We were delighted to welcome two new members into our church family, Adeline Booth and Chris Rennison (our webmaster). Carl, our minister, together with elders Moira Keith and Kit Pawson, extended their “right hand of fellowship” and presented Bibles to Adeline and Chris. The congregation warmly affirmed this welcome with enthusiastic applause.   

Hello and may I take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a happy New Year and may this forthcoming year be a joyful and peaceful time for you all. My name is Charles Clark and I have been honoured and humbled to accept the opportunity to serve as your Session Clerk. I have been worshipping at St Andrew’s since 2014 and was delighted to become an Elder in 2016. I am married to Yvonne who also became an Elder in 2021. I retired a few years ago from full time employment and find I have time to offer something back to the Church in Inverurie. We all received the gift of Jesus in our hearts and I want to spread this same gift to others by taking on this role.

I am currently on the waiting list for a new Guide Dog. My current Guide Dog retired in September 2024 and is doing grand staying at home with us and having the freedom to go for short walks without the stress of navigating around obstacles. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who worships at St Andrew’s, either in person or on line, for continuing to support your local Church. St Andrew’s, of course, is an amazing building with excellent facilities but this is only possible with the support of the folk who use it. I look forward to serving St Andrew’s Church on your behalf and please at any time if you would like to discuss any issues or concerns do get in touch. I also would like to thank everybody who has given me encouragement and support in this new role. Sometimes things don’t always go according to plan and I am certain that the strength of St Andrew’s Church is it’s ability to work through whatever is required to spread the word of God.

Charles Clark, Session Clerk

I first met Paul Mealor when he joined the music staff at Aberdeen University where I taught, and we became good friends. I invited him to be guest speaker at one of our Probus meetings in the Kintore Arms Hotel, and that was a very memorable event. His choir gave a concert at St. Andrew’s University and Prince William and Catherine were in the audience. He was then asked to compose music for their wedding in 2011 and he composed his motet ‘Ubi Caritas et Amor’. Also in 2011 he composed a song, ‘Wherever You Are’, which became the Christmas number one in the UK singles chart.

More recently, (Ascension Day, 8 September 2024) he was again composing for royalty, this time King Charles and Queen Camilla, who are staying at Balmoral and attending Crathie Kirk. He composed and performed ‘A Scottish Prayer’. The words are largely based on a speech made by King Charles after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and the King found that very moving. The piece was for a four-part choir and tenor soloist. Paul could obviously choose any soloist from the whole world. He chose one he knew well, and who already had an established international reputation, having performed to give one example, with Zurich Opera House for many years. He actually comes from Barclay Road, Inverurie, so will probably be known to many of you – he is Iain Milne. After the concert, Paul was in conversation with Rosie (Iain’s mother) and he gave permission for the piece to be performed at St. Andrew’s Church with Iain as soloist. I felt this was the most exciting news I had heard in a very long time, and I wanted to share it locally as widely as possible. I feel the best way to do this is invite members of our congregation, members of other choirs as well as any other interested musicians to sing with the choir for this unique occasion, offering the opportunity to sing the music of Paul Mealor. The performance would be on Sunday 24 November during the normal 10 am service. I would provide copies of the music, and I would obviously arrange some rehearsals prior to the performance. The vocal parts are really very simple, (I was genuinely very surprised), but they are very effective, sometimes simply humming behind Iain’s solo melody line. The melody is decidedly Scottish. The piece is 50 bars long and lasts approximately 3 minutes. I would be absolutely delighted if you could join us for this once-in-a-lifetime performance and opportunity. I am sure you would really enjoy it. It is a rare chance for Inverurie choirs and musicians to join forces.

Ian

CONTACT: If you would like to take part, please text or phone me on 07429 904180. Thank you.

At the Church of Scotland General Assembly in Edinburgh, it was announced that publication of the Church’s 146-year-old monthly magazine will come to an end later this year. The decision was attributed to a steady decline in church membership, church closures and an increasingly unsustainable financial deficit.

Delegates expressed regret over the closure of such a long-standing publication, which has been a significant part of the Church’s history and communication efforts.

Grateful thanks to Vera Binnie for co-ordinating distribution and subscriptions over the past few years.