January 2021

The
magazine
Peebles Old
Parish Church of
Scotland
with
Eddleston Parish
Church of Scotland
January 2021

At Peebles Old
Sadly, but in keeping with the Covid-19
guidelines, our Daily Worship along with
Sunday Worship is still currently suspended.
However the texts and hymns for weekly
services are available at peeblesold.online
In these changed times it’s more important that
we keep in touch with those around us by safe
means. As this and foreseeable editions of this
magazine will only be available electronically
please share the word around that it can be
obtained online at www.topcop.org.uk
You can also keep up to date
via our Facebook page.

Pastoral letter
January 2021
Rev. John Smith
Dear Friends
Change is not a state that is necessarily embraced with joy in our human condition.
And yet we live surrounded by it, especially as we move into another year. There
is much to feel cautious over. To think of just a few.
Climate change. Even the most reactionary climate change deniers are beginning
to sense that the concerns that threaten our world are gaining traction, and a new
sense of reality amidst us. Pray that we Christians may further strive to grasp
what it means to be stewards of God’s creation.
As I write this, there are last ditch attempts underway to try to rescue some kind
of structured deal out of the Brexit transitional phase discussions. By the time you
read this, you will know more. But there are many changes there that we can
perceive, but not yet know how to handle. Pray that those changes may become
opportunities for us to work towards a world of justice and generosity.
The change of administration in the US has to be lived through - not an easy
process, but one that affects us all globally. Pray for common sense, and a sense
of decency to prevail through these weeks.
It’s clear that - even with the fantastic work done by researchers to bring a
Coronavirus vaccine to the table - we shall have to be prepared to live with Covid
moving forward. More manageable, certainly, but causing changes in our way of
living. Pray that we may be able to move away from the days of mass
hospitalisations and sad fatalities, and learn to return to a changed normal for the
benefit of our whole society.
A change for me is to get back to work after eight weeks of medical treatment.
It’s a joy to be back among friends old and new. Pamela and David have been
stalwarts - creative and encouraging as they have provided such quality leadership
through these weeks. We owe them our admiration and our thanks. They have
certainly made it easy for me to slip back into harness.
2021 will be guaranteed to provide challenges and change. I’m glad that we are
set to share both together. The writer of Hebrews talks of Jesus Christ being the
same, yesterday, today and forever. Lots of words have been written about what
that may mean or not mean. I think we can be assured it’s a phrase full of
confident promise. Never to suggest that we, his followers, should live in a state
of stasis. Nor shall we. But there is no cause for us to fear change that is based
on the unchangeable love of God.
Glory be to God - who creates, and saves, and sustains us.
Kind regards
John

Vacancy matters
Rev. Pamela Strachan
Interim Moderator
The snow continues to fall - and our Christmas
candle continues to burn brightly.
It is good to welcome back our Locum John Smith
after his two-month absence and we’re very
grateful to David Arnott for having led us in online
worship during this period. I’m pleased to report
that David will continue to serve on the ministerial
team and as an associate member of the Kirk
Session where his experience is greatly valued and
will help see us through the Vacancy Process.
Parish Linking and Presbytery Plan
We continue to implement the Presbytery Plan
which requires a realignment of our parishes.
Thanks to a tremendous effort of co-ordination by Session Clerks, Administrator
and Roll Keepers we completed our second mailing in December and the voting
papers were distributed to all three parishes of Eddleston, Peebles Old and Stobo
and Drumelzier. The results of the ballot will be notified by our Presbytery
representatives early in January and together we will draw up the Presbytery
Report for presentation at the February meeting.
There will follow further meetings of the Presbytery Planning Task Group and the
Implementation Group and opportunities for appeal (if required) at two further
Presbytery meetings.
During this time, we need to consider who should serve on our Nominating
Committee (numbers to represent the three parishes have been agreed as
Eddleston 3, Peebles Old 7 and Stobo and Drumelzier 3) and the finalising of our
joint Parish Profile.
Once permission to call a new minister has been granted by Presbytery, it will
appoint a 3-person Advisory Committee to oversee the next stage in our
deliberations and preparations.
Meanwhile, we have received Presbytery’s permission to re-open the Peebles Old
church on a limited basis of two days per week for a restricted continuation of our
‘Daily Worship’ on Tuesdays and Saturdays. However, the national move to Level
4 in response to the increasing numbers of Covid cases means that this situation
is still under review by the Kirk Session.

