Palms, pipes and picnics
A “church without walls”, so let’s make Palm Sunday part of the initiative. We’ll invite our neighbours to join us in worship and walking, a progress from Yetholm to Kelso, with or without a donkey.
Fortified by bacon rolls and a blessing the first walkers set off into the misty hills at 9.30am. After mid-morning worship in the church the minister and mobile soup kitchen joined the walking group at the wayside Hoselaw Chapel, quiet now as the geese have moved on from the loch. Walkers left and others joined as the mist cleared and the day warmed. By farm track and quiet road we went down into the Tweed valley and for lunch in the village hall before a short service in the church at Sprouston.
No donkey, but the bipeds, including the young children in the all-terrain buggy, enjoyed the violets and primroses along the
old railway line and the view of the ancient abbey as we approached Kelso. A pause at the Millennium View overlooking the town, not to weep but to pray for our own precious place and people. Then a welcome rest and tea in a church hall before marching back through the town behind pipes and drums and waving branches (though not palms as they do not thrive in our Border climate!). Not a great crowd, but the pipes certainly drew attention and a queue of traffic built up behind us on Rennie’s Bridge. A final picnic
in the comfort of the exhibition hall on the Border Union
Showground; and to close the day, a praise band and choir, with readings and prayers leading us into the week ahead.
Several walkers completed the whole day. Some just joined for a short stretch or for worship. The sun shone and it was a great day. Come and join us the next time we do it!.
Patricia Anne Gentry Kelso, Roxburghshire
Breakfast Barbecue and Rogationtide Worship at Clun
There’s an account in the Fourth Gospel relating how, early one morning, the risen Jesus got a fire going by the water’s edge. He called to his friends, weary from profitless fishing, to transfer their nets to the other side of the boat. Immediately they had a remarkable catch – 153 fish, no less. He then invited them to bring some of their fish to supplement the breakfast he had ready to share with them. “Come and have breakfast”, he said.
On Sunday morning 1 May in the Bridge Car Park by the River Clun we, as the Christian community in these parts, echoed this episode, inviting passing visitors to join us. We barbequed fresh sardines, folded them into bread rolls and washed them down with orange squash. It was good to be joined by lads from the Boys Brigade who were camping in the vicinity.
Then we all shared in specially composed worship,
giving thanks for the Clun Valley and all the benefits of our location. A farmer said a prayer for those who care for livestock; a fruit and vegetable grower remembered the good produce of the earth; a gardener gave thanks for the variety and colour of flowers; an environmentalist recalled the wild life of our district; an enthusiast for Action Aid did not allow us to forget those who are hungry, thirsty, poor or deprived. A farmer’s daughter read a poem reminding us that milk does not originate in a bottle or carton.
Blessed with a calm refreshing morning following a stormy night, we enjoyed worship together in the open air. We ended in a space of quiet, appreciating the sounds of the natural world and the view of the surrounding hills.
Michael Newman, Churches Together in Clun
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www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
rural worship
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