Stories

On our Stories page we've bundled together a whole bunch of events which have taken place in the life of Pitlochry Baptist Church. Hopefully they will give more of a feel for who we are and what we're all about?

5th Annual Golf Day

18 competitors played the Texan Scramble format in a 3-man team on the very day that Europe defeated the United States 16½-11½ to regain the Ryder Cup and ensure their unbeaten run on home soil continues to 34 years. Yep, this was PBC’s annual golf day at Pitlochry Golf Course. The wind died down just in time for all the teams to tea off from the 1st, basked in glorious autumnal sunshine. After 4+ hours of play, it was slow at times, this year’s worthy winners were none other than Mike, Duncan, and John. A good day in good company, in what was an historical day for the rest of Europe and the Ryder Cup.

Working Day Away

Our very own Richard and Jo now own and are transforming the previously known Ardeonaig Centre on the banks of Loch Tay. It’s a beautiful and bold project. One Saturday in September, we gathered at Ardeonaig with a few garden tools to help with some weeding and a fair bit of pruning. Accompanied by good food and some loch swimming, our church day away with the Myerscough’s was perfect.

Strawberry Tea

Our ministry to seniors have been developing a range of events to maintain contact with those who regularly attend our Soup Lunch which runs from October - March. The Strawberry Tea this past August was one of those events. Entertainment was provided by John Greenshields, our pastor David and his daughter Eden - a musical theatre student at the Royal Conservatoire - testimony was heard from Howard Simpson, and the epilogue by Alan Cowan. Oh, and there was a quite wonderful strawberry tea where friendships were rekindled, and new ones made!

Parkfest

At the beginning of July 23, we partnered with Aberfeldy Parish Church and the YWCA for Parkfest 2023 children’s holiday club in Victoria Park, Aberfeldy. It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve partnered in this way. And yet, it was a great week of fun for the kids and leaders too. The theme for Parkfest was ‘On the Farm,’ and somehow, our bible focus was on the Apostle Peter and his interactions with Jesus. There were memory verses, skits, singing, small group work, games, leaders challenges, sports, tractors, lambs, bouncy castles, a wee bit of rain here and there, and great memories and hopefully foundations built into the children’s lives.

Picnic

Many thought it could not be done; a picnic free from rain during the summer months in Scotland. Depending on what weather forecast you chose to believe, most predicted the excellent weather we have enjoyed for the best part of a month was fast coming to an end on the very day we planned to have a church family picnic down at the Recreation Ground in Pitlochry. Typical! However, ever hopeful, we headed down to the Rec after our Worship Gathering ladened with a grand picnic to share and lots of new people in our church family to get to know. It was a wonderful time. However, the storm did arrive; great dark clouds burst onto the very thirsty land just after Steve and Lois’ watermelon eating competition, and as we were packing up our stuff to go home. Lovely!

Jessie

Although you will not see Jessie at our Worship Gathering on a Sunday morning, Jessie is undeniably a wonderful part of our church family here at Pitlochry Baptist Church. A resident of Balhousie Care Home for over 5 years, Jessie hails from the central belt of Scotland and in typical humorous fashion likes to greet our pastor David with the words, “Oh, hello stranger” when he visits Jessie, obviously on the odd occasion 😁. Jessie faithfully prays; she doesn’t need to be out and about to do this. And Jessie shows great care and appreciation for the staff who look after her at Balhousie. Simple but nevertheless effective as the LORD continues to demonstarte the love and power of His kingdom rule in every walk of life around us.

Friday Night Youth Club

After a hiatus of many years, Pitlochry once again has a Friday Night Youth Club 😍. It launched on the last Friday of April 2023 and welcomed 23 young people through the doors. Although flexible with the age-range, the team are dedicated to making this event happen every Friday; in their commitment to caring for whoever comes to the Friday Night Youth Club; and in their witness to Jesus’ love and power.

Maureen

Every year Pitlochry’s Rotary Club welcomes nominees for their Citizen of the Year award which is presented to a member of the community who goes above and beyond. This year, our very own Maureen Cowan was honoured for her years of dedicated service to PBC’s ministry to seniors and specifically our Soup Lunch every Friday from October through to April. As well as providing a regular and much loved feature in our seniors’ weekly calendar, the Soup Lunch has raised significant money over many years for local and national charities. Maureen, we salute what the LORD has been doing in and around you!

Kids Spring Clean

Delta Road Park is where we run Pitlochry’s Easter Egg Hunt - we cover the park with mini-easter eggs for excited children and their parents to hunt and find, alongside eggy-fun games and the mandatory creation of giant bubbles. Many of our kids are invested in Delta Road Park and use it frequently throughout the year. So, when we found out there was a group called Friends of Delta Road Park who try to improve this green space, we knew we needed to do our bit too. So, one spring morning, as part of our His Kidz programme, some of our children and their leaders gathered with the Friends of Delta Park and really enjoyed working together to improve some of the areas of the park. Everyone got something from this short time. The park looks better. And our kids want to go back as much as possible to do some more to THEIR park, especially as we approach Easter Sunday and Pitlochry’s annual Easter Egg Hunt 😁

Claire

One of our Mission Possible partners Claire Simpson has been back in Scotland and recently shared in our Worship Gathering. Claire ministers with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Borgen - the northern most YWAM base in the world. The base is actually in the Artic Circle 🥶! Claire shared with much experience on the theme on ‘Mission’ as part of our FOUNDATION series.

Random Pics from a Phone

Smart phones have the ability to preserve moments through photos and videos, and are capable of uploading them to a cloud for storage in the matter of seconds, compared to the gruelling process of yesteryear when we went to Boots with our camera spool of 24 or 36 photos not knowing if any were going to be worth the pounds we just spent. The brevity of life necessitates capturing the memories we find most euphoric or significant in our lives, like recording our family gathered together for a special occasion, or when the community gets together for the annual highland games. Some moments can’t be recreated, and their significance is captured in a bed of pixels that is meant to be viewed again and again to hold onto a fleeting instant. There is a certain beauty in these special moments as they are remembered, and oftentimes, we can merge our personal experience with what was recorded. Here are a just few pictures taken on or sent to our pastor’s phone over the past month or so.

