ST ANDREW’S PARISH CHURCH,

CARLUKE

Registered Charity SCO13968________________________________________________________

Christmas 2019

WHO’S WHO

Minister: Rev Helen Jamieson: Tel: 01555 771218Session Clerk: Mrs Liz Bradley: Tel: 01555 751797Treasurer: Mrs Libby Muir: Tel: 07723639080Roll Keeper: Mrs Kathleen Wood: Tel: 01698 372063Church Caretaker: Mrs Jennifer Johnston: Tel: 07944366898Organist: David EdmentWorship Team: Liz Bradley, Margaret Bell, Barbara Mackie,

Libby Muir, Allison Plenderleith, Pamela Watt, Kathleen Wood

Hospitality Team Leaders: Elizabeth Smith, Laura McConnellPastoral Care Team Leaders: Pamela Watt,Margaret Bell,Hazel Nutt

Christmas Day Come for a celebratory cuppa at 10.30am, followed by a short

service of worship at 11am

United worship on Sunday 5 th January in St Andrew’s at 11am We will welcome URC, St John’s and Kirkton.

Come and share with us!A note from the Minister…….

Time is such a strange thing – sometimes it seems to drag – at other times it flies. Apparently it has now been scientifically proved that when we are absorbed in a task then time does pass quicker – and perhaps that explains why the last few weeks before Christmas when folk are rushing about making all the

necessary preparations that it seems that time does indeed fly past.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. (Michael Althsuler)

You may never have heard of Michael Althsuler, but his words are wise. God has given us the gift of time but He also gives us responsibility to be wise stewards of this valuable resource. That means we have to do our best to get our priorities right.

This year as Christmas approaches and you find yourself caught up in some frantic activity, then do yourself a favour – stop and read the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew or Luke. (You won’t find the Christmas story in Mark or John)Sit down and be reminded anew of the fact that in Jesus, God has come to us in human form. ‘When the time was right Mary gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn.’In Jesus God has come to share with us, to be one with us The gift tag on the present reads - ‘From heaven to earth with love’.

Amidst all the tinsel, trees, parcels and festive food take time to unwrap the Best Gift of all – and make time to come and offer your thanks!

Robert Helen and Eilidh wish you all

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH GUILD“Get Ready”

Ready for what? For shopping in busy streets and shopping malls or taking the easy way out using on-line shopping!!So much to do, food to think of, getting our orders in on time, cards to write, a few folks to remember but alas, who are no longer with us, presents to buy, oh dear, so much to do. Christmas trees adorned with lights and baubles, Christmas tunes ring out in many shops however somewhere and at some time in all this busyness, we will hear a Christmas carol, a carol, a tune which reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of a baby born in a lowly stable but whose life and work is the cornerstone of our faith. Marion McIntyre, Guild National President writes: “Where will you find Christ this Christmas, and where, and how will you share him with others?”The Guild is hosting a Carol Service in the Tron Church, Glasgow many members and friends will travel to join in this service, candles will be lit at the start of the service signifying the Light of Love, Peace and Hope at this Christmas. A few words of the hymn:

“When the world outside is waiting and you can’t give any moreThere’s no end to war and hating and you long to close the door

Light a candle in the window, let it shine beyond your painLight a candle in the window and the child will come again”

With each new Strategy which spans a three-year period new Projects are selected. Over the years the Guild has supported a CrossReach Project and we are currently supporting “Join Up the Dots. Even in this day and age many people of all ages experience loneliness and isolation. We extend our best wishes to the staff and volunteers of CrossReach who offer so much through their social care and who are celebrating their 150th year of Christian care for those in vulnerable situations.A former Guild Project in partnership with Mission International,

focussed on Haiti. In 2010 Haiti suffered a tremendous earthquake which claimed the lives of up to 300,000 people. Mission International have extended their gratitude to all members of the Guilds across Scotland for their support in building and opening a new school in the commune of Ouanaminthe. A new building with modern toilets for the staff and the pupils. Access to quality education helps protect pupils from poverty and the risk of becoming a Restavek – a child in Haiti who is sent by their parents to work for a host household as a domestic servant because the parents lack the resources required to support the child.

May the Light of Peace at Christmas shine all over this World

Art AngelsAnother successful session of the Art Angels is drawing to a close. This session we have been exploring the alphabet. The children have been choosing their favourite letters of the alphabet. Hazel and Jennifer then have the task to think of a craft activity beginning with the chosen letters.

So far we have made snails for the letter ‘S’, llamas for the letter ‘L’ and for the letter ‘R’ we had a ‘Recipe for Halloween’ evening. All great fun.To round off the year we had an evening of Christmas crafts. We hope the ladies and gentlemen who attended the church Christmas lunch liked the Christmas decorations we made for them.A big thank you to all our helpers this year. We look forward to doing it all again next year.

