There are seven issues of the parish magazine, Grapevine, each year. These are usually published on the first Sunday of February; March; May; July; September; October; December. Articles for inclusion may be submitted to the Church Manager by email churchmanager@googlemail.com  by the Friday of the week preceding publication: 9 days beforehand.   

Distribution: Anne Sturrock & Susan Wooding.

December 2022 / January 2023 Dear friends, So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for you’, as The Kinks sang in 1965. Waiting can be an endlessly exasperating pursuit. For the date of the operation to be sent out; for the good news of a safe birth; for the phone to ring with an important call; for the exam results to be announced or............ The complete magazine may be downloaded h...

October 2022 Dear friends, The stark contrast between tolerance or tacit support of the Christian church, and a distance from any form of direct engagement in its rituals or communities, has increasingly stark practical consequences for large denominations like the Church of Scotland. It’s al The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

September 2022 Dear friends,    ‘MINISTER TALKS RUBBISH!’ No, not the front page headline of the latest newsletter of the Richard Dawkins Appreciation Society, or some mutterings at the door of the church after last Sunday’s service. Just an honest reflection of what the eye ........................ The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

July / August 2022   Dear friends,   With the schools finishing up and the summer now upon us, our thoughts turn to sunshine (potentially!), to time outside in the garden or a park, to the company of our family or friends, and maybe even some holidays, if we are..............    The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

May / June 2022   Dear friends, When I’m lecturing at the School of Divinity, I always have to be very careful in lectures and seminars to remember that the students from all around the world would have no idea what I was saying if I slipped into British clichés; .............. The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

March / April 2022   Dear friends, As someone with a keen interest in the ‘golden age’ of polar exploration, today (9 March 2022) is an extraordinary day. The news has been announced that a team of navigators, scientists, historians and crew aboard the discovery vessel ‘Agulhas II’ has identified ‘Endurance’ at a depth of around three kilometres in the waters of the Weddell Sea, north of...

February 2022   Dear friends, An anniversary can be an opportunity to indulge in some unrestrained nostalgia – and why not? Every year on our wedding anniversary at the end of April, Joy and I dig out the video of the big day and have a surprised look at the younger faces of our friends; feel the bittersweet pang of seeing once again parents and grandparents who have passed on; and enjo...

Dec 2021 / Jan 2022 Dear friends, This year in preparation for the Remembrance Services, I was drawn back to the deeply moving account of personal courage, and of forgiveness,  econciliation and hope in the lstory of Eric Lomax (1916- 2012), as set out in his 1995 autobiography, The Railway Man The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

Oct/Nov 2021 Dear friends, I’m always very conscious of getting the important lines right when conducting a wedding. At the back of my mind lurks the bumbling priest played by .......... The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

September 2021   Dear friends, In his 2007 poem ‘Everlasting Sailing’, Derick Thomson wrote of two old Lewis fisherman that he knew from his youth, ‘with their cheeks chipped by the wind’s chisels, and with a salt smirr on their beard bristles.’ He reflected that they ‘sail the seas still….............  The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...

May/June 2021 Dear friends, What a wonderful moment on Easter Sunday, to stand before a live ‘in person’ congregation at Mayfield Salisbury and to worship together both in church and online, for the first time in my ministry here! On that momentous day .................... The complete magazine may be downloaded here.       ...

March/April 2021   Dear Friends, I wonder if you shared with me the feelingof a deep sense of hope, bordering on light- headed elation, when the...... The complete magazine may be downloaded here. ...