Our Blog at Hilton Church

Thank you to all who sent in a picture of their interpretation of the Gospel account for the Holy Week Lego Challenge. Here are some pictures we received showing the good news of Easter Day. Early in the morning they went to the tomb! Why are you crying? Mary!

Two images shared by Margaret Johnston and Phil Gunn

Here are some pictures from today's Family Challenge, based on John 18:1-19:42  Phil has also posted a video as a comment on his post on the Hilton Church Facebook page.

Rory writes We have just had a really lovely time of prayer and reflection for Maunday Thursday led by Phil Gunn together with David & Jo Whillis. It was so lovely to see so many familiar faces over the Zoom link. This was followed by our Clap for the NHS. We...

Here are just some of the ways you can stay connected over the Easter weekend: Online Many local churches will be streaming their Easter Sunday worship services online, and a televised service will also be shown on BBC One Scotland on Easter Sunday. The Moderator of...

Phil writes 'Another fantastic effort for us today revealing the theme of the Gospel passage John 13:1-17 & 31b-35'  There's also a short video with sound which Phil has added to his post on the Hilton Church Facebook page.

The folk in Shona's Craft and Repair Cafe have been continuing to be wonderfully creative this week in various ways. I think this creativity is a lovely statement of hope, joy and defiance in the face of uncertainty and fear. Keep making beautiful things - creativity...

Day 3 of the Lego challenge was to look at John 13:21-32 and our youngsters have been extremely creative with this passage.

Duncan shares this prayer, received from Faith Nurture.  We offer a reflection on this time, which can be shared and used, and pray for God’s peace to be with you – a peace that passes all understanding. Things Are Different Now                                        ...

On day two of the challenge, the children of Sunday Club were asked to re-imagine the scene described in John 12:20-36 - quite a difficult one, as the focus is on Jesus words rather than on any actions.

Dear Friends, This is a Holy Week experience like no other we have experienced in our life.  I hope you are finding whatever resources you are drawing on helpful and encouraging. I have been using the lectionary bible readings which I posted on Sunday, together with...

The Sunday Club children were invited to recreate the scene in today's Gospel reading from John 1-11. It's the story of Jesus having a meal at his friends' house in Bethany. A woman called Mary washed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume..... Remember that in the...

Click here  to read  the first Here to serve newsletter from the Inverness Presbytery Church Support (IPCS) team. You will find lots of links, guidelines and ideas. For future editions, we are hopeful to start including many ideas from our local churches.

Iain Todd shares this, which he came across today,  with us: Church OnlineNOT CANCELLEDQuiet time with GodNOT CANCELLEDPraying for the sickNOT CANCELLEDHelping othersNOT CANCELLEDBeing the ChurchNOW MORE THAN EVER

I think the photo below is one someone is using for inspiration for their own project, but it looks so cheerful that I thought I would pop it up here anyway!

More crafts from Hilton friends! Keep them coming!

Last Sunday, thousands of Christians across Scotland answered the call to pray at the same time in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following positive feedback from last week's prayer initiative, a further letter has been signed by 14 Christian organisations across...

During these days of 'self-isolation' the ladies who attend the Repair Cafe are encourging one another by circulating pictures of creative projects they have been working on. The creativity continues!                  ...

In his daily devotional post, Richard Rohr today quoted words from Brian McLaren about praying in time of crisis, words which are very relevant to us today. Iain Todd recommends this post: 'I like the message of the strength and power in simple words... when we feel...

Dear Friends, We are living in tumultuous times. The Government announcements last night now have the majority of us in a situation of lockdown, initially for 3 weeks but in all likelihood it will last much longer. It’s so good that we have the internet to keep us in...

spoken Share your blessings: an invitation from John It was lovely to read Phil’s encouraging reflection on Psalm 130 on Facebook and the Blog today, and to listen to Duncan’s discussion on Sunday of Psalm 46 and of the principle of Shalom. Duncan reminded us of the...

Dear friends, Following last night’s advice from the government we have been told to ‘stay home’ and self-isolate so we can protect each other and help the NHS by not overloading it. And so many of us face the prospect of remaining at home for the foreseeable future....

Message from Duncan In a situation where we are now very limited in our movements, here’s a local organisation keeping in touch by telephone. We encourage you to make use of your phones, to be in touch regularly with all the people in your networks, especially those...

