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“God is light; In him there is no darkness...”  

[1 John 1:5]

Dull and Weem Parish, Church of Scotland

Sunday Service 9 30 am.

Minister : Rev. Neil M Glover

Senior Elder : Mr C. Thom

Phone 01887 820174   e mail

Roll Keeper : Mr T. Pringle

Phone 01887 820931   e mail

Session Clerk : Mr P. Hobbs

Mobile 07967 226824   e mail

Treasurer : Mr R. Chadburn

Youth Worker : Jamie Pringle

Mobile 07399 589422   e mail

PA to Rev Neil Glover : Judy Ewer

Mobile 07836 565528  e mail

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Link to Church of Scotland congregations of the Upper Tay, and of Tenandry Sunday Service 27th September 2020.

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Morning Worship 27th September 2020

Good morning and welcome to morning worship for the Churches of Scotland of the Upper Tay and Tenandry Let us begin our worship by singing the Stuart Townend version of “The Lord’s My Shepherd”. The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want; He makes me lie in pastures green. He leads me by the still, still waters, His goodness restores my soul. And I will trust in You alone, And I will trust in You alone, For Your endless mercy follows me, Your goodness will lead me home. He guides my ways in righteousness, And He anoints my head with oil, And my cup, it overflows with joy, I feast on His pure delights. And though I walk the darkest path, I will not fear the evil one, For You are with me, and Your rod and staff Are the comfort I need to know. Stuart Townend Copyright © 1996 Thankyou Music Let us pray… Dear God We pray this morning for love Love in our bones and in our souls Love for bird and birdsong For bark and moss and tree For the ones we miss and love for the the ones we see Love this morning dear Jesus As you did love Love this morning dear Jesus For this we pray We pray this morning for faith Faith in the night and faith like rock Faith borne of reason And faith filled with hope Faith to make us true And faith to set our way Faith, this morning dear Jesus As you had faith Faith, this morning For this we pray We pray this morning for truth Truth, deep welled truth Clear like a spring pouring Mind teaching Eye opening The truth that makes us wise The truth that makes us brave The truth that sets us free Truth, this morning dear Jesus As you are truth Truth, this morning For this we pray. In love, we cherish you In faith, we honour you In truth, we worship you, Dear God Forgive us what has not loved, Have mercy. Dear God, Forgive us what has not believed Have mercy. Dear God Forgive us what not been true Have mercy. All this in the name of Jesus All this in the name of Jesus, AMEN Our reading for this morning comes from the book of Exodus, where the Israelites are given the instructions for the Passover. 12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month,when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. 14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. Reflection Passover Exodus 12:1-14 One of THE important rules of the Bible, is to pay attention to what the words do to you, Not what they you think they are meant to do to you.. What they actually do to you… And these words here leave me uninspired, They do not speak to me immediately. I know that I am meant to get excited about this, the institution of the sacred passover. But I cannot get excited about this. There are 16 separate instructions about what to do with the lamb - how old it is - What gender it is - What sort of condition it should be in - What you should do if you can’t afford a whole lamb - How you should cook it - What you should do with the leftovers. There is a hushed, prescriptive, sacred precision about this I am left unmoved, And left with the feeling that I lack reverence One ought to be more passionate that the whole lamb, The head, the legs, the inner organs is to be roasted Not just a part. It is the same feeling that I used to have during a part of our Communions in Flemington, Where every elder was given a number, As to how they should serve, and I got that people needed to know what they were doing, And there was a tradition that when you were served the bread by your neighbour And this was a huge thing for people, The old session Clerk A dear and revered man, Jimmy Simpson, would speak to his successor Flo at the end of the service and tell her where things weren’t quite right, where an elder and moved to the wrong place, or something hadn’t quite been right about the bread. I couldn’t get vexed about detail in the same way as Jimmy Just like I can’t get vexed about the detail of how to serve the lamb in Exodus 15. But I had an encounter last Saturday that helped me understand the reason for Exodus specificity Or Jimmy Simpson’s attention to detail. When Tom, Anna and I were stopped at Ardeonaig there were a group of people getting ready to go out powerboating, and amongst them was a woman who reminded me in appearance of many women I had known when I spent a year out in Kerala, South India in the mid-1990s. So I asked the woman in question, her name is Khamshala, where she was from, and she explained that now she is a British citizen, her husband Andy runs a powerboat business, but she had grown up in Malaysia to a Malayali mother and Tamil father. We had an interesting conversation about language, and about the Tamil numbers, and the fact that speaking 4-5 languages is not uncommon in Asian countries. But the conversation reached a new level when I asked Khamshala if she liked Sambar. Sambar is a curry that is common in South India, particularly on special occasions such as weddings. I asked her if she cooked with Lady’s Finger, Okra, all the time she explained. And then I asked Khamshala about breads such as Dosha, and my favourite Parotta And she explained her favourite, Idhali, which is made with fermented rice flower, And our conversation was alive, with memory, with smells, and tastes, and kitchens and meals that we had eaten, Me in Kerala, Her in her childhood home in Malaysia. And this was the memory of home, and of welcome, and of enjoyment of food, and enjoyment of people, and of a time that was no more, but somehow in the memory of food we could go back there, Of