We look forward to welcoming Rev. Gordon Craig, chaplain to Oil and Gas UK, as our guest preacher when we celebrate Sea Sunday on 31st July. There will be a collection for Mission for Seafarers.

Come along after school on Tuesday 9th February to our Pancake Party. There will be activities for all ages including tabletop challenges and games, mask decorating and a mini Mardi Gras procession. Find out what Shrove Tuesday and Lent are all about and enjoy some pancakes together! For more information please email us at , message us on Facebook or phone 01738 634999.

Here are a selection of images from the various services at St John’s over Christmas.

Christingle Service

On Christmas Eve we invited children and grown-ups for a celebration of the Christmas story. There was great excitement in the Threshold as small people (and some big ones) dressed up as angels, shepherds, and kings. Mary and Joseph came and we had a most energetic donkey!

As well as the presentation of the Christmas story we also celebrated with Christingles. Some of the older children helped explain the meaning of the Christingle and passed out the different parts to members of the congregation. As we built our Christingles we sang verses of a Christingle song. Then it was time to light our candles (or break our glowsticks). The church was darkened and we passed the flame to each other around the church, showing the light of God coming into a dark world.

Midnight Eucharist, Christmas Eve

The church was lit by candles for the midnight Eucharist with favourite carols and anthems by the choir, including Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium.

Santa’s Visit

Santa visited the Buggy Club!

Epiphany

To finish off Christmas, we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, remembering the wise men who came so far to see Jesus.

On Sunday we bade a fond farewell to our Lay Reader, Lis Burke. From the new year onward she’ll be working with the Alyth, Blairgowrie and Coupar Angus group ministry.

Toward the end of the service, Graham presented Lis with a gift from the congregation:

Alison also presented her with a gift from the choir.

Of course, there was also chocolate cake in the Threshold afterwards to celebrate Lis’s many years with us, in the congregation, in the choir and latterly as Lay Reader.

In celebration of Lis’s many years in the congregation, latterly as Lay Reader, there was cake in the Threshold afterwards 🙂

We wish Lis every blessing in her new ministry.

Members of the choir and congregation turned out on the church steps on Saturday lunchtime to sing carols to passers-by and ply them with warm mince-pies.

We received £50 in donations for PKAVS, a charity supporting adults with mental illness, young and adult unpaid carers and minority communities including refugees around Perth and Kinross.

We held our 2015 AGM on Sunday 29 November after the service. Detailed information about the activities of the past year are available in the Annual Reports (PDF), but aside from financial matters, a few additional things were singled out for special attention at the meeting.

An anonymous donation has allowed us to set up a fabric fund, giving us a reserve to set aside for any future urgent repairs required to the church building.

Lis Burke, our lay reader, is moving on, joining the Dean in a team working with churches in Alyth, Blairgowrie and Coupar Angus. We are sorry to see Lis Burke go and wish her all the best in her new ministry.

Concerning membership of the Vestry, Graham confirmed that Alan MacPherson would continue as Rector’s Warden. David Willington continues as People’s Warden. Tom Axford and Christine Bracewell have served their time on the Vestry, and Jean Hendry stepped down after years of service as Lay Rep. We elected Jim Carcary to the Vestry as an ordinary member and Lilian Fleming to replace Jean as Lay Representative.

Graham, our Rector, and Judy, Vestry Secretary, chair the AGM after the service.

Our annual general meeting will be held on Sunday 29 November after the 10:30 service.

The annual reports for 2014–2015 are now available and can be downloaded here (PDF).

Contents:

• Vestry Members
• Minutes of AGM 2014
• Rector’s Report
• Vestry
• Music
• Buggy Club
• Social
• 153 Club
• Church Flowers
• Fellowship
• Lay Reader
• Buildings & Eco
• Lunch Club and Giraffe
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups
• Charity Bottle
• Communications and Admin
• SARAC
• Finance and Stewardship
• Traidcraft
• Ministry & Pastoral
• Health & Safety
• Our Family

Please do have a look and see what we’ve been up to!

This year was the Silver Jubilee of Doors Open Day in Perth and Kinross, and St John’s was featured as one of only four buildings open this year which was also open for the first Doors Open Day in 1991. On Saturday over a hundred visitors came into the church, which was beautifully decorated for Harvest Thanksgiving. There were live musical performances during the day, as well as refreshments, children’s activities and a display of church activities.

On Sunday morning at our Sung Eucharist we gave thanks for all God’s good gifts. Our joyful thanksgiving spilled over into practical action as we offered donations of food and toiletries needed by the Perth and Kinross Foodbank and prayed for the refugee crisis.

Following the eucharist we all joined in a bring and share lunch in the Threshold.

More pictures of the weekend can be seen on our Facebook page.

Today marked Fergus & Ruth Harris’s Golden Wedding anniversary.

Graham and Christine presented them with a gift from the congregation at the end of the service.

Afterwards in the Threshold, Bishop Bruce spoke of his time knowing Ruth & Fergus since his own very early married life in Edinburgh and proposed a toast.

There were balloons, cake and Prosecco 🙂

The church building was full for the last of our three summer organ recitals, by local musician Stephen Clay. Stephen first started his organ studies at Glenalmond College and later read Music at Durham University, where he held Organ Scholarships successively at Hatfield and University Colleges. He has since played at many of the major English cathedrals as well as playing regularly in locations around Perthshire and Angus.

After a welcoming introduction by our rector, Rev Graham Taylor, Stephen started his recital with Baroque music, playing pieces by Buxtehude and J S Bach. Three preludes on British hymn tunes were followed by a Toccata by Mathias. He concluded with music by the French composers Boellmann and Vierne and, as a glorious finale, the Toccata by Widor.

Our Director of Music, Alison Grant, thanked Stephen for his work and expressed our best wishes for Stephen’s forthcoming move to Suffolk, where he will be Head of Music at Culford Preparatory School.