Life and Work December 2017 Articles
From The Editor
THIS month I shall be braving the freezing cold of
PRAYER
This Christmas remember someone whom you have lost;
The perfect gift this Christmas
Why not gift the award winning magazine of the Church
LETTERS
A letter in a recent issue of the magazine referred
The Big Question
This month’s question is: ‘Have you ever given an ‘alternative’ Christmas gift?’
An appointment with redemptive destiny
Ron Ferguson considers the profound power of music as we look to ‘the child of hope’.
The heart of the Christmas story
The Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning considers the deeper messages of homelessness and poverty amid the arrival of the Christ child.
Let the story breathe again
The Very Rev Albert Bogle urges readers to rediscover their identity as they look again at the Christmas story.
From holy land to advent centrepiece
Jackie Macadam traces the journey of a Christmas crib, from a Holy Land olive grove, to sale in an Edinburgh shop.
Signposts of a living faith
In the final part of his three-part series, the Very Rev Dr John Chalmers explains why radical change is needed to reshape the Church of Scotland to serve in future.
The accidental trailblazer
Thomas Baldwin meets the Rev Rola Sleiman, the first Christian woman minister ordained in the Middle East.
The Big Picture
Digital photographs only should be sent to magazine@lifeandwork.org
An ‘Arts and Crafts’ Church
John R Hume considers the gifts and beauty of a church in the east end of Glasgow.
New pilgrimage route links Scotland and England
Lynne McNeil reports on the launch of the Forth to Farne Way.
POEM
Return to Chitambo
In 1960, Ronald and Andrew Swanson left Glasgow as young children for a new life in Zambia with their missionary parents. This is the story of their return to Africa this summer.
God with us
The Rev Richard Frazer highlights the people on the move in the Christmas story.
REVIEWS
This pocket sized hardback gathers together 40 reflections
CROSSWORD
19 ___ Lee, singer of ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas
God’s surprise of love
The Rev Lezley Stewart reflects on the gifts of Christmas
Dornoch minister ‘honoured’ to be nominated Moderator-Designate
Thomas Baldwin reports on the announcement of the nomination of the Moderator-Designate to the 2018 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
ERIC LIDDELL’S DAUGHTER SEEKS HER FATHER THROUGH FAITH
The daughter of Scottish Olympic gold medalist and
FORMER MODERATOR TAKES HOUSING ACTION ROLE
A former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church
CHURCH SEEKS DESCENDANTS OF WW1 SOLDIERS
Researchers working on a new book about Scottish soldiers
ORGANIST RETIREMENT
The final Sunday worship at Hyndland Parish Church
LONG SERVICE
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church
WORSHIPPING TOGETHER
The linked Outer Hebrides congregations of Barra and
TRAIDCRAFT SUCCESS
A group based in Kinross Parish Church is the number
PARTY FOR ORGAN
More than 200 people attended a birthday party in Kilwinning
FLOWER FESTIVAL
St Andrew’s Church, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, continued
£1.5m Church and Community Centre opens in Dumfriesshire
Thomas Baldwin reports on a long-term fundraising project initiated by a rural congregation.