’s protest sounds a bit futile- why should he stand in the way of progress? Why not take the money, the fair price which Ahab offers?

However, Naboth’s protest is more than just the protest of a poor peasant facing the loss of his land. He uses the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in his argument with the king: “The Lord forbid that I should let you have it!” He is standing up for Israel’s God, and standing up for the old traditions and morality. It would sicken Naboth to give up his ancestors’ land to this bad king. In an earlier chapter we hear the claim that only seven thousand Israelites have remained loyal to the Lord, and have not bowed down to the Baal, the god of Jezebel (1 Kings 19.18). Naboth is one of that small minority, one of the seven thousand. He’s making a religious, as well as a moral protest against Ahab and all he stands for.

So then we see the kind of morality which Jezebel has learned from her gods. On this Father’s Day, we have, unfortunately, a Bible story about a wicked family. It’s like a plot from Shakespeare, or Dallas or The Godfather- the evil wife behind the throne comes up with a terrible plan. When the king comes home depressed by his argument with Naboth, Queen Jezebel is scornful: ‘Well, are you the king or aren’t you?’ And she organises convoluted plot which leads, via Naboth’s death, to the land grab. It is a a terrible abuse of power.

This is a story which is re-enacted, in one form or another, across the generations- of how the powerful people so often steal land from those who have had it and looked after it for generations. Whether is the native Americans, or Scottish Highlanders, or Palestinians in Israel today, throughout history people have their land stolen, by all kinds of trickery and violence. And, of course, if you lost your land, you lose your culture. Naboth’s losing his land is like dishonouring his ancestors and all the old ways, the old morality, which lasted generations. And all because a king coveted what was not his, and his queen abused their power to get what they wanted.

You might recall that our Sunday School recently raised money to send to Christian Aid to help buy some chickens for farmers in Bolivia. Just now there is a lot of pressure on ordinary Bolivian farmers, such those who will receive our Sunday School’s chickens. Christian Aid have been publicising the plight of Bolivian farmers because it is so typical of what is happening to indigenous people around the world. At the Church of Scotland General Assembly we heard a report about Bolivia which stated:

The Bolivian Amazon where many indigenous Bolivian communities live is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. This biodiversity is under threat as only 17% of the national territory is protected (source: WWF website). Land is still mainly held by a few rich families and large corporations. They use the land for large scale agro-industry such as logging, cattle ranching and plantations. Indigenous peoples are often displaced from their lands1.

Of course, you can always argue that these new ways of doing things are better, that they are progress. Modern farming will replace the old farming practices of the native people. The modern world needs the beef from the cattle who will graze in the cleared forests. Our dependence on transport means that we need the oil which is being discovered in these remote, almost untouched wilderness. There is a market for the fine wood which the logging companies will make from trees which have taken hundreds of years to grow. So we are told. But in fact, we’d probably be better to leave the rain forest alone, as the report to the General Assembly makes clear:

The Amazon stores 86 billion tonnes of carbon – the equivalent of almost 11 years’ global carbon emissions… Deforestation is destroying this carbon sink, as well as adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere2.

We often hear that native peoples claim that they live in harmony with nature, and that it is better to leave their forests alone. It turns out that in the case of the Amazon, they are absolutely right. The rest of the world needs the Amazon to stay as it is, because of importance of its role in swallowing up greenhouse gases, and so slowing down climate change. But as long as mere greed is allowed to dictate what happens to the forests of Bolivia and other natural resources, we will be in terrible danger of fatally undermining the environment of our planet, with terrible consequences for our children and grandchildren.

For although we sometimes justify such things in the name of progress, it is often simply greed and corruption which drives the destruction of land. It think it’s interesting that the present protests in Turkey were sparked by a plan to cover a popular and historic Istanbul park with a shopping centre. Istanbul is a bustling city, where green space is it a premium. Whoever decided to build a shopping centre on one of the few empty spaces certainly did not have the good of the wider community at heart. We might think that something like that could not happen here in Scotland, with strict planning laws. Why would we ever allow the destruction of a unique green space? Yet near Aberdeen, Donald Trump has been allowed to build a golf course on beautiful, unique and what had been designated as scientifically important sand dunes. Too often, such developments are driven by greed disguised as progress.

King Ahab is depicted in the Book of Kings as constantly disobeying the God of Israel. Indeed, a bit later in this chapter the storyteller says of him that, ‘There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the LORD’s sight as Ahab- all at the urging of his wife Jezebel. He committed the most shameful sins by worshipping idols’ (1 Kings 21.2526). No wonder it ends with a confrontation with the prophet Elijah, who tells the king starkly that for the murder of Naboth, God says to the king, ‘I will bring disaster upon you’. It because he believed in progress that Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard. It was not because he was interested in agricultural improvement. The plot to destroy Naboth is hatched between a king who basically sulks because someone has stood in his way, and a wife who goads him into using- or rather, misusing, his powers. ‘Act like a king’ she says. It is not impersonal, unstoppable economic or social forces which sweep away Naboth and his vineyard. It is sinful decisions made by powerful people- in this case, Ahab and Jezebel.

Naboth is the victim of the personal pique of the powerful people he has annoyed. Jezebel and Ahab are egomaniacs, who put themselves and their selfish desires above all else. Ahab will be condemned for worshipping idols. And those who make idols out of materialism, greed, and pride inevitably turn into the sort of people Ahab and Jezebel were. And if they happen to be rich and powerful, ordinary folks like Naboth will suffer.

