Fàilte do Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba Ninian Naoimh, Gleann Urchardainn!
Welcome to Saint Ninian’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Glen Urquhart!
AGM
Next Sunday, 29th November, will be the first Sunday of Advent. We had hoped to hold our AGM after the service, but present covid restrictions prevent us from doing so, and we are allowed to postpone the AGM until next year. The present Vestry members will also continue in office until then. The accounts for the financial year ending September 2020 have been presented to and accepted by the Vestry.
SPECIAL HYGIENE MEASURES
Measures in accordance with rules laid down by the SEC will be in place to minimize the risk of virus transmission. The most important are:
You must let us know in advance if you wish to attend the service (to observe social distancing there is a limit on numbers). Please contact the Vestry Secretary, Mrs Gill Austen, at gillausten@yahoo.co.uk or phone her on 07717 671708.
Please do not come to church if you feel unwell at all.
You will be shown where to sit, with the church being filled from the front backwards, so you may not get to sit in your usual pew. People will leave the church from the back first.
A face mask must be worn throughout the service (unless you have a medical reason for being unable to wear one).
Please bring your own hand sanitizer, and use it when you arrive, before you receive Communion, and as you leave.
You will be given a service book in a sealed bag, or you can bring your own.
There will be a collection plate on the organ for you to give your offering.
There will be no physical contact with other members of the congregation, including during the Peace.
No hymns will be sung.
So – not quite Church as we know it, but we can be grateful that we are at last able to have a service at all! But anyone who feels unsafe about attending Church should not feel under any pressure to do so; live-streamed services will continue to be available on facebook and YouTube for anyone who prefers to stay at home.
Opening for private prayer
We are glad to announce that the church is now open for private prayer, on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons from 2pm to 5pm. Wednesdays will be by appointment, so if you wish to come on a Wednesday, please contact the Vestry Secretary, Mrs. Gill Austen, as long in advance as possible, and let her know what time you want to come, and she will arrange for someone to open the church for you: email gillausten@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07717 671708. All people resident in the parish are welcome. Social distancing and other hygiene measures are in operation, but we hope you will come in and avail yourself of the opportunity to pray in church once again.
There will be a live streamed service online every Sunday. All streamed services may be viewed on the SEC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/scottishepiscopalchurch/ and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/scottishepiscopal. The Sunday service will also be available to view during the following week on the SEC website at https://www.scotland.anglican.org/stay-at-home-with-online-worship/.
If you know anyone who has no internet access, they can now listen to these services by phone. For details of how to do this, please email AidanS@scotland.anglican.org. and share the information with anyone who needs it. The service will be free of charge.
If you would prefer a more local service, you can watch the service streamed from St Andrew’s Cathedral, Inverness at https://www.facebook.com/invernesscathedral/videos; from St. Michael and All Angels at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDSTmN1QzZSW6fwr0-ATUBA; or from St. John the Evangelist at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDSTmN1QzZSW6fwr0-ATUBA.
Every Sunday evening the Scottish Episcopal Church joins in prayer at 7pm with several other Scottish Churches. The prayer this Sunday, 16th. August, is about the faithfulness of God. The full text of the prayer can be found at https://www.scotland.anglican.org/joint-call-to-prayer-the-gifts-and-calling-of-god/
St Andrew’s Cathedral, Inverness is also live-streaming morning and evening prayers at 10 am and 5.30 pm from Monday to Saturday on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/invernesscathedral.
For information on making a spiritual communion, see The SEC website page: https://www.scotland.anglican.org/coronavirus-updates/college-of-bishops-reflection-on-worship-during-lockdown/. It suggests prayers that may be used in a spiritual communion.
Anyone in need of pastoral care should contact the Vestry Secretary (see below for details); priests may not be able to attend in person but may make contact by phone or email.
We ask all our members and friends to pray for each other and for the world.
Closure of the church car park
We have regretfully decided to close the church car park for the time being, and the gate has been locked. This follows reports by our neighbours of noisy parties in the church grounds at weekends, which have also left behind litter and mess. While we welcome people to enjoy our beautiful loch-side grounds, we cannot tolerate behaviour which does not respect the fact that they are adjacent to a church and graveyard. It is hoped that this measure will be sufficient to stop the parties. We are very grateful to our neighbours who have brought the problem to our attention and have cleared up some of the mess. They wll continue to be vigilant, and the police will be informed if the trouble arises again. Meanwhile anyone requiring access to the car park for a legitimate reason can phone the Vestry secretary, Mrs. Gill Austen, on 07717 671708, to find out the combination to unlock the gate.
When will we get back to normal?
An advisory group has been established to help the College of Bishops to issue guidance to local churches on the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions.
Here is another message from Bishop Mark (week ending 25th. April).
Bishop Mark has sent a message to all congregations in the diocese.
He has also published a newsletter.
Bishop Mark is broadcasting a short reflection every week. You can find them on his Facebook page (The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church), or follow the links below:
20th. April: https://www.facebook.com/ThePrimusSEC/videos/522776048608991/
Easter Monday:
https://www.facebook.com/ThePrimusSEC/videos/1564571473698144/
For up-to-date information on Church news and forthcoming events, see the News page on this website, and our Facebook page: Saint Ninians Glen Urquhart.
We usually have coffee after the Sunday service, to give us a chance to have a friendly chat, and all visitors are most welcome too.
Following the retirement of our priest, Rev Martin Roff, services will be taken by visiting clergy or occasionally by our Eucharistic ministers until a new priest is appointed.
If anyone is interested in applying for or finding out more about the vacancy, please see the advertisement and the parish profile. To arrange for an informal visit, please contact the Vestry Secretary, Mrs. Gill Austen, at gillausten@yahoo.co.uk.
The Church is situated in a scenic location on the shore of Loch Meiklie in Glen Urquhart, one of the loveliest glens in the Highlands. It is on the A831, about five miles west of Drumnadrochit and seven miles east of Cannich.
Our beautiful little church was built in the 19th. century, but it has ramp access and a loop system, and there is an off-road car park. The door is always open for you to come in and view the Church, or spend a little time in quiet prayer and contemplation.
An extensive programme of building restoration work has just been completed.
You can also enjoy a stroll in the Church grounds; there are benches and a picnic table on the paths by the loch.
We welcome visitors from all Christian denominations to share with us in all our services and in Holy Communion. If browsing these pages encourages you to visit us, we shall be delighted to meet you. Coffee is served in our coffee room following the 11.00am Sung Eucharist each Sunday.
We are glad that you are visiting our website. The following pages give a flavour of how we go about our declared purpose of Knowing God and Growing Faith.
