Autumnal changes

October’s Autumn days are here, and, with so much rain in Spring and Summer this year, the colours of the leaves as they start to fall may be spectacular and varied. I learned some years ago that while we may think of green as the leaf’s ‘real’ colour, the chlorophyll that makes the leaf colour green is masking the deeper colours beneath. Only when the chlorophyll disappears, as autumn comes, are the leaf’s ‘true colours’ revealed.

Because it is a time of such change, Autumn has always been a season of reflection on change, a symbol of the change we ourselves experience all the time. So, when a leaf falls from a tree, we might just think of it as dried and decayed. But the leaf changes and falls because the tree has already produced new growth; the old making room for the new. But as this happens, like the leaf, it is starting to show its true colours deeper within.

At the end of October and in early November the church calendar changes the focus of the liturgy in two great feast days, All Saints and All Souls.

All Saints and All Souls

All Saints will be anticipated on Sunday 29 October (its actual date is 1 November), with the High Mass of All Saints celebrated at 10.30am. All Souls will be celebrated on its proper day, Thursday 2 November, with a said Requiem Mass at 8.00am and the Requiem High Mass of All Souls at 7.30pm.

Please invite bereaved friends or neighbours, and send the names of people to be prayed for to the parish office, or write them on the lists in church. At the evening Requiem High Mass the choir will sing the Requiem by Fauré, and there will be opportunity during the liturgy for people to lay a flower in prayer for those they are remembering.

These are our Autumn festivals – All Saints, about the change God has brought about in the living – All Souls, about the change God will bring about for the dead – because God is the Love that brings life out of death. These are the ‘true colours’ of our lives, deeper within us than most of us are aware.

Fr Ian Paton

R&R Phase 4: Vestry to recommend option at AGM

Final giving proposals for 2017

At its meeting last month the Vestry approved a proposal for our final contributions for the year to 30 September 2017.

Child of Hope

We will give £500 to Child of Hope, whom we have funded before. You will recall that Emma Stewart works on this project in East Africa.  On this occasion, it is proposed that the grant will be for their Friesian Cow proposal. The Giving Group and the Vestry thought that individual congregation members might be interested in contributing to one of the initiatives at Child of Hope - you can get more information on their website.

Scottish Churches Housing Action

The balance of the available funds (about £600) will go to Scottish Churches Housing Action (SCHA). SCHA has a board of trustees representing most Christian denominations in Scotland and works on various projects -  Fresh Start is an example. SCHA has a short-term cash flow problem and our grant will help to see it through this.

New SkatePal project in the West Bank

Charlie Davis and his SkatePal team (for whom we pray weekly) are building their third skatepark in Palestine. It is being built in the village of Jayyous, and is in partnership with a local group, SkateQilya.

The team of international volunteers is well up to speed with the build, and many of the local children and teenagers are enthusiastically involved. All contributions to the build are hugely appreciated for the considerable ongoing costs.

To see what’s going on and how you can contribute, head to the Skatepal website, or visit the SkatePal Facebook page.

The Sound of Music: film showing and discussion

There will be a showing of the film The Sound of Music on Wednesday 18 October at St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, George Street, from 7pm, which will be followed by a short discussion. The event will be hosted by Greenside Arts and Entertainment Outreach in partnership with Edinburgh City Centre Churches Together.

It includes subtitles, and members of the audience are invited to sing along, and even dress up! The film lasts two and three-quarter hours and there will be refreshments afterwards, for which donations are invited. In addition to issues raised in the film of family values, love and nationalism, the discussion will also look at where God is in the story.

This follows on recent trips to cinema and theatre, and the recent showing of the film The Shawshank Redemption in the Omni Centre led by David Todd. David is Arts Outreach Project Leader for Greenside Parish Church in partnership with Edinburgh City Centre Churches Together.