Dear Friends, I am just in the door from our monthly Home Bible Studies having had a wonderful time of fellowship. The night was full of laughter, stirring conversation and it was all topped off with tea and pancakes! The night flew by, as it always does, and before I...

Weekly notices: There is a new dedicated e-mail address for submitting all items you have for the Sunday notices: editor@freenorthchurch.org

Crèche if anyone in the congregation would like to add their name to the crèche rota for 2015, please speak to Fiona Cameron. Both women and men are eligible to help out in this valuable service. Look out for more Crèche News in the December newsletter. (fionamarion@yahoo.co.uk)

Blythswood Inverness Support Group Annual Quiz Night – Many thanks to the Free North team (Rona MacLeod, Jessie MacLeod, Sandy Finlay and Brian Cameron), to Colin in his role as quizmaster, and to all those who came along to support the Quiz Night on 24 October. Our team performed well,...

Street Pastors Coffee Morning – 18 October Most grateful thanks to everyone who supported us in raising funds for Inverness street pastors on 18th October. The baking, monetary contributions and excellent team support in setting up and bringing together a wonderful coffee morning was very successful indeed. Altogether £600 was...

Road To Recovery October was an exciting month at Madras St. On the 6th we had six men coming over from Nr. Ireland who were on a tour of the U.K. It was a night of testimonies and music and it was good to hear how the Lord was working...

November Ladies’ Meeting For our November meeting on Thursday the 6th the popular High Tea at the Golf Club at Culcabock once again proved a happy occasion when around 40 women got together and enjoyed a beautifully presented meal which was all the more appreciated when we didn’t have to...

A building warrant has been granted for the works to develop a toilet block at the site of the Lower Session Room and a fellowship area towards the back of the church (facing the pulpit). Plans are on display in the hall which will show the proposed works. Please familiarise...

The Likely Dads will now meet on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month in the hall. All dads are welcome to bring along their kids for fun, games and snacks (tea/coffee for the dads!).

Steeple Works: The Deacons’ Court has now approved work to remove the vegetation growth at the steeple. If you have noticed any other repairs that are required to the church building please contact Brian Cameron who can bring these to the attention of the Deacons’ Court.

Dear Friends, Jessie and I travelled to Mull recently to Sean Anker’s commissioning service as Presbytery Worker for Glasgow Presbytery. It was a fairly long and arduous journey but very much worth it as we were able to represent the Free North as well as enjoy being with the good...

The Leprosy Mission Scotland Thank you to all who contributed towards the local committee’s recent fund-raising coffee morning and stall. The total amount raised was £1,348.73 which will go to help the Mission’s work in South Sudan.

Skye Holiday Club Report This August we were delighted to return to Skye for the Staffin, Uig and Kilmuir Free Church congregations’ holiday club, Seaside Rock. A mixture of local helpers and a team of six Invernesians (Mark Mackay, Matthew Macleod, Peter Munro, Louise Nicolson, Kathanna MacDonald and Emma MacAulay)...

Blythswood Inverness Support Group The Harvest Supper held on Friday, 19 September in the Kingsview Christian Centre raised £1,224,03 for the ongoing work of Blythswood. Many thanks for those who supported this event, which was a very enjoyable evening.

Women’s Group October Ladies’ Meeting Despite the inclement weather over 20 ladies turned out for the Blythswood evening where gift boxes were being prepared for men, women and teenage boys and girls. The ladies joined up in groups to fill the boxes for the various recipients and worked so efficiently...

Sunday School On Sunday 5th October Compass, the new magazine for children, was launched. We used two compasses to show how we need direction in our lives and then went on to think about how the Bible points us to Jesus who said ,” I am the way the truth...

Speeding at the Manse Anyone passing the Manse over the last couple of months could be forgiven for thinking that they may have been witnessing some sort of speed testing taking place in the garden? In actual fact what you may have seen is Colin whizzing round on his new...

Dear Friends, Reading Philippians 2:5-11 recently I was struck by three things the passage has to say to us. Firstly, it’s an explanation of the incarnation; in other words, why the Son of God became flesh, became a human being. It was to live and then die on the cross...

The Leprosy Mission Scotland The Inverness Committee of the Leprosy Mission Scotland are holding their annual coffee morning on Saturday, 4th October at 1000 in the Old High Church Hall, Academy Street. The Free North will be responsible for the bring and buy stall. Donations of preserves, produce, baking and...

Tuesday Tea and Chat/Hobby Group. After meeting at 2pm on the fourth Tuesday of each month over the last three or four years things are changing!! Some of the young mums are keen to come and learn some new skills so we are moving to the morning from 10 –...

