For Sunday 5th October 2025, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Friends,

In 2018 the Church of Scotland appointed its first ever dedicated “farming minister” to help support people in the hard-pressed agricultural industry. Reverend Chris Blackshaw visits farms across Ayrshire to provide spiritual and family support, counselling, while encouraging people to buy local produce. He interacts with young farmer groups, National Farmers Union Scotland representatives, visits the weekly livestock mart and attends annual agriculture shows. Chris, a farmer’s son, also draws together groups of people linked to the industry – vets, government agencies, livestock mart staff, those servicing the farming industry and estate workers.

In recent years he has been a great help and encouragement to Rev Dr Allan Wright, the Presbytery of England & the Channel Islands’ Pioneer Minister to the Veterinary Community in the North East (and regular preacher at our linked charge, St Andrew’s, Newcastle.)

As we prepare for our Harvest Festival this Sunday you might enjoy a modern farming take on an old harvest hymn, “We plough the fields and scatter”, sent to me by Chris. (Original words/tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccVEjKFkAV4)

We plough the fields with tractors,
With drills we sow the land;
But growth is still the wondrous gift
Of God’s almighty hand.
We add our fertilizers
To help the growing grain;
But for its full fruition,
It needs God’s sun and rain.
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord For all his love.

With many new machines now
We do the work each day;
We reap the fields with combines,
We bale the new-mown hay.
But still it’s God who gives us
Inventive skill and drives
Which lighten labour’s drudgery
And give us better lives.
He only is the maker
He only is the maker
All good gifts around us …

Of galaxies and stars;
Of birds and beasts and flowers,
And any life on Mars.
Atomic powers obey him,
Yet still the birds are fed;
By him our prayer is answered:
Give us our daily bread
All good gifts around us …

We thank thee then, O Father,
For life so rich and good,
For seedtime and the harvest,
The wealth of daily food.
No gifts have we to offer
Such as thy love imparts,
But what thou most desirest:
Our humble thankful hearts.
All good gifts around us …

Angus

THIS SUNDAY: Hymns, Music & Readings for Sunday, 5th October 2025, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Harvest Festival, Sunday School & Baptisms

Hymn 233 Come, you thankful people, come (St George’s Windsor)
Hymn 103 Fill your hearts with joy and gladness (Rhuddlan)
Hymn 230 Praise God for the harvest of orchard and field (Stowey)
Hymn 229 We plough the fields and scatter (Wir Pflugen)

Anthem: Thou visitest the earth – Greene (1696-1755)
Anthem: Factum est silentium – Dering (c.1580-1630)

New Testament Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Gospel Reading: Luke 17:5-10
Reader: Jo Wallis

THIS SUNDAY: Harvest Festival Service, Sunday School & Baptisms followed by Congregational Lunch in the Lower Hall A day to celebrate the gifts of Harvest and welcome two families bringing their children for baptism – family and friends of Charles Joshua Morton, Frederick Mortimer and Isla Mortimer. Do join us for food and friendship after service.

THIS SUNDAY: Harvest Appeal 2025 – The Upper Room (UR4 Meals) www.theupperroom.org.uk
Harvest is approaching and we will be collecting again for The Upper Room (UR4 Meals). The charity provides thousands of meals a year to the homeless and disadvantaged people. Your food donations will contribute to such a valuable meal service. We will be collecting: tuna, mixed herbs, curry powder or paste, paprika, vegetable stock cubes, sunflower or vegetable oil, chopped tomatoes, basmati rice, biscuits, instant coffee, tea bags (not loose tea) and sugar.
Collection point: Upper Vestibule by the Harvest Display Board, on three Sundays 21st, 28^th September and 5^th October (culminating at the Harvest Festival Service).
Thank you in advance, UR4 Meals!

THIS SUNDAY: St Columba’s Craft Group, 1.30pm – 3.30pm, Kirk Session Room Many of us are knitters and crocheters of varying levels of experience; others are embroiderers spinners and patchworkers, so whatever your interest is you will find a welcome with us. For more details contact Susan Pym or Fiona Lang via the church office.