Community Nativity

The idea of have a nativity outside in the open was birthed early on during the long dark and uncertain months of Covid and Lockdown. Public gatherings were banned and people were nervous. Little did we know that our plans would be scuppered last Christmas by a localised outbreak of Covid in Pitlochry which once again closed our buildings and sent us indoors and into Lockdown. Nevertheless, in good faith and with a talented team gathered together, plans were set in motion to have a Community Nativity outside in our car park Christmas 2022. And it came to pass 😁. In the lead up to the Community Nativity, we partnered with the school to facilitate an advent treasure hunt where children and their parents would follow a set of clues printed on the back of a purpose-made Nativity Calendar. Eighteen shops and homes decorated a window with a nativity theme and hid a clue which would let the children tick that window off from their calendar. And seeing as it was a hunt, there was a prize given to those who completed their calendar. Increasingly, many children are not aware of the nativity story. The Nativity Calendar and the Community Nativity were part of our efforts to help remedy that. The Community Nativity was a great event. Gathered outside in our car park where our nativity scene has stood throughout advent. Hay bales formed a seeing area and our musicians and narrators huddled together under a gazebo, holding onto its legs from time to time when a gust of wind threatened to send it flying. The children and adults in the nativity cast appeared from the entrance of the church building and retold the wonder of that very first Christmas. Snow was falling. Blankets were wrapped around to keep out the cold. And it was worth it. It was a community nativity. And afterwards we were gladly welcomed into the warm church building for hot drinks and food. The focus was and is on the baby in a manger. For some it was a relatively new story. For some of us very familiar that we sometimes forget and get shocked by it. ‘This is the staggering message of Christ’s incarnation: God’s glory became dirt as that we - the scum of the earth - might become the very glory of God.’

Danielle

Someone just happened to capture this moment at the end of one of our most recent Worship Gatherings. When one of the youngest in our church family ran to the front door to say goodbye to Danielle, one of our eldest. The picture says it all really ❤️

Ladies Wreath Making

Now in it’s second year, the interest in our wreath making night far exceeded our expectations. And it was a brilliant night with a lot of creativity, laughs, and a sore finger or two because of some prickly ivy.

Advent

Our church building, and our wee part of Pitlochry, has been transformed by our Nativity scene created by a number of our church family. This will form the backdrop to our Community Nativity that will take place at 4pm on Sunday 18 December.

Olli

Introducing the 2022 Scottish Schools (45kg class) Olympic Weightlifting Champion. Our Olli 😊

Pitlochry Remembers 2022

Gathered as a community swollen by welcome visitors to our village, intergenerational and silently paying their respects as names of our fallen men from the Great Wars were read aloud in public for the first time possibly in years? Fathers and sons, brothers and uncles many with the same name undoubtedly family members lost, but in this annual act of remembrance never forgotten. We will remember them, and what that generation stood for, and leave this moment of remembrance with the challenge of, ‘Will I step forward to be a peacemaker in this generation in my small corner of the world?’ Pitlochry Remembers.

Soup Lunch

And we are back! Every Friday from 12pm in the Atholl Centre dining room which is situated behind our church building on Atholl Road. Although this is a service mostly used by seniors in our community, our Soup Lunch Welcomes All. Feel free to drop by, anytime!

Highland Perthshire Baptisms

On 11 September 2022, before a watching world which included some lovely paddle-boarders, three young men from our church family - Luka, Judah, and Lachlann - testified that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour of the world and were baptised in Loch Faskally at Lady’s Dell, Pitlochry. It’s difficult to put into words just how marvellous this was as an event and how exciting this is in the continuing story for our wee ragamuffin church family. Luka is from Pitlochry. Judah is from Aberfeldy. Lachlann is from Kirkmichael. This was a Highland Perthshire event and announced to any willing observer - Watch what God is doing!

Jesus said, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-20 The Message). This was Judah’s baptism verse given by his dad Ryan on the day.

Youth Bball

A simple idea birthed by the desire of one of our young guys to play some basketball in our community now sees a weekly game played up at Pitlochry High School hoop on a Wednesday evening. Facilitated by our youth leaders at PBC, the aim is simple enough: enjoy a game of basketball and engage with some of the teenage boys who wouldn’t necessarily darken the door of a church building. And it’s fun. Now that autumn in around the corner with dark nights once again upon us, hopefully we’ll see the Youth Bball go indoors to the leisure centre?

Ride For Good 2022

Highland Perthshire Cycling’s ‘Riding For Good’ is a yearly event which attracts sponsorship that goes towards helping support farmers in Malawi. A good number of keen cycles take part, ably supported by watering and feeding stations along the route. In Pitlochry, Colin Watt and his team of willing volunteers organise and man the Pitlochry station; this year at Moulin Hall. A good day was had by all. Significant sponsorship came in which will now be used to help the most vulnerable work towards a sustainable future for their families and communities in Malawi.

Armour

Ephesians 6:10-20; the bit where the Apostle Paul encourages the disciples in the church at Ephesus to metaphorically cloth themselves in the armour of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. That was the theme of our Family Worship Gathering in mid-August. We believe there is real value in being together as a church family of all ages once every couple of months. It gives us the opportunity to worship and learn in different ways. This morning we laughed, we had some great moments of silence and reflection, and as well as dressing up like some Blue Peter wannabe, we were also challenged by testimony from Ephesians six. Inter-generational worship in action over the armour of God.

Community

Incredibly, some people continue to be skeptical about Community Groups or a Small Group setting in the local church. Maybe they think them a bit too touchy-feely, or at its worse provides more fuel for the rumour mill instead of fostering true discipleship? In one form or another, we have always believed that a vibrant small group ministry is vital for a healthy discipled-life of followers of Jesus. It’s possible that they foster close relationships which in turn construct a strong fabric within our church family; they can provide a comfortable introduction to the Christian faith where people can watching Christians live out their faith, listening to them pray, hearing them share God’s work in their life, and learning more about the Bible; small groups can provide an ideal way to care for the needs of people within the church family whether they’re struggling financially, emotionally, spiritually, or socially; they can provide a way for Christians to live out their faith instead of merely hearing more preaching or teaching; they offer an environment for group members to pray with and for one another; and they help to cultivate leadership within the church family as opportunity to lead comes along much more often. And this isn’t an exhaustive list! But it’s a good start. PBC has a good and varied spread of small groups and in the year ahead will be exploring how we can further develop this way of doing life together so that the way of Jesus may be known more fully and witnessed more clearly in our extended community and families.