We encounter another kind of pride in the reading from the letter to the Galatians. In this letter, Paul is carrying on an argument about whether his own people, the Jewish people, have in some way an advantage over everyone else. After all, they were the people chosen by God before any other nation. And in the very first sentence of our reading, Paul uses the sort of language which perhaps was used, as people who (as Paul was) were ‘Jews by birth’ contrast themselves with ‘Gentile sinners’. But he immediately denies that he has and an advantage over anyone else simply because he is a Jew. He says that the only way someone can put themselves into a right relationship with God is by having faith in Jesus Christ. Even a very faithful Jew, who keeps all the regulations of the Jewish Law, can never by their own efforts be accepted by God. He writes, ‘we know that a person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires’.

Paul believes that by believing in Christ, by trusting in Jesus, the Christian is changed inwardly. ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’, he claims. And so we discover a moral integrity, a spiritual renewal, a new heart if you like, which the Spirit of Christ brings. Interestingly, even the Old Testament historians understood that people could change. If we had read further about the prophet Elijah’s confrontation with the terrible King Ahab, we would hear how the prophet’s condemnation of him actually had an effect on him: ‘When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed’ (1 Kings 21.27). As a result of Ahab’s genuine repentance, God lessens his condemnation of Ahab. But for those who have faith in Christ, God’s forgiveness is absolute.

In a controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus once said to them, ‘God knows your hearts’ (Luke 16.15). God is interested in our motivations: it’s what’s in our hearts that really makes us good- or bad. Ahab and Jezebel, and other power-crazed fanatics like them- turn away from God, and other suffer. But for Christians, transformation is possible if we turn our hearts to the God we meet in Jesus Christ. The God of Jesus Christ is the same Lord God whom Naboth stood up for, even although it cost him not only his ancestral land, but his life as well. For the God of Jesus Christ, the Lord God of Israel, always stands on the side of truth and justice, and against arbitrary power, corruption and greed.

There are some Christians who give the impression that the Gospel of Christ is only about individual transformation, about individuals coming to God by believing in Christ. Well, they are half right, because God does want people to change by believing in Christ. And there is another sort of Christian who gets very interested in politics and social issues, and who does not seem to care about the inner life, the need to convert to God through belief in Christ. Well, they are half right as well, because the Gospel does have a social dimension, and the Bible has a lot to say about justice, poverty, greed and power- as we have just been hearing. American evangelical leader Jim Wallis puts it, ‘God is personal, but never private. And the Bible reveals a very public God’ (Jim Wallis, God’s Politics, p31). The Church needs to recover a sense that the personal and the social aspects of the Gospel are two sides of the same coin. The very personal sins of Ahab and Jezebel- greed and pride- led to a great social evil, as the farmer Naboth (and who knows how many other innocent people) was murdered for the sake of his land. It needed a man of great spiritual integrity- the prophet Elijah- to stand up to the king and make him face up to his personal sins. But that was also a very political act. For, out of his faith, Elijah was also standing up for the poor, the dispossessed, all those in Israel who were victims of the injustices which flowed from Ahab’s misplaced priorities.

It is tough work standing up for justice, trying to protect the poor against greed. But I believe that personal faith strengthen those who try to do so. Last weekend there was a huge rally in Hyde Park calling for action from the G8 leaders to do something about world hunger, and its causes. There were many different organisations represented there, but a number of reports about it which I saw and heard commented on how many people of faith seemed to be there. The report I heard on the lunchtime Radio 4 news featured someone who was very active in Christian Aid. The Gospel is firstly personal- it’s about what goes on in our hearts. Individuals are transformed through faith in Christ. But if as Christians we believe that Christ lives within us, the Gospel will also have social and political consequences, because we believe that God cares for every human being.

Ascription of Praise

The God of grace who calls you all
to his eternal glory in Christ
restore, establish and strengthen you.
All power belongs to God for ever and ever, Amen.

Based on 1 Peter 5.10-11: c.f. BCO 1994, p584

Biblical references from the Good News Bible

© 2013 Peter W Nimmo

The Church & Universities– Faith in a University Community

Thank you for inviting me to talk here tonight.

What I am going to say might be titled The Church & Universities –Faith in a University Community. Like the good Presbyterian I am, my talk will have three heads:

1 A few Introductory Remarks about the University
2. Churches engaging with the academic world
3. Churches engaging with students.

Introductory Remarks.

The University of the Highlands and Islands came into existence in 2011. It replaced the UHI Millennium Institute, which had been in existence in one form or another since the 1990’s. We are an unusual university in having 13 Academic Partners, spread over the larger part of Scotland, the Highlands and Islands including Orkney and Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland, the Western Isles, Highland, Argyll and Bute, Perthshire and Kinross and Moray.

We have 13 Partners, 13 main campuses but a variable number of satellite campuses and learner centres. Our range of activities covers sciences and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences including health, business and CIT (Computing and IT). We have 7,500 students and this will expand probably to 11,000 over the next 3-5 years. Some 800 staff are engaged in this business of teaching, training and research. We teach at undergraduate level, BA, BSc, HNC/D at postgraduate level, Masters and PhD’s.

Our distinctives are our research, covering areas such as the environment, health including diabetes, renewable energy, mountain and land-based studies, our cultural heritage, history, Gaelic, archaeology and many others too numerous to mention this evening. Our principal distinctive however is that we are one of the UK’s foremost practitioners of blended learning – this is using IT and video-conferencing to transmit knowledge to people where they are rather than taking them out of their communities to get a university education, as used to be the case.

In Inverness our major activities are and will be focussed around the Beechwood Campus. Inverness College-UHI will teach UHI students on the campus in September 2015; we are already located in Raigmore at the Centre for Health Sciences researching into diabetes and the delivery of health services in a rural community. This research will spread over into the campus, across the golden bridge, and I expect that in addition to everything that Inverness College will do on the campus, helping to cover the range of subjects which I have outlined, the University will also pursue more health research and training, oil and gas training and the opening of what we call a Learning and Teaching Academy. The role of the LTA will be to research into our blended learning and to apply it in taking degrees to other markets, England, Europe and the rest of the world.

