310 OCTOBER 2020 - Gryffe Advertizer

Houston Church of The Nazarene
Prayer Garden
During lockdown, hearing daily on the news the affect that Covid-19
was having on individuals and families and the losses being suffered,
some members of Houston Church of The Nazarene felt moved to
provide somewhere for the Houston Community to be able to go and
spend quiet time and reflect or remember.
From this came the idea to set up a prayer garden in the grounds of
the Village Hall.
In recent weeks, Church members have been busy planting and
preparing the area to create a peaceful spot, sheltered slightly by the
trees, where anyone in the community can come and spend some quiet
time and pray, think or simply be still and relax.
If people want to place a plant or something appropriate to
commemorate a loved one, we would invite you to do this and we hope
the garden will be a space we can share with the wider community.
Houston Community Quilt
local community, local life ............... 30
Continuing Despite Lockdown
Houston
During Lockdown, the congregation of Houston & Killellan Kirk
& the wider Houston Community have been enthusiastically
supporting the Renfrewshire Foodbank to the extent of over
18,000 meals & this has been covered in a separate article.
Lockdown is also not going to deter the generous folk of
Houston from continuing with initiatives undertaken in previous
years.
For example, it has become traditional to have a Warm Clothes
Collection in November for the homeless, or perhaps no longer
homeless, but in need of some warmth in the winter months.
Generally the NEW clothes donated are passed to organisations
such as the Simon Community for the vulnerable men & women
they support. The plan this year is to accept donations without
social contact at the West Halls, Main Street, Houston (Rear Fire
Exit door facing the Manse), when open for the Foodbank on
Tuesdays during the month of November i.e. 3rd, 10th,17th &
24th November – between 10am & 12noon & between 7pm &
8pm.
It should be stressed that, in the current COVID climate,
only new items of clothing can be accepted. Such items as
warm underwear, t-shirts, warm nightwear, joggers, jumpers,
waterproof jackets & trousers, woolly hats, scarves, gloves &
socks, to keep these vulnerable men & women warm & dry, will
be welcomed.
Another tradition has been to have a Christmas Gift Service in
December to accept donations for vulnerable children. Again
the gifts are to go to CrossReach, the social work arm of the
Church of Scotland, supporting the families of prisoners at Perth
& Polmont Prisons. This year the plan is to accept these also at
the West Halls, again when they are open for the Foodbank but
on the first two Tuesdays of December i.e. 1st & 8th December.
Further details will follow next month & on the Kirk Facebook &
web site www.houstonkillellankirk.org.
Calling all Houston residents to share something positive that is helping them through the covid-19 pandemic and become
part of Houston’s history.
The Houston and Killellan Kirk are launching a COVID-19 Lockdown Quilt Project to help combat the isolation and loneliness
that many of us might feel over the winter months given the current restrictions. If you live in Houston, we would love you
to share just one word or short phrase that sums up what is helping you get through this period of restriction. It might be
something like “neighbours” or “walking in the woods”.
Once we have gathered all of the words we will be looking for people who are able to sew these different words or phrases
onto a square of fabric which will then be gathered and sewn together to form a large community quilt to show our
resilience and community spirit.
When the quilt is finished, we hope that it will take pride of place in one of the indoor public spaces in Houston, to be
admired by many generations to come.
If you have a word or phrase to share, please email Frankie on: familyandcommunity.houstonkirk@gmail.com If you would
like to assist our quilting team in sewing the words or phrases on a piece of fabric, please let me know by email, and I will
get in touch with you.
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