QuartzThis Sunday we were blown further afield than usual by the wind. We revisited the wood on the crag behind the Crichton. The wind had a slight chill to it, laden with water, but the sun shone on us giving moments of warmth. We look at the Horizon but it isn’t there, not really, it […]
During Advent in 2022 Quartz used visual arts to give people the opportunity to contemplate how they shape light entering the world. We made several mobiles, strings of mirrors, that were hung in the building. They were beautiful to look at, and many people commented that the installation helped them contemplate. The process of making […]
This picture is one of my early ones. It has been useful a couple of times recently. This morning I was thinking about peace as I stood in to help out at a commemoration of remembering the day that Bruce killed Comyn in Greyfriars, Dumfries. The opportunity to help arose as a result of connections […]
I draw during the 11 O’clock service. The pencil and paper help me to explore the familiar surroundings and repeated words. Perhaps this is similar to taking notes in a lecture theatre, even if the text is available online. Writing helps focus the mind and activate more of the brain to aid retention. For me […]
How the digital world can help us worship at 6pm on Sunday the 29th of January we will be gathering in St Johns to use digital technology to worship together, and also explore ways in which access to the digital world can help us live out the Missio Dei, the mission of God. In the […]
The view from the Crichton QFC on January the 15th, 2023 It had been a drich few days before we met. Record flooding levels in Dumfries saw businesses washed out, some perhaps beyond their ability to recover. I wasn’t sure if some of our proposed activities (follow the link to see the plan) would work […]
To what extent is salvation given or worked out through living? I suspect that the issue of how “Grace” and “Works” relate to one another is an example of #SensingMystery, although like all mysteries it involves a confusion of certainty that keeps us going and awareness of the unknown so we have to keep asking […]
Quartz Forest Church November 2022 This month at forest church we engaged in a wee bit of displaying arboreal affection (DofAA) and made some lanterns. The framework for us meeting to work together to worship can be read here, so I won’t repeat it. Instead, here are a few of the photos and insights from […]
Forest Church and Light in the darkness We have spent a year getting to know the Crichton estate now. Those of us who have met each month certainly have a better feel for the place, and we have got to know each other better too. We didn’t exclusively meet on the estate, and so this […]
Most of life is filled with questions about “what”and “how”. What do you want to do to day? How will we manage that? Then someone will answer the first question with “For everyone to be happy” or “to have fun” and the second question often becomes very difficult to answer. This may be because a […]