Eddleston Kirk
The search for a replacement Session Clerk continues, following the untimely death
of Lorraine Mulholland last April. We are very grateful to Mrs Wilma Nicholson who
has agreed to act as our Minute Secretary once we are meeting again in the church,
with continuing assistance from Janette Dunlop and Ian Ross.
Eddleston Kirk will remain closed for the time being and readers will continue to
contribute to our shared online services.
Eddleston Primary School
In spite of the Covid restrictions, we have continued to keep our links with the
Primary School at the kind invitation of Head Teacher, Miss Lorna Murdoch.
Together with our Eco-Congregation Co-ordinator, Neil Cummings, we provided
material for their Harvest Thanksgiving and Christmas services and have been
delighted to have recordings from the pupils to use in our online worship. The
children’s input to our services is a welcome feature and John and I will be working
on ways to facilitate this in the coming weeks.
Eco-Congregation Co-ordinator
Neil Cummings continues with his energy and enthusiasm - see his New Year
Message to us in this edition.
I hope you have found
peace and joy this
Christmas in spite of the
continuing challenge of the
Covid pandemic. The
economic and health
impacts are now affecting
everyone and no family is
untouched by this crisis.
We’ve all had to manage a
very different kind of
Christmas celebration this
year - necessarily distanced
from our families and loved
ones and unable to be with
one another in shared
worship.
It has however, been heartening to learn of the wonderful ways our communities
and Church family are helping each other and we can look forward to a New Year
trusting in God’s enduring love and grace.
With my love to you all,
Pamela

“If you have been able to read this edition, telephone
someone you know who does not have internet
access and ask them if they would like to know what
is in it”
Remember that you can view the content of each
Sunday service at www.peeblesold.online
We recognise that not everyone has access to the
internet. So now you can listen to the material, too,
by dialling 0113 467 8156. Anytime, 24/7. If you
have a calls package from your telephone provider,
this should be free. Otherwise you just pay your
standard rate. The call will last approximately 20
minutes.

How the Covid-19 Virus will
affect our church life
Church of Scotland Briefing
Church of Scotland - Covid-19 Briefing 14 th December 2020.
The Scottish Borders moved into Level 1 from Level 2 of the Scottish
Government’s coronavirus lockdown system at 6pm on Friday 11
December.
Guidelines issued by the Church of Scotland have accordingly been
updated and we’ve been advised as follows:
The attached document details the main areas of note for churches
within this protection level.
It is vital that that you take note of these limitations and make any
alterations to worship, practices and groups that use your church
building. These levels are based in law, approved by the Scottish
Parliament and therefore there is no option in whether or not you follow
them.
Should you wish to read the full Scottish Government Covid-19 Strategic
Framework it can be accessed at
https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-scotlands-strategicframework/.
We recommend that you keep abreast of the current version of the
Church of Scotland Guidance, all of which can be accessed at
https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/resources/covid-19-coronavirusadvice
Application has been made to Presbytery for the partial re-opening of
the church to allow ‘Daily Worship’ to be resumed two days per week.
Unfortunately, our heating system currently uses re-circulating air and
this is preventing any full re-opening of the church for the time being.
We hope this will be addressed in the new year.
Kirk Session will meet next on Wednesday, 13 January 2021 by Zoom
at 7.30pm.
Revd Pamela Strachan
Interim Moderator

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

News from
Peebles & Eddleston
What we’re up to.
Service of Lessons, Readings and Carols for
Christmas. A Word of Thanks.
For many years past, it was the custom for Peebles Old
Parish Church of Scotland to hold a service of Nine Lessons
and Carols for Christmas at 6.00 pm on the Sunday
preceding Christmas. That service was shared with the
Community of Peebles. In the present difficult
circumstances due to Covid-19, that was not possible this
year, but none the less it was felt that this tradition should
not be forgotten
The idea of creating an online Service of Lessons and
Carols was first aired back in October. Since then many
hours were spent by an enthusiastic team of readers, singers and technical
experts to make this vision possible.
The readings were recorded in the homes of the readers and then brought together
on the website. For the carols, members of the choir individually recorded their
parts at home and those were brought together electronically to form a virtual
choir.
Thanks are due to everyone who took part. The voices of readers and singers
and not forgetting organ music have been heard and are still being heard at
home, across Europe and the wider world. On the evening of the service there
were 189 visits to the site and there have been 50 or more since. Well done
everybody who took part!
A special word of thanks to Willie Nicoll and Andrew Henthorn for their technical
wizardry in making this possible and to Sarah Brown for her musical direction
and contribution.
Church Office contact arrangements
Whilst closed to visitors you can still contact the church office. By telephone
on 01721 723986 (number has been diverted to my mobile phone) mobile 07845
122356. You can also email me on admin@topcop.org.uk or via the 'contact us'
box on the website www.topcop.org.uk
Best wishes and keep well.
Ruth Kerr
Church Administrator

