Minister’s Message – June 14, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 9:35-38.

Message.

“For a few days or a week or a fortnight, the fields stood ‘ripe unto harvest’. It was the one perfect period in the hamlet year. The human eye loves to rest upon wide expanses of pure colour: the moors in the purple heyday of the heather, miles of green downland, and the sea when it lies calm and blue and boundless, all delight it; but to some none of these, lovely though they all are, gives the same satisfaction of spirit as acres upon acres of golden corn. There is both beauty and bread and the seeds of bread for future generations.

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Minister’s Message – June 7, 2026

Bible reading: Hebrews 10:19-25.

Message.

Scrooby is a small village in the north of Nottinghamshire, about 10 miles south of Doncaster. At one time it was on the Great North Road; Cardinal Wolsey and Queen Elizabeth I both spent the night at the Manor House. It also sits next to the main railway line to Edinburgh. But the village was bypassed in 1766 and the station closed in 1931, leaving an unassuming place of around 300 people with no school, Post Office or shop. It does, however, have a pub called “The Pilgrim Fathers” and that gives us a clue to its historical importance.

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Minister’s Message – May 31, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 28:16-20.

Message.

Many pieces of music end with a coda; a tail-piece or final section which brings the music to its end. Codas may be short, just a few bars, or they may be long and complex: for instance the full coda for the Beatles’ song “Hey Jude” is very nearly four minutes long, in fact it’s longer than the main part of the song!

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Minister’s Message – May 24, 2026

Bible reading: Acts 2:1-11.

I fear, as I begin today’s message, that I shall get into trouble with my wife! For I’m going to ask: what things symbolise Scotland?

Of course there are many. For example, in (as they say) no particular order, there’s Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Memorial, the Loch Ness monster, Scotch whisky, bagpipes, haggis, the Highland Fling (and other related dances), porridge, Highland cattle, Glenfinnan viaduct (made famous by Harry Potter), Irn Bru, caber tossing and the Saltire flag. (I could add mountains, rain and sheep but something tells me that they’re not quite unique to that part of the world!) There’s one thing, though, that I’ve left out of my list, although you’ve probably guessed what it is from what I’ve already said today: Scottish clothing, more specifically kilts, made of course out of tartan fabric. Apparently you need about 8 yards of “single-width” (about 26 to 30 inches) material to make an adult kilt, although it’s more common today to use half the length of “double-width” (about 54 to 60 inches) fabric.

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