Let There be Joy!!! by Les Peck

Christmas? Love it!! Every sprig of holly – every bunch of mistletoe – all those gorgeous bright-red berries!!! And every snow-laden card that tells me: ‘There were Shepherds abiding in the fields…’ Old fashioned?

Probably, but that’s how we’ve done it for a very long time.Where did it begin? Memories of Christmas begin in the early 1940’s. On December 1st, granny would burrow into the cupboard-under-the-stairs to hunt for grandad’s ‘box of pretties’… as she called the decorations. (As I was only three years old, ‘pretties’ has to count as baby-talk.)These well-used strips of crepe paper probably dated back to World War 1. For a start, they were made from fragile tissue paper and they came in colours that you could only find in a Victorian catalogue of domestic bliss. I remember faded blue, washed-out-green and variations in a theme of pink… all hand-stitched together (as mum would hope), for one more Christmas.By family tradition, the Christmas season could not begin before December 1st. Then, while granny was hunting for the ‘pretties’, grandad would take me for a stroll across Beddington Park. We were looking for conkers, acorns and any fir cones we could paint and use as tree decorations. As December rolled on, Mr Stevenson (who ran our local grocery shop), might have added something like a Happy Christmas to his window display – but I don’t remember any particularly special activity for Christmas Week. But I do remember Ration Books! Especially when it came to eggs…And this is where my dear Aunt Julia comes into the story…Aunt Julia had been a ‘McKenzie’ – and as she claimed that her great-great grandfather had been Clan Chief, we had to accept that her family had ‘standards’. Therefore, when Aunt Julia discovered that her ration book would only let her have one fresh egg per week, she was (in the words of Mrs Tabitha Twitchit), totally affronted! But, instead of writing to the Ministry of Food to complain, she devised a simple scheme to beat the system. And she only needed half-a-dozen chicks…

Where to find them? Not a problem: Aunt Julia knew her way around – and by offering lifelong links to the House of McKenzie, six fluffy little yellow-feathered birds were delivered to her brand-new henhouse on a sunny morning in July. No more rationed eggs! “You’ll see,” she predicted. “We’ll all be eating new-laid eggs for our Christmas Dinner!”A six-month wait for a new-laid egg? Well, in war time, possibly. But dear Aunt Julia didn’t waste those valuable months. To her, they were an opportunity. It went like this: if you were hoping to share in the bonanza, you were expected to provide your household leftovers to feed her little darlings… And it shouldn’t take too much effort to realise who would get the job of carrying the chicken-feed.So, on the second Sunday in December (1943), I was handed a shopping bag containing three well-wrapped packages of ‘left-overs’. It was frosty and a misty fog was drifting over the park. And where did Aunt Julia live? On the other side of the park. Lucky me!However, by the time I’d crossed the few remaining fairways of that long-abandoned golf course, skirted the boating lake and fought my way through the Wild Wood of Weasels along by the Mitcham road, I found Aunt Julia in a terrible state. What had happened? An unexploded something in her garden? A blown-off roof? Anything was possible. After all, the Luftwaffe had been known to ditch the last of their bombs while screaming back to France…But no: much worse – and she led me into the garden and up to the hen house. “There – do you see?” she declared in the Old Bailey voice of the Lord Chief Justice. “One of my chickens is a cockerel!” “Which one?” I asked.“Probably yours,” Aunt Julia decided, glaring at my bag of left-over lunches.Why pick on me? But when dealing with Aunt Julia, the only way out was to play along. “And what will happen?” I asked. Would I get to keep it? Could I take it home? Could I call it ‘Albert’? Not a chance! “You’ll find out later…” auntie warned me.

And I did – on Christmas Day – when our dinner was provided by the other half of the unfortunate cockerel. Now - did that really count as a new-laid egg for Christmas Day? Probably not – but it was close enough!

Drop In Support and ActivitiesI was delighted to take up the post of full

time Project Co-Ordinator at the Drop In this summer and am keen to update you all on the progress we have made so far

and our plans for the future.We continue to offer Drop In Support and Drop In Activities each month and are currently joined by S6 pupils from Carluke High School who are making a very valuable contribution to the Drop In and those who share with us are enjoying their input.This autumn we added a weekly art class to our programme of activities. ‘Heart for Art’ is a dementia focused art class which is run in conjunction with CrossReach. The artwork being produced by our participants is outstanding and many people who share with us have never painted or drawn before! Big thank you to our Heart for Art volunteers and participants who make this a very worthwhile and enjoyable weekly activity for all. If you or someone you know would like to come along, they are most welcome. Please get in touch.In November, we were fortunate to be joined by The Church of Scotland Moderator, Rev Colin Sinclair and his wife Ruth to share with us at the Drop In, supported by fantastic singing from our friends at Victoria Park School. This was a very special and memorable day for all.We will round off the year with a visit to see Jack and The Beanstalk at the Kings Theatre, Glasgow and are very much looking forward to an afternoon of fun and laughter with our friends from Drop In.Looking forward, we will be extending the Garden of Hope to be a dementia friendly space, starting in the Spring. We will have input from Victoria Park School in planning the space which we hope will be used and valued by the wider community in Carluke. Gillian Picton