Life & Work 2021 magazine *special offer*
A special promotion to anyone purchasing the magazine in
2021. 12 month subscription ONLY £30 (2 free issues). By
taking out a personal subscription the magazine will be
delivered direct to your home by post. The offer is available
throughout 2021.
Anyone wishing to take advantage of this special offer can contact Ruth Kerr,
Church Administrator admin@topcop.org.uk or 07845 122356 for an order form
or contact Life & Work office directly on admin@lifeandwork.org
[mailto:admin@lifeandwork.org] or phone them on 0131 460 7487
Lent 2021 Important!
Even though we are kept apart, we hope to make it as easy as possible to enable
members and friends who can get online or use the telephone to take part in our
Lenten Study Group.
The details are not complete, but it will be possible to register to take part during
January. Look out for details on the website. If you have trouble finding them,
please contact me direct - minister@topcop.org.uk
I am looking at a course entitled “Life Values.” The aim of this course is to explore
the Beatitudes, which encapsulate the teaching of Jesus. Jesus himself lived out
the Beatitudes in his earthly life and called his followers to do the same.
Please consider joining us. Lent begins on 17 February and runs to 3 April.
Bellringing - a message from Anne Derrick
The Bellringers' team extend their good wishes to everyone for a happy and, we
hope, healthy, New Year. It was a great privilege to ring each day during the week
before Christmas and judging by the number of positive comments and 'likes' on
social media, it was much appreciated by the townsfolk. Our thanks to Margaret,
Kirsty, Fiona, Jeanette, Rosalie and Mary for their efforts up the tower on cold
winter days. We continue to ring as usual every Sunday from 9.30 until 10am and
it's good to note that this is a truly ecumenical effort with ringers from St Joseph's,
St Andrews Leckie and the Baptist Church. We have no one from St Peter's at
present but we are happy to welcome any interested Episcopalian friends.
Looking for your story
We’re always on the look out for your stories and experiences
in order to make these pages more interesting, so how about
making a contribution?
During the lockdowns you may have had a favourite local walk,
or tried baking something different as a challenge…how did it
go? Maybe you’ve been helping neighbours or families in need
of assistance in unusual ways? Have you started writing a book or taken up a new
hobby or language? Perhaps you’ve given or received a controversial Christmas
present? Now’s your chance for literary recognition!
Just email it to editor@topcop.org.uk and we can arrange photos and illustrations.

Eco Congregation
Resolutions for 2021
Neil Cummings
I hope each and everyone one of you managed to enjoy what was a very
different Christmas and New Year time. Being apart from loved ones at a special
time has helped me to appreciate and not take for granted our normal day-today
freedoms.
As I write there are some rays of hope with new vaccines being approved around
the world and I am sure this will bring the day closer when we can meet in
fellowship again. As we look towards a time when we can return to some kind of
normality we will also need to address those issues which were around long
before Covid-19.
Of course I am thinking of the climate change crisis and our impact on God’s
creation. It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how we as individuals can make a
difference, but in our own way we can make small changes to our lives in order
to help slow down the impact of climate change.
I have never been great at keeping to New
Year’s resolutions but as I am passionate
about helping to repair some of the damage
we have caused to God’s creation I have set
myself 5 easily achievable targets for 2021.
1. I am going to grow more fruit and veg
at the allotment than ever before, thus
reducing reliance on fruit and
vegetables from around the
world. Even if you don’t have an
allotment try growing potatoes in a
bag, dwarf fruit in a container,
strawberries in a hanging basket or
even herbs in a window box.
2. I am going to make sure I provide food and water to the birds in the
garden every day. Our bird populations are in major decline due to habitat
loss, pesticides and the reduction of natural food sources. Local populations
of birds can increase if food, water and nesting spaces are provided.
3. I am going to grow more wildflowers in the garden to help Bees and
Butterflies. I am also going to build an insect hotel. Again, local