Our student population is still markedly more mature (maturity is defined as over 25 years) and is markedly more part-time than other Scottish universities. This is, however, rapidly changing, as we are now recruiting more school leavers within and from outwith the Highlands and Islands, and therefore more full-time students. From the perspective of Inverness the major change is that Beechwood will give the city a campus comparable to other UK University campuses, with a resident student population and a campus life built around study and leisure. It will be a magnet for growth in terms of UK students, European and overseas students and I expect a major part of the University’s growth over the next few years will occur in this location. It will also be a magnet for staff growth not just in the university but also in the ancillary businesses which will cluster around the university growth min areas like Life sciences, Health and CIT.

Now that I have given you a quick picture of the University of the Highlands and Islands (1) I want you to note three things about us.

1. In the range of knowledge we are like every other university. This is relevant to the next part of my talk, the Churches Engaging with the Academic World
2. In the way we are distributed and seek to connect our communities together we are very unlike other universities and this is relevant the last part: Churches engaging with students.
3. Beechwood campus will grow into a major location for students and staff both university and non-university staff as both the university and the facilities, which it will attract, grow on that location.

Christianity engaging with the academic world

Universities are places where people acquire knowledge. The Bible makes many knowledge claims. We have read indeed in the Gospel of John that Jesus described himself as the Word; and John describes God as the Father as Light.

The Bible claims to be a word that “ is alive and active; sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. (Hebrews 4.12)

The religion of the Old Testament centred on the ten words of Sinai, the Ten Commandments. In the creation narrative in Genesis each section of creation is prefaced by “And God said, let there be etc…” Both Light and Word are metaphors for our access to reality, -Light enables us to see and seeing is often used as a metaphor for understanding, for gaining an appreciation of reality and truth. – and of course Word, the Logos is the very medium through which truth is expressed and communicated.

Students are engaged on a quest for knowledge. Sometimes it is for theoretical knowledge- knowing that; and sometimes for practical knowledge, skills and competences –knowing how. One of the marks that distinguishes university education from simply training is that an attempt is always made to set the practical or “knowing how” within a theoretical framework that explains why it is, as it is. Some of the subjects which students study may make statements that conflict with Christian knowledge claims; almost all subjects make presuppositions, some of which Christians might challenge.

There is well exemplified in the major contemporary debate about religion and science. On the one hand we have the new atheists who believe that reality is entirely bounded by what the domain of science can discover and that any statements outwith this domain are untrue or without testable meaning. This is the view presented by people like Richard Dawkins (2). This is challenged by Christian apologists such as John Lennox (3) and Alister McGrath (4). We are confronted with the need to grapple with these arguments. For Christian students these debates can be challenging and for non-Christians there is an opportunity for Christians to engage them in considering the validity of the Christian challenge.

Then there are the concepts of right and wrong – of moral knowledge. These concepts are also under challenge and students sometimes find when challenged in university that they have never really thought out the basis of their practices and beliefs. The march of bioscience poses significant challenges, as scientists are able to manipulate animate matter in the way in which they used to manipulate inanimate matter and in so doing raise huge ethical and moral issues.

Apart from the actual study and the knowledge and presuppositions which students encounter in their university education, they also meet and mix with others, both students and staff, who are different to them, who come with a varied set of beliefs, world views, religions, languages, ethnic backgrounds and so on. This is an important part of university education and challenges students to think about their basic beliefs, their views of the nature of reality and why their views are different to, or like the views of the others whom they meet.

Now you may be saying –all this is very fine, but where do the Churches come into the picture. Well I think in several places. We, who are the repositories of the Christian message, need to engage in the debates about truth; we can offer people and places for such debates and we can raise the profile of the Church in doing so. Christian Churches, and this will certainly be true of the Churches within Inverness, have within them people who are capable of taking part in these debates and helping students who are challenged by these controversies. At the same time if churches engage student attention they introduce a new, lively and important ingredient into their congregational life and can provide useful assistance to local congregations in reaching out to their communities and to other students.

Christians have a duty to engage in these debates, to give a good account of the claims of the Christian revelation and to challenge non-Christians to consider their validity. I have myself been a Christian for many years and a vital part of my journey to faith was the challenge posed to me as a university student as to whether the claims of the Bible were true – I do not mean minutiae – I mean rather the big claims that the world is created and did not come together by some accident; that God chose Jesus his Son as His means of revealing himself and his will to the world, and that Jesus died on the cross to save us from the penalty of sin and exclusion from God’s fellowship. University is a great place to grapple with these issues because it is a place of knowledge and enquiry and access to expertise of every kind. The students of today are often the political leaders, the business leaders and the opinion-makers of tomorrow and it is a great work for Churches to engage with their minds and through that work influence the life of the nation. I remember as a student being very influenced by Francis Schaeffer (5). Schaeffer spent his life writing, thinking and debating about Christianity’s knowledge claims. He encapsulated his philosophy well in the statement.

We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience nor emotion but the truth as God has given it in verbalized, prepositional form in the Scripture and which we first of all apprehend with our minds.

The exciting thing that Church can convey in this knowledge debate is that the subject of Christian knowledge is not a static dispassionate inanimate entity but God, a person, who is an active agent in revealing himself as people seek to find him. This form of knowledge is akin to getting to know another human being –as we explore our relationships with our fellow human beings the acquisition of knowledge is two-way; the subject of exploration is not a passive object but an active reciprocal explorer subject. This is why in the quotation which I gave earlier it said that the Word penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. This is a very different kind of knowledge to academic learning in that it claims to effect an internal and moral transformation in the soul and not merely the mind of the student.