Secret Agents Day Five

Lois led our talk today and reminded us that Jesus did die, although he had done nothing wrong. He died in our place to allow us to be with him forever. But the fantastic news is that Jesus rose to life forevermore! He reigns in heaven while his friends tell the world his good news. And during Secret Agents academy we discovered something about our fingerprints, were tutored in nerf gun tactics, and were vistited by a couple of Police officers who joined in some games and discovered Lud Miller as a double agent 😁. What a great day. What a great week! Whatever will we get up to in the future? ❤️

Secret Agents Day Four

A satnav can come in very handy when you get lost. And in today’s story we discovered that Zacchaeus was just as lost, albeit he was lost by being far from God and very much outside of being included in God’s family. And yet, Jesus found Zacchaeus and helped him change in very big ways. You can find thiss account of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19.

Secret Agents Day Three

We’re now at the halfway point in our week-long children’s holiday club SECRET AGENTS. Today, the team was joined by a few more leaders and Debbie introduced our next instalment in the story of Jesus. We discovered that Jesus loves like God does and Jesus gives life like God does. Jesus raised the widow’s son to life, with just words. No one else can do that! And we discovered that Jesus is God - the King over everything,

Secret Agents Day Two

If you were to ask for just one thing, what would it be? Today in Secret Agents, we were exploring the time when a paralysed man (he couldn’t move anything) was brought by his friends to see Jesus. Everybody seemed to be trying to see and hear Jesus. When the paralysed man was lowered in front of Jesus (through someone’s roof 😳), we were initially surprised by what Jesus thought the man really needed. The story is in Luke chapter 5. We had great fun today. The children are fantastic. And so are the Secret Agents team who make all this happen! ❤️

Secret Agents Day One

On what was the hottest day of the year in Pitlochry so far (28 degree), Secret Agents Children’s Holiday Club got off and running with high energy Jo Wicks’ warm-up (it felt more like a work-out) followed by more energy-sapping songs where the children danced all over the place. Lois led our Day One story where the children were simply introduced to Jesus and what his life means for us today. After exploring this in our Spy Dens, the children were either involved in some spy craft or a scavenger hunt around the church building. We had some fun wih Drew and his Messy Games before rounding things off with some more bouncy songs. By that time, the parents had arrived and it was time for lunch and to cool off by the water at Ladies Dell 😁

Secret Service

An oxymoron is a descriptive phrase containing a logical contradiction: a deafening silence, a cold fire, or, an original copy. To say that Jesus calls us to a ‘private piety’ is to venture an oxymoron. For what is piety if not a public display? A secret service of God seems a contradiction in terms. However, take Matthew 6:1-18, for example. To pray only in the privacy of one's room; to be so secretive in giving to charity that the left hand does not know the right hand is writing a cheque; to tell no one, not even your spouse, that you’re fasting. What kind of piety is that?

Whether it’s weeding a church car park on your own; buying someone less able a blouse and shoes to complete their work uniform; removing someone else’s long accumulated junk to the recycling centre; or, responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to send an encouraging card to a person you only know from a distance. Church families across our land are full of disciples of Jesus Christ living out the kingdom under the radar in secret service to the King of Kings.

Wow!

To be honest, this should always be the response whenever a community, a gathering of people, the people of God intentionally gather together in the Spirit, to worship the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. From Eden to Sinai, tabernacle to temple, in the Jewish synagogue, private homes and the Greek agora, across the world and throughout history, the community of God has always gathered and affirmed the ancient words: ​“You are our God. We are your people” (Psalm 95:7). Sunday 26 June 2022 was a testimony Worship Gathering with a BBQ afterwards which was just one of those times that did exactly what it said on the tin. The worship sensitively led by Eden was followed by testimony from James, Judah, Lachlann, Joshua and finished off quite wonderfully by Angyleina. The core of our focus? Said in one way or another through readings, stories and reflections - Jesus is King. The final song before the benediction was King of Kings whose chorus goes ‘Praise the Father, Praise the Son. Praise the Spirit three in one. God of glory, Majesty. Praise forever to the King of Kings.’ And then we tucked into barbecue prepped by Dan under a gazebo in the rain in the church car park. BBQ Scottish style! What a day.

Coffee and Quiz

Like many other areas in the life of our church family, those leading our ministry to seniors have been considering what activities should and should not be resurrected post-Covid. Our WA (Welcome All) Soup Lunch had developed over the years and today still connects with so many in our community in serving a real need to connect with old friends and in meeting new ones. WA Soup Lunch runs from November-April. This year we have seen the development of our WA summer programme of gathering once a month which fills in a bit of the gap between May-October. Last month, WA presented The Sound of Music sing-a-long-a. And this month (June), it was Coffee and Quiz. A good day was had by all.

Nursery

In Pitlochry, if you want to be involved in community, it’s actually pretty easy. We’re not a huge town - more of a large village, really. Most of Pitlochry’s young people go to the same school from age 4-16. And at PBC we’ve always known the value in supporting our head teacher and her staff in all sorts of pracical and prayerful ways. Most recently, the nursery outdoor area has been needing a bit of TLC. So, over the coming weeks maybe months we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and lending a hand. The great thing for some of us is we get to say hi to many of the nursery children we’ve watched grow up through Stay & Play. Wonderful!

DTS

Matthew, Victor, Marlinde, Josianne, and Federica - the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School (DTS) team who ministered with us in Pitlochry for a week this past May 2022. It was a pleasure to host them. It was a shot in the arm to have them around the place doing all sorts of eclectic things such as playing with children, prayer walking, painting bannisters, leading worship, sharing their stories, shooting clay pigeons, serving refreshments, and generally being fun 😁. Pitlochry was the final leg of their outreach element of their DTS. After us, it was back down the road to Kings Lodge in Nuneaton to graduate and then head off to where they believe God is calling them too. What an adventure! And we are so glad we got to be a part of this leg of their story. ❤️

Etape Road Race

For a number of years now, Pitlochry is swamped one Sunday in May by thousands of keen cyclists and their families for the Etape Road Race. This is a closed road race which begins in our town and finished right outside our church building on Atholl Road. We figured out a while back that we wanted to make the focus of our Worship Gathering on a Sunday morning a respond to God’s call to love our neighbour. So, rather than gathering in our building, we gather outside in our car park under a gazebo serving good coffee, nice tea, mountains of cake, fruit, sweets, juice, and all this infused with good vibes and a lota love 😁

Tech

Behind many of our YouTube services during Lockdown was Otto. He helped train others in how to choose locations, record, edit and upload our Online Church material. In the pictures below, Otto was up at the crack of dawn with our pastor David and down in Perth at McDiarmid Park - home to St Johnstone football Club where David is the Club Chaplain. David was recording a memorial of former players, staff and supporters of St Johnstone FC for their social media platforms.