populations of insects can be increased significantly. Perhaps this could be
a project one day for the area around the MacFarlane Hall.
4. I am going to re-use, recycle and upcycle as much as I can. Any ideas to
help me with this would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps as a congregation
we could create a project in this area.
5. I am going to walk an average of 10,000 steps each day every month and
by doing so reduce the amount of car mileage I do. In the past there was a
Church walkers’ group and I would love to see that start up again when it’s
possible. Perhaps we could add litter collection to the walk.
Each of you will have 5 different targets but it would be lovely to share these
with each other. When we are together again we will need to look at how we as
a church can reduce our energy consumption and waste creation whilst also
thinking about improving the environment around our churches.
Wishing you all a very safe, happy and healthy 2021 and I look forward to
hearing about your ‘Eco’ resolutions.
Regards,
Neil.

Updates from around the World
Pamela Strachan OLM
The situation in Beirut and
in Lebanon generally
remains critical. I have
managed to keep contact
with the President of NEST
and with Rev Dr Rima
Nasrallah whom many of
you will remember when she
came to preach at Eddleston
and Peebles Old in August
2019. One or two of the
young students who were
training for ministry when I
was at NEST in 2018 have
also kept in touch, although it is heartbreaking to read of the hardships they are
now enduring.
I was delighted when the Presbytery World Mission Committee asked if we could
set up a Zoom meeting with Rima so we could hear directly from her and as
you’ll see from the letter below, we are encouraged to remember Lebanon in our
prayers as we work now to explore ways we can strengthen ties and work
alongside our friends there in their time of acute need.
Pamela
Dear Friends, 18 December 2020
As you are probably aware, the Presbytery World Mission Group have been
exploring possible links with Lebanon for a few years. This came out of links
that Earlston made with Tripoli and continued with Marina Altounian visiting
in August 2018. Rev Pamela Strachan also went out in October 2018 for a
3 month study leave course at the Near East School of Theology (NEST)
based in Beirut. We are making progress and hope to bring a report with
recommendations to Presbytery in the near future.
As part of this process, the committee had a zoom call with Rev Dr Rima
Nasrallah, a lecturer at NEST and also a pastor in a local church in Beirut.
She and Pamela struck up a friendship when Pamela was at NEST. Rima
was able to give us a personal update on what the situation is in Lebanon,
Beirut and NEST which was distressing in its detail. She described 3 crises.
The first last year when political unrest led to the Government having to

resign and a new one formed, then COVID hit an already fragile
infrastructure. Finally the blast in the port area of Beirut in August which
destroyed most of the port, killed and injured hundreds, made 1000's
homeless and destroyed the stores of wheat which normally feeds the
nation over the winter. With the world gripped in a pandemic and political
storms waging in that part of the world, aid has been slow and the
Lebanese people face an extremely difficult winter.
We in Melrose and Peebles Presbytery cannot hope to sort the problem, but
Rima asks that we as a Presbytery pray for our brothers and sisters in
Lebanon. The fact that we are concerned and remember them in our
prayers goes a long way to help people realise they have not been
abandoned. If nothing else this pandemic has made us all realise how small
the world really is and how interconnected we all are.
Some Possible Prayer Pointers:
• The impact of rampant inflation and economic collapse resulting from years
of corrupt and inept leadership at Government level.
• The rise recently in Covid-19 cases burdening an already underfunded and
over stretched health system.
• The ongoing aftermath of the August explosion in the Docks area of Beirut
which resulted in over 200 deaths, 6,000 severe injuries and disabilities,
and 300,000 homeless.
Please share this request with your family and your church family and on
behalf of the World Mission Committee, I pray you have a safe Christmas
and look forward in hope to 2021.
Best wishes,
Fiona Burnett
Chair, Presbytery World Mission Committee

