CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch Online

Chat from the Chair
It‘s been a busy month for the
Community Council since I last wrote.
The November meeting and AGM were
held together at Castle Semple Visitor
Centre, thanks to Charlie Woodward,
Manager of the Regional Park. This
seemed like a good idea when we
organised it, but we had to adjourn the
regular meeting to the following day
because of the Council‘s planned cuts at
the Library and Annexe.
This became a very well-attended public
meeting and gave the Community
Council an extremely clear mandate to
oppose these cuts and do what it can to
keep the library in the Library and the
Annexe open.
Two weeks later we arranged another
public meeting to get some action going.
An independent action group LAAAG
was formed, which is able to do far more
than the Community Council is allowed
to do.
To go back to the AGM, the existing
officers were re-elected; the only
difference this year is that Graeme
Brown has taken on the role of Deputy
Chairman as well as the Planning brief.
The other officers are: Secretary, Lesley
Scott and Treasurer, David Fowles. The
Minute Secretary is still Hazel Dundas.
We still don‘t have a permanent meeting
venue, but are hoping to keep to the first
Tuesday of each month, except maybe
January (probably 11th in 2011). The
next meeting will be on Tuesday 7th
December in the Bowling Club, and
everyone is welcome to attend.
This is my personal take on things –
for the official Community Council line
you‘ll have to read the minutes!
Chris Gould. Chairman, Lochwinnoch
Community Council
Christingle Service
On Thursday 16th
December at 7 o‘clock,
there will be a
Christingle Service in
the Parish Church.
Wh il e Christi ngle
Services may not have a
long history in Scotland, they have
been celebrated in Germany, since
1747, when a pastor thought about
how he could explain the love of Jesus
to everyone, and what Christmas really
meant to the children in the church.
He decided to make a simple symbol to
express the message of Christmas in a
new way. He gave each child a lighted
candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a
prayer that said ―Lord Jesus, kindle a
flame in these dear children's hearts‖.
This was the first Christingle service.
In 1968, Christingle services were
introduced to the Church of England
and their popularity has spread
around the world. Our Christingle
20
celebration is an interactive service,
where children and adults are invited to
make their own Christingle, which is
now made of:
an orange representing the world;
a red ribbon around it representing
the blood of Jesus;
dried fruits or fruit sweets,
representing the fruits of the earth
and the four seasons; and
a candle in the centre of the orange,
representing Jesus Christ as the
light of the world.
Everyone is very welcome to come and
share in this time of celebration. We
look forward to sharing with you.
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