Easter Egg Hunt 2022

For maybe 6 years or so we’ve looked to add a little more fun into our community by organising an Easter Egg Hunt at the Ami Park in Pitlochry. Lockdown and Covid-19 stopped this for a couple of years, but this year, we were back big style. With well over a hundred children taking part and many adults enjoying the hunt as well, the sun was out, giant bubbles were floating about all over the place, and this year we had new winners of the egg-tossing competition (it had been the same mum and aunty who won it every year up till this one - and they only relinquished their title because they were not there! 😁). Hundreds and hundreds of eggs were hid and then found, and much fun was enjoyed by many in the beautiful sunshine at Pitlochry’s Easter Egg Hunt.

Children’s Ministry

In case they’re new to you, we’d like to introduce some of the team involved in Children’s Ministry here at PBC - Jenny, Debbie, Miranda, and Joan. All are mums, one is a granny, and all of them have (1) a calling from God for Children’s Ministry, (2) are ladies of integrity, (3) fix their eyes on Jesus, and (4) are passionate about Children and seeing them know more and grow more in the Jesus way of living. This picture was taken at our annual Easter Egg Hunt in Pitlochry.

Garth’s Team

Garth Menzie’s company recently finished the refurbishment of our church building. We love it! A good number of Garth’s workforce are Polish who, at this time of year, have a unique tradition of exchanging Easter baskets to mark Holy Week. These baskets can include hard boiled eggs, meat pies, sausage or ham, salt and pepper, bread, horseradish, cake and an Easter Lamb made of sugar or even plastic. In keeping with the spirit of this tradition and on behalf of our church family at PBC, Ian Myerscough delivered a box-full of Easter baskets to Garth for his guys in appreciation of the fantastic job they have done in transforming our tired old building to the light and bright spacious space it now is.

Fiona and Debbie

By about 8 weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, around 4 million people had fled their homes. At that point only 12,000 had reached the UK. This was partly due to delays in granting visas. However, highland Perthshire made the national news at this time as a community that wanted to open their hearts and homes to Ukrainian refugees. In the first instance, 22 families are to be settled in the area and our Fiona Meyer and Debbie Deeks (with their husbands Ian and Martin) are hoping to be host families. There are good news stories out there. Sometimes you don’t have to look too far either, for they suddenly appear on your news screens, of all places! 😁

Aria

On Sunday 27th March, the Under-16 Girls National Youth Cup Final was held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh - Stirling County v East Lothian Girls. Stirling County ran out winners 32-17 in what was a match that truly ebbed from end to end. And our Aria, No.1 in County’s front row, was there to help bring home the trophy, much to the delight of the friends and family members in the stands. Well done Aria!

Charlie

Here’s a very brief summary of an incredible journey so far: our Charlie has been in and out of hospital more times than most people will experience in their entire lifetime. That in itself is an inspiration because of the way he’s gone about it - most people wouldn’t have a clue. We think he’s a great kid and we love him to bits! So, to hear that he recently competed with hundreds of other runners at a Regional School Cross Country Trials didn’t completely surprise us, but it did blow our minds. What an inspiration! What a story to be told. And we pray, ‘LORD, may there be many more!’

It’s Good to be Back

On Sunday 13th March, we met again in our newly refurbished building on Atholl Road. Yep, there is a snagging list and we’re looking to replace our chairs in the not too distant future. But, it’s good to be back. Now, it’s ‘onwards and upwards,’ living in our communities, telling our stories, and by God’s grace bringing Him glory.

Sanctuary Refurbishment February 2022

Garth Menzies and his team have made great progress with the long awaited refurbishment of our sanctuary. The old pulpit has now gone and the stage has been reduced in size to allow more seating for when we return to worship in the sanctuary, the electrical work has also started to upgrade lighting fixtures and relocation of some of our projection and sound elements. We will post updates here and on our social media channels. We continue to meet for Sunday Worship at the Atholl Centre each Sunday at 10:30am and we welcome all to our services.

Christingle online 2021

Due to the fact Covid was once again prevalent in and around Pitlochry, we took the decision to close our building to physical gatherings and returned once more to meeting online. Our Community Nativity was cancelled and instead we offered Christingle online. It was like we had invited everyone into our living rooms, and although some of us were isolating, we could still meet and worship together.

Dedication

It was wonderful to welcome Ben and Lydia’s family to our Worship Gathering at PBC as they brought wee Hubert Percival (Bertie) before the LORD and those gathered to give thanks for Bertie and dedicate themselves to Christian parenting. Big brother Ted was more than happy to give some of the limelight to his wee brother.

Advent Preparations

Advent is a time of preparation and expectation. For it is a time of preparation for the splendour of Christmas, in which we retell once again the events of the greatest gift ever given; the Christ child born in a manger. Likewise, Advent is a time when we are led to look forward to His return at the end of the age. So, in Advent we look forward not only to Christmas Day to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem, but also to His glorious return. Come Lord Jesus, come.

And one of our wee traditions is to light and decorate a Christmas tree in our sanctuary. Thanks to our merry band of decorators, and thanks goes out to Old Faskally Christmas Trees of Pitlochry who gift us with a tree every year!

Christmas Wreaths

As a bit of fun and to catch up with one another in the run up to Christmas, a group of ladies gathered in our church building to make Christmas wreaths. But what’s with the Christmas wreath? Well, you may or may not know that the Christmas wreath is as packed as a snowball with tradition and symbolism.

Ancient people, believing trees had spirits, and so sheltered the branches of life-preserving evergreens through the frozen winter. Early Romans gave gifts of green branches at New Year's, bestowing the wish for health and vigour. Eventually, the branches were shaped into wreaths, symbols of joy and victory in classical times.

The evergreen wreath later became a Christian symbol for Christ's suffering and ultimate triumph over death. It is believed that the holly wreath, with its sharp, pointed leaves, first represented the crown of thorns worn by Christ on the cross, the little red berries symbolising his blood. Later wreaths were formed from a variety of pines and firs, with evergreens embodying eternal life.

Hung on the door or a window, the wreath has been viewed as an invitation to the spirit of Christmas to enter the home and bring luck, suggesting as well that the Christmas spirit dwells within.

Largely liberated now from these associations, the Christmas wreath has become a Christmas decoration, and making them together a good fun way to catch up with one another in the run up to Christmas.

