For Sunday 12th July 2026, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Friends,

When I look back to my childhood in rural Argyll I realise how our lives were shaped by the rhythm of the seasons. The shepherds were familiar figures and I remember feeding orphan lambs and later watching the sheep shearing.

I had my own little watering can and helped water the tomato plants, loving their earthy smell. I recall how all the men in the village would gather in the harvest, often working late in the evening to get the job done. There was fishing in Kilbrannan Sound but look out for the basking sharks! Later in the year I remember the pheasant shoots, with their own rituals and many of us working as beaters. Of course, it is a way of life which has largely disappeared not only in Kintyre but in many parts of the Scottish countryside; the village school has closed, the Post Office has gone, many of the houses are now holiday homes and I believe that the minister now has six other churches.
Jesus grew up in rural Galilee, amongst shepherds, farmers and fishermen. Nazareth was a poor village with many of the population living in caves on the hillside hence the well-known expression “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (St. John 1:46). But it’s obvious that Jesus drew on the sights and sounds of his childhood to illustrate his parables. Parables are seemingly simple stories with complex meanings and the Parable of the Sower which we will read from St. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 13, this week is no exception. The term “word” here can mean much more than just Scripture – although obviously it does mean that – it can refer more broadly to God’s plans and purposes. Thus, the one who hears and understands the Word is not necessarily the one who becomes a great Biblical scholar, but anyone who takes God’s purposes seriously, choosing to commit their whole life to the work of God’s kingdom. Jesus indicates that while our ensuing fruitfulness may be variable, to God all fruitfulness is valuable.

“We plough the fields and scatter,
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand.”

(Matthias Claudius, CH4 229.)

William

NEXT 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.

Graduation Celebration St Columba’s elder, Gary Wallis, who is training for ministry in the Church of Scotland, attended his graduation ceremony in Aberdeen this week. Gary has been awarded a first-class Bachelor of Theology (Hons) degree. In addition, he has been awarded the Burgess Prize in Divinity (awarded to the undergraduate student who produces the best dissertation in the course of the academic year). Congratulations on those notable achievements. He is currently undertaking a ten-week full-time summer placement with Reverend Lynsey Brennan at St Paul’s, Milngavie, linked with Baldernock. In September he then commences his fifteen-month probationary placement with Reverend Stuart Matthews at Maryhill and Ruchill Church, in Glasgow. Completing the probation period is the final step towards ordination. We keep Gary, wife Jo and the boys in our prayers, as they celebrate and adjust to new circumstances.

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.