About Penicuik North Kirk
PENICUIK NORTH KIRK
Penicuik North Kirk is a local parish church in the Presbytery of Lothian, and one of 3 Church of Scotland congregations serving the town of Penicuik. The congregation, which was founded in 1782, is made up of around 400 members. We are a local congregation of the Church of Scotland. We are open and inclusive and welcome people of all ages to worship. At the local level of Penicuik North the court is a Kirk Session. Kirk sessions oversee the local congregation and its parish, and consist of elders presided over by a minister. Meetings of the Kirk Session and its Committees are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. The Kirk Session meets 6 times a year and the Committees meet 2 times a year. The Stated Annual Meeting of the congregation is held after worship on the last Sunday in March. YOUNG KIRK Over the past six months Young Kirk have been reading God’s Word related to caring for our planet, the environment and everything living within it as part of working towards the Eco-Congregation Award. We have created bird feeders and ladybird homes for the Church garden, planted up new tubs with brightly coloured flowers for the front of the Church building and cleared and planted the area at the front of the North Hall with summer bedding plants. Within the Church buildings we have encouraged everyone to save electricity and water by placing stickers at light switches and taps reminding everyone to turn them off if they are not need. Godly Play has also been an important part of Young Kirk as Leaders have attended training which enables us to include Godly Play as part of our morning worship on Sundays. We have also included the stories of Creation and Noah’s Ark as part of our Eco-Congregation Award looking at the importance of the environment through God’s Word. In June we had our annual celebration of Young Kirk during morning worship where the children shared with the congregation our work towards the Award and our visit to Deep Sea World in June. Each child received an Eco Award certificate for all their hard work looking after God’s creation and a gift of a book to read during the summer holidays. It was a wonderful celebration of the Young Kirk! OPEN DOOR CAFE The Open Door café, operated by volunteers, offers real coffee, tea, home baking and friendship. It is open from 10am to 12 noon Monday - Friday and from 2pm to 4pm Monday and Friday throughout the year offering a welcoming venue for friendship and companionship. QUIET ROOM Our Quiet Space is open alongside the Open Door Café and on Sundays. It provides space for quiet prayer and resources such as bibles, artwork and books of prayers and reflective readings which are themed to the seasons of the Christian year. |
The Kirk Buildings
OPEN DOOR CAFE
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FOODSTORE AT PNK/ NO KID GOES HUNGRY
Penicuik North Kirk, supported by other Penicuik area churches has been active in the community of Penicuik, Roslin, Auchindinny, Howgate and associated areas in the support of our ‘families in need’ since 2013. Supported by other local churches in the Penicuik area, Penicuik North Kirk takes the lead in providing food and other necessary items for children and their families in partnership with Midlothian Children’s Services.
Total number of Children and Adults supported in 2018 with food parcels is 733 in packs that provide 3 meals per day for 3 days.
There is no public distribution of food----it is is only distributed following a referral from the Children and Families Unit of Midlothian Social Work Department who are working with partners to alleviate child poverty in the county.
Thank you to everyone for their continued generosity. We appreciate all your help throughout the year with food, money and volunteering for the Foodstore. We have provided 12 families (41 children) who would normally have had a free school lunch for the first of two weeks, thanks to your generous donations. The Penicuik Harriers 10K Road Race took place last Saturday and each competitor was asked to bring a donation for our Foodstore. Tuesday morning the cafe volunteers were delighted to receive one hundred pounds worth of food plus £100 cash for perishables to be used for the summer lunches from an unknown donor. God is indeed good. However, we are still looking for donations to stock pile for the summer lunches. The following are the things which would help us in the summer, diluting juice, tinned corned beef, spam, ham, tuna, beans, macaroni cheese, ravioli, spaghetti, crisps, biscuits and healthy snacks.
Items can be handed in to the cafe between 10- 12 Monday- Friday and 2-4 Monday and Friday.
Further details contact Jan Naylor at lowriesedge@sky.com
WHAT’S COOKING PROJECT
What’s Cooking, for the parents or carers of the children we help with food parcels, started in January 2017. This is an exciting project which we hope will help as many families as possible to prepare simple meals. We have run four courses of eight weeks over the past two years in the Spring and Autumn. We have had two participants on each course.
Due to two weeks of March 2018 course being in the school holidays the participants’ children came to the sessions. They cooked pizzas and decorated cup cakes as well as doing craft work. This was a great success.
The cooking project is not only about learning new cooking skills but also about gaining confidence in themselves. This has been evident over each course.
MIDAID
The effort to support refugees in this country and abroad continued through the past year with the loose amalgamation of churches and the local Council, through MidAid. Volunteers deliver used clothing, useful articles and cash which are then collected by a Wednesday run by the Council. The goods are taken to Edinburgh Direct Aid at Granton. There the goods are sorted and sent out to the Lebanon.
Locally, support for the refugees settled in Midlothian has ceased at the moment as the families are now fully resident.
As ever the support for those less fortunate than ourselves, is manifest in the contributions from the local community. Thank you all.
Contributions can be handed in to Penicuik North Kirk café Monday-Friday 10am-12 noon.