Team Youth

In her new role in leading our Children & Youth ministries, Debbie Deeks has been working hard developing our teams and planning ahead into 2022. Below is a pic of some our youth leaders: Doug (top-left), Elaine (top-centre), Debbie (top-right), Jamie (front-left), Jamie (front-centre), and Dan (front-right). Otto is missing because he opted to take the photo 😁. What a great group of people with a big heart for the young people in Pitlochry and beyond. More to follow from Youth Team in the days ahead.

An anniversary that makes a difference

In Matthew chapter 19, some religious leaders who were opposed to the life that Jesus was encouraging, approached him with a disingenuous question in the hope of trapping him. Jesus responded to them and said, “Haven’t you read the Scriptures? They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

In 1961, Nev and Val Wallace were married. Therefore, this year they celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary. No mean feat! Those of us who have the privilege of knowing Nev and Val see God’s love in their lives. Those of us who are younger and ‘wet behind the ears’ in terms of years married would testify that they are a great example of a relationship between and man and woman. By no means perfect, but, united in love and cause.

As part of their Diamond Wedding Celebrations, they invited people to their home for coffee&cake and tea&biscuits on the condition that they bring their wallets and purses 😊 An example of purposeful hospitality. For one of our Mission Possible partners Steadfast Global had put a call out to partners in Scotland and further afield to support persecuted Christians and people groups through donating to their Christmas Blessing appeal. This appeal needed cash that would be sent to partners in countries who would buy locally sourced Christmas gifts and supplies that would make a big difference to many families in dire or difficult situations.

So Nev and Val opened their home and invited people to celebrate their anniversary and make a difference. Many hundreds of pounds was raised and passed on down the line reaching those most in need. That’s just another example of love and commitment that should never be understated or neglected.

I can see in your eyes

Something simply beautiful happened at our babies and toddlers group Stay & Play this week. Now, great things happen every week at toddlers; parents and carers get some quality adult interaction and conversation while they’re served good coffee&cake and tea&biscuits by a wonderful group of dedicated volunteers from the church family ministry the love of Jesus as children play safely and tire themselves out, hopefully for the rest of the day! 😁 But it was what happened after the song-time and then the bubble-time (yep, every week… bubbles galore!) that was quite remarkable. A grandmother visiting her family from Lithuania was with us for the first time. She accompanied her daughter and grandson and although she spoke no English, she seemed to be mixing quite freely through her daughter who interpreted. At the end of Stay & Play, the grandmother approached one of our team, and through her daughter spoke of what she had witnessed that morning. She said, ‘Thank you. Thank you for all you do here. What a wonderful morning I’ve had, we’ve all had. Everyone is happy. I can see in your eyes, I can see how warm you are to everyone and how you love the children. Thank you.’ And then she left. But her words continued to leave a blessing with that team member who thought it needed to be shared with others. We endeavour to love Jesus by serving our communities that God has settled us in. And there are times, when those we are sent to serve and love minister to us. That’s a God thing 😊

The story behind the number

For decades, professional football clubs in the UK have ‘employed’ chaplains to provide care for the holistic well-being of those of faith or no faith in the football community. The chaplain’s role is to be servant-hearted, striving to be pastorally proactive and spiritually reactive. There are hundreds of chaplains all round the country not just in football, but in many other sports both professional and amateur.

The role of the chaplain varies greatly depending on the role defined by the club, as it is very much a permission led activity. Our pastor has been a football chaplain since 2001 when John Boyers, the chaplain of Manchester United Football Club, set him up to be the chaplain of Stirling Albion Football Club when David was the Youth Pastor at Stirling Baptist Church. Since 2012, David has been the chaplain at St Johnstone Football Club in Perth. But he’s rarely known as David or pastor. Usually it’s Rev, Chaplain, Chappers, Padre, or Pope! Part of David’s role in serving St Johnstone sees him every Friday all kitted up and training with the players on one of the training pitches at McDermid Park. That means the club provide him with his own personalised kit. Up until this season, his kit ‘number’ has either been his initials DB or his title REV. However, this year is different. And this is the story behind the number.

David isn’t getting any younger. Who is? Training each week has regressed to warming up with the players, joining in with some possession football, and then let the professionals, most of whom are half his age, get on with the hard stuff. This year, because he always seems to be carrying an injury, he’s been training-pitch-shy and John the kit-man (pictured below) hasn’t needed to get his kit ready. But the time to get back out there was approaching. The day arrived and John the kit-man was wondering what the Rev’s kit number would be this year. ‘Rev, do you remember back in the good old days, when you watched the World Cup Finals on the TV, and in the crowd there would be some wee guy holding up a sign and it said something about John and had numbers with it?’ ‘Of coure,’ said David, ‘it read John 3:16.’ ‘What’s that?' asked the kit-man. ‘It’s a famous verse from the Gospel of John in the bible when Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”’ ‘Do you want 3:16 to be your kit number this year Rev,’ asked John. ‘Definitely! You know I don’t go about quote bible verses to anyone and everybody at the club. I don’t ram my faith in Jesus down anyone’s throat. If you want my take on life, I’ll let know know where I’m at. But, I’m sure the guys out there on the training pitch will be intrigued and wonder what 3:16 is. So, I’ll be quoting John 3:16 a lot from now on.’

That day, there was a whole lot of conversation about John 3:16 and many other bible verses players had memorised in chapel or at school. Of course, there was a fair bit of banter - it wouldn’t be football without a bit of banter. But, never without respect, and never to disrespect. It seems 3:16 may be here to stay? And that’s the story behind the number.

3rd Annual Golf Day

Another year, another golf day. Our 3rd Annual golf day on Sunday 12th September at Pitlochry Golf Course was maybe a slow affair - many of us have never seen the course so congested - but the rain stayed away and it was still light by the time we finished, just 😁. Fifteen golfers from 14 years of age to those in their early 70’s were arranged into teams of three for a Texas Scramble. When the dust had settled, the winning team was Ian, Bob and Andy. The longest drive was won by Ken, with Ian and Bob winning the closest to the pin holes. Next year we’re separating Ian and Bob! 😁 Looks like we’ll be going for a 4th Annual Golf Day in 2022.

