The latest edition of an information bulletin from the Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway
Archives for 2022
Sunday worship for 10 April 2022, Palm Sunday
Assist us mercifully with your help, Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy into the celebration of those mighty acts whereby you give us life and immortality. We open our worship in the company of the choir of St Andrew’s Kirk, Chennai, with hymn 509, All glory, laud and honour …
Palm Sunday: Passion Narrative
There is no sermon in church today, Palm Sunday. Instead, Rev Sydney Maitland and members of the congregation will be reading the Passion Narrative – Luke 23: 1-49. Here, we can enjoy the passage being read by the actor David Suchet …
Commentary: Every saint has a past and every sinner a future
I suppose that the astonishment we feel at the Russian invasion of Ukraine is matched most closely by the progressive collapse of the Iron Curtain during the autumn of 1989, writes Rev Sydney Maitland. Every month another East European country shrugged off the communist straightjacket and emerged blinking into a new era of choice and…
Sunday worship for 3 April 2022, Passion Sunday
Almighty God, breathe upon us with the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in holiness and righteousness all our days. We open our worship with hymn 79, The royal banners forward go …
Passion Sunday: Looking forward
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 3 April 2022. ‘God’s future for us is that secured in Jesus Christ. God’s hope for us is found as we commit ourselves to Him and look for His purposes among us.’
Sunday worship for 27 March 2022, Lent 4 and Mothering Sunday
Three favourite hymns accompany our Liturgy of the Word this Mothering Sunday – Tell out my soul, All things bright and beautiful, and to open our worship, hymn 237, Morning has broken …
Mothering Sunday: A faith that lives, moves, breathes, hopes beyond hope, and continues in prayer
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 27 March 2022. ‘Now Jesus was looking for the care of His Mother. And Jesus entrusted her to the care of John, the beloved disciple who would indeed honour and look after her as he would his own mother.’
Sunday worship for 20 March 2022, Lent 3
Today’s music comes from Singapore, Chennai in India, Peterborough, Hereford and Dundee, opening our Liturgy of the Word with hymn 74, O for a heart to praise my God …
Lent 3: God knows our stories far better than we know them ourselves
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 20 March 2022. ‘This self-sufficiency ethic breeds its own doctrine of survival: defend everything you have with everything you can lay hands on. Let the weak perish and let truth wither. Morality redefines itself in terms of our own interests and is essentially Godless.’
Sunday worship for 13 March 2022, Lent 2
‘Almighty God, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross, give us faith to perceive his glory, that being strengthened by his grace we may be changed into his likeness.’ We open our worship with hymn 417, O God our help in ages past …
Lent 2: The fog of war, the life of faith
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 13 March 2022. ‘Wherever we are, God still cares. He is still present and we may still approach Him with our own prayers and together as we worship.’
Evensong postponed
The service of sung Evensong scheduled for March 6 will be held instead at 6.30 pm on Sunday, March 13.
Sunday worship for 6 March 2022, Lent 1
We begin our Liturgy of the Word with hymn 67, Forty days and forty nights …
Lent 1: A personal conviction that our faith lies in Jesus Christ
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 6 March 2022. ‘There is no place for fear – for in Him we already have all things. And He will never fail us or forsake us.’
Sunday worship for 27 February 2022, Quinquagesima
We end this week’s Liturgy of the Word in Paris by way of Ghana, but open our worship in Hammersmith with hymn 343, Bright the vision that delighted …
Quinquagesima: Faith embraces all who put their trust in Jesus Christ, and Him crucified
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 27 February 2022. ‘It embraces all who put their trust in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It covers Protestant, Catholic and Anglican. It includes those of the Orthodox church, whether Greek, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian or Coptic. It rejoices in the same Lord, and it celebrates when He is made Lord of all.’
Commentary: It is at a time when the ages grow darker that the light of Christ grows brighter
We have all felt the sense of uncertainty in these days, writes Rev Sydney Maitland. Apart from the threat of war in Ukraine – and the question of just how far it would be restricted to that country, there is the rising cost of living in this country and of course the effects of Brexit…
Prayer for peace in Ukraine (Scottish Churches)
The Scottish Church Leaders Forum has issued a special ecumenical prayer for peace in Ukraine which can be used by worship leaders across the country as part of their services this Sunday. The ‘Prayer for Peace’ has been produced in response to the invasion of Ukraine, with members of the Scottish Church Leaders Forum, including…
Sunday worship for 20 February 2022, Sexagesima
‘Almighty God, grant us the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we who can do nothing good without you may live according to your holy will.’ We open our worship with hymn 433, O worship the king, all glorious above …
Sexagesima: The place to begin this preparation for heaven is here in our lives on earth
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 20 February 2022. ‘What we can do is to bring those wounds to God and ask Him to heal them, and to bring strength to those parts of our lives which are weak, honour where there is embarrassment, glory where there is shame.’
Third before Lent: Resurrection was the gift and will of God for all of humanity
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 12 February 2022.
Sunday worship for 13 February 2022, Third before Lent
‘Almighty and everliving God, whose Son Jesus Christ healed the sick and restored them to wholeness of life, look with compassion on the anguish of the world, and by your power make whole all peoples and nations.’ We open our worship with hymn 408, Love Divine, all loves excelling …
Sunday worship for 6 February 2022, Presentation of Christ
This week’s Liturgy of the Word is accompanied by some exceptionally moving music from Lincoln Cathedral, St Ninian’s Cathedral in Perth (in 1990), St Paul’s Cathedral (for the Queen’s 90th birthday service of thanksgiving), the church of Saint Séverin in Paris, and Chester Cathedral, where we open with hymn 52, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness …
Presentation of Christ: He too shared their humanity
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 6 February 2022. ‘Wherever we are and whatever we feel, there is nothing new for Jesus to see: but there are many things for Him to heal, to release and to bless.’
Sunday worship for 30 January 2022, Epiphany 4
‘Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your glory.’ With this week’s Liturgy of the Word we enjoy music from the Royal Albert Hall, York Minster, Guildford Cathedral and Recklinghausen in Germany. We open our worship with hymn 408, Love Divine, all loves excelling …
Epiphany 4: Will we allow His love to be our light, our strength and our wisdom?
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 30 January 2022. ‘Jesus was offering power instead of passivity, vision in place of greyness, hope instead discouragement, joy instead of routine, harmony instead of noise.’
Commentary: Desmond Tutu – my tribute to a great man
‘A situation of personal difficulty can become the portal through which we may begin to glimpse a realm far greater than anything we can imagine through our own senses. In this someone had to open the curtain and let the light in. For me, this was Desmond Tutu.’
Epiphany 3: Every member can serve in the ministry of the church
Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 23 January 2022. ‘This is the Body of Christ. Each member of the church is also a member of Jesus Himself.’
Sunday worship for 23 January 2022, Epiphany 3
Our musical journey accompanying today’s Liturgy of the Word takes us to Accra in Ghana, Aldershot, Coventry, Groningen in Germany and Westminster Abbey. We open our worship with hymn 49, Brightest and best of the sons of the morning …
