Newsletter for Sunday 19th July, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Friends,

School holidays are upon us. Our two schools that use the building through the year – Knightsbridge School and Hill House International School – both held their end of term/graduation assemblies in the sanctuary last week. Little London Music School also held a musical celebration on the chancel steps, to celebrate fifteen years of being at St Columba’s.

Prayers offered on these occasions included:

O God of all beginnings and endings,
we give you thanks:

For the School Year For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school,
in the classroom and the music room, on the sports field and round the meal table. For the talents that have been shared, challenges faced, difficulties overcome, and the laughter we will remember. For the friends we have made and the care that has been shown to us.
For this community of many nations, of which we are each a part; we give thanks.

For the Leavers We give especial thanks today for our school-leavers and their families; those who have completed their years at school, ready for their senior schools, and those who are moving, because a new chapter of family life begins elsewhere. For all that this school has given to them and for all that they have given to this school, we give you thanks. Guide and protect them in their new places of learning; may the character and courtesies they have learnt here fit them well for the road ahead.

For our Teachers We give thanks; may their contributions be acknowledged and honoured, their labours of this year come to a full and blessed fruition. Give the rest and restoration so much required at year end, that they may return to school with ideas refreshed, and energy and spirit renewed.

For the Holidays Bless our families and friends as holidays begin, bringing memories to cherish. Keep us safe in our travels, open to learning, ready to help others, where and when we can. So may we return in the autumn with new experience and broader insight.

O God of all beginnings and endings,
we give you thanks for the gift of this school year. Amen.

School holidays may be a long-distant memory, but perhaps we can still pray these prayers on behalf of the young people who explore our building – or offer the prayers in gratitude, for the seasons of work and rest in our own lives.

Angus

THIS SUNDAY: Sunday 19th July, Sounds of St Columba’s Recital: “Sacred and Spontaneous”
1:30pm Main Church Music by JS Bach, Franck and improvisations. Will Mason, our former assistant organist returns to his old organ loft to offer the last of the recitals before the summer break. As an organ recitalist, Will has performed at numerous venues including Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, St John’s College, Cambridge and St George’s, Hanover Square. He is a published composer and his choral music has been performed by a number of choirs including Buckfast Abbey and Downing College. He was recently commissioned by Holy Sepulchre Church, London (National Musicians’ Church) to write a choral piece for St Cecilia to be conducted by David Hill. He is currently Assistant Director of Music at King’s College School, Cambridge where he works closely with the Schola Cantorum (the school’s girls’ choir) who have a busy schedule of external services and concerts. It will be a delight to welcome Will back.

Looking for Sleepers! CEO Sleepout 23rd November 2026 ScotsCare CEO Shona Fleming, well known at St Columba’s, again leads a team of hardy souls who take on the challenge of sleeping out for a night to raise funds and awareness for homelessness at the CEO Sleepout at Lords Cricket Ground. The annual event draws hundreds of fundraisers to St John’s Wood’s hallowed ground, where participants bed down in the stands, sleeping between the seats with a sleeping bag and little else. Participants don’t have to be a CEO to take part, just a supporter that wants to combat homelessness. It’s a tough but rewarding event, with great camaraderie and sense of achievement the following day. Elder Hugh Pym and minister Angus MacLeod have both participated in previous years.
This year the hope is to recruit a team of six (or more) St Columbans who would sleepout to support our Scots in London partner organisation, ScotsCare. If interested, please contact Angus via the Office.

St Andrews Book Festival,
presented by Scots in London
Update on St Andrew’s Book Festival, November 18th-22nd. We are pleased to announce that Carol Kirkwood, Andrew Lownie and Val McDermid are among the authors who will appear at the festival with most events at St Columba’s. Ticket details will follow.
The Book Festival returns to several central London venues, with St Columba’s as the primary focus of the festival. Look forward to another array of well-known and new authors bringing Scottish writing to the heart of London. Keep 18th to 22nd November 2026 in your diaries, both for attending and/or volunteering to get involved.