THIS SUNDAY: Evening Service (First Sunday of the Month) 5pm, London Scottish Chapel, followed by Coffee/Tea in the Upper Hall.

St Columba’s members
The funeral of St Columba’s former elder, Lady Jean Macpherson will take place at Laggan Church, 11am on Friday 10th October 2025. A Service of Thanksgiving for St Columba’s member Alison Scheurer-Dewar will be held at St Columba’s, Pont Street on Friday 17th October at 2.00pm. Rest eternal grant unto them and let light perpetual shine upon them.

Christian Aid: Annual Lecture – Monday 6 October, St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square. 7pm to 8.30pm.
The speaker for this year’s annual lecture is Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at UCL, where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose. The theme for the speakers is taken from the words of Martin Luther ‘Here I am Stand; I can do no other‘. Tickets are free but you are required to book. Registration may close early if capacity is reached. Book your free ticket here.

UPCOMING: Friends of St Columba’s Visit, Saturday 18 October – Dr Johnson’s House & Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Rendezvous 11am at 17 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE | Adult: £10.00 | Tube: Blackfriars or Chancery Lane We begin our programme with a visit to Dr Johnson’s House, an 18th-century townhouse tucked just off Fleet Street, where Samuel Johnson lived and worked while compiling his pioneering Dictionary of the English Language. One of the few surviving buildings of its kind in the City of London, the house offers insight into the life and mind of one of English literature’s most influential—and idiosyncratic—figures.

UPCOMING: And on Saturday 18th October Crown Court host a “Come & Sing” for Fauré’s Requiem & “A New Song” by James MacMillan, led by Thomas Allery, Director of Music at Temple Church, accompanied by Benedict Lewis-Smith. Book via Eventbrite »

UPCOMING:Sounds of St Columba’s, Sunday 19^th October, 1.30pm, Upper Hall
Vernal Duo: Katy Taylor (flute) & Yiyao Li (piano) “Flights of Fantasy: Music for Flute and Piano”, Music by Handel, Gaubert and Faure.
Join us for this free recital and pick up a full year programme from the book stall.

UPCOMING: Sunday 26^th October, Macmillan Coffee Morning after service If you would like to bake a cake(s), or biscuits, scones, shortbread, meringues – either bring it to the Entrance Vestibule before the service on Sunday 26^th October, or leave it with the Church Office before Sunday 26^th October. That would be very much appreciated. Please label cake packaging with what type of cake it is. Cakes etc. can then be purchased after the service. All money raised goes to MacMillan Cancer Support.

UPCOMING: St Columba’s Book Club: Monday 10^th November Next book choice, “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Neapolitano, a novel inspired in part by Little Women. After that we shall be reading “Free – Coming of Age at the End of History” by Lea Ypi, which promises to be very interesting, as are all our choices. For details of how to join the book club, please contact the church office.

St Andrew’s Book Festival 2025
The St Andrew’s Book Festival team are delighted to announce that tickets are now on sale with St Columba’s being one of the main venue. Events include Nicola Sturgeon, Val McDermid and Irvine Welsh. On Friday 28 November one of Scotland’s true national treasures, broadcaster and author Sally Magnusson,will speak at a special literary lunch celebrating her spellbinding new novel The Shapeshifter’s Daughter. Book now to avoid disappointment as some of the events’ tickets are already going fast! Book now to avoid disappointment.

See https://www.standrewsbookfestival.org/ for full programme and tickets

Scots in London September newsletter.
For a variety of events and activities of interest see https://mailchi.mp/scotsinlondon.org/scots-in-london-september-newsletter-12818372?e=a7a1f1deca. Scots in London is an umbrella organisation for Scottish cultural societies, sports clubs, alumni groups, charities, churches and the Scottish military in London. Its mission is to promote Scottish culture and heritage, co-ordinate and communicate events, support Scottish charities in the capital, and contribute to the life of the city where we live. While proud of our shared nationality, we endeavour to be international in outlook.

