No.96    19th June, 2026

Hi, 
Hope this finds you well. 

This Sunday is quite significant as we finish a lengthy series through Mark's Gospel on a Sunday morning - Scott says something about this in his letter this week, and I think we should be grateful for both Scott's taking their time to carefully steer us through this Gospel. 

There is a huge amount in the magazine this week - lots about the events over the Summer but the good thing is the focus is on those in our congregation who are going to be busy over the Summer and beyond as they serve others in various ways at events. Actually, for our own Community week you could include yourself in that number. But in particular there are young people who are learning to move into leadership roles so please take time to read about them and to remember them in prayer.

There are some practical details too about Church activities stopping or changing over the summer - for instance the Cafe Connect had it's last session this week before the break and you can read about that below too.

Enjoy the mag,
MB

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Sunday 21stJune

Sunday Morning - 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Mark 16:1-8

This Sunday we are singing a new Psalm tune for Psalm 95 verses 1-4 that the children have been learning over the last few weeks in their groups.
If you'd like to listen to it before Sunday to pick up the tune you can find it here

Summer Sunday arrangements

(28th June - 2nd August)
Under 5s
There will be a space for play set up in the usual room (room 15). This will be an unmanned creche so a parent/carer must stay with their child. 
Primary school age
There will be a group running for primary school aged children every week over the summer in ICT room 19. This will be staffed by at least two people who have been PVGd by the Free Church for working with children. The children will be studying the book of James with material from Faith in Kids. There is also a podcast which accompanies the material here.
Young people in S1 and above will stay in the services over the summer holidays. Clipboards, pens and sermon notes sheets will be available on the table at the back of the hall each week. 

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Wednesday

The meetings will be at the Robertsons' - 7.15pm - 8.15pm
This is the last Prayer meeting of the session before the Summer break. 
We start again in August  - details on webpage or magazine.

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Letter from the Manse

Dear Church Family,
I would like to share a few reflections from my recent time at Smithton Free Church, where I had the privilege of leading worship and preaching throughout the weekend (Saturday night, Sunday morning and evening). It was a delightful experience, and I was pleased to bring your greetings to their congregation.

It is always fascinating to see the variety within our Free Church congregations. As you know, I serve as Interim Moderator for the congregations at Lochgilphead and Tarbert. These are numerically small, more mature fellowships navigating the challenges of maintaining two historical buildings. In contrast, Smithton, which, to an outsider, feels like a suburban village on the east side of Inverness, is quite different. Although the congregation is about forty years old, they have a wonderful, purpose-built facility completed in 2012. It offers great comfort, flexibility and excellent parking.

Though I did not count and I am making a very tentative guess, I would say there were about 70 in worship on Saturday evening, perhaps 300 in morning worship and maybe 150–200 on Sunday evening. As I spoke with members afterward, I was struck by the wide variety of church backgrounds represented there. They struck me as being an appreciative, welcoming, warm-hearted people, eager to worship and sit under the Word of God.

Back at Mearns Free Church, I hope this Sunday to conclude our sermon series in the Gospel of Mark.
Bringing our study to a close at chapter 16 however presents a classic challenge for readers and preachers alike: where, exactly, does the Gospel end? There has long been scholarly uncertainty regarding whether the original manuscript of Mark included verses 9–20.
For several reasons, Scott H. and I have decided to conclude our studies at Mark 16:8. I will mention this briefly on Sunday. However, because most of your Bibles will include these verses, often in square brackets, you may be interested in reflecting on this further than I will on Sunday. This tends to be discussed in the field of "textual criticism" (the analysis of ancient manuscripts). I have researched what I think are two of the more understandable resources to make sense of the relevant issues on this matter.

• To read: I highly recommend this article by Elijah Hixson, formerly a Research Associate at Tyndale House, Cambridge. It is readable and thorough.
• To watch: If you prefer a visual explanation, this video analysis by Wes Huff (approximately 20 minutes) covers the issues well. 

In short, while the majority of manuscripts (including those used for the King James Version) contain the "long ending," two older and thought most reliable manuscripts do not have these additional verses. In fact, one of them appears to have a deliberate space left where the text would have been.

