St. Columba’s-by-the-Castle

Our Local Ecumenical Partnership

At a service at Greyfriars at Pentecost 2002 the congregations of our three churches of Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk (Church of Scotland), St. Columba’s by the Castle (Episcopal Church) and Augustine United Church (United Reformed Church) signed a covenant committing ourselves to worship and study together and work to establish a united and positive Christian presence in the centre of Edinburgh. We are members of Edinburgh Churches Together and Action of Churches Together in Scotland, and in 2006 we were recognized as a Local Ecumenical Partnership by the Scottish Churches National Sponsoring Body.

Joint services and activities take place in Holy Week and throughout the year, and a Steering Group consisting of the ministers and a minimum of two members of each church, representatives from the Christian Fellowship of Healing,  the  Grassmarket Mission, the Mental Health Chaplaincy and occasionally observers from other churches meets every two or three months.

These are some of the matters discussed or reported at the meeting of the steering group at St. Columba’s by the Castle on 21 April.

*   The Third Scottish Local Ecumenical Partnership Gathering at AUC on 13 March and the dedication of Maxwell Reay’s LGBT ministry there on 28 March,  had both been well-attended and successful occasions.

*   The Lent Study Group and Holy Week services were generally approved, though planning for them should begin earlier – at the Group’s September meeting.  It was thought that Nitekirk, which was held along with a communion service on Maundy Thursday,  should be a regular part of Holy Week.

*   The Joint Service at the conclusion of the Edinburgh 2010 missionary conference will be at Greyfriars at 11 a.m on Sunday 6 June, with one of the delegates to the conference as preacher.  AUC will arrange children’s activities and offer lunch.

*   In connection with the conference Alison Fuller is to chair a discussion on Christian Muslim Dialogue at 7.30 p.m. on Friday 4 June.

*  The joint service on Inchcolm will be on 29 August; the Creationtide joint service on 17 October.

*   The next meeting of the Steering Group is at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 15 September at Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk