New Season of Round Church Coffee mornings begins

The first Round Church Coffee Morning of the 2012 season kicked off today with a steady stream of attendees to sample the excellent tea/coffee and cakes on offer! Thank you to everyone - helpers, bakers, servers, attendees and everyone who makes this fellowship and fundraising event such a success!! Click on the photos to enlarge.
Here are some of the magnificent cakes..

and here are some of the happy helpers... :)

Drizzly Easter Sunday!

Here we are again in the Community Gardens, Port Ellen for the 8am Sonrise service. Not so wet this time and so we were able to get the keyboards, guitar and trumpet out and praise Him who is risen! Then off for breakfast at the Baptist Church and onwards to our various services in the warm shelter of our churches :) Click on the photo above for a close-up. Happy Easter everyone!

Rainy Good Friday

Despite the rain, over 25 of us gathered in the Round Church for the Good Friday procession with the cross down to the square in Bowmore. People from all denominations came along and although we'd planned keyboards/guitars/trumpet/amplifiers and a great blast of a service, we opted instead for plan B which was planting the cross symbolically in the middle of Islay (the map of Islay in the middle of the square) since all of us share a concern for the whole of the island and it's inhabitants, once through Graham kendrick's "Make Way", a wee word of prayer and then off for tea and cookies at the Baptist Church. We plan many more open air events this year as our confidence is growing... So watch out for publicity for the next one and then you can come and hear more of what we had planned to say today!! Becky - thanks for the photo, you're a star!

Easter Events for 2012

Xpedition Force Easter Holiday Club for 5-11 year olds 
Monday - Friday, 2nd-6th April, 2-4pm at Bowmore Baptist Church. Admission is free - however, space is limited and so places may have to be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis!

Maundy Thursday Service 7.30pm at the Episcopal Church, Bridgend


Good Friday "Walk of Witness" and open air service in Bowmore square
Good Friday Evening Service 7pm at St John's Church, Port Ellen


Easter Sunday: 8am Open Air Service in the Community Garden, Port Ellen

Usual Sunday Service times - Family Services in both The Round Church, Bowmore 10am and St John's, Port Ellen 11.30am

Children's Easter celebration including easter egg hunt at Bruichladdich Hall 2pm


All welcome to any of the above events!

Christingle Service

Should the church support the protesters at St Pauls'?

http://www.4thought.tv/themes/should-the-church-of-england-side-with-the-protesters-at-st-pauls/ian-chamberlain
You might like to take a look at this link since it will give you access to a number of views.
My own view is that the church should support the protesters since we need leadership at this time in history and unlike the prevailing political view that 'money' is going to fix things for us, we need to recognise that the big challenge for democracy now is 'Can it challenge the Corporations?'
Decades ago the cry was to challenge the landed gentry but over the last few decades we have seen the emergence of a rich elite that are so powerful that we have to bail them out when they get into trouble....
I am not at all sure that Jesus would approve..

A man died this week

A man died this week. On the operating table. Not much older than me. Quiet man. Not seen him for 30 years. As a young christian he introduced me to Matthew 25. Taught me a lot of things. Started a charity called Archway - http://​www.archwayfoundation.org.uk/ which is still going.The Lectionary reading this week is Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus points out some criteria that will be used at Judgement Day;
•I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, (or you gave me nothing to eat).
•I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, (or you gave me nothing to drink).
•I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in, (or did not welcome me in).
•I needed clothes and you clothed me, (or did not clothe me).
•I was sick and you looked after me, (or did not look after me).
•I was in prison and you came to visit me, (or did not look after me).

Some coincidence methinks.
So, I will have plenty to say tomorrow morning....