The great Christian apologist of the 20th Century CS Lewis (6) said:

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

This is why Churches must engage with students.

Christianity engaging with Students

I want to turn now to Churches engaging with students. I have talked so far mainly about the big issues of knowledge. Student life is about a lot more than this. For many people, particularly young people, student life coincides with the challenges of living amongst peers, relating to them as work colleagues, as friends and companions and as people with whom relationships are formed. This can often be very challenging and can lead to puzzlement; unhappiness, loneliness and a sense of difficulty, sometimes even of despair. There is a huge role of Churches to be on hand to offer help, companionship and counselling and friendship without strings. This is the message we read in the parable of the Good Samaritan (7). The parable clearly teaches us that the students, who come to Inverness, are our neighbours and we are called to minister to their needs.

The usual way for Churches to do this is to set up Chaplaincies. Chaplaincies are often focused in a place and can be conducted either by full-time professional Chaplains appointed for this purpose or by working ministers doing this on a part-time basis as part of their normal work or some mixture of both. In the case of Beechwood, there will be a population of students, big enough, in my view, to justify a chaplaincy. I favour models where local Churches get stuck into Chaplaincy, as it is often good for students, especially if they are living on a campus, to connect with local Churches and form relationships with “ordinary” people. Given that the campus will have people of many Christian denominations and also of other faiths, chaplaincy is something that the Churches should collectively plan together.

Apart from the pastoral support, which Chaplaincy provides, it also can act as a focus for creating events, which allow some of the big issues to which I referred earlier to be discussed and dissected. It can also be a place for the Christian Union and the Chaplains are often in a good position to advise the Christian Unions on their programmes and activities. UHI has a theological faculty in Highland Theological College-UHI (HTC) and I am sure there could be useful links established between the Church and HTC to enrich the offering which the Chaplaincy can make.

Making connections with local Churches and people is important. This is particularly true of, although not confined to, overseas students. They often have significant difficulties adapting to a new culture and language and some of them are Christians who have difficulty adapting to a Scotland at variance with their preconceived notions of Scotland as a Christian country. For them it is particularly important that the Church can get alongside them. This can be done by involving them in the life of the Church and connecting them with the people of the Church. Many churches combine with Universities to offer host family schemes where they link overseas students with families and let a friendship develop around hospitality, showing the students the country and telling them about it. Sometimes friendships are made for life and sometimes people play a vital part in ensuring the success of such students.

Churches can also involve students in their voluntary and social work. Music is often a powerful connecting force. Students can get involves in the musical life of the Church and in this way get drawn into the Church’s social function.

To sum up.

Churches can play a part in the intellectual battle for the minds and the hearts of students and thus exert a great influence over the life of the nation.

Churches can involve students in the congregational life of the Church and with their students increase their own impact on their communities

Churches can offer pastoral support, friendship and minister to the needs of students.

Mother Theresa (8) said

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.

Churches are supremely able to tackle this kind of poverty.

James M Fraser
Principal & Vice Chancellor
University of the Highlands & Islands
9th June 2013

NOTES

(1)  For further information please look at http://www.uhi.ac.uk

(2) Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, [and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. Dawkins is an atheist, a vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement. He is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design.

(3) John Carson Lennox is a British mathematician and philosopher of science who is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University, an author and a Christian academic who has participated in a number of public debates against individuals including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Michael Shermer.

(4) Alister Edgar McGrath (born 23 January 1953) is a British Irish theologian, priest, intellectual historian and Christian apologist, currently Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at Kings College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture.[ He is known for his opposition to New Atheism and anti-religionism and his advocacy of critical and author of numerous books.

(5)  Francis August Schaeffer (30 January 1912 – 15 May 1984[1]) was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L’Abri community in Switzerland. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics which he believed would answer the questions of the age.

(6) Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly called C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as “Jack”, was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist born in Belfast, Ireland. He held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College), 1925–1954, and Cambridge University (Magdalene College), 1954–1963. He is best known both for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.

(7)  The Gospel of Luke. 10 v31-37 NIV

(8)  Mother Teresa (1910 –1997), Albanian, Indian Roman Catholic nun founded the Missionaries of Charity, and ran hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; children’s and family counseling programmes; ophanages; and schools.

The Old High Church was the regimental church of the former Cameron Highlanders Regiment. The Church houses their colours, various memorials, and rolls of honour (memorial books).

We are planning to bring together various memorials of the Cameron Highlanders into a new space within the Church. This Memorial Area will be located along the wall nearest the river.

The centrepiece will be the Martinpuich Cross, which will be relocated from the west stairwell. The Cameron Highlanders’ roll of honour books, war memorial plaques and other historic artefacts from around the church will also be moved to the area.

The memorial area will be created by removing some pews below the balcony, near the pulpit. It will be separated from the main body of the church by a wooden partition topped by a frosted glass screen featuring a striking design by Gordon Harvey.

As well as a space for remembering, we hope the memorial area will also become an exhibition space and an informal gathering place within the church.

Plans are now on display within the Old High (currently open 10am to 12 noon most weekdays), and in the transept of St Stephen’s.

It is hoped that the work can be completed by 18 August, when the Cameron Highlanders Association- who have raised funds for the memorials space- will join us at Sunday worship during the weekend of their annual gathering. 2013 marks  the 220th Anniversary  of the raising of the 79th Regiment or Cameron Volunteers by Major Allan Cameron of Erracht.

You can also see the plans online by clicking the graphic above.

You can make comments or ask questions using the comments box below.

The following information has been provided by Angus Fairrie of the Cameron Highlanders Association, whose members have raised the funds for this project.