Highland Perthshire Challenge

It was good to see a little bit more normality return to our streets this past August with the return of Riding For Good and their Highland Perthshire Challenge. Riding For Good is a combining a love of Scottish cycling with helping some of the world's poorest people. For the best part of 10 years they have been supporting Malawian farmers to empower them to earn their own living through farming. Providing solar-powered irrigation pumps is just one of the creative ways they make a real difference. Colin Watt, who serves on our Mission Possible team, has for a number of years been responsible for organising the Pitlochry Food Station for the Highland Perthshire Challenge. On the day, Colin and his team of volunteers served hundreds of riders who stopped on their 50 or 100 mile loop through Pitlochry receiving a warm welcome, food and refreshments. The event raised a fantastic £14,000 on the day towards the ongoing ministry in Malawi.

Welcome Back!

After over 17 months of being out of our building on a Sunday morning, 15th August 2021 marked the beginning of another episode of Pitlochry Baptist Church. Time will tell what that is. Whether it be physical, remote, or a blend of both and more, we hope it will be a season marked with a passion for the life and lifestyle of Christ here in highland Perthshire.

Community

Of course, not being able to gather in our building to worship Jesus together for over 15 months isn’t ideal. Nevertheless, worship as a community we have done; at many times and in various ways. As we get closer to our Sunday 15th August date for re-opening our church building to allow people to gather together for worship, we’re tangibly seeing community in action as groups and groups of free and willing people grab a sanding block, shammy, or paint brush and do their bit to add to what some have done before. Our building will not be ready for Sunday 15th August, but we will 😁

Rounders

A bunch of our young people and their leaders recently got together at Ladies Dell for a game of Rounders. Enduring the midges, and those who for some reason don’t seem to get bothered by them, it was a good night; although some of us really felt it the next day! 😳😁 Thanks Keira for the pics!

Where’s the Wall, eh?

And the building work continues. This June, the old gents toilet, and the room that was formerly the vestry and most recently know as the office, have been knocked together to make way for what we’re calling the ‘Glass Room.’

Never Blame Your Tools

As we draw ever so closer to reentering our building, some of the Fabric Team have been finishing some minor jobs on their to-do-list. As always, they are well tooled-up and as professional as ever 😊

Pray without Ceasing

Prayer continues. This time, a bunch of us have gotten together for 8 weeks to do The Prayer Course. This is a 24-7 Prayer resource and designed to help us and our community to grow and deepen our prayer life together.

Bags of HOPE

For some, hope has been on short supply for a while now. As followers of Jesus, we’re not immune from these very real feelings. However, Easter confronts our feeling of hopelessness.

We’re reminded that Easter Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. Remember that Sunday, two thousand years ago, and the joy of the morning when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb. She was distraught with the knowledge that her Teacher, her Friend, her Leader, had been taken away. Then Jesus called her, “Mary,” and she immediately turned around to see Him. He was alive! Her Rabbi was not dead, but alive! That Sunday changed everything. Not only did Jesus die for our sins, but He rose again, defeating sin and death for all time. This brings us much hope because, though our lives are full of sorrow and pain, sickness and unwanted diagnoses, death and betrayal, Jesus’ death brings us hope in the midst of the messiness of life. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can boldly proclaim the truth that Paul proclaims in Romans: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (8:18). The resurrection of Jesus confirms hope for us. This is our great hope! Easter brings us hope in the midst of our hard days, hope in the midst of our diagnosis, hope in the midst of our suffering.

And we’re always looking for ways to share that hope in Jesus with others. So, we’ve put together some Bags of Hope this Easter to pass to others in our community. Our hope is that they too will experience and truly know that Hope revealed on that glorious, beautiful Sunday all those years ago.

Behind the Scenes… at the back of our building

Work on our church building continues to get done in the anticipation that it will be well used in the not so distant future. One such fabric project has been to replace the old single-pane windows that were installed when Moses was a boy. In their place sits brand-spanking-new double glazed windows. We hope that we will soon have to regularly get the Windolene on to them to clean them of dirty smears made by wonderful wee hands. 😊

Signs of Hope

To mark a year since the beginning of Lockdown, our community continues of show signs of hope. These pieces of art were created by over 50 volunteers in Pitlochry and put together overnight to be ready for 23 March 2021. Many had dug out knitting needles for the first time in decades to produce something that will undoubtedly make many a people’s day for a long time to come.

His Kidz Goodies

It’s nearing the end of February 2021 and we hope Lockdown is almost over. We are so looking forward to be able to physically see and speak to each other - face to face; and one day without masks. In the meantime, we simply get on with things. And that’s what Debbie and her team have been doing in our Children’s Ministry. Here is Debbie, Jenny, and Miranda out delivering Goodie Bags made up for children linked with PBC Children. Just one of the ways that life and ministry continues.

Serving Others

We managed to capture this scene and convinced Ildiko and Hynal to have their picture taken. 😊 The vast majority of ministry happens unnoticed and out of the limelight. Here, these godly ladies represent a number of our church family who have been serving others at the Food Bank here in Pitlochry. ‘If you love your neighbour, you will fulfil the requirements of God’s law’ Romans 13:8.

Significant Milestones

When significant milestones were reached in our church family, such as a birthday, we often celebrated on a Sunday morning by singing Happy Birthday. Or if it was a wedding anniversary we would cheering and clapping and whistle. We still celebrate, albeit remotely, and wouldn’t want a 90th birthday to go by unannounced. So, all together now…

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Margaret

Happy birthday to you

Celebrating Success

This January, although for Lockdown reasons we couldn’t be there in person, we certainly did celebrate with Elaine her 80th birthday. Our church family at PBC give thanks and praise our faithful and loving God for our wonderful dear sister and friend. ❤️ Elaine is pictured here, beautifully adorned in her 80th tiara, enjoying her birthday lunch alongside other residents at Sunnybrae.

Family Fun

In Lockdown, the days can be long and the nights even longer. However, a wee Church Quiz Night every now and then helps pass the time together and gives some the bragging rights till next time. 😁

Toilet Humour

On the second last day of the year, Dan and Drew were busying away prepping and beginning the stud-wall build for our new toilets in our church building. They had fun, honest. Drew’s T-shirt even summed it up! 😊❤️👍 Since further Lockdown restrictions were announced, Dan has been working away under the floorboards, in the attic, on walls, floors, ceiling and doors. He’s getting there, every now and then with a little help from his friends.

Christmas Care Packages and His Kids+ Party

With folks not being able to gather in person we thought we’d do something different with our annual His Kids Christmas Party.  Our Seniors, Youth, and His Kids ministries partnered together to create care packages for seniors and others who may not have family close.  After collecting treats, cards, etc. a few within the church delivered packets with goodies and an invitation to a Saturday night Zoom Christmas party!  It was great fun to expand our children’s party to include others in the church and community!