Food for Thought
Living in a Christ-soaked world
Fr Richard Rohr
Standing Still, Moving the World
Give me a place to stand, and I will move the whole earth with a lever. —
Archimedes
Archimedes (c. 287–c. 212 BCE), a Greek philosopher and mathematician,
noticed that if a lever was balanced in the correct place, on the correct fulcrum,
it could move proportionally much greater weights than the force actually
applied. He calculated that if the lever stretched far enough and the fulcrum
point remained fixed close to Earth, even a small weight at one end would be
able to move the world at the other.
The fixed point is our place to stand. It is a contemplative stance: steady,
centered, poised, and rooted. To be contemplative, we have to have a slight
distance from the world to allow time for withdrawal from business as usual, for
contemplation, for going into what Jesus calls our “private room” (Matthew 6:6).
However, in order for this not to become escapism, we have to remain quite
close to the world at the same time, loving it, feeling its pain and its joy as our
pain and our joy. The fulcrum, that balancing point, must be in the real world.
True contemplation, the great teachers say, is really quite down to earth and
practical, and doesn’t require life in a monastery. It is, however, an utterly
different way of receiving the moment, and therefore all of life. In order to have
the capacity to “move the world,” we need some distancing and detachment
from the diversionary nature and delusions of mass culture and the false self.
Contemplation builds on the hard bottom of reality—as it is—without ideology,
denial, or fantasy.
Unfortunately, many of us don’t have a fixed place to stand, a fulcrum of critical
distance, and thus we cannot find our levers, or true “delivery systems,” as Bill
Plotkin calls them, by which to move our world. [1] We do not have the
steadiness of spiritual practice to keep our sight keen and alive. Those who have
plenty of opportunities for spiritual practice—for example, those in
monasteries—often don’t have an access point beyond religion itself from which
to speak or to serve much of our world. We need a delivery system in the world
to provide the capacity for building bridges and connecting the dots of life.
Some degree of inner experience is necessary for true spiritual authority, but we
need some form of outer validation, too. We need to be taken seriously as

competent and committed individuals and not just “inner” people. Could this
perhaps be what Jesus means by being both “wise as serpents and innocent as
doves” (Matthew 10:16)? God offers us quiet, contemplative eyes; and God also
calls us to prophetic and critical involvement in the pain and sufferings of our
world—both at the same time. This is so obvious in the life and ministry of Jesus
that I wonder why it has not been taught as an essential part of Christianity.
Gateway to Action & Contemplation:
What word or phrase resonates with or challenges me? What sensations do I
notice in my body? What is mine to do?
Prayer for Our
Community:
O Great Love, thank
you for living and
loving in us and
through us. May all
that we do flow from
our deep connection
with you and all
beings. Help us
become a
community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory.
Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world. [Please add your own
intentions.] . . . Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we
offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen.
Story from Our Community:
In the late 1980s, [I became] a volunteer at Mother Teresa’s Gift of Love
[hospice] in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The twenty men being cared for
there were suffering from AIDS. . . Always feeling like an outsider myself, with
no medical experience I was now living among men who had been rejected by
society. This difficult confrontation with illness, dying and death gave me a
totally new perspective on the value of life. —Harvey V.
[1] Bill Plotkin, Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and
Community in a Fragmented World (New World Library: 2008), 306.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a
Place of Prayer (Paulist Press: 2014), 5–7.
Epigraph; Archimedes, from Tzetzes, Chiliades, II.130.
Image credit: Going to Church (detail), William H. Johnson, 1940‒1941,
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Words of Wisdom
Old Voices
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under
‘In him we…become the righteousness of God’ 2 Corinthians 5:21
NIV
Gandhi once said, ‘I refuse to let anyone walk through my mind
with dirty feet.’ Yet that’s exactly what we do when we listen to old
voices of condemnation.
A respected author writes: ‘Negative accusations take various
forms. ‘You’re not as spiritual as you should be… You didn’t work
hard enough last week… God can’t bless you because of your past.’
Those are lies… We don’t have to live condemned when we make
mistakes. Even Paul said, ‘I do not do the good things I want to
do… I do the bad things I do not want to do.’ (Romans 7:19 NCV).
There is a time to repent, and a time to shake it off
and press forward. You can’t change the past. And
if you live in guilt today because of yesterday, you
won’t have the strength to live in victory. The Bible
says, ‘Put on the breastplate of God’s approval’
(see Ephesians 6:14). The breastplate covers your
heart, the centre of your being, the way you think
and feel about yourself. If you’re thinking, ‘I don’t
have much of a future. I’ve blown it too often. God
couldn’t be pleased with me,’ that’s ‘the accuser’,
and he has no authority over you.’ God says he’s
been ‘cast down’ (Revelation 12:10 KJV). So stand your ground,
and remind him that ‘God made Him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’.
Like all of us, you’ve probably made your fair share of mistakes.
But positionally God sees you ‘in Christ’, so you’re ‘complete’,
‘justified’, and ‘accepted’.
Conditionally you’re a work-in-progress – and He won’t give up on
you!
This is reproduced with kind permission from United Christian Broadcasters (UCB)
Word for Today. Copies can be obtained from them at UCB Operations Centre,
Westport Road, Stoke on Trent, ST6 4JF
They can be reached on 0845 6040401 or at www.ucb.co.uk

