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Home Groups are both in person and virtual Home groups encourage us to continue learning from the Bible and are a great way to get to know people from the congregation better.  Home groups meet once a month on a Wednesday at 7.30pm. Home Groups have contacted members directly with...

The results are in! Last October members and adherents of the Free Church of Scotland were invited to respond to questions on the subject of communication across the denomination.  The results of the ‘Your Voice in the Church’ survey have been analysed and summarised and may be viewed at http://bit.ly/fcoscogsurveysummary

Alasdair Macleod of Smithton Church is interim moderator of the Free North

Thank You from Lorien Ankers I would like to say a big thank you to all the folk in the Free North who have been such a great source of blessing and encouragement recently. From financial support to promises of prayer; it is so greatly appreciated. I set off on...

New Start Highland – Appeal for Furniture and Household Donations New Start have written to us to draw attention to their current appeal for donations of furniture and household items to help those who are homeless or living in poverty in our area. New Start was originally established through local...

UCCF: The Christian Unions Below is an extract from Emma MacAulay’s latest e-mail, with news of the work she is involved in as a Relay Worker with UCCF: “I hope you are well! Thank you for your continued support and prayers – it’s been wonderful to see the Lord answering...

Blythswood Inverness Support Group Harvest Supper – Thank you to all who supported this event on Friday, 18 September in the Kingsview Christian Centre. Nearly 90 people from churches throughout the city enjoyed the buffet meal and an excellent presentation by Rev Sandy Sutherland of Fortrose Free Church. The sum...

The Leprosy Mission Scotland Thank you to all who supported last Saturday’s coffee morning in aid of Purulia Hospital in West Bengal. A total of £1,288.04 was raised from the sale of tickets, donations and the bring-and-buy stall. The sale of Christmas cards, etc brought in a further £228.93. This...

Robin Gray is to commence a one year Ministry Apprenticeship in the congregation this week. This will engage him in preaching, pastoral and practical duties as well as theological studies through HTC. Please do pray for him in this role.

Student Mission – Emma MacAulay UCCF: The Christian Unions is a fellowship of students, staff and supporters that exists to give every student in Great Britain an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christian Unions (CUs) are led by students, involving people from different church...

Blythswood Inverness Support Group There was an excellent turnout for the annual Ploughman’s Lunch held on Saturday, 16th May in Daviot Hall, where good food and fellowship were enjoyed. The amount raised from donations and the auction was £2,000 and we thank all those who gave so generously and pray...

 Rev Joe Barnard was ordained to the Ministry and inducted to the charge of Kiltarlity and Kirkhill on Friday 13th March. Dan preached on the evening and Colin was moderator of Presbytery and officiated in the matter. It was a very well attended meeting and with a great reception...

We currently run two buses in the morning one on either side of the river to take people to church. If you think this would be helpful for you please speak to either Mike Casey or Sandy Finlay. At night we provide a taxi on either side of the river....

Dear friends, Time to Say Good Bye Sadly, it seems the time has come for me (Dan) to write my last letter in the monthly bulletin. It was 18 months ago that Penny and I moved to Inverness and started our ministry in the Free North and Madras Street. Since...

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...

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)...

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...

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 –...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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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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

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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...