Getting ready to hide baby Jesus

Inspired by evangelist Chris Duffet, the Beta small group have been busy painting oval shaped stones as a baby sleeping. In the days leading up to Christmas morning, they will lay the stones on a bed of straw in different places around our community, on doorsteps or benches, bus stops or pub tables… hide the baby Jesus for people to find. If you’re in Pitlochry, we hope you find Jesus!

More DIY

Now that the asbestos has been removed (that was a lovely and expensive surprise 🤪), a group of guys got in to gut out what was the ladies toilets and ready the space for the long list of jobs about to begin.

DIY During Lockdown

With Covid-19 restrictions our building is significantly underused at the moment and we’re taking this opportunity to do a wee bit of DIY. First, we’re tackling the toilets which where installed when Noah was probably still an apprentice. 🤪 We’ve taken a few pictures before the plumbers came in and isolated the water supply, removed all the sinks, toilets and radiators from the ladies loos and relocated the corridor radiator. The next step will be to strip out the cubicles and the old flooring. More adventurous pictures to follow 😁

PBC’s 2nd Annual Golf Tournament

Sunday 13th September 2020 from 2:24pm onwards… what a day to play on the beautiful Pitlochry Golf Course! It being the first morning of The Highland Open, the course was looking and playing brilliantly; the tee boxes were in great knick, and the greens were electric fast. We had 15 golfers in total divided into 5 teams for a ‘Texas Scramble’ format. Everyone enjoyed the day and the formula of play. Texas Scrambles (where was our youth pastor Ken?) can be good fun, and this proved to be the case. The ‘Match and Handicap committee’ 🤪 did a remarkable job in sorting out teams that were so evenly balanced with only 4 points separating the five teams over the course of play. This year’s bragging rights go to the first team out of the blocks - Stewart Barker, Chris Meyer, and Luka Barrie with a great score of 71. Well done to the three of them. A fine effort! Wear your winners caps proudly. Individual prizes went to Olli Sanderson for nearest the pin on the 4th, and Ian MacLeod on the 16th hole. The longest drive on the 12th was achieved by Chris Meyer - it was ridiculously long - some of us don't go that far on holiday some years! Looking forward to ‘PBC’s 3rd Annual Golf Tournament already. And thanks go to the spectators who cheered us in onto the 18th at the end of the day. Much appreciated.

YouTube Online Church

From when the Lockdown order meant that we were unable to meet together in our church building, we found that we needed to have an online presence, and quickly. So, on Sunday 29th March we broadcast our first Live-Stream YouTube service, and although we have developed that significantly, our core intentions of what it was to be have not really changed that much. Now (Sunday 5th July), we no longer have the stress of producing a Live-Stream service… in all honesty it was adding years to those of us involved as we had numerous worries such as whether our internet upload speeds were sufficient at the time, and whether our computer would do what it was meant to or play with the Gremlins… on one such Sunday in May, our MacBook decided it was going to do a full system update 30 minutes before we were due to go live. And this update was going to take 40 minutes!!! Fortunately, it only took 25 minutes, and gave us a full 5 minutes to calm our nerves before going out to all those sitting waiting in the comfort of their living room in their favourite slippers. 😊 Our YouTube service on a Sunday, which also goes out on HeartlandFM at 1pm the same day, is now produced and uploading well in advance allowing us to concentrate on the core elements of content, time, and style without giving us an ulcer in the process. Who know what will happened when we can all meet together in our church building again? Maybe we will continue to produce our YouTube service? We are in the process of developing a YouTube programme with our young people, and a podcast as well. It’s safe to say, we will continue to have an online presence, and through that continue to tell stories of the Jesus Way to everyone and everyone who happens to be listening. It’s up to God by His Spirit to do the rest 😊 Below are some pictures Douglas Kennedy took of our pastor and Otto Sanderson as they recorded the Word for Sunday 5th July 2020. You can’t tell from the pictures, but the midges were terrible.

Life in Lockdown 2020

Sunday 22nd March 2020 proved to be the last occasion we would meet together before a national lockdown was rightly imposed by the government at Holyrood in Edinburgh. The threat and subsequent implication of the COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, was no longer the problem of the people of Wuhan in China - it was now potentially on our doorstep here in Scotland, and therefore, significant precautions had to be taken to order to save lives. At the time of writing, Scotland has been on Lockdown for 9 weeks: no large gatherings like church services, no sports events, no shopping for non-essentials, no visiting cafes, pubs, hotels, limited travel - the list goes on. Many tens of thousand of people who have underlying health issues which make then vulnerable to this virus have been ordered to isolate in their homes until further notice. It is only in the past week that the Scottish government has taken us on our first steps out of lockdown with the announcement of phase one of a four phase ‘route map’ to easing of restrictions.

Much has been written and said in regard to what this ‘season’ means for our world. Followers of Jesus Christ have been asking how will we respond with this ‘new norm’? It’s exciting to hear the numerous stories and reading the stats of people tuning into online-church services in significant numbers. God’s people have continued to prayer, and discover and love their neighbours in fresh and Spirit-led ways.

The desire of our PBC family is to ‘bring the kingdom of God to the hearts of our communities, and to discover his Spirit there.’ Obviously, we’ve continued to live, sometimes behind closed doors but always at the end of a phone call or Zoom feed (surely Zoom, if it doesn’t already, will be included in the Oxford dictionary?). Those of us who have been deemed ‘key-workers’ have continued to work and supply the needs of our families, communities, and nation. Many of us have found God opening new opportunities to engage with and serve the real needs of our neighbours. And we have prayed, a lot. Sometimes, we have prayed for ourselves. Mostly, we have interceded for our world. And we sense the call of God for repentance, starting with us.

And during this time we have tried to record in pictures some of the life of PBC - a family at ‘work, rest, and play.’

A Big Spring Clean

This was nothing to do with coronavirus, and all about giving the old place a wee bit of tender love and care. This ‘deep clean’ took us to the basement (again!), the attic (to change a lightbulb!?!?), outside and inside into every nook and cranny we could possibly find. Well done our Jill in managing us! Until the next time 😩

Yes, another Curry Night!

