Ronald Ritchie

It is with very great regret that we announce the death of Ron Ritchie who died suddenly last Sunday 3rd December 2017. Ron was the Sacristan in All Saints, Lockerbie, as well as being one of our Servers, but those words tend to understate the work which he did in our church and for our church community.

Ron’s funeral will take place in All Saints, Lockerbie next Thursday 14th December at 12.30pm followed by committal at Roucan Loch Crematorium at 2pm.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Bill and I first saw the beautiful stained glass windows in St Mary’s Star of the Sea RC Church in Castlebay, Isle of Barra 2 years ago when we were on holiday in the islands. Also on the same tour was a widow from Glasgow, Ena Hutchison, whose husband had died suddenly soon after designing and installing the windows. Ena had never been to Barra and so her visit to the church was very poignant and I was happy to send her a copy of this photograph. The windows featured on the BBC documentary, Island Parish which featured the parish Priest Fr John Paul McKinnon back in 1999 and, sadly, more recently when Fr John Paul was interviewed after the death of a Barra girl, Eilidh Macleod in. the Manchester Pop Concert bombing.

Bill and I spent a few days in Barra in August and attended a Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Sadly, Fr John Paul was on the mainland attending the funeral of a Falkirk man who had died, along with his Barra friend, while diving for scallops in Castle Bay so, although we have corresponded by e-mail we have still not met Fr John Paul. We were, however, made welcome by his friend and locum priest Fr Stewart and, although we were not allowed to take communion, we were given a blessing and we lit candles for our late daughter Hazel and prayed for Eilidh’s family in the Lady Chapel. We also remembered Eilidh’s friend Vicky who was injured in the bombing and who was still in hospital. Such a beautiful, peaceful place to be saddened and scarred by these tragedies.

Hilary Carmichael.

On Saturday evening 25^th November All Saints Episcopal Church Lockerbie was privileged to host a dramatic retelling of the Gospel of St Mark by the Rev Ian Birkenshaw and his son Peter, who provided the original atmospheric guitar music for the performance.

A traveller arrived in the church and took the audience of 60+ people to the bank of the River Jordan to witness the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. For the next hour we travelled with Jesus and his disciples, at the beginning of his ministry, throughout Galilee. During our travels we witnessed and marvelled at the miracles, the parables and the teachings of Christ through the artistry of Ian Birkenshaw.

The second hour took us with them on the journey to Jerusalem. We watched as Jesus interacted with people, cleansed the temple and engaged in debate with those in authority. We were present at the last supper.   We were witnesses to his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and were appalled at his betrayal by one of his own. We were with him during his trial by both High Priest and Pilate and we cringed at his humiliation by the Roman soldiers.

The Crucifixion, as depicted by Ian Birkenshaw was both awesome and heartrending. The experience brought the man Jesus to life and held the audience spellbound.

Ian Birkenshaw’s powerful performance and fast flowing narrative was truly awesome. It was a performance that will be remembered for a very long time.   A hearty vote of thanks to  Rev’d Ian Birkenshaw and his son Pete, who, with the aid of a chair, a little table, a staff, a shawl and a guitar brought the whole of the Gospel to life.

Margaret Buchanan

Photos taken from Rev Ian Birkinshaw website https://gospelofmarklive.wordpress.com/

Award Glory for local stalwarts. The annual TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) Conference saw award ceremony success for the voluntary work carried out by local groups. Lochmaben secretary Ronald A. Ritchie, received the award on their behalf, as being a vital link between the independent tenant movement and the Scottish Government.

Award was made under the category “outstanding group”, was recognition of the excellent work these volunteers carry out. Ronald A. Ritchie, said the award is a great honour and it is all down to the efforts of the local TARA’s (Tenant & Residents Association and Federation). I would like to thank all for their support.

Ronald A Ritchie

 Saturday  25th November at 7.30pm

There is no charge. All Welcome

a dramatic retelling of the complete Gospel of Mark

‘Absolutely brilliant!’  ‘Stunning!’  ‘Mesmerising!’

‘An extraordinary experience!’  ‘I didn’t want it to end!’

A traveller arrives to tell the story of a peasant carpenter, preacher and

miracle-worker whose dynamic presence touches the lives of all who meet him

…with the most astonishing twist-in-the-tale the world has ever seen.

‘I never describe anything as awesome, but tonight I saw

two men give a properly awesome performance of The Gospel of Mark.

It was incredibly captivating.’

There is joy and sorrow, comedy and poignancy as, one after another,

Mark’s fast-moving narrative brings the characters to life.

The drama is underscored throughout by live music.

‘I don’t read the Bible, I can’t get my head round it. but this was awesome!’

‘Profoundly moving.’  ‘You have re-awakened something in me.’

Following a short interval we begin the journey to Jerusalem and the cross.

There is an invitation to share bread and wine before the startling discovery

of the empty tomb…

‘Truly inspirational. You brought us so many insights into the

life and teaching of Christ.’  ‘We were on Holy Ground.’

devised & performed by Rev’d Ian Birkinshaw

with original music by Peter Birkinshaw

A traveller arrives with an extraordinary story to tell…

Shoe Box Appeal……Are On The Way!!!