Where did the Wise Men
come from?
Magi from the East – it isn’t a lot to go on. The Magi had originally been a
religious caste among the Persians. Their devotion to astrology, divination and
the interpretation of dreams led to an extension in the meaning of the word, and
by the first century the Magi in Matthew’s gospel could have been astrologers
from outside of Persia. Some scholars believe they might have come from what
was then Arabia Felix, or as we would say today, southern Arabia.
It is true that in the first century astrology was practised there, and it was the
region where the Queen of Sheba had lived. She of course had visited Solomon
and would have heard the prophecies about how one day a Messiah would be
born to the Israelites and become their king.
Matthew’s gospel (chapter 2) is clear that the Magi asked Herod: ‘Where is the
One who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have
come to worship Him.’ So it is possible that in southern Arabia the Queen of
Sheba’s story of how a Messiah would one day be sent to the Israelites had
survived. Certainly, there are a number of other early legends that connect
southern Arabia with Solomon’s Israel.
To many people this makes sense: that the ancient stories of a Messiah, linked
to later astrological study, prompted these alert and god-fearing men to the
realisation that something very stupendous was happening in Israel. They
realised that after all these centuries, the King of the Jews, the Messiah, was
about to be born.
One more interesting thing that gives weight to the theory that the Magi came
from southern Arabia is this: if you study any map of Palestine as it was during
biblical times, you will find that the old Arabian caravan routes all entered
Palestine ‘from the East’.

Bell-tower Craik
More tea Vicar?
The cat
A vicar and his wife were going out for
the evening, and carefully set the
security lights and put the cat out. But
when they opened the door to go to the
taxi, the cat slipped back in and
disappeared upstairs. Irritated, the
vicar followed it.
The wife waited with the taxi driver.
Not wanting him to know that they
were leaving the parsonage empty, she
said: “My husband is just upstairs for a
quick word with my mother.”
A few minutes later, the husband
arrived, breathless. “Sorry I took so
long” he said, “but she put up a fight!
Stupid old thing was hiding under the
bed and I had to poke her with a coat
hanger and grab her by the scruff of
the neck to get her out.”
Church
My grandson, Justin, watched a live
streaming service with his dad one
Sunday morning. His mum wanted to
know how it went. He said,
“The music was nice, but
the commercial was too
long.”
Food
I hate it when I think I’m
buying ORGANIC
vegetables, but when I get
home, they’re REGULAR
donuts.
If money talks, my wallet is
whispering.
I don’t think the therapist is
supposed to say ‘you
did what?!’ that many times
in your first session, but
here we are.

How
can you be part of this
Magazine?
This is your magazine!
We’re looking out for travel (it’ll not be too far in these restricted times but how
about a local walk?) stories, life stories, recipes, jokes and articles that would
brighten up our magazine pages. People are at home just now with some extra time
to read so now’s your chance for literary recognition!
Just think you could see your own thoughts and words
in print and be able to share the things that inspire
you about life, worship, travel, cooking, or even The
Old Parish Church itself.
We can even help you with the scanning of
photographs if you don’t have them electronically and
if you ask nicely we can arrange for articles to be
typed up from your own notes or ideas.
So why not get in touch with me as detailed below or
simply e-mail magazine@topcop.org.uk
To:
Would you like your own copy each month?
Well help is at hand… just fill in and post this form!
Miss Fiona Taylor, 12 Graham Street, Peebles EH45 8JP Tel. 01721 724196
Your name ……………………………………………………………………
Your address……………………………………………………………………………………..
Although we’re only on-line for the moment your donation would still be
gratefully received. I’m happy to enclose a donation of £….... towards the
cost of the Magazine.
Please make cheques payable to “Peebles Old Parish Church of Scotland”

