A Message from our Minister

Dear Friends,

By the time you receive this Patter, the CofS National Day of Prayer ‘Light in the Darkness’ will have been held, with Inchinnan taking part with a live streamed Service. Prayer as we know is not a once in a year event nor something we do once a week, and how we pray will vary. Some will like a more formal time of prayer, others pray as if they are having a wee (or big) chat as they would with a friend over a cuppa, how we do it on a personal level is not as important as the fact we do it - it keeps the relationship we have with God growing on our part.

It is the same with all the annual events when we celebrate Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Advent; these all give a sense of routine whilst allowing us to explore what they mean to us once more as we prepare and remember each event.

As we enter Advent at the end of November our calendar gets a little bit busier as we hold different services - not just on a Sunday, but we need to prepare for this time. This year the sanctuary windowsills are going to be decorated with the Nativity story by various groups in the church, and of course the tree, and other decorations need to be put up as well.

There has been lots of talk of the Congregational Action Plan and October was a time of preparation for it as the Kirk Session met to formulate the questions they wanted to be included, and hopefully everyone got a chance to fill out the questionnaire. In November all replies will be collated, and the KS will prepare the draft plan to be submitted to Presbytery by the 30th of November for their assessment of each one before a final plan will be submitted in January of 2027. So much preparation but as always, and for everything, the better the prep the better the outcome. So, the prep is all important and thank you for being part of it.

‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ - as an ex-sergeant friend of mine would often quote.

Yours Ann