Any excuse, really. The food at Eric Toralba’s restaurant at the Craig Vrack Hotel in Pitlochry is right up there. We enjoy not only the great Indian food, but also the company too. And usually, like this time, there are a few guys who have never been to a Curry Night before. That always adds to the enjoyment of the night. Also, it just happened to be Bruce’s birthday. Fortunately for the other dinners in the restaurant, they had finished their meal and moved on leaving just us to enjoy our dulcet tones belting out, ‘Happy Birthday dear Bruce!’

The Christingle

Every year during Advent, we gather with our wider community to hear the gospel told through the Christingle. The idea of the Christingle came from a Moravian Church in Germany in 1747. The minister, John de Watteville, gave children at the service a lighted candle with a red ribbon around it. This represented Jesus being the light of the world and the final prayer of that first service was, "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these children’s hearts, that theirs like Thine become". This year at PBC, we were full to the gunnel, as families, young and old, large and small, gathered to worship with some stepping into a Church service for the first and only time this year.

Christmas Ceilidh 2019

In early December, our church family, friends, and neighbours, gathered in our building for a right good hootenanny. The reason, if we ever needed one, was to raised some money for our Mission Possible partners Steadfast Global. In particular, all the money raised went to projectRECYCLE, an initiative by Steadfast Global and their Northern Iraq based partners Zalal Life Society. ProjectRECYLE aims to provide a common sense housing solution for Christian families who have been displaced from their homes in Mosul and the disputed Nineveh Plain villages into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The initiative helps to address the exodus of Christians from Northern Iraq in the wake of the ISIS insurgency by “recycling” Christian homes which have been abandoned to provide new permanent housing for those Christian families wishing to remain but who are unable or unwilling to return to their original homes and villages on the Nineveh Plain.

Fun was had by all, and there were a lot of people at the ceilidh, and a difference is being made through projectRECYCLE.

Pitlochry’s Guy Fawkes Night

A whole bunch of the PBC family helped out at this year’s Pitlochry and Moulin Bonfire Night Fireworks at the Rec in Pitlochry. From stewarding to storytelling to litter picking - and our Doug even got to start the bonfire! A great night was had by all.

PBC’s 1st Annual Golf Tournament

At 12:33pm on Friday 6th September, Otto Sanderson teed off at the 1st hole on Pitlochry Golf Course and begun a wee tradition that we hope will continue for a number of years to come. Pitlochry Baptist Church’s 1st Annual Golf Tournament was an all male affair (come on ladies!), but brought together the young and the old who enjoyed a game of golf and each others company as well. After 4 hours of walking, or driving a buggy, the results were as follows: Best Individual Score - Bob, Best Young Player - Olli, Longest Drive - Stuart, Closest to the pin - Luka, Best Team - Olli, Luka, David.

Farewell Ceilidh - Monday 12th August 2019

So, last night we said our goodbyes to Samantha and Whitney. PBC was bouncing to the tune of ceilidh music and clatter of feet on the floor. We danced the night away, shared memories of a wonderful summer spent making memories, new friends and living in Jesus our saviour. And after Auld Lang Syne it was time to bid farewell to these two fearfully and wonderfully made young ladies, tears and smiles on the faces of many as it was time to head home. For some, only up the hill and for others all the way to Texas. We are all part of the great big family of God and continue to pray for Sam and Whitney for their future with our lord and saviour.

Pyramid Rock - Youth Club

We have had a great time at our Summer 2019 holiday club Pyramid Rock, here are some pictures from the first two days... more to come soon.

1st Sunday with her church family

Introducing beautiful little Flora Kate - the newest and youngest member of the PBC family.

‘Oh, whistle while you work…’

We know that the Church is not the building but the people. But sometimes, it takes some good people to keep the building tidy for the Church 🤪 Decades of dusk and junk swept out of the church basement 😉 Thank you guys! 🥰

As Iron Sharpens Iron

Ian and Martin, two of our leaders, were recently successful in completing a mentoring course designed and delivered by Rick Lewis, our pastor’s mentor. There’s a lot to take in there! 😳😆 However, from their picture you can tell they’re happy with their certificates, and no doubt raring to go.

Community Easter egg Hunt

In glorious sunshine, we celebrated PBC’s 4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt in what locals call the ‘Ambie Park.’ With hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of brightly coloured chocolate eggs strategically scattered around the park, great numbers of families and friends joined us in finding the eggs before the heat, and the odd stray foot, turned them to melted mush. The young, and the slightly older, fought out the egg toss completion… congrats to Carol and Stacy 😊… and the egg and spoon race, restricted to the young… sorry Carol and Stacy 😁… produced some swift and agile sprinting for the prize of an even bigger Easter egg.

Easter Day Celebration 2019

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! After the sunrise communion service at Ladies Dell, we gathered together as a family to celebrate our risen Lord. Thanks to Christine for humouring our pastor and being such a great mannequin for his illustration 😁

The Walk of Witness

The cross of Jesus Christ and the celebration of the Good Friday message provides the opportunity for believers in our community to come together in this very public act of witness. Organised by the Rev Mary Haddow of Pitlochry Church of Scotland, the Good Friday Walk of Witness again allowed us to imitate the journey that Jesus took carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem towards Golgotha where he was crucified.

‘Game On’ Easter Holiday Club

We were delighted to partner with Lakewood Baptist Church, Gainesville, GA, this Easter in running our first Easter Holiday Club - Game On. Lakewood sent us a great bunch of teens and young adults who joined with us in putting on a hugely successful and enjoyable week of fun and adventure in our church building and around God’s word. We have fantastic young people in Pitlochry!

Steadfast Coffee and Soap

This coming Easter, three members of the PBC family are heading out with Steadfast Global to work with and minister to people displaced and persecuted living in northern Iraq. Although they had already secured their own personal financial needs for the trip, the PBC Mission Possible team wanted to partner in this mission initiative by fundraising as much money as we could which will go out with the Steadfast Three. So, one Saturday in March, we rolled up our sleeves and washed as many cars as we could, put on an impressive bric-a-brac sale, opened a pop-up Coffee Shop and served good fresh coffee, speciality teas, and enough home-baking to sink a ship, and raised a few bob that will help buy medical supplies and care packages in northern Iraq for those in most need in northern Iraq.

Basement Crew

This coming year, the Fabric Team will continue to look at more ways of utilising our space for everyone in our church family. So, this wee dusty day out in our basement was about getting rid of old stuff that, for reasons unbeknown to any of us, had been stored down there for decades and decades, presumably to be used at a later date. (!?!?) It was a like a hoarders paradise! Thank you to all who gave a hand… some who didn’t make the photos.