Newsletter for Sunday 10th May

Friends,

“We believe in life before death.” That is the brilliant and memorable slogan of Christian Aid; Sunday marks the launch of Christian Aid Week. In the immediate aftermath of World War II Christian leaders in Britain and Ireland met, determining to do all that they could to alleviate the plight of the millions of refugees displaced by war. Initially known as Christian Reconstruction in Europe, we know it now as Christian Aid. Its aim was not to evangelise but to respond to need, believing that compassion transcends all borders.

Twelve years later Christian Aid Week began. Since when there have been decades of individuals and congregations (including St Columba’s) going door to door or shaking cans on the high street to raise money for the world’s poorest. The charity works in partnership to provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty, as well as its root causes. Christian Aid works in partnership with others in multiple countries, across different continents. It seeks to alleviate need and suffering, regardless of faith – though it undertakes this work as an expression of its own faith – believing that poverty is incompatible for God’s purpose for the world and that poverty can and must be eradicated.

On Sunday we are privileged to have one of Christian Aid’s directors, Nick Georgiadis, (Income and Public Engagement) as our guest preacher, and with a bit of help from congregational cake-suppliers (home-baked or bought & donated), we will welcome him with a festive Christian Aid cake sale in the entrance hall. Of course, on the day that this Newsletter goes out, there will be elections, local and national, taking place. (St Columba’s is a polling station for the day). For a moment our focus may rightly be on the concerns of our own neighbourhoods and those who will represent them. At the same time however, Christian Aid Week is the prompt to remember our part in the global church and the needs of others – people we may never meet, but through our shared humanity and shared resource, we can be connected.

God of the impossible,
we pray for justice, peace and reconciliation.
And when the challenges seem too many,
remind us of your resurrection power,
and the miracles of your love that happen
whenever injustice is dismantled and rebuilt with peace.
Help us to hope that the impossible can happen
and live as if it might do so today. Christian Aid Prayer

Angus

Guest Preacher Nick Georgiadis has served at Christian Aid for more than six years. He’s seen Christian Aid’s transformative work firsthand on several occasions, including the Beacon of Hope project in Kenya. Nick is an experienced fundraiser, having led fundraising teams at Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation. He serves with the youth ministry at his local church. As a regular visitor to Scotland, he’s inspired by and grateful for the sacrificial support of the Church of Scotland.

Christian Aid Week, Sunday 10th to Saturday 16th May Christian Aid’s focus this year is on the temporary settlement in Dagoretti, Nairobi, Kenya. Many families are suffering from intense urban poverty; people like Fridah and her family who live in rented corrugated metal shelters. They share toilet facilities with other families in the compound and have no running water. Fridah’s worry is about how to get enough food for everyone in her family. However, with help from Beacon of Hope (Christian Aid’s partner in Dagoretti) Fridah has been able to improve things and has hope for the future; by being offered training, seeds, tools and space-efficient plots to grow produce near their homes. It has enabled Fridah to grow vegetables in tiny urban spaces to feed her family and with enough to sell on a market stall. Let’s help others in Dagoretti push-back against extreme urban poverty and create a better future.
Please do click on the link below to watch a short video (4 mins).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTS1c4F0CpM

Ways to help/donate: Cake Sale – Sunday 10th May – Entrance Vestibule – Calling all bakers! If you would like to bake a cake(s), or biscuits, scones, shortbread either bring in to the Entrance Vestibule before the service on Sunday 10th May, or you can leave it with the Church Office a few days beforehand. Please label cake packaging with what type of cake it is. Cakes etc. can then be purchased after the service. All money raised will go to Christian Aid Week. Please do come and buy a cake, or even a slice of cake to have with your coffee in the Upper Hall.

• There will be red CA collecting buckets in the Upper Vestibule after the service on Sunday 10th and 17th May. The main CA collection Sunday will be on Sunday 10th May.
• CA envelopes will be available on a table in the Upper Vestibule and a tick box for those eligible to Gift Aid their donation. Some CA envelopes will also be in the pews.
• Online donations: We have our own church e-envelope, Please click on the link:
https://caw.christianaid.org.uk/envelope-2026/st-columbas-church-scotland-pont-street-caw-2026

THIS SATURDAY: Saturday 9th May, Scots in London Ceilidh at St Columba’s Final tickets available for award-winning band Licence to Ceilidh & special performance from the London Scottish Regiment Pipes & Drums – promising a fantastic atmosphere for both seasoned dancers and beginners alike. 7.00–10.30pm at St Columba’s. Tickets, £25 include a light Scottish supper, with a bar available throughout the evening. https://www.scotsinlondon.org/events

UPCOMING: Sunday 17th May, Sounds of St Columba’s
Benedict Lewis-Smith (organ) performs
Charles Marie Widor’s Fifth Symphony.
Composed in 1879 for the great organ
of Saint-Sulpice Church, Charles-Marie Widor’s
Fifth Symphony treats the instrument as a full orchestra
in sound and colour.
It culminates in the famous Toccata –
brilliant, driving, and instantly recognisable –
one of the most exhilarating finales in all organ music. 1.30pm in the Church Sanctuary

UPCOMING: Friends of St Columba’s, Saturday 23rd May
The Friends will be visiting Oxford.
Lunch is at 1pm at the Turf Tavern. If you would like to attend, please contact Isobel Carter or Nicky Martin for a program and a map – collected from the Church Office or Isobel Carter. Full details in the program.

St Andrews Book Festival, presented by Scots in London
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.