THE REGIMENTAL CHURCH OF THE QUEEN’S OWN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS

Under the Army Reforms of 1881 the County of Inverness formed the major part of the Regimental District of The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, while the Regimental Depot and Headquarters were established at Cameron Barracks. There was no church in the barracks, and so the Old High Church in Inverness became the Regimental Church of the Cameron Highlanders.

During World War I the Cameron Highlanders expanded to fourteen battalions. At the end of the Great War the Service battalions of the New Army were each presented with a King’s Colour to mark their war service. When these battalions were disbanded, the King’s Colours of the 6th and 7th Service Battalions of the Cameron Highlanders were laid up in the Old High Church. After the Depot of the Cameron Highlanders closed in 1960, the Colours of the 3rd Militia Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders, which had been used by the Depot, were also laid up in the Old High Church. They have recently been restored and re-hung.

Other interesting items relating to the Cameron Highlanders include the Celtic Cross erected by the 6th Service Battalion during the Battle of the Somme when it had played a distinguished part in the attack on the village of Martinpuich. The Cross, to which the names of those killed were attached on metal tags, was recovered at the end of the war and brought back to the Old High Church.

The Rolls of Honour of the Cameron Highlanders, which are copies of those in the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle, are also displayed. Other memorial plaques from the Depot were presented after the amalgamation of the Cameron Highlanders with the Seaforth Highlanders in 1961 to form the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons).

The present Minister and congregation of Old High St Stephen’s have decided that the Colours of the Cameron Highlanders, and the other items, should be brought together to form a fitting memorial to those who have given their lives in the service of their country and their Regiment in both World Wars, and in other conflicts.

Angus Fairrie
Convener of The Cameron Highlanders Association

One of the conditions of the grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Common Good Fund was to set up recitals and concerts in the Old High following the restoration of the organ.

After a quiet year in 2012 a short programme of recitals has been arranged for this year. It is hoped that over the winter a full programme will be organised and published for 2014.

This summer’s recitals are:

Saturday 15 June at 12.30pm: James Ross and Robert Wallace – Clarinet and Button Accordion

Saturday 22 June: Aurora String Quartet

Aurora Strings was formed in 1997 at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Consisting of four extremely dedicated professional string players, the quartet is now one of the most established in the North of England. Aurora Strings is Jo Montgomery (violin 1), Kirsten Gibson (violin 2), Gayle Hutchinson (viola) and Ed Pendrous (cello)

Saturday 21 September: Merlewood Ensemble

Catherine O’Rourke (flute), Margot Cruft (oboe), Isabel Paterson (violin), Alistair Nelson (viola), Imke Henderson (‘cello),  Gordon Tocher (keyboard)

Having been established for over 10 years, performing successful concerts throughout the Scottish Highlands, from Skye to Banff, the Merlewood Ensemble play  chamber music concerts by classically trained musicians who live in the Highlands. A versatile 6 – piece chamber group, performing a varied repertoire of music for strings, woodwind, voice  and keyboard including solos, duets, trios, quartets and full ensemble.

Saturday 12 October: Recital on the historic Willis Organ with Richard Steele MA BMus FRCO FRAM GRSM HonRCM.

Richard Steele studied organ at the Royal Academy of Music, took a London University BMus and then gained a PGCE at Cambridge University. He is the son-in-law of one of our elders, Diana Fraser.

All recitals at 12 noon, except for the first (at 12.30) and will last one hour.

Donations welcome for The Highland Hospice and The Archie Foundation Raigmore Childrens Ward Appeal.

Sunday 16 June
10.00am Morning Worship at St Stephen’s
11.15am Morning Worship at the Old High

SUNDAY BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENTS should be sent to Joy Cossar. The deadline for all items is Wednesday at noon.

NEWS FROM OUR CONGREGATION

OLD HIGH EVENING SERVICES Following the talk by James M Fraser MA MEd FRSA, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands on 9 June, the other guest speakers at the Old High this summer are:
30 June 2013: Kenneth Steven, writer, author and poet
21 July 2013: Rev John L. Bell, Iona Community member, hymnwriter, lecturer, broadcaster on ‘the strange silence of Biblical women’.
11 August 2013: Rev Martin Johnstone, Priority Areas Secretary of the Church of Scotland and Chief Executive of Faith in Community Scotland
All at 7.30pm at the Old High Church. More details from Peter.
MUSIC AT THE OLD HIGH One of the conditions of the grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Common Good Fund was to set up recitals and concerts in the Old High following the restoration of the organ. After a quiet year in 2012 a short programme of recitals has been arranged for this year. It is hoped that over the winter a full programme will be organised and published for 2014. This year’s recitals are:
Saturday 15 June at 12.30pm: James Ross and Robert Wallace – Clarinet and Button Accordion
Saturday 22 June: Aurora String Quartet
Saturday 21 September: Merlewood Ensemble
Saturday 12 October: Richard Steele: Organ Recital
All recitals are to be at 12.00 except the first one noted and are expected to last one hour. The Minister has agreed with the committee and Musicians that the proceeds will be donated to The Highland Hospice and The Archie Foundation Raigmore Childrens Ward Appeal. Jim Monro
SUMMER OPENING OF THE OLD HIGH CHURCH Once again the time has come to open the Old High to visitors during the summer months. We propose to open between June and September and are looking for members of the congregation or friends to assist with this. It is necessary for two people to be on duty at any one time for a minimum of 2 hours There is a lot of information on the history of the Church available to assist with any questions raised by visitors, and meeting people from all over the world is very interesting and satisfying. If you can help please contact Margaret Sutherland.
SILENT AUCTION/CRAFT FAIR It is proposed to hold the above event, in aid of church funds, in early December. For the event to take place it would need to be well supported, so if you can donate any of the following: Knitted or sewn items; Floral arrangements; Paintings; Woodcraft; Home made cards; Christmas decorations; Any goods in unused condition; Unwanted gifts; Your services for a few hours or day i.e. handyman, gardener, joiner etc. If you are able to help please contact Christina Cameron or Mary Home
GOLF OUTING Subject to support it is proposed to hold a golf outing on Tues 16th July at Cameron Course, Nairn West Golf Course. Tee off time 5.15pm. Price which includes golf and high tea £17.00–high tea only £14.00. Everyone welcome and all golfers are invited irrespective of handicap. Details from John Clarkson.
MIDWEEK QUIET TIME will resume after the summer. More information from Iain Todd
KIRK SESSION OF INVERNESS will meet at the offices of Frame Kennedy Chartered Accountants, Metropolitan House, 31-33 High Street, Inverness on Thursday 20 June at 4pm. More details from Margaret Sutherland.
THE OLIVE GROVE We have a vacancy for a volunteer who could help as a waitress (or waiter!) on Friday afternoons. (1-4.30pm). This could be weekly or fortnightly.(Days off no problem –we have supply staff) Also, for a baker –either tray bakes to be made at home (cost of ingredients refunded), or someone who is willing to come in and bake in the Olive Grove. Please come in and speak to the duty manager any day.

