Newsletter for Sunday 26th July 2026

Friends,

We’re now in the “Wedding Season” – although of course weddings take place in St. Columba’s throughout the year. I’m looking forward to two weddings in August and another in December and it is always a privilege to be with a couple as they make their public commitment to one another. I often remind those planning their wedding that while at one level marriage is a legal contract with each party undertaking to fulfil their obligations and signing on the dotted line, there is a third person in a Christian marriage, Christ is present as he was at the marriage in Cana of Galilee.

In our Old Testament lesson from Genesis 29: 15-28 this week, we read of the marriage(s) of Jacob. This episode in Jacob’s life reminds me of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and others have likened it to a scene from a Shakespeare comedy; like so much of Jacob’s story, rich with love, trickery, disguised identities, and clever negotiations. Jacob must find a wife from Abraham’s clan, as his father, Isaac, had done before him. He visits his uncle Laban hoping to find a wife in his family. Jacob agrees to work for Laban if he will allow him to marry his youngest daughter, Rachel. When seven years have passed, Laban tricks Jacob by having him marry Rachel’s older sister, Leah – perhaps to ensure that she is honoured according to local customs. Jacob agrees to work for his uncle for a further seven years to ensure that he can marry Rachel too. It seems to me that the women involved had very little say in the matter, but were subject to haggling between their father and their prospective husband. In contrast to these ancient customs Christ would recognise the status of women in God’s sight, made in his image and loved by him, and give them dignity here on earth, as with the Woman at Jacob’s Well (St. John 4: 4-42), and the Woman caught in adultery (St. John 8: 1-11).

This passage from Genesis 29 helps us remember that God understands that life is and will be messy. We might not be able to escape the mess, but we can learn to navigate it with God. It might not always be obvious to us but God is always working in the midst of the mess to bring good out of difficult situations.

William

UPCOMING: The Book Club is meeting next on Tuesday 8th September to discuss the prizewinning novel, The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. If you want to plan your summer reading list, after that we shall be discussing, The Caspian Amulet. For joining details, please contact the church office

DIARY DATE: Churches Together in Kensington & Chelsea with Churches Together in Notting Hill,
Season of Creation 2026 Ecumenical Service,
Thursday 1ST October, 7.00p.m.
St Luke’s Parish Church, Sydney Street, SW3 6NH.
Everyone is warmly invited.

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.