QuartzIt is the eve before the new year starts! Well, that is, before the calendar year we use in Scotland starts. The financial year, the academic year, and the agricultural years have different starts. As do the multiple liturgical years observed by people living and settled in Scotland. There is also the lunar year which […]
The featured photos are of a piece of interactive art in a cafe about five years ago. They have spread though facebook and pop will pop in memories for years to come. Another addition to the colourful expression of life in winter. But have you ever wondered if Angels are real, and if so what […]
We are choosing to work in relationship with the natural environment when we meet as Forest Church. We are taking a chilled out approach to this though. This means that our midwinter meeting is on a Sunday close to the solstice but not the day of it. We will meet outside the Crichton chapel as […]
It makes me smile when I think that one of the things which early Christians in these isles are remembered for is illuminated manuscripts. The grin gets broader when I compare the ready appreciation of this art with the slowness with which “youthwork for adults” has been accepted in many worshiping communities. The Manga gospels […]
Those interested in pioneer ministry will hopefully be recognise many common ways of working in this article (and perhaps even identify glimmers of micro-gospels). The article is about creative placemaking, and a phrase which stood out to me is: “The common thread amongst various definitions, however, is that it is a process that helps to […]
Here is a video made by Simon as part of his chaplaincy work with Dumfries High School. It was used during mental health week, with an introduction linking the advice given by Jesus to reflect on what is important, and the way in which our social media feed can drag our attention down unhealthy paths. […]
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 […]
Some more thoughts by Alison, blogged by Simon for Quartz. Read part (I) here. In the first of these reflections Alison described encountering God “Sitting on a bench looking out at the Solway restores my soul, and through it I sense a spiritual truth and reality. In this place it comes naturally to me as […]
From our discussions, some observations from Alison, blogged by Simon for Quartz. If you think about it, in the bible we meet God as a bush, or at least Moses does in his story. We also meet God as a bird descending onto a humans head in the story of the baptism of Jesus. Of […]
For those of you who are reading through the Psalms, here is Jeremy Irons reading them for you. https://jeremyirons.net/2019/04/23/jeremy-irons-reads-the-psalms/ They were recorded for the BBC and are read as poetry, with some music to accompany them.