OTHER NEWS

INTERFAITH PICNIC Inverness Interfaith group’s annual picnic will be in Whin Park on Saturday 29 June, 11.30am- 3pm. More details from Tom Mackenzie.
2 CHRISTIAN SUMMER FESTIVALS:
ALIVE FESTIVAL is a series of events in Inverness from 20- 26 June. Details on their website http://aliveministry.co.uk/ .
SOLAS FESTIVAL takes place near Perth 21 – 23 June 2013. Art, music and discussion for all the family. Details from http://www.solasfestival.co.uk .
WOMEN’S INTERFAITH EVENT Interfaith Scotland is organising dialogue afternoons for women in locations across Scotland, looking at our ‘Values and Visions for the future of Scotland’ in the light of the referendum in September 2014. In Inverness on Monday 24th June from 2 – 4pm. The venue will be announced shortly. A buffet will be provided and the event is free. Any women who are interested contact Frances Hume by Tuesday 11th June.

SERMON
Texts: Galatians 1.11-24
Luke 7.11-17

Faith- not of human origin?

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

‘Jesus gave him back to his mother’.

‘His mother’ was a widow. When she had been a little girl, she was her father’s daughter. Her father was the undisputed head of the household. His wife and children were completely reliant on him, for only he could own property, and what happened to whatever money came into the house, was his decision. The little girl grew up, and hardly had she stopped being a little girl when she got married. Now what defined her was not that she was her father’s daughter, but that she was her husband’s wife.

She bore her husband a son, who grew up into a grew up into a young man, the pride of his parents, no doubt. But then her husband died, and she became a widow. In a culture in which a woman’s status- never very high at the best of times- was defined- always- by her relationship to a man- father or husband, to become a widow was like a divorce. With no connection to a man, a widow was almost an outcast. Not for nothing did the old Hebrew prophets say that God judged Israel according to how well they looked after those least able to look after themselves- beginning with the widows and orphans. For widows had to depend on charity in order to survive.

However, this widow had one hope left in life- her son. But when he suddenly dies, she is distraught. For her son had been her last hope of a respectable existence. He was the only member of her family left, and he would have looked after her. Now she must depend on the charity of friends and neighbours.

On the day of the funeral, many of her friends and neighbours follow as the young man is carried out of the town to the burial place on the funeral bier (often a kind of wicker basket). As the crowd reach the gate of the town, the widow is surprised to see another large crowd heading along the road towards the town. They have been a lively crowd, for they are following a rabbi who seems to be a kind of prophet, and they are having lively discussion as they go- sharing stories of miracles performed, asking questions of the rabbi and discussing his teaching. But as they approach the town, and realise that there is a funeral procession on the way towards them, the rabbi’s crowd falls quiet.

And at this point, Luke tells us something which says much about Jesus. Luke wrote his story for a Gentile audience. They would know that in many great works of ancient literature, the heroes were men who were rarely moved by emotion. It was a great Roman virtue not to be command of our self, and not to moved by suffering, especially the suffering of unimportant people with whom you has nothing to do. Indeed, there was a school of thought which was highly revered in the Roman world, whose name is still current in English- the Stoics.

But Jesus is not stoic, and the hero of the Gospels is quite unlike the heros of Roman literature. Jesus sees this widow, who has lost her only son, and he is moved. Even although he is a rabbi, a respected religious teacher, and she is just another unfortunate widow woman. Luke says of Jesus that ‘his heart was filled with pity for her’, using a word which was the strongest word in ancient Greek for ‘sympathy’. It’s a word used again and again of Jesus in the Gospels. He goes up to the woman and tells her not to cry, and he stops everyone in their tracks when he touches the bier, and then commands the young man to get up. Which he does, and then Luke says, ‘Jesus gave him back to his mother’.

The crowd rejoice. They are filled with a holy fear, or awe. There is indeed a prophet among them, and they realise that God’s saviour is here at last. Indeed, bringing the dead back to life is an awesome event. No wonder the people rejoice. Perhaps they sing Psalm 146: ‘Alleluia, praise the Lord, O my soul… happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, whose hope is in the Lord their God… who made heaven and earth… who gives justice to those who suffer wrong… the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down… he upholds the widow and orphan’.

Yet the widow of Nain had not asked for a miracle. Jesus saw a woman facing an old age in poverty. He saw a woman broken-hearted, not just at the death of a beloved son, but because her world had fallen apart in other ways as well- financially and socially. She had lost her place in a patriarchal, male-dominated society, and had become fit only to be an object of charity and compassion. Jesus sees this, and he feels deeply for her, and he acts. By restoring to the widow her son, he restored the woman’s status and self -respect as well.