We have had many more enjoyable Wednesday evenings at the Craft Club. In September we laid out our wares in the hall at the Jam and Ham event and raised almost £350 in a few short hours. Thanks to everyone who bought the crafts. Also a big thank you to folk who aren’t members of the club but who very kindly gave us their craft work to sell for funds. This was much appreciated and helped raise that phenomenal amount. Since then we have continued to make and sell things mainly with a Christmas theme and again folk have been very generous. To date we have made over a further £350. It’s great what we can do with some wool, paper and of course it’s compulsory to use glitter! All money we raise is donated to local and national charities and to the church.

As 2019 draws to a close the Hospitality Team can look back on a very busy but successful year.

At Easter we were very lucky to have hosted the Passion Play by DramaKirk which really made us understand Easter. It was most uplifting.

Bruce Davies, the renowned singer/songwriter, entertained us in October and quite a few folk purchased his cds on the night so they can listen to him whenever they like!

On Sunday, 1 December the Farmers and Farmers Wives Choir - all 100 of them - sang to a packed church. This amazing evening raised over £2000 which will be split between the Choir’s chosen charities and church funds.

Carluke Hea l th Walk

Every Monday leaving St Andrews Church at 11amTea, coffee, biscuits available in the hall afterwards.Walks are open to all and last no longer than an hour.No special clothing required – just some sensible

shoes and clothingThere are no strangers here – only friends you haven’t yet met! (Keats)

We have a team of 9 trained walk leaders and this year Laura, Jessie, Alice, Helen and Gillian completed the ‘dementia friendly walk leader training’ so hopefully next year we can begin an afternoon group which some of those attending the Drop in might attend.Laura, Alice, Jessie and Johan have also completed ‘Strength and Balance’ training – so they can encourage others to do some simple exercises too.

Well done to all the ladies and thanks for giving your time!Thanks also to Paula Hubens and Get Walking Lanarkshire

for encouragement, support and training.

Update from LauraThe Monday morning walks are now well established in the number of walkers and walks we are doing. New walkers are joining us most weeks. We enjoy discussing the walk before and after over a cup of tea/coffee and biscuits. We start our walk with a slow pace but the tongues are normally in full flow at this stage. There is always a walk leader at the back and at the front. Walkers change their position during the walks which has become a pattern. This allows walkers to have a chat with many fellow walkers. The walkers stop for a few moments to take any sights, sounds or photos. Before, we know it, the hour is up and we are back for a cuppa. Most have agreed this is a great way to start your day/week. To date no walk has been cancelled due to weather conditions. A walker once said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing". A warm welcome is always given to new walkers from all. We are all looking forward to continued Monday walks.

Stewardship & FinanceThe figures below show our financial position at 30th November 2019. Income (2019) £ £

Offerings 38,096Other Income 16,302 54,398Expenditure (2019)Ministries & Mission 27,175Heat & Light 3,962Fabric repairs & maintenance 4,005Reserved for Heart for Art 4,000Other Local Costs 19,103 58,245Balance (3,847)Balance 01/01/19 [ General fund ] 805Transferred from invested funds 5,000Balance 30/11/19 [ General fund ] 1,958BankingIn July we opened a new bank account with Bank of Scotland which is now our main bank account. This gives us online business banking so we can pay bills without using cheques but still has the security of dual authorisation – two people must approve all payments. We are inviting everyone who makes their offering by standing order through the bank to change their standing order to go into the new account. New forms are available from the Treasurer or, if you have online banking, you can set up a new standing order with the following account details then delete your old one.Account details: Name: St Andrews Church of Scotland: Carluke Sort Code: 80-22-60 Account No: 19338461Harvest Thanksgiving

In October our harvest appeal supported CrossReach, the Social Care Council of the Church of Scotland, who are celebrating their 150th anniversary. CrossReach offer loving care to people of all ages who are in need of a helping hand, supporting them to live life to the full whatever their circumstances. As part of their “Heart for Art” project CrossReach now run our weekly art class for people with dementia. The appeal raised £410.50.

Christmas AppealThis year Kirk Session has chosen Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust as recipient of our Christmas Eve offering and Christmas Appeal.

The charity, based in Wishaw, help cancer patients all over Lanarkshire by giving them free transport when they need to visit hospital for treatments and appointments.