October Ladies’ Meeting Our popular meeting to fill shoeboxes for the annual Blythswood appeal is due to take place on Tuesday 07 October at 7.30pm in the hall. Once again we will concentrate on filling boxes for male and female teenagers and adults. As in previous years we will need...

September Ladies’ Meeting It was heartening to see a large number of ladies at our first meeting, to learn about the work of the Gospel in Chad, a land-locked, Sub-Saharan country divided along ethnic and religious lines. Civil war, poor rainfall, distance from the sea and a subsistence economy have...

20’s/30’s Group This group has been meeting in the manse on a Sunday evening after the service since the middle of August. There are around 15 young adults in their 20’s/30’s attending. A programme up until Christmas has been agreed on comprising a mixture of praise nights, testimony nights, teaching...

New Invalid Facilities, etc Over a year ago a request was made to the Deacons Court that we bring our Church up to the required minimum standard regarding Invalid Toilet Facilities along with more modern Male and Female Toilet and Baby change facilities. During the ensuing months the works committee...

Thank You I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the telephone calls, cards and letters, which I know were all accompanied by your prayers, whilst I was in hospital and on my return home. It is true that .. “ There is no exercise better for...

Dear Friends, The other day I was thinking about the message of Exodus and in particular the journey of the Israelites into the wilderness. If we can imagine the scene: Moses and the Israelites have watched the world’s biggest superpower (Egypt) crumble at the hands of God. He has destroyed...

Big Free Rally: Two teams of 6 helpers are needed to set up before and after the Big Free Rally at Smithton Church on Saturday, 27th September. A team of 6 helpers is requested from the Free North. Setting up would be from 10.00am – 11.15am and tidy up is...

Tea Rota: The sheets for September and October are now available for signing. Please consider helping with this task – if you have not done it before then just go to the kitchen after a service and watch/help or sign up for an evening when it is not so busy.

Highland Food Bank Harvest Appeal: Blythswood Care have written thanking us for continuing to support the Foodbank. They would appreciate the following items from Free North folk for distribution to their clients at this time:  If you would prefer to make a money donation, please put it in an...

Home Bible Studies: The topic for 2014/15 is Christianity Explored which focuses on the big questions of life while exploring the person at the heart of the Christian life – Jesus Christ. The studies take place on one Wednesday a month instead of the mid week meeting and the dates...

Last Sunday the collection for the Free Church Disaster Relief Fund raised £1,149. There is still time to make a donation if you haven’t already done so. Thank you to all who contributed.

In the July/August newsletter there was an article about a collection for Free Church Camps Support Fund to allow leaders and campers to attend camps. The sum of £875 was raised.

Next Sunday there will be an additional collection for the Free Church Disaster Relief Fund at the morning and evening services. Monies collected will go towards addressing the highly publicised crises in Syria and Iraq, and specifically towards Tearfund, who work in Syria, and the Federation for Relief and Reconciliation...

There are spaces available on the Welcoming Teams (Door Duty) for anyone interested. Please speak to Archie Fraser as soon as possible if you can help. Introductory and refresher training will be provided for new and ‘seasoned’ team members respectively.

Ian and Sandra Polworth would like to thank everyone who sent get-well cards, telephoned and visited during Ian’s recent illness. He greatly appreciated all the encouragement and support he received from the church family. It has been a struggle at times but Ian is now phasing himself back to work...

Highland Food Bank An information evening about the new Hilton Foodbank Centre to discuss how members and friends of local churches can be involved will be held on Thursday, 14th August at 7.30pm in Shop 1, 1 Hilton Village, Hilton, Inverness. If you would like to consider volunteering or just...

We have received a thank you letter for the donation raised at the WFM Supper for the Lifting Lives Project 2014/15. A copy can be seen on the lane door notice board.

Camps’ Support Fund At its last meeting the Deacons’ Court decided to give the congregation the opportunity to contribute to the Camps’ Support Fund which helps leaders and campers attend a summer camp. Over 300 campers and 100 leaders and cooks will be involved this year with a good number...

Christianity Explored All office-bearers are invited to attend an evening training course on Thursday, 28th August at 7.30pm in the hall. This is in preparation for using CE in our home Bible study groups which are due to commence in September, all being well.

Open Doors We hope to open the church to visitors during the five Saturdays in August (2-5pm). Help will be needed with setting things up, welcoming, serving in the cafe and providing baking. Please consider getting involved. Many visitors have appreciated an opportunity to come in, look around and chat...