With this act, Jesus does not bring to an end this patriarchal society in which women were always secondary to men. You could say that he almost helps prop it up, for he although he performs a miracle, he’s still operating within the boundaries of the culture. He does not preach that the society should change, and that it’s time for women to be equal, and that becoming a widow should not mean destitution. Nor does he preach a sermon encouraging the women’s neighbours to be really generous at supporting the childless widows among them. It needs for this woman to have a male family member to look after her, and so her restores her son to life.

And yet in doing so he has struck a blow for a better world. Within a few years, his church would be making sure that the widows among them would be looked after. And any childless widows in future would know that God in not uncaring, but is moved by their plight, and will not abandon them. Where once the great men of the Roman Empire prided themselves in being unmoved by the suffering of little people, now we hear that the God of the universe is moved, and calls on his followers to be moved, by the plight of those on the margins of society- the widows, the orphans, and the poor.

In the last few months, I seem to have been involved in lots of meeting about how the church could be more effective. We’ve had Future Focus, we’ve had the Presbytery’s local church review, we’ve changed the constitution of this congregation, and we’ve been remaking the Kirk Session. The same questions were being discussed at the General Assembly a few weeks ago, and this week I attended my first meeting of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, where we thought about how we could ensure that the plight of people in poverty does not get overlooked in these difficult economic times. And there have been lots of conversations about how we can do things better, what we have to change, what we have to start or give up, how we can reorganise, how we can influence our society to make it fairer and more peaceful.

All our human effort is important, and ensuring that the church is effective in the world deserves our best efforts. But the Psalmist reminds us that we should not put our ultimate trust in human efforts and institutions: ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in any human power, for there is no help in them’. Instead he says, ‘Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, whose hope is in the Lord their God’. So in all our discussion recently, we have to constantly be asking, ‘Where is God in all this? How will we know when God is at work?’

The Christians of Galatia asked that very question of St Paul- where’s God in what you say and do? So he had to tell them: my mission is of God. In the very first sentence of his letter to the Galatians, his greeting is, ‘From Paul, whose call to be an apostle did not come from human beings or by human means, but from Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from death’ (1.1). And then in the passage we read today, he repeats the claim: ‘the gospel I preach is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any human being, nor did anyone teach it to me. It was Jesus Christ himself who revealed it to me’ (1.11-12). He goes on to remind them of how, although he was a very scrupulous Jew, Christ had called him to follow him, as Paul had been travelling on that famous road to Damascus. And like the crowd at Nain, who saw a dead man raised and restored to his widowed mother, so those who had know the old Saul of Tarsus rejoiced at what had happened to unexpectedly to make Paul and Apostle: ‘”The man who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy!” And so they praised God because of me’ (1.23-24).

God worked through Jesus, as he worked through Paul, bring justice and hope to the world. And today we who follow in the footsteps of Christ and Paul and Columba all the other disciples down though the century- we are the ones through whom God will be at work. So how will we know if all our activity, all our organising, all our preaching and teaching are doing God’s work? We will know when things change for the better. When a persecutor becomes a man of faith. When a widow is restored to her place in society. When what seemed dead comes to life. When justice is done, and new truths come to light. And when people praise God because God is giving them hope for a better world.

Ascription of Praise
Happy are those
who have the God of Jacob for their help,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Amen.
Psalm 146.4, Common Worship

Biblical references from the Good News Bible, except for Psalm 146, which is quoted from the Common Worship version (CH4 102)

© 2013 Peter W Nimmo

A member of the Free Church of Scotland, Mr Fraser will reflect on faith in an academic setting, and what role the churches can have in caring for students as the new UHI campus is built in Inverness.

The event, which is open to all begins with worship for St Columba’s Day (this year is the 1450th anniversary of Columba’s arrival on Iona).

After Mr Fraser’s talk there will be refreshments and a question and answer session.

Highlander James Fraser attended Plockton High School in Ross-shire. He gained an MA (Hons) in Mental Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh in 1971 and went on to become a lecturer in English and Liberal Studies at Inverness Technical College, now Inverness College UHI.

In 1977 he took up an administrative post in the Academic Registry of the University of Stirling, gaining promotion in 1980 to assistant registrar. He graduated with an M.Ed from the University of Stirling in 1983.

In 1987 he was appointed secretary of Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh, now Queen Margaret University. From 1972 to 1979 James also worked part-time with the Open University as a tutor on some of its arts courses.

He was appointed as secretary to Paisley College of Technology in 1989. Paisley was granted university status in 1992 and James remained as university secretary until 2002 when he joined UHI Millennium Institute, forerunner to our university, as secretary. In 2007 he became UHI deputy principal and secretary.

He took over as UHI principal in 2009 and became vice-chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands in February 2011.

The other guest speakers at the Old High this summer are:
30 June 2013: Kenneth Steven, writer, author and poet
21 July 2013: Rev John L. Bell, Iona Community member, hymnwriter, lecturer, broadcaster on ‘the strange silence of Biblical women’.
11 August 2013: Rev Martin Johnstone, Priority Areas Secretary of the Church of Scotland and Chief Executive of Faith in Community Scotland

SUNDAY BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENTS should be sent to Joy Cossar of The deadline for all items is Wednesday at noon.