Please give what you can in the envelope provided and return it to Church or to your elder as soon as possible.

Libby Muir, Treasurer Tel: 07723 639080

The Greatest Showman – From Now On?This autumn our worship featured a study of themes from the film “The Greatest Showman”. Our study – based on the book “From Now On” by Rachel Mann - ran over five weeks, concluding on 24th November. Personally I would have liked more time for discussion but

that was not practical in the one hour time frame of morning worship. The Worship Team would welcome feedback so please let us (Liz, Pamela, Kathleen, Margaret, Barbara, Libby and Helen) know how you found it.Unfortunately the sound system in the hall was plagued with gremlins over a couple of weeks, the likely cause being a new sound system next door at St Athanasius causing interference. Once adjustments were made for that the gremlins left us.Preceding the study some of us enjoyed a showing of the full film in the hall on the afternoon of Friday, 18th October (1 – 3pm) – with intermission for tea & biscuits - which has got me thinking of the possibilities of having a monthly “Film Afternoon” – to show favourite DVDs. Any takers?

Heart to Heart

Heart to Heart is a support group for people going through bereavement and loss. We meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 7pm in the Session House at St Andrew’s

Church.By getting together with others in the same position, to share their story, talk of their loved one and how they are coping, in doing so it often helps others to feel that they are not alone and that almost everyone goes through similar feelings and emotions. At the moment, the people who come along have been bereaved for less than a year, but even if a loss happened years ago emotions can still pop up out of the blue and catch you unawares, especially at this time of year when all the happy memories of past Christmases come rising to the surface giving your emotions a good shake-up all over again. You don’t have your loved one with you right now, but the love you shared with the one you lost will carry you through this stressful time.If you are feeling low in spirits or distressed, it is important to talk to someone, a family member or friend who knows you and can give you the support you need, or you can come and share your stories at Heart to Heart where you will be made most welcome. We have tea/coffee and lovely wicked chocolate cake, plus we often have a good laugh because laughing is good for your wellbeing and you don’t need to feel guilty about that.

Contact Moira on 01555 750323 or Pamela on 01555 770966.

We are here to help, so if you need a listening ear then please get in touch.

‘Musical

Tea’

When? last Tuesday of each month 1.30-3pm

Where ? St Andrew’s Church Hall

£2.50 for singing, sandwiches, scones & cakes

COME AND JOIN US!

MUSIC PROVIDED BY GORDON CREE WHEN HE IS

AVAILABLE

2020 datesJanuary 28 July 8

February 25 August 25

March 31 September 29

April 28 October 27

May 26 November 24

June 30

Carluke Parish Churches Jar of Grace appeal for UNICEF 2020

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God”

(2 Corinthians 9:11)

When an emergency arises, whether that emergency is caused by a natural disaster, by war or by displacement, children always suffer so much. So we are asking you once again to raise funds through the Jar of Grace appeal to help UNICEF support some of the world's most vulnerable children. The money we raise this coming year will once again assist UNICEF in responding rapidly to deliver life-saving assistance and

protection, so that children in danger get the help they need as soon as possible.

These are just a few of the ways in which the money you raise could be used by UNICEF:

£5 could provide a snug blanket to keep a baby warm in a hospital or refugee camp;

£14 could protect 21 children from deadly measles; £19.50 could provide mosquito nets to protect 7 families from malaria; £136 could provide a school-in-a-box which contains school equipment for 40

children to continue with their education during an emergency or natural disaster.

For anyone who doesn’t know about the Jar of Grace, please let us explain:

in the New Year you can collect a sheet giving information about the appeal;this sheet has a label which you can detach and stick onto an empty jar;before you eat each meal, in thanks for the food you are about to eat,

you are asked to put money into your Jar of Grace;after Easter the money you have put into your jar will be collected,

counted for you and sent to UNICEF.

If you would like to help UNICEF support some of the world’s most vulnerable children, please consider taking part in this year’s Jar of Grace appeal and thank you again for your generosity over the years.

Kenny Scott (Kirkton), Allison Plenderleith (St. Andrew’s), Chris Shanks (St. John’s)

We’re not too old for Christmas by Harvena Woodling

We’re not too old for ChristmasChrist’s message dearer grows

It’s meaning crystalisesWith every year that goes

We’re not too old for ChristmasFor joy in children’s eyes

Thank God for that first ChristmasFor truth that never dies

We’re not too old for ChristmasFor beauty or for mirth

For Bethlehem and JesusGod’s gift of greatest worth

We’re not too old for ChristmasFor every gift God gave

For Christmas trees and Christmas wreathsAnd Jesus’ love to save

We’re not too old for ChristmasCandles, snow, a child’s gay call

The heart that believes in ChristmasIs the happiest heart of all