Shoe Box Appeal 2017

Shoe Box Appeal in 2016, enabling Blythswood to gather and distribute 121,474 shoeboxes. This is approximately 4% more than 2015.

The shoeboxes received last year were distributed in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.

Boxes are now ready and are in Church if you would like to take one please do.  We have placed a large box at the back of the church if you would like to add any of the item on the list (below) please do and ‘Shoe Boxes’ will be filled for collection at the beginning of November

Please click below for pdf list                                                                                          Shoe box appeal list 2017

Annual Giving Day

We are not many in number in All Saints, ut our people are gracious beyond expectations.  At our Annual Giving Day on Saturday 16th September 2017, our extraordinarily  generous congregation gave a total of £1460 to the life and work of our church.  Once tax is reclaimed through the Gift Aid Process, that figure will be increased to £1800 and so on behalf of or Vestry and all our people, I would like to thank all those who gave for their wonderful gifts.

Rev’d John Macleod                                                                                                       20th September 2017

Visit to Yorkshire ‘God’s Own Country’
Sadness and Joy

Being a ‘Yorkshire Lass’ I guess I will always think of Yorkshire as home.
My visit was both sad and joyful, sad at the passing of my brother in law Reg, and joyful with memories of my wedding in the same church, and the same week as the funeral some 48 years earlier.

All Saints, Otley is a beautiful church and when I am in Otley I try to visit.

The funeral was a beautiful service, led by Revd. Graham Buttanshaw, sad of course at the loss of a loved one, but also joyful at wonderful memories of a long life. Rebecca, Reg’s granddaughter, read ‘God’s Garden’ by Wendy Bradley, and Tom, his grandson, read from John’s gospel. My eldest son and eldest grandchild played ‘Abide with Me’ on the flute, for me this was both joyous and sad, joyous because it’s not often I get to hear them play, and sad at the memory of the last time I heard Mark play that tune at another family funeral, also in the same church.
As I looked around the church I couldn’t help but see John, my late husband, and I walking down the aisle, my niece, was then my 4 year old bridesmaid, really quite bored with it all, and now here she was the grieving daughter and mother of two.
All this makes me thankful for the close family ties we have, we were there for each other we held hands, we cried, we laughed, we grieved, and will continue to grieve together.

I consider myself……TRULY BLESSED……..

Kath Leadbeater

From Ankara to Annandale

Dear Friends

Coming back here in May, after a year at home, was unexpected, as is our continuing on into autumn. However, it’s been good to be back with the congregation at St. Nicolas, and with Margherita and the sandwich making team for refugees attending the UNHCR office.

At St. Nicolas, we knew that a good number of the “expat” members would leave in June, as summer is the changeover time at embassies and the big businesses. On top of that, most of those who remain go back home and on holiday for July and August. Sometimes on a Sunday, we’ve been down to literally a handful, although over the past week or two, some newcomers to the city have sought us out, and look as though they will settle at St. Nicolas. There’s even going to be a baptism of a baby girl in September.

The refugee members of the congregation continue to grow. This is a great joy for us, but sadly, it’s evidence of the fact that much of their life is enforced “holiday”, and the process for their repatriation is snarled up. This is partly due to one national group (not theirs) being fast tracked, and a general shutting down around the world of placements being offered. Understandably , they’re becoming very despondent, although they turn up every Sunday, bright and cheerful, and with so many genuine enquiries for John’s and my wellbeing. How generous and warmhearted they are.

I’m back on the Wednesday team at Margherita’s for sandwich making, and have met old friends and made new. Like St. Nicolas, though, the team is mostly expats, so Margherita has been very short handed over the holidays, not only on Wednesdays, but covering other days of the week too. John has come on board, and we’ve been doing three days a week. The numbers for sandwiches are much the same as before – 120-150 – but we’ve gone healthy! The sandwiches were always made with regular sliced white bread, but one day the shop delivered some whole meal loaves, along with the white. We struck on the idea of making the sandwiches with one of each type of bread, and so pleased were we with our innovation, we asked the shop to continue with both kinds of bread. Obviously, it doesn’t take much to give us a moment of amusement!

The whole city has been very quiet over the summer. To our surprise, we learned that the state schools have a full three months holiday, which must be a nightmare for childminding, although I don’t know how many mothers are out working. Our organist is a young mother (and private music teacher) with two primary school aged children, and they have a granny who lives in one of the coastal resorts in the south. The children have spent the whole holiday with granny-by-the-sea, but only one at a time, with the parents having their fortnight’s holiday in the middle, as they swap the children over. This solution seems to have gone down well with everyone, although we missed our lovely organist for two Sundays.

We expect to be home by the beginning of October, although who will follow after us is still to be determined. There will need to be further temporary cover until a permanent appointment is made. We would so love to see the congregation settled.

We get the pew leaflet from Annandale week by week , and that helps us to feel still at home. Our thoughts and prayers are always with you, and we look forward to being home again. With love from John and me. Jane.