It is important to note that the content of those extra verses is not heretical. The aim is simply to present the written Gospel as it appeared in Mark’s original Greek autograph. One might wonder why a scribe would add verses, given how highly he would have regarded the document. The likely explanation is found in the abrupt way Mark would be ending at verse 8. It is possible that the scribe was unsettled by this and believe the original ending had been physically lost/detached from the document circulating and so they sought to "harmonize" the end using details known from other Gospels, like Luke.
This, of course, leaves us with a lingering question: why did Mark choose to end so abruptly at verse 8? That is a matter for us to ponder together this Sunday.
As Elijah Hixson concludes in his article: "Uncertainty here makes us uncomfortable, but we lose nothing of our faith if Mark ends at 16:8, and God often calls us to trust him in the face of uncertainty. … With or without Mark 16:9–20, the tomb is empty, Jesus has purchased our pardon, and we can be certain of that."
And, I would add to his conclusion, we have a wonderful, Risen Saviour who calls us to trust in Him as He promises to walk with His people through our lives and even our deaths.

Warmest regards,
Scott K.

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The four Sundays in July  will have an evening event in Belmont. (7-8.30pm)
Through the year on Sunday evenings we have a programme of Home Groups or Joint Services with NMBC -
But for Sundays in July we will use videos for Bible teaching followed by discussion groups. Look out for details in the next couple of weeks but put these times in the diary  - perhaps you haven't been involved in either a Home Group or have attended the Joint Services? - this is a good way to get into this part of church life.

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Have you booked yet?

Since Operation Mobilisation launched Logos Hope in 2009, nearly 11 million people have visited the ship.
Join us on Saturday 18th July

We are planning to a have a Mearns Free ‘Car Share’ to LEITH in order to experience the Logos Hope’s history, stories and mission.

Discover the decks of Logos Hope!

“Step aboard for a 60-minute immersive tour where you won’t just visit the ship—you’ll step into the story. Meet crew members from around the world, hear their personal journeys, and discover how Logos Hope connects with port communities globally through knowledge, help, and hope. Tours will be conducted by guides in small groups of 7 people, exploring a wide variety of areas onboard the ship.”
Please note: unfortunately, this tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.
BOOKING IS REQUIRED FOR THE TOUR – SPEAK WITH MURRAY OR MARGO TO GET A SPACE IN A CAR AND ON THE SHIP’S TOUR.
We leave Glasgow at 9am
Ticket price. Free for children 4 and under, £2 for children between 5 and 16, £5 for adults.
Read more about the Logos Hope and the UK tour here.
You'll also be able to participate in onboard events, enjoy the cafe,
wander the bookfair and much more!

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Over the next few weeks look out for adverts and flyers for all the events below that you can share with people in our local community.


This is not just a weekend of events for children, there is something for everyone to attend from a film screening of The King of Kings to holiday club, cafe connect, ceilidh, worship service, family lunch and youth event. 

We would love as many people in our church to attend as possible to be able to introduce people to our Mearns Free Church family. We will be asking for people to 'sign-up' for events to help with catering so please look out for this.

There will be many ways to get involved during the weekend too from car parking, welcoming, catering, baking, praying and working with young people. The only roles which require a PVG are working with the children during holiday club and the youth event.
If you can help in anyway please contact Pauline Forster or Scott Hamilton. 

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Jamie Heads North

Dear Mearns Free 
I’m starting a 10 month instructor trainee programme in Abernethy centre in Nethy Bridge.
Really looking forward to starting up and getting involved in their ministry! 
I will be working towards multiple qualifications in first aid; paddlesport; rock climbing; hillwalking and skiing.  You can see a full list on website

Abernethy is a Christian outdoors centre that aims to share the gospel with the world though providing inspiring outdoors experiences. 
It aims to run a schools programme and to develop the next generation of leaders and disciple-makers through its discipleship, training and mentoring programmes.
Jamie Taggart

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It's been great to see people supporting Govan Free Church's Food Bank.
Thanks to those who brought items in recent weeks.
Look out for the Green Box at the back!

Coffee, Teabags, Cereal, pasta / pasta sauce - all these are welcome- remember any size of jar/box will be divvied up into smaller bags - can you help?
If you have any questions about the Food Bank speak with Sue A, Mary R or Martin B

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1. 'I CAN'T BREATHE!'   

Glen Scrivener discusses the comparison between the deaths of Henry Nowak and George Floyd.​
This 25 min video takes a serious look at the situation between right and left wing political stances in the UK at the moment. What does the Gospel have to say about these issues, and how can Christians take part in the debate wisely? Watch it here. (nb There are some disturbing images.)

2. Thane has written a series of 3 articles encouraging us to see that Science and Faith are not incompatible.
God's people have always been called on to prioritise learning and focussing on God's Word...

Reasonable Faith
Part Three: Justice and University

This short series busts a myth that science and Christianity are at odds. Last week we saw the education system begin with Monastic schools. This week we'll connect these humble beginnings to the university and the first science.  