NEWS FROM OUR CONGREGATION

MINUTE FOR MISSION- OUR MINISTRY TO CARE HOMES
YOU are warmly invited to come along and take part in our ministry to the elderly in care. To help with our services at Southside and Aden House, please contact Jim Alexander.
ADEN HOUSE CARE HOME, Annfield Road. This Tuesday (4 June) at 2.00pm there will be a short act of worship at Aden House, on this occasion led by Rev Jim Christie and members of Old High St Stephen’s.
ST COLUMBA’S DAY: PRINCIPAL OF UHI TO SPEAK AT OLD HIGH James M Fraser MA MEd FRSA, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands will speak at the Old High Church on 9 June at 7.30pm. A member of the Free Church of Scotland, Mr Fraser will reflect on faith in an academic setting, and what role the churches can have in caring for students as the new UHI campus is built in Inverness. The event, which is open to all begins with worship for St Columba’s Day (this year is the 1450th anniversary of Columba’s arrival on Iona). After Mr Fraser’s talk there will be refreshments and a question and answer session.
The other guest speakers at the Old High this summer are:
30 June 2013: Kenneth Steven, writer, author and poet
21 July 2013: Rev John L. Bell, Iona Community member, hymnwriter, lecturer, broadcaster on ‘the strange silence of Biblical women’.
11 August 2013: Rev Martin Johnstone, Priority Areas Secretary of the Church of Scotland and Chief Executive of Faith in Community Scotland
More details from Peter.
MUSIC AT THE OLD HIGH One of the conditions of the grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Common Good Fund was to set up recitals and concerts in the Old High following the restoration of the organ. After a quiet year in 2012 a short programme of recitals has been arranged for this year. It is hoped that over the winter a full programme will be organised and published for 2014. This year’s recitals are:
Saturday 15 June at 12.30pm: James Ross and Robert Wallace – Clarinet and Button Accordion
Saturday 22 June: Aurora String Quartet
Saturday 21 September: Merlewood Ensemble
Saturday 12 October: Richard Steele: Organ Recital
All recitals are to be at 12.00 except the first one noted and are expected to last one hour. The Minister has agreed with the committee and Musicians that the proceeds will be donated to The Highland Hospice and The Archie Foundation Raigmore Childrens Ward Appeal. Jim Monro
SUMMER OPENING OF THE OLD HIGH CHURCH Once again the time has come to open the Old High to visitors during the summer months. We propose to open between June and September and are looking for members of the congregation or friends to assist with this. It is necessary for two people to be on duty at any one time for a minimum of 2 hours There is a lot of information on the history of the Church available to assist with any questions raised by visitors, and meeting people from all over the world is very interesting and satisfying. If you can help please contact Margaret Sutherland.
FREEWILL OFFERING ENVELOPES new sets of envelopes will be available from Sandy Cumming after today’s service. Envelopes can be collected in the hall. There are also letters for those who donate by bank orders.
CHRISTIAN AID A very big thank you to everybody who helped raise money for Christian Aid. The total I have counted so far is …………..£5115. £1027.24 was raised at the coffee morning and £4087.76 was collected by the Door to door collection and the envelopes from the church pews. Last year we collected £3992.55 (according to Christian Aid records). So well done everybody- it’s been worth the effort. Susan Anderson .
LUNCH CLUB The Lunch Club will meet at 12.30pm on Thursday 6 June at the Craigmonie Hotel, Annfield Road. New diners always made welcome. For further information please contact Rae Swan.
SILENT AUCTION/CRAFT FAIR It is proposed to hold the above event, in aid of church funds, in early December. For the event to take place it would need to be well supported, so if you can donate any of the following: Knitted or sewn items; Floral arrangements; Paintings; Woodcraft; Home made cards; Christmas decorations; Any goods in unused condition; Unwanted gifts; Your services for a few hours or day i.e. handyman, gardener, joiner etc. If you are able to help please contact Christina Cameron or Mary Home
GOLF OUTING Subject to support it is proposed to hold a golf outing on Tues 16th July at Cameron Course, Nairn West Golf Course. Tee off time 5.15pm. Price which includes golf and high tea £17.00–high tea only £14.00. Everyone welcome and all golfers are invited irrespective of handicap. Details from John Clarkson
MIDWEEK QUIET TIME will resume after the summer. More information from Iain Todd
KIRK SESSION OF INVERNESS will meet at the offices of Frame Kennedy Chartered Accountants, Metropolitan House, 31-33 High Street, Inverness on Thursday 20 June at 4pm. More details from Margaret Sutherland.
THE OLIVE GROVE We have a vacancy for a volunteer who could help as a waitress (or waiter!) on Friday afternoons. (1-4.30pm). This could be weekly or fortnightly.(Days off no problem –we have supply staff) Also, for a baker –either tray bakes to be made at home (cost of ingredients refunded), or someone who is willing to come in and bake in the Olive Grove. Please come in and speak to the duty manager any day.

OTHER NEWS

INTERFAITH PICNIC Inverness Interfaith group’s annual picnic will be in Whin Park on Saturday 29 June, 11.30am- 3pm. More details from Tom Mackenzie
2 CHRISTIAN SUMMER FESTIVALS:
ALIVE FESTIVAL is a series of events in Inverness from 20- 26 June. Details on their website http://aliveministry.co.uk/ .
SOLAS FESTIVAL takes place near Perth 21 – 23 June 2013. Art, music and discussion for all the family. Details from http://www.solasfestival.co.uk .
WOMEN’S INTERFAITH EVENT Interfaith Scotland is organising dialogue afternoons for women in locations across Scotland, looking at our ‘Values and Visions for the future of Scotland’ in the light of the referendum in September 2014. In Inverness on Monday 24th June from 2 – 4pm. The venue will be announced shortly. A buffet will be provided and the event is free. Any women who are interested contact Frances Hume by Tuesday 11th June.
AN EVENING WITH JOHN BLANCHARD.on Tuesday 4 June at 7.30 pm at the East Church, John will be talking on the subject “Has science got rid of God?”. Details from Mrs Dolina Coventry.

Click here for A Month of Sundays for June.