Church Notices
Without any services in the church there will be no rotas required. However, our
intrepid bell ringing team continues to cheer us up by ringing on Sunday
mornings as you’ll see below.
THE BELL RINGERS
January 3 Anne Derrick
10 Margaret Anderson
17 Mary Hudson
24 Malcolm Lumsden
31 Fiona Taylor
Our bell ringers (as heard on BBC
Radio 3 no less…) are to carry on
raising our spirits by ringing out
from the tower on Sunday
Mornings. Keeping safe but
spreading some cheer.
Congregational Register
Deaths
2 nd Dec Mrs Doreen Violet Muirhead, Wychwood, Springhill Road, Peebles
10 th Dec Mrs Anne Wilkie, formerly of 13 Glen Crescent, Peebles
22 nd Dec Mrs Isabella (Ishbel) Grandison, Croft, Chambers Terrace, Peebles

A very warm welcome to
Our Organisations
You’ll receive a warm welcome at any of our groups, whose details are given and
whose activities will recommence when we are finally out of full lockdown. For
further information about each organisation, please see our website
www.topcop.org.uk
Group Where and when we meet Contact
Choir
SHARE
Flower
Committee
Bellringers’
Group
Guild of
Friendship
Traidcraft
Green Team
Toddlers’ Group
Bacon Rolls
Song School but currently by Zoom!
Thursdays 7.30-9.00pm (not July and
August)
We meet in the MacFarlane Hall, once
a month at 2pm on a Sunday
afternoon. Dates will be announced.
Meets once a year as a whole group,
Members take their turn at arranging
the flowers in church each week and
at major religious festivals.
Members take their turn on the
Sunday Bell ringing rota and ring on
other community occasions if they
wish.
Members meet together twice a year.
The Guild visits housebound members
of the congregation. The number of
homes and frequency of visits is
flexible and can easily be arranged to
suit the availability of the Visitor
Members take turns at the purposebuilt
cupboard selling Fairtrade goods
after morning worship each Sunday
Help to provide ideas for each of us to
better care for God’s creation.
MacFarlane Hall
Tuesdays in school terms. 9.30-
11.00am
Friday mornings. Join a team taking
your turn preparing and serving
Bacon Rolls. Each team is ‘on’ once
every 6 weeks. Great fun!
Sarah Brown
(Director of Music)
07597 394059
Cathy Davidson
01896 830419
Rachael Forsyth
01721 724693
Anne Derrick
01721 721075
Elizabeth Fairless
01721 720344
Janette Cameron
01721 722528
Neil Cummings
01896 831771
Please speak to the
Minister or Session
Clerk
Janette Cameron
01721 722528

Who’s Who at Peebles & Eddleston
Interim Moderator:
Rev. Pamela Strachan
Glenhighton, Broughton
ML12 6JF
01899 830423
07837 873688
pamelastrachan19@gmail.com
Locum :
Rev John R. Smith MA BD
25 Whitehaugh Park
Peebles
EH45 9DB
07710 530193
Session Clerk:
Vivien Aitchison
sessionclerk@topcop.org.uk
Organist & Choir Leader:
Sarah Brown
41 March Street, Peebles
07597 394059
music@topcop.org.uk
Church Administrator:
Ruth Kerr
07845 122356
Office: 01721 723986
admin@topcop.org.uk
Roll Keeper/Data Officer:
Alison Duncan
01721 721033
07707 001795
alisonduncan291@gmail.com
Beadle:
Edward Knowles
41 Dukehaugh, Peebles.
01721 722860
Eco Church Co-ordinator
Peebles:
Neil Cummings
01896 831771
carcatnel@yahoo.co.uk
Eddleston Treasurer:
Archie Smellie
Hattonknowe, Eddleston.
01721 730282
Bellringers’ Team
Leader:
Anne Derrick
Edderston Road, Peebles
01721 721075
Registered charities (Peebles) SC013316 (Eddleston) SC010081