LