February 2022

A service for Ash Wednesday

A Rite of for the beginning of Lent

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and sustain in me a willing spirit.       Ps 51:12

Preparation for Lent

Dear friend in Christ, in beginning our Lenten observance, on this Ash Wednesday, we are reminded of our baptism, and how Christ’s death on the cross may clearly be shown in our lives. We now come before God in penitence, reflecting on our life in Christ. We pledge ourselves to observe this season of self-...

A Prayer for the people of the Ukraine

Father of all, your Risen Son gave new hope to his apostles with words of peace and the assurance of his presence: send your Holy Spirit upon the peoples of Ukraine. Bless them with Christ’s gift of peace, and strengthen the resolve of all who labour for an end to this conflict; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

From the Diocese in Europe

Refection for Sunday 27th February 2022 by Canon Dean Fostekew

Have you ever, like I have, been completely overawed with wonder when you’ve walked into a Cathedral or church building. It does not happen to me all the time but on occasion, as I enter a sacred building I am stopped in my tracks and just have to be still and wonder. Wonder at the grander, beauty or sheer workmanship which made this temple to God. It does not, for me, need to be a grand building in fact some of the most powerful places of worship have been wee chapels that you can feel are steeped with prayer and...

A reflection for Epiphany VII Sunday 20th February 2022 by the Rev'd David Warnes

Luke 6:27-38

One of the things that has sustained me through the pandemic is watching vintage sitcoms on television. We are currently revisiting One Foot in the Grave and enjoying the performances of two fine Scots actors – Richard Wilson, who grew up in Greenock, and local lassie Annette Crosbie, born in Gorebridge and educated at Boroughmuir High School in this city. I first saw this in the 1990s and I am now marvelling at the ability of the writer, David Renwick, to capture the irascibility which afflicts ageing men – no mean feat, since he was in his forties...

Reflection for Epiphany VI Sunday 13th February 2022 by Canon Dean Fostekew

St.Luke, this morning gives us an alternative version of the Beatitudes, somewhat different to the familiar phrases we know from Matthew Chapter 5. For a start they are shorter:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

   for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now,

   for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you,

and when they exclude you, revile you,

and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”                        ...

Reflection for Epiphany V Sunday 6th February 2022 by Canon Dean Fostekew

 

Fishing and landing a catch is no picnic. By fishing I don’t mean the gentle sport of angling I mean fishing deep at sea by trawler men.

“Because Polperro is a tidal port, the fishing boats can only leave or enter the harbour when the tide is halfway above the high water level, a period of six hours in every 12. At low water, the boats are grounded in the harbour and are equipped with 'legs' to support them. Mooring buoys in the outer harbour enable boats to leave and return at low tide however.

Four factors determine when...