Dingwall Castle Street Church of Scotland

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Scrap Book - 2008

Christmas

2008

A busy Christmas month. On Sunday 7th December there was the Farming Community Carol Service at Dingwall Mart, with the Inverness and District Male Voice Gospel Choir. The Mart was packed out with about 500 attending. On Sunday 14th December we had our Candlelight Service in Castle Street. It was well attended with loads of folk coming round for tea and mince pies. On Sunday 21st December there was the town Carol service in the town hall. And on Christmas Eve we had our Watchnight Service to see in Christmas Day, again with a good turnout.

Sunday 16th November

Tonight we had a joint evening service in St. Clements Church to mark the beginning of Guild week. Ladies from both Guilds took part, and Russel Smith preached a thought-provoking sermon. Afterwards there was a very welcome cup of tea and treats. It is a great joy to have real friendship and closeness between the Dingwall churches. There must be very few towns of Dingwall's size which has five evening services every Sunday.

Monday 27th October

This afternoon a number of Castle Street folk, plus 600 others, attended a lecture in Eden Court, Inverness. The lecture was given by Professor John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University. John's lecture was a tour de force, analysing and responding to Richard Dawkins' arguments in The God Delusion. The lecture can be heard on the UHI website.

Sunday 7th September

This morning at the service we celebrated three of our members reaching fifty years in the eldership. The three are: David Brodie, George Dundas, and John Noble. It was good to be able to present them each with a specially inscribed certificate, plus a curved piece of glass-ware with details of their eldership inscribed on it.

Sunday 31st August

Castle Street members attended the joint evening service at Dingwall Free Church along with folk from the other denominations in the town. The service was to give thanks for the newly refurbished Church building. The Free Kirk looks fantastic and now provides the kind of space which aids church life significantly. For the first part of the service we had psalm singing. In the second part we had hymns. Angus McRae preached a strong message which was Christ centred from start to finish.

Tuesday 19th August

29 Castle Street members were at Eden Court in Inverness for Prom Praise, featuring the All Souls Langham Place Church Orchestra (www.allsouls.org) led by irrepressible Noel Treddinick. The auditorium was packed, with over 900 attending, and the music and praise was excellent.

Sunday 25th May

The Right Rev. Robert Benn, Moderator General of the Australian Presbyterian Church, was the preacher at the 11.00 service at Castle Street Church. Andrew McGowan made Robert's visit possible, and Robert came with his wife Laurel. The Australian Presbyterian Church is involved in promoting the evangelical reformed message witness in Australia.

Sunday 30th March

The preacher at tonight's Evening Service was Zondiwe Mbano from Malawi. Bruce knew Zondiwe and his wife Nellie during his time in Zomba. Zondiwe is originally from the north of Malawi and teaches in the English department of the University of Malawi. Nellie is senior lecturer in Chemistry. Both Zondiwe and Nellie are committed members of the Friday evening Bible Study group which Bruce attended every week. Zondiwe is currently on a course at the University of Glasgow.

Thursday 7th February

Tonight we had our first joint Prayer Meeting with the Free Kirk. There were about 50 present, of whom 23 were from Castle Street. This is an important development. Angus and the Free Church folk have been so supportive from the very beginning. Tonight's meeting was in our Church Hall. Next month it will be in the Free Kirk Hall.

Sunday 27th January

This morning Matthew Marshall and his fiancée Loraine spoke at the service. Matthew (left) works with Friendship International Ministries (www.friendshipintl.org ) and was with the group who came last August as a choir from Romania, Hungary, and Chile. FIM are heavily involved in Christian work in Romania, working with orphans and spreading the Gospel through song. Matthew and Lorraine head out to Romania to work with the mission. Alan Crombie is going out to help with the planning and construction of a Summer Holiday Camp for orphans.