"Catholic education" spreads across Europe. 1079 CE, Rome: Pope Gregory VII orders all bishops to establish and regulate cathedral schools in their cathedrals, which were always in the city centres. These schools quickly overtake monasteries as Europe's intellectual engines, introducing public debate and opening doors to laymen and merchants. 
 
The first graduate degree and University. Justinian was the most zealous Christian Emperor in the Roman Empire. He wrote the "Corpus Juri Civilis" making Christianity the state religion, heresy illegal and invoking the Holy Trinity in book one. In 1079, the Corpus was rediscovered in Bologna, Italy and became the first graduate degree - law. Foreign students flocked to Bologna to study the Corpus but they had no rights. To protect against extortionate rents, they formed a legal guild - the "universitas scholarium". The University of Bologna became the world's first, in the year 1088, a student-run corporation hiring and firing professors at will. The University of Paris - the theological epicenter of Europe formed next (1150) and the University of Oxford (1167) followed.
 
The early universities taught the liberal arts as undergraduate and specialist graduate degrees in either law, theology, the arts or medicine - the first scientific discipline. So began Science, great grandchild of dessert monks. And Universities? Those powerhouses and temples rational inquiry? God's idea. 
Thane

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Ladybird Book of Mearns

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From the 'Other' Manse

Hello church family,  

This Friday, I’m off to Alltnacriche (SU Scotland's centre outside Aviemore) with a few of our Youth (Gracie Hamill & Sarah McNicol) to speak at SU Lead Up. 

Some of you will have heard of SU’s other training conference called Basecamp. A number of our Youth were there last week (Anna Crichton, Lucy Forster, and Zara Horne) and had a great time learning about what it might mean to be a trainee leader at a summer camp. I remember my Basecamp days very fondly. They’re still formative for me in my ministry today.  

To provide a bit more context, if Basecamp allows for these teenagers to take their first few steps into Christian ministry, leadership, and responsibility, Lead Up allows them to take their next few steps. Lead Up is the next tier of SU’s training programme, helping older teenagers and younger adults to consider what it might look like to serve as a leader within wider SU ministries, as well as our local churches.  

We’re working our way through eight different sections of Mark’s gospel, having a think about Jesus’ authority, identity, and mission. These passages will have profound applications for these young leaders as they think about leading in their own contexts, but also as those who are disciples of Jesus, under His care.  

Please pray for me as I speak, and please pray for the conversations that will take place over the week. These are often when God’s Word really sinks into hearts as we speak the truth in love to one another. Pray that the team who are leading at Lead Up will be wise and sensitive to the spiritual needs of the next generation of SU leaders, aware and grateful that Christ already knows and meets their every need. Pray that I’ll encourage them to lead like Christ, for Christ. 
Scott H

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A number of our young people are heading to various SU holidays over the summer. Pray they will have fun but also encounter God.
We are also providing team members for a number of events. Please pray for everyone as they take on these different roles, some as leaders for the first time:

• Grace and Sarah McNicol and Gracie Hamill are heading to GB4 which is a multi-activity holiday at Gowanbank for P6-S4 ages. 
• Sandra McNicol is on team at the Festival of Life - Elie mission. 
• Zara Horne is a trainee leader at LM5 which is a large multi-activity holiday at Lendrick Muir for P5-S4 pupils. 
• Anna Crichton and Lucy Forster are trainee leaders at Plugged which is a digital camp at Alltnacriche. Finlay Murphy is an Assistant Team Leader at this event. 

Pauline Forster is part of the mission week at South Glasgow Church
Zara, Anna and Lucy are also helping at the mission week at Mure Memorial church in Baillieston. 

Prayer Hotline

SU Scotland Summer Events 
There is still time to sign up to the SU prayer hotline to pray during specific weeks of the holidays. click here.
 

SU COmMISSION programme

SU run this programme which equips 16-23 year olds to serve in mission with children and young people, while working towards a qualification awarded by Qualifications Scotland (the new SQA). Delegates attend a training week, help at a summer event and then attend a review weekend.

Lucy, Anna and Zara recently attended Basecamp held at Kingscross on Arran which is for S5/6 age young people. 
Sarah and Gracie are currently at LeadUp at Alltnacriche (for those who have completed Basecamp or have left school) where Scott Hamilton is also on team. (See Scott H's letter above).
The Basecamp week is a full on week of training in practical and Biblical leadership and teamwork. The delegates work in small groups and each group take on responsibility for organising a games session, leading worship, coordinating a meal time and doing duties as well as daily Bible teaching and training sessions for working with children and young people at SU holidays and missions. 
Lucy, Anna and Zara:
"I loved making friends with others who are Christians"
"The whole week was awesome, amazing, great!"
"I learned a lot about being a leader even though I've been a young leader at things before"

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Storage - help!