WORLD CHURCH
As a congregation we continue to support Christian Aid throughout the year. We contribute to world church by supporting the stamp appeal to help the provision of funding for day care centres for educational, emotional, and physical support for children and young people with disabilities. This is run by the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia (Ukraine). The congregation is given the opportunity to support Blythwood Care shoebox appeal for people in Eastern Europe. Thirty-nine shoeboxes were delivered to Blythwood Care. In January we shared in Souper Sunday a worship service led by a group of elders to highlight, and raise money for, the Church of Scotland HIV programmeout.
PENICUIK CHURCHES SHOPPING SERVICE
The shopping service exists to assist those people in the community who are unable to do their shopping or are unable to carry heavy items from the shops.
About twelve friends from all churches in Penicuik help with this service. We are at present visiting six of our neighbours in the community to help them with their shopping.
The service aims to provide the help which would normally be available from a family member or a neighbour. We normally will telephone in the early part of the week and when required, pick up a list of shopping requirements and arrange to collect this and deliver as required. Our helpers work on a rota basis, some weekly, some intermittent and some monthly.
Our helpers have established a close relationship with their clients and we leave the help and service they provide to the discretion of each helper.
Penicuik North Kirk, supported by other Penicuik area churches has been active in the community of Penicuik, Roslin, Auchindinny, Howgate and associated areas in the support of our ‘families in need’ since 2013. Supported by other local churches in the Penicuik area, Penicuik North Kirk takes the lead in providing food and other necessary items for children and their families in partnership with Midlothian Children’s Services.
Total number of Children and Adults supported in 2018 with food parcels is 733 in packs that provide 3 meals per day for 3 days.
There is no public distribution of food----it is is only distributed following a referral from the Children and Families Unit of Midlothian Social Work Department who are working with partners to alleviate child poverty in the county.
Thank you to everyone for their continued generosity. We appreciate all your help throughout the year with food, money and volunteering for the Foodstore. We have provided 12 families (41 children) who would normally have had a free school lunch for the first of two weeks, thanks to your generous donations. The Penicuik Harriers 10K Road Race took place last Saturday and each competitor was asked to bring a donation for our Foodstore. Tuesday morning the cafe volunteers were delighted to receive one hundred pounds worth of food plus £100 cash for perishables to be used for the summer lunches from an unknown donor. God is indeed good. However, we are still looking for donations to stock pile for the summer lunches. The following are the things which would help us in the summer, diluting juice, tinned corned beef, spam, ham, tuna, beans, macaroni cheese, ravioli, spaghetti, crisps, biscuits and healthy snacks.
Items can be handed in to the cafe between 10- 12 Monday- Friday and 2-4 Monday and Friday.
Further details contact Jan Naylor at lowriesedge@sky.com
WHAT’S COOKING PROJECT
What’s Cooking, for the parents or carers of the children we help with food parcels, started in January 2017. This is an exciting project which we hope will help as many families as possible to prepare simple meals. We have run four courses of eight weeks over the past two years in the Spring and Autumn. We have had two participants on each course.
Due to two weeks of March 2018 course being in the school holidays the participants’ children came to the sessions. They cooked pizzas and decorated cup cakes as well as doing craft work. This was a great success.
The cooking project is not only about learning new cooking skills but also about gaining confidence in themselves. This has been evident over each course.
MIDAID
The effort to support refugees in this country and abroad continued through the past year with the loose amalgamation of churches and the local Council, through MidAid. Volunteers deliver used clothing, useful articles and cash which are then collected by a Wednesday run by the Council. The goods are taken to Edinburgh Direct Aid at Granton. There the goods are sorted and sent out to the Lebanon.
Locally, support for the refugees settled in Midlothian has ceased at the moment as the families are now fully resident.
As ever the support for those less fortunate than ourselves, is manifest in the contributions from the local community. Thank you all.
Contributions can be handed in to Penicuik North Kirk café Monday-Friday 10am-12 noon.
WORLD CHURCH
As a congregation we continue to support Christian Aid throughout the year. We contribute to world church by supporting the stamp appeal to help the provision of funding for day care centres for educational, emotional, and physical support for children and young people with disabilities. This is run by the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia (Ukraine). The congregation is given the opportunity to support Blythwood Care shoebox appeal for people in Eastern Europe. Thirty-nine shoeboxes were delivered to Blythwood Care. In January we shared in Souper Sunday a worship service led by a group of elders to highlight, and raise money for, the Church of Scotland HIV programmeout.
PENICUIK CHURCHES SHOPPING SERVICE
The shopping service exists to assist those people in the community who are unable to do their shopping or are unable to carry heavy items from the shops.
About twelve friends from all churches in Penicuik help with this service. We are at present visiting six of our neighbours in the community to help them with their shopping.
The service aims to provide the help which would normally be available from a family member or a neighbour. We normally will telephone in the early part of the week and when required, pick up a list of shopping requirements and arrange to collect this and deliver as required. Our helpers work on a rota basis, some weekly, some intermittent and some monthly.
Our helpers have established a close relationship with their clients and we leave the help and service they provide to the discretion of each helper.