Great Wilderness Challenge The Christian Youth Centre (CYC/YMCA) has been offered 6 places on the Challenge taking place in the Poolewe area on Saturday, 16th August. More details about the walk can be found at www.greatwildernesschallenge.info. Please contact Elma Mackay at elmacmackay1966@aol.com if you are interested in taking part to...

Open Doors We hope to open the church to visitors during the five Saturdays in August (2-5pm). Help will be needed with setting things up, welcoming, serving in the cafe and providing baking. Please consider getting involved. Many visitors have appreciated an opportunity to come in, look around and chat...

Tea rota Please sign up on the sheets in the kitchen if you can help with after-church teas in July and August.

Everything Baby You may have noticed that a new shop – Everything Baby – has recently opened at 108 Church Street. This is a charity which takes donations of quality pre-loved baby, toddler and maternity goods, baby equipment, toys and goods, sells them through the shop at affordable prices and...

BBQ Invitation A warm invitation is extended to the congregation to attend a fund raising BBQ at Anna MacRitchie’s on Saturday 30th August from 5pm to 8.30pm. All money raised will be going between Old MacDonald’s Farm (www.omfzambia.com) and Vine Trust Peru (www.vinetrust.org!)

Madras Street This summer looks to be an exciting one! One which sees the return of some good friends. Ian Polworth starts back this month and is looking forward to getting back in the swing of the work down here at Madras Street after 7 months off. Ian is going...

Women for Mission Day Away The WfM Day Away in Perth on 20 September (details and booking form in the May issue of The Record, poster at the Lane Door) – if you wish to attend please book soon as places are limited to 200. If you are going and...

September Women’s Group Meeting The first meeting of the new session will be on 2 September when our speaker will be Joan MacKenzie, who will tell us about the work she is involved in with the Africa Inland Mission in Chad. It would be good to see as many ladies...

Questionnaire Many thanks to all of you who took the time to fill in the questionnaire making good suggestions regarding both the format of the meetings and ideas for the future. There was much lively discussion at the meeting at the Manse on the evening of Thursday 3rd July as...

Annual Buffet Supper The June meeting of the Women’s Group was our annual Buffet Supper open to all the congregation and friends. Over 70 people came along to enjoy fellowship and food – and judging by the volume of chatter and the empty plates it was a successful evening on...

Free Church Youth Camps The Deacons’ Court at its last meeting decided to give the congregation the opportunity to contribute to the Camps’ Support Fund, which helps leaders and campers attend a summer camp. Over 300 campers and 100 leaders and cooks will be involved this year with a good...

Youth Fellowship After the Summer break the Youth Fellowship will divide into two groups; one catering for secondary school age young folk and this group will be hosted by Dan and Penny in their home, which will be the YF, and the other group consisting of the rest of the...

Likely Dads This is a group which has been meeting in the hall on the last Saturday of the month for the past few months from 10.30am to 12pm. It is supervised and facilitated by the CALA Trust and aims at encouraging male carers with young children to come along...

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New Birth Congratulations to Ian and Eileen Macinnes on the birth of Katie Mairi Rowan on Sunday 8th June weighing 7lbs 1oz. Also congratulations to Alison Waite whose daughter Helen and husband Darryl had twin girls, born on 16th June. Their names are Sophie and Hayleigh. Sophie weighed 6 lb...

llnesses or Hospital Mr Archie MacArthur Mrs Anna Cameron Mr Ian Paterson Mrs Christina Morrison (RNI) Housebound Mrs Margaret MacLeod Mrs Christine MacRae Mrs Mary MacDonald Residential Homes Mr John Ferguson – Aden House Miss Catriona Urquhart – Ballifeary Miss Betty MacRae – Ballifeary Miss Morag MacDonald – Cameron House...

Condolences We also express our sympathy to Innes Fraser whose brother, William Fraser, died at the age of 92 years in St Olaf Home, Nairn, on Sunday 6th July. The funeral was at W T Fraser’s on Friday 11th July.

Condolences We were deeply saddened at the sudden and unexpected passing away of Flora Macdonald on Monday 9th June. Flora had been a regular attender at the Free North for decades and was well known and well liked in the church family. Her funeral took place in the Free North...

Dear Friends, The weather has been so changeable over the last number of weeks. Sunshine and showers, hot and cold, windy and calm, and sometimes all of these in the space of just one day! Most of us love the sun. It not only brings warmth and light but literally...

Discovery Two months ago, after comprehensively assessing over several months the needs of the community who live near and around the church, we identified loneliness, isolation and, in relation to people living in multiple occupancy accommodation especially, nowhere to go and nothing to do as critical needs which people wished...