Pauline is looking for someone to store a few boxes of equipment and large rolls of paper for community week from this Sunday until next Sunday (28th June) and then take them to Belmont to leave in the cupboard at the back of the hall. Please get in touch with her if you can help. 07764741978 or children@mearnsfree.org

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If your gardening work is already well under way this summer, the Lord has been doing His gardening for thousands of years.

This Sunday evening is our last 'I AM...' in our series at Youth.

We’re looking at Jesus stating that He is the true vine, and that His Father is the gardener. It’s another loaded claim by Jesus, steeped in Old Testament significance.

God’s people were referred to as a vine in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They had been planted by God in order to bear fruit, to witness to the nations, to tell of His goodness and glory. However, God’s people are regularly chastised by God for yielding wild grapes, for being unfruitful, for failing to display the morality and justice they ought to.

One of the big lessons of the Old Testament is that we fall very far short of God’s glory, which serves to amplify the faithfulness and obedience of Christ in our hearts. In claiming to be the true vine, He is teaching His disciples that Jesus is going to succeed where His Old Testament people have failed.

Jesus’ words are stark here. You’re either in Him, abiding and remaining in Him, keeping His commandments and loving His disciples, or you’re apart from Jesus, not abiding in Him, thrown away like a branch and withering. We’re either bearing fruit or not. We’re either being pruned by Him so that we might bear more fruit or we’re thrown into the fire and burned.

Jesus isn’t trying to unsettle the assurance of Christian believers. He’s attacking a dead religiosity that thinks we’re good enough for God because of our externals, whereas our hearts are far from Him, such as the religious leaders of the day. He chose us and appointed us so that we should go and bear fruit.

Please pray for our teenagers, that they’d come to understand that Christianity isn’t just church, or knowing about Jesus, or even praying a prayer to ask for forgiveness (as crucial as these things are), but is about abiding in our Saviour, taking our spiritual sustenance and nutrition from Him as our vine, listening to His voice, communing with Him and His people as we obey His commandments and love other believers, all for His glory.
Scott H.

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Tuesday was the final Cafe Connect before the Summer Break.
AND it was the birthday of the Cafe which had started back in Maxwell Mearns 10 years ago!
So, you can see from the photos there was plenty of birthday cake and treats to go round.
Jaan spoke about the Billy Graham Crusade of 1955 when he was in Glasgow for 6 weeks.
It was great to see a number of the Cafe regulars talking about how they had attended that Crusade all those years ago.
Watch the 90sec Pathy news reel here.

Billy Graham’s 1955 All Scotland Crusade was a historic six-week evangelistic campaign in Glasgow from March 21 to April 30.
Over 830,000 attendees to the Kelvin Hall, Ibrox Park, and Hampden Park.
Approximately 2.5 million people engaged across the nation. The crusade remains one of the largest mass religious gatherings in Scottish history. Across the six weeks, it is estimated that at least 26,000 to 50,000 individuals made recorded commitments to Christian faith


Jaan also shared how her own Mum, Cathie had gone forward and prayed the evening she was there and became a Christian. Jaan gave out copies of the 'sinner's prayer' that people were led in if they wanted to give their life to Jesus.
We also sang hymns which were popular from that time.



It was good to take a moment to present Elizabeth with an orchid and flowers as a thank you for leading for the 10 years.
The cafe can't run without those who bake so well - Sue made a special birthday cake for the occasion. If you are on the right subscription and you hand back the empties there is a free refill.
And thanks of course to the helpers and to all the 'guests' who come along faithfully each week. The photo shows Mary sharing that she also had a birthday recently - Fiona still claims that the look of utter shock on her face should be understood in a completely positive way...well, she would say that.

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DATE FOR THE DIARY

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FREE!

Scott Hamilton is getting married (I know, right?!) and moving flat.
He is happy to give away some furniture he isn't taking with him, so if you are looking for a table (3 chairs - don't ask) or a sofa then get in touch.  Apparently, the TV is not part of the deal.

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COFFEE AND TREATS AFTER CHURCH

BAKING  - it's great that so many people are on the baking rota - this means that it is around every 7-8 weeks that they are called on. Can you join this group - or know someone in your family who is a great baker, who could make something which you can pass off as your own work? Speak with Margaret Boyd
CUPS - already a lot of people bring their own cup along - this does save on costs for paper cups so if you can bring your along that would be great,  and the team will almost certainly speak about you behind your back less than they currently do!