Here's a link to this morning's Livestream from Hilton, led by Duncan, assisted by Peter, with Rory behind the camera!  (If you don't have a Facebook account, you may be asked to sign up, but there should be a wee option in small print at the bottom of the window...

Jane circulated the message below from Joe Evans and Hannah Slater on the Church Facebook page this morning.  The photo of Joe was taken this morning by Rory MacPherson who says that Joe ‘is really encouraged by the amount of support he is already receiving from...

Some of you may already have seen this: not a specifically Christian piece, but it contains much wisdom. An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans Stop. Just stop. It is no longer a request. It is a mandate. We will help you. We will bring the supersonic, high speed...

A collection of food is taking place at Tesco at the Inverness Shopping Park (formerly known as the Retail Park) to help local people in need at this time of crisis. The collected food will go among other things for Joe’s Anchor cooking at Light House, Blythswood...

HILTON CHURCH LIVESTREAM SERVICE ON SUNDAY 22nd MARCH, 2020 @ 10am Duncan writes: Dear Friends, You will see that there are a multitude of worship services and reflections on Sunday, as per previous post. I felt that it would be good for us to have an act of worship...

Radio and Television/Social Media Early conversations with BBC Scotland about a possible Sunday service to be broadcast are taking place; further details will be released as they become available. The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Right Reverend Colin...

Message from Duncan: A Wedding in the Light House garden - and some photos of the garden after it was manicured this morning by a team from the Church. What an unbelievably challenging week it has been for anyone planning a wedding or in my case, officiating at one....

Duncan recommends this powerful interview on the Coronavirus between Emily Maitlis of Newsnight and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

This message about COVID-19 was circulated this morning by the influential American Christian leader Richard Rohr. I thought you might find it helpful. (John) It is shocking to think how much the world has changed in such a brief time. Each of us has had our lives and...

Phil shares this! I found this reflection from Tearfund's daily lent reflections very helpful this morning. ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.’ (Galatians 6:2) I wrote the original version of this reflection back in...

Dear Friends, Over the past 24 hours , the Kirk Session of Hilton Church have been reflecting on the new Government guidelines about meeting in public places. We made the decision earlier today to cancel all services for the foreseeable future. I held off putting...

Here's the Christian Viewpoint column from last week's Highland News. It was written a fortnight ago and some of it has been overtaken by events but I thought it was still worth sharing. John The spread of the Coronavirus is a fast-moving news story: by the time you...

A lovely post from Phil to help us as we take the government's advice to avoid socialising as much as possible. During these challenging and uncertain times, it can be difficult to avoid panicking and falling victim to fear, it’s not like there are any classes, we can...

A message from Duncan, written last night It felt quite surreal meeting at Hilton Church today. The congregation this morning was less than half its normal size. We also had our Stated Annual meeting after the service. It was good to be able to reflect together on so...

Seeking & searching. Only Jesus quenches our thirst. With the rapid spread of Covid-19 the world we know has changed dramatically in the last month.  A month ago, Corona was a beer, hand-sanitiser was something that you only used when visiting hospitals and some...

Have you ever had a bad experience of church? Perhaps something another member, an elder or a minister has said or done has upset and distressed so that you have left church, perhaps gone to a different church or passed on church altogether for a while? Or maybe you...

Here's a moving video about situations in the Bible including the experience of Hagar who features in tomorrow's Bible reading. An abandoned single woman finds that God sees, God is with her in her prregnancy, in her abandonment

The Church of Scotland has issued advice to Churches in the light of the  possible spread of Coronavirus in Scotland. You can read this advice here.

Pictures from Donald of last week's Afternoon Tea when there were not just lovely cakes as usual, but also (as befitted the day after Shrove Tuesday) nice pancakes.

Duncan writes: Beautiful flowers arranged this morning by Eleanor Johnston. We are also grateful to Hilton Coop for donating the flowers which were in the foyer and on the Communion Table.

A great children’s talk from Phil this morning, which summed up the theme of the service. He issued each of the kids who were willing to come to the front with a plastic plate and a tube of toothpaste, and set them to task of drawing pictures on the plate with...

Book Group news from Angela Thank you all for a lovely evening...it was great to see an amazing 15 people (a new record?) including a couple of new faces! We were all enjoying the chat but did eventually get round to discussing the books!  First up was The Librarian...