FINAL CALL: Leaving Gift Office manager Stef Christ leaves us in mid-October for the London School of Economics (LSE). If you wish to donate towards a leaving gift, please hand into the office. Contributions please by Sunday 5^th October.

UPCOMING: Congregational Talk, Sunday 12th October, 12.15pm,Dr Grahams Homes. In advance of the Songs of Praise celebrating 125th Anniversary of Dr Grahams Homes, Amanda Grant will give a congregational talk, following morning service, 12.30pm Upper Hall. She has just returned from the anniversary celebrations in Kalimpong. All welcome.

UPCOMING: Tuesday 21^st October, 2pm, Dr Graham’s Homes 125^th Birthday Songs of Praise at St Columba’s, Pont Street (events@drgrahamshomes.co.uk)
There is an open invitation to attend this special anniversary service, followed by refreshments in the library.

Dr Graham’s Homes was founded in September 1900 in Kalimpong, West Bengal in the Himalayas by Rev John Anderson Graham, a Church of Scotland missionary. The School was built on the “cottage homes” model which are family style houses named after benefactors, with “auntys” looking after the children. Originally aimed to educate and give vocational training to impoverished Anglo-Indian children; over time it became a wider community school. By the 1920’s it housed nearly 600 children and had grown into a near self-sufficient village with a church, hospital, farm, and workshops.

The UK charity arm (DGH UK) currently sponsors over 100 children in need, mostly from the streets of Kolkata, through fundraising and individual sponsors, some of whom have lifelong connection with their sponsored children. Today it continues as a boarding and day school on a large hillside campus at Kalimpong. The new Chairman of the Board of Management was a sponsored child from the age of two. He is now a world renowned neurosurgeon based in Shillong, near Kalimpong.

There are records of Dr Graham visiting St Columba’s during his visits to London. St Columba’s is the London home for all the DGH UK events, hosting an annual curry lunch for several years.
For further information see www.drgrahamshomes.co.uk

RESTART’s Annual Sleep Out, Friday 5^th December 2025, outside St Columba’s Church. The number of people sleeping on the
streets in the UK is at a record high. London
saw a 10% increase in rough sleeping in 2024/2025 compared to the previous
year. To participate to 2025 SleepOut, sign up
on this link or you can donate and set up a
fundraiser on this page. Adults or children over
the age of 10 accompanied by an adult are
welcome, as are school groups or other
groups of children under adult supervision.
Contact us if you would like any information or
have questions: Olivia olivia@restartlives.org

Live Streaming of Worship
Services can be watched via the church website, https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/live-stream. Reminder: If you do not wish to appear on the live stream please choose a seat in the rear half of the sanctuary. Note that the Evening Services on the 1st of the month are not live streamed as they are held in the London Scottish Chapel. If you experience any issue with livestream on the day, please email livestream@stcolumbas.org.uk (please note that this address will only be monitored on Sundays).

Dial into Sunday Service
If you are aware of church members or friends who do not have access to internet, please inform them that they can phone in to join the Sunday service. Those interested should follow:

Step 1: At 10.40am call phone number 0208 080 6591.
Step 2: You will be prompted to enter a meeting ID. Please type (using your telephone keypad) 884 4746 5645
Step 3: You will then be asked for a participant number – simply press the #.
Step 4: You will be asked to enter the password. Enter 838727
Step 5: Enjoy the service! You will hear the organ music from 10.50am.

Details on the many ways you can support St Columba’s can be found here https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/giving/supporting-st-columbas Anyone wishing to contribute to St Andrew’s, Newcastle please contact the Session Clerk on standrewssessionclerk@gmail.com for bank details or other means of donating.

Office Hours –
The church office is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
E-mail: office@stcolumbas.org.uk
Website: www.stcolumbas.org.uk
Facebook: @stcolumbaschurchpontstreet.
Twitter: @LondonKirkPastoral
Emergency Number (out of office hours): 07591926271

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