Camps’ Support Fund: The Deacons’ Court, at its last meeting, decided to give the congregation the opportunity to contribute to the Camps’ Support Fund which helps leaders and campers attend a summer camp. Over 300 campers and 100 leaders and cooks will be involved this year with a good number...

Tea rota: Please sign up on the sheets in the kitchen if you can help with after-church teas in July and August.

A Transport Questionnaire is being circulated with the aim of helping to assess transport needs. Pick one up at the doors and return in the collection box

Discovery Two months ago, after comprehensively assessing over several months the needs of the community who live near or around the church, we identified loneliness, isolation and, in relation to people living in multiple occupancy accommodation especially, nowhere to go or nothing to do as critical needs which people wished...

Inverness and North Mission Support Group The Coffee Morning on 24 May – our last fundraising event for this session – was very encouraging and raised a wonderful sum of money for Chaparral Mission School, India, as follows: Coffee morning and later donations = £834.40 Gift aid recovery = £180.00...

Highland Food bank Request We are looking for volunteers to help at our next supermarket collection on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th July from 10am until 5pm at both Tesco Extra stores in Inverness. We require a minimum of 11 volunteers for each day at each store, and are looking...

Inverness Churches Helping the Homeless Below is a summary of the Project’s newsletter for May 2014 The EVALUATION MEETING for this year’s DAA PROJECT is to take place on TUESDAY 17th JUNE at 7pm in the NESS BANK CHURCH HALLS. All welcome. A full Evaluation Report prepared by the Highland...

Meeting with Jo Barnard Last Sunday, the Sunday school teachers and parents had a short meeting with Jo Barnard, when he talked about some of the ideas he shared in the two articles in the Record. He shared with us the Bible’s teaching on the role of parents and the...

Sunday School Family Service/Prize Giving The family service and Sunday School Prize Giving will be held on Sunday, 29 June

Kirk Session News Elders Meeting Together A majority of the Free North elders met in Smithton Free Church on Saturday 17th May from 8am till 1pm. The purpose of this informal meeting was to allow us to spend time together discussing issues that have been addressed at Kirk Session meetings...

llnesses or Hospital Mr Archie MacArthur Mrs Anna Cameron Mr Ian Paterson Mrs Christina Morrison (RNI) Home from Hospital Mr Ian Polwarth Housebound Mrs Margaret MacLeod Mrs Christine MacRae Mrs Mary MacDonald Residential Homes Mr John Ferguson – Aden House Miss Catriona Urquhart – Ballifeary Miss Betty MacRae – Ballifeary...

Condolences It was with deep sadness that we heard that on the 20th of May that Isabel Taylor had passed away at the Highland Hospice but rejoice that she has gone home to be with her Lord. Her funeral took place at Wm T Fraser’s on the 29th May with...

Dear Friends, The hardest part of suffering is time. A short stab of pain hurts us, but we recover and go on. Yet, when a prolonged period of suffering comes, we long for relief and cry out to God, “how long must this go on?” By that we often mean,...

If you are the person who has lost prescription sunglasses, they can be picked up in the Lower Session Room.

Thanks to all those who attended and helped at the Acclaim concert. £3,000 was collected and sent to the Scottish Bible Society.

Jo Barnard will begin a six week placement with the Free North Church on Sunday, 25th May when he will preach at the evening service. He will be involved in the Free North and Madras Street in both a preaching and pastoral role throughout his placement. Please do pray for...

Inverness and North Mission Support Group Coffee morning – Saturday 24th may 2014 at 10.30 am Dingwall Free Church Hall Donations of baking, plants, bric-a-brac welcome So far this session we have sent £2450 to the Presbyterian Free Church in India for the extension and upgrading of the Christian School...

Blythswood Support Group The annual Ploughman’s Lunch is to be held on Saturday, 17 May from 12 noon – 2 pm, in Daviot Hall, Daviot when Hot Soup, Filled Rolls, Tea/coffee and Home Baking will be served. There will also be a Bric-a-Brac sales table, Auction and Baking stall. All...

Acclaim Choir Event We are hosting this event on Saturday 24th May at 7.30pm. The choir will sing a selection of pieces, including, Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone), Lamb of God, Crown Him (Majesty), The Perfect Wisdom of our God and Behold the Man. Elaine Duncan, Chief Executive of...

Madras Street It’s been a very busy few weeks down here at Madras Street! Within the drop-in we are seeing an increasing number of folks just popping in for some company and a chat. We are very thankful to all our volunteers who keep the place running every day. Seven...

