The service this week has required a one off return to the Covid 19 booking system for the church building due to the extra worshippers attending the baptism. The church is now fully booked.
You can join the service via a special livestream arrangement by clicking on the link below just before 11am when the service will go live.
Advent and Christmas Services – the following Sunday services will be in the building at Mayfield and Easthouses at 11am:
Sunday 5th, 12th and 19th December.
A full list of all our advent and Christmas services and activities will be published here and on our facebook page on Tuesday the 30th November.
This week our Sunday the service will be in the building at Mayfield and Easthouses . There will be a baptism for the first time in over 2 years so it has been necessary to put some special arrangements in place to make this happen, particularly during these Covid times. As a one off, we will return to the booking system for this service because the baptismal family will take up a large number of the allocated seats. There will be 20 seats for the congregation in the building and they will be allocated on a first come, first served basis by phoning the church office (0131 663 3245) from today (Monday) to book. Gayle has also made special arrangements that the service will be live streamed. This is slightly different from zoom in that you will be able to see, via a camera man filming, not only Gayle at the front of the church but also the baptism and the congregation at different points in the service. There will be a video link on the website on the Sunday morning for you to click and join.
If you can join the live stream, please consider those who do not use the internet and may need the physical seats in the church. Next week there will be a full programme published of all the services and activities going on in the church during December. We will have a higher number of services in the building for advent and Christmas so that more people can get to church, as well as a number of events and activities out in the community.
This weekend is a very significant one as we mark Remembrance Sunday in our communities with outdoor services both at the war memorial at Easthouses and in the park at Newtongrange from 10.45am leading up to the silence at 11am. There will then be a service in the church at Mayfield and Easthouses at 11.30am (you can also join on zoom by accessing the link under “November Worship Programme” on the website. At these services we will give thanks for the sacrifice of the fallen who gave their lives to make the world a better place for subsequent generations.
In this year of 2021, this weekend is also significant because the COP 26 conference in Glasgow on Climate Justice concludes. In 2019, Newbattle Parish signed up to a green pledge and became an Eco-Congregation. As you may have noticed, the land and hall site at the back of the church at Newtongrange is now up for sale but as we progress plans for the redevelopment of the church at Newtongrange, we are doing with an intentional green agenda. Solar panels, non carbon heating and charging points for electric cars are all included in our designs because we want to act like a church that believes God created the world and that we are stewards of that creation. Although the church building at Newtongrange is closed for the redevelopment work, the church is a people who are active in caring for the earth and all it’s inhabitants. As you pass by the church you will now see our Climate Justice banner. Every time you see it, think about things you are already doing that you could do more of, or things you are not yet doing that you could start to do, to take better care of our planet now and for the sake of our young people and future generations.
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