dessert like Paysam In food, something about time went away and we were there. Now if you showed me the recipe for Idhali, it would be specific, and it’s details about fermenting flower, would not interest me, But you could not have this dish without such attention to specifics Indeed this dish here, which is Kamshala’s favourite And also the first dish I ever ate, Particularly requires these specifics. It’s the memory, of this dish - the first I ever tasted in South India when we were given it for breakfast after we arrived off our flight, It’s the joy and memory of this taste, To have memory, to have quality, to have richness, to have a framework which is strong enough to hold memory, and faith and hope, and yearning And timeless participation in the great drama of what it is to be human being liberated by God, You must also have moments of specificity. Just as Idali has a recipe which requires some work. So let us sense in our care with the bread and the wine Our attention to words That just as lamb and unleavened bread and herbs, Took Israel to the moment when she got ready for the end of her slavery, And the beginning of her freedom. Jimmy Simpson perhaps was right, Because in his attention to the details There was a faith, that this was a continuity with communions in his early life In which the faithful took bread and wine And in them were taken to the moment when Jesus Christ had grasped every human being and gripped us across the waters from slavery into freedom. Let us in our care With bread and wine Also participate in that upper room meal Which is the night before our release from slavery into freedom. I said to pay attention to the scriptures, to how they make us feel… And the second discomfort and we have to pay attention to this, Is this violent, destructive force that God exerts in verse 12 It speaks of indiscriminate death against the children of Egypt, And against Egypts animals And against Egypt’s gods. I like that God destroys the gods, the fixations, the fantasies, the delusions of Egypt, Her love of power and military muscle Her pride in buildings constructed with a slave economy. I struggle with the implication that God slaughters innocent children I can go as far as to say that this is a verse in which We learn that a superpower which neglects its oppressed And repeatedly ignores calls to repentance Whose leader acts out of stubborness, hardness of heart Will discover death visited on the humans and the animals of the next generation This is about human loss and environmental loss But in the story in the Upper Room, I see an inversion of this verse Where rather than visiting death on the first born children of Egypt And the firstborn animals of Egypt In the upper room, God takes violence and loss and death Into the firstborn of God. God takes the worst of Passover into God, And this profound, And the New Testament is a response to the profound discovery that God might do such a thing. To marvel at the love within God To enjoy the new life which God wins for us. And finally, not so much a disturbance borne of discomfort, But a disturbance born of a refusal to believe that this can possibly be true The moment that the blood is placed on the lintels and the doorways. And in the memory We come close to this It is the protection, The guarding of God. This is the relentless commitment of God to protect his people To hold them And we resist this because it cannot be true, But this is the testimony of the saints God is holding you God is protecting you The worst will be kept from you And you will be led from death to life So gird your loins And get ready to eat of the feast When God breaks the prison Which too long has held his people, AMEN Song We continue our worship by singing George Matheson’s much beloved hymn “Oh Love That Wilt not me go”. O Love, that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, That in Thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. O Light, that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be. O Joy, that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain That morn shall tearless be. O Cross, that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust life’s glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be. George Matheson (1842-1906) Let us make our prayers for others, let us pray… Dear Lord, We pray for change, For passing over, For a night When all that matters passes over. We pray for our politics to pass over From posturing and polling To shared ideas and the common good. We pray for our consumption to pass over From perpetual greed and waste To enjoying what is enough And using only that which can be sustained We pray for our rhythms to pass over From rush and interruption To peace and appreciation We pray for our communities to pass over From masks and distancing To hospitality and living Lift high our hopes To live and pray for a better day To be a community of grace Whose life points to the goodness of tomorrow. This we ask, as we say the prayer of Jesus. Our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name Your kingdom come, your will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us today our daily bread And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory Forever and ever AMEN And now let us sing our closing hymn… Shout for Joy, the Lord has Let us Feast Shout for joy! The Lord has let us feast; Heaven’s own fare has fed the last and least; Christ’s own peace is shared again on earth; God the Spirit fills us with new worth. No more doubting, no more senseless dread; God’s good self has graced our wine and bread; All the wonder heaven has kept in store Now is ours to keep for evermore. Celebrate with saints who dine on high; Witnesses that love can never die. ‘Hallelujah!’ – thus their voices ring: Nothing less in gratitude we bring. Praise the Maker, praise the Maker’s Son, Praise the Spirit – three yet ever one; Praise the God whose food and friends avow Heaven starts here! The kingdom beckons now! © John L Bell and Graham Maule Blessing May the God of the Passover bless you With a strong memory of God in your past To give you a strong hope for God in your future May God go with you Father, Son and Spirit Creator, Redeemer, Friend, May God bless you Now and forever, AMEN

Linkage Newsletter 22 September 2020

Sunday Service – 27 September 2020

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP  -  COMMUNION WITH REV.NEIL GLOVER

Communion -YouTube

Sunday morning onwards

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Traditional Dial-In

Sunday morning onwards

Dial 01887 440446

Communion - Zoom

Sunday morning 10.30am

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276 

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Post-service Zoom coffee and biscuits

11.30am

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276 

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Text to follow later in the week

Funeral at Aberfeldy Parish Church for Duncan Campbell

Wednesday 30 September - 12.00pm

For further details please contact Gaulds Funeral Directors, Aberfeldy


Kiltwalking for CAP funds.

The CAP Highland Perthshire team of nine intrepid adventurers are celebrating this week! Having walked, canoed, climbed mountains and paddle boarded in aid of our local CAP Debt Centre, the team were delighted to raise £6.3K between them. Sir Tom Hunter had pledged to add 50% to all monies raised by midnight on Monday 21st September, making a total of £9.450K.

Imagine our sheer delight to hear today that Sir Tom has doubled his offer and, thanks to Sir Tom and the generosity of many local people, plus family and friends further afield, we have now raised £12, 600!! Thank you, Sir Tom Hunter. Please raise a glass to him when you next have a wee drink!

Blythswood Shoebox Appeal 2020

We're doing Shoebox Appeal differently this year in Highland Perthshire!

Shoebox Day: Friday 30th October 2020             Time: 11.30am – 1.30pm

Venue: Aberfeldy Parish Church Car Park

We're asking families and /or individuals to pack their own box(es) this year and bring them straight to the Blythswood Van on Shoebox Day. Perhaps you could share the task and the cost of packing a box with another person or family? All customs checking will be done in Blythswood HQ in Evanton.

You can collect wrapped empty shoeboxes, customs leaflets and all the additional information you need from the following outlets:

Ballinluig Post Office, Strathtay Post Office and Store, Handam in The Square, Aberfeldy and

Kenmore Post Office and Store

NB: This year, there will be an Information Leaflet slotted into your customs leaflet giving you all the additional information you need, including contact details for the Shoebox organising team in Highland Perthshire. We're asking you to please indicate how many boxes you intend to pack, so that we can estimate the size of van required. We're also asking you for your own contact details – e.g. phone number or email - so that we can contact you if there are any late Covid-related changes to our existing plans. All such personal information will be destroyed once Shoebox Day is over.

Please see the Blythswood Website for more information about this year's Shoebox Appealhttps://blythswood.org/shoeboxappeal/ 

If you would like to make a donation to this year's Shoebox Appeal, please visit:https://blythswood.org/donate-to-shoe-box-appeal/

BLYTHSWOOD WINTER COLLECTION

The bi-annual collection of clean warm clothing, blankets, strong footwear and good quality bric a brac will also take place on Friday 30th October. Please ensure all clothing is securely wrapped in strong, black bags or other suitable sealed containers. These bags will also go straight onto the van.

Neil's return to work and days off

Neil is now back working full time work on 1 September 2020.

 Please note his days off are generally Mondays and Saturdays

Contact details

 email  -  

 mobile – 07779 280074

 PA – Judy Ewer – judy.ewer@adwgls.org.uk

 Mobile – 07836 565528

Future notices

 If you have any items for the weekly Linkage Newsletter, please send them to me. I will happily include them for you.

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Monthly Information

Dull and Weem Parish Church is be found on the west side of the river Tay in Highland Perthshire.

Follow the road, from Aberfeldy, Crossing the historic Wade's Bridge, and continue down the avenue towards Weem.

As you enter the village of Weem, you will find the church on the right-hand side of the road. 

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” 

[Hebrews 4:16]

News from the Pews