Women’s Meetings Our meeting on Tuesday, 6 May was a slightly different meeting to what we had planned, but nonetheless a happy gathering where we heard of the journey of a fellow Christian friend. We must share our experience with you all and let you know how the Lord provided...

Congregational Fellowship. Our next meeting will be on Sunday 25th May when we expect Mike Moore, Chief Executive of Christian Witness to Israel to be our speaker. Mike has a real passion for reaching Jewish people with the gospel and is well worth hearing.

Sunday School Summer Outing We hope to have our annual outing on either the first or second Saturday of June. We will be going over to Rosemarkie and we would be glad to see any of the congregation who are able to join us. When the date is fixed do...

The PWAMM (People with a Mission Ministries) Team were once again with us in Inverness with the Challenger 3 Bus for 2 weeks recently. For the first week from Tuesday 22nd April to Friday 2nd May they visited a large number of local schools teaching aspects of the Christian faith...

Communion The congregation greatly benefited from the preaching of our visiting minister, Rev. Alasdair MacAulay of Tain at the April Communion weekend. The Kirk Session were delighted to welcome into membership, Elise Ayres, Annie Maclean and Annetta Crooks who professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the first...

I would like to thank the congregation for the many expressions of love shown to me following my recent knee surgery. Your prayers especially have been made very real to me as I sense the Lord’s healing power and presence in and around me. It is also good to know...

On Sunday 4th May, Flora Maimie Maciver, daughter of Rob and Sarah Maciver also Grace Christine, daughter of Danny and Dorothy Mackenzie were baptised. Having received the sign of the Covenant and the parents having promised to raise the girls as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, let us as...

Please remember in prayer, those in the congregation who are in hospital, recovering at home, housebound and in residential homes. The list remains as in the last newsletter, with the addition of Isobel Taylor, who is in the Highland Hospice. llnesses or Hospital Mr Archie MacArthur Mrs Anna Cameron Mr...

Dear Friends, What thrills my heart more than anything is when the Lord brings someone to faith in Jesus Christ. I love to witness that and to hear of that. At our recent communions we were blessed to hear Annie Maclean, Annetta Crookes and Elise Ayres doing just that. I...

Challenger Bus Mission The PWAMM (People with a Mission Ministry) Challenger Team are returning to work alongside us for two weeks of schools work from Monday 21 April to Saturday 3 May, with a particular focus on evening outreach to the community of Merkinch from Monday 28th April to Saturday...

Madras Street – Youth Club As part of our outreach in Madras Street we have recently started a youth club called Ignite. This takes place for one hour on a Friday night and caters for children of primary school age. This has been very well received by the kids with...

Youth Fellowship The Youth Fellowship continues to run as a stable part of the younger people’s programme. We have up to 20 people on a Sunday night sharing in fellowship. The evenings vary from talks about Christian life to worship evenings and testimonies from people in the congregation. It continues...

Letter from Allan Dunbar, Christians Against Poverty Thank you for your encouragement and generous gift for the work of CAP in Inverness. We value your offer to pray for our ministry and would suggest a few items to share: Kind regards, Allan

Women’s Meetings It was a change of scene for our April meeting. This time, 46 of us headed for the Golf Club at Culcabock to have what has become our annual high tea. All suitably dressed with no denims or trainers in sight we were welcomed into the club by...

New Toilet Block and Fellowship Area Our Architects are now well on with the plans for the creation of the new toilet block in the space currently occupied by the lower session room and the new fellowship area at the rear of the church below the gallery. We expect to...

Artefact unearthed during survey An interesting historical artefact in the form of a very old glass bottle was found during a recent survey inspection of the area under the hall floor. The bottle would appear to have been discarded by one of the original workmen when the church was built...

Baptism On Sunday, 6th April Nico Evander Nordvik, son of Annis and Vinnie, was baptised by Rev. Colin Macleod. With great joy we welcome young Nico to the church family and pray for the Lord’s blessing upon him and his parents.

It was with great sadness that we heard that Kenneth Maciver passed away peacefully on the 20th March in the Isobel Fraser Care Home. The funeral took place on Thursday 27th at John Fraser & Son. Ken will be greatly missed having been a part of the Free North Congregation...

Please remember the following people in your prayers llnesses or Hospital Mr Archie MacArthur Mrs Anna Cameron Mr Ian Paterson Home from Hospital Mrs Christina Morrison Mr Ian Polwarth Housebound Mrs Margaret MacLeod Mrs Christine MacRae Mrs Mary MacDonald Residential Homes Mr John Ferguson – Aden House Miss Catriona Urquhart...