News from the churches:
(a) St Matthew’s is looking forward to the return of Rev Fiona Bullock after a period of illness. There will be morning reflections at St Matthew’s each morning of Holy Week (Monday to Friday) at 9am, followed by breakfast – all welcome.
(b) The Methodist Church in Scott Street are hosting the Barber Shop Singers this Saturday afternoon (25th March) at 2.30pm. All welcome – refreshments will be served. Future dates from the Methodists include a Strawberry Tea on Saturday 15th July, and Saturday lunches on various dates – 1st April and 13th May being the next two.
(c) St Ninian’s Cathedral are hosting a number of events from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday – posters are attached for The Passion on Palm Sunday, Easter bonnet-making on Easter Saturday, and the various services during Holy Week. The Provost of the Cathedral, the Very Rev Hunter Farquharson, has told his congregation that he will be retiring at the end of July, after 24 years there.
(d) Our Lady of Lourdes is teaming up with Letham4All for a fun Community Easter event on Monday 3rd April, at the church, from 11-2 – lots of activities and all are welcome.
(e) St Leonard’s Church hold a “Songs and Memories” afternoon on the 3rd Monday of every month. Led by Edna Auld, this is open to anyone interested to attend – 2-4pm.
(f) Scone Church give advance notice of the revived Annual Fair which will be held in Scone on 26th August – save the date now!
(g) We were sorry to hear that Andrew and Kathryn Howe, officers at the Salvation Army, will be leaving at the end of April and moving to Lochgelly. They were thanked for their support of and contribution to the work of PACT, and offered best wishes in their new calling. They are not being replaced immediately in Perth, and would welcome prayer for the local citadel as they transition to having no officers, and relying on local trained worship leaders.
PACT News:
The Good Friday Walk of Witness has been given permission to go ahead, and will be led this year by Rev Alan Anderson, from the Methodist Church. Poster is attached – gather at St John’s at 10.45a.m. on Good Friday (7th April.)
Our Easter Dawn service at Quarrymill will be led by Rev John Wylie at 7am on Sunday 9th April, followed by breakfast at the Burnside Hall in Scone. (We are still looking for a couple more helpers at the Hall, but this will mean missing the service!)
We are grateful to both Alan and John for being prepared to lead these ecumencial events.
Other announcements
(a) Gerry Watson, a member at Kinnoull Church, is gathering books for the Christian Aid Book Sale which is held in Edinburgh during Christian Aid Week. He has offered to collect from anyone who has books to donate – please call him on 07981 181260. (This info has already been circulated.)
(b) The Perth and Kinross Foodbank is getting busier and busier, with the number of clients having increased by about 30% over last year at this time. The level of donations has stayed much the same; we are being asked to share this information with congregations to encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities to give something extra to the Foodbank when they are shopping in the supermarkets.
(c) The Inspiration Orchestra is holding an Festival on Saturday 13th May at Pitmeadow Farm near Dunning. A magazine article from Ian White will be sent in a separate email.
Discussions
Marcia Mckenzie has retired from coordinating the World Day of Prayer and has asked if PACT can be involved in future WDP days, though we would want to liaise with the continuing members of Marcia’s committee. There is a national event being held in St Matthew’s on 17th June which could be an opportunity to find out more about what’s involved and a source of inspiration.
The Warm Spaces initiative has had varying degrees of success, with some churches having stopped earlier than planned. Some have been well attended, others much less so. The churches being open have met some needs, but seems to have been more about combatting loneliness, or increasing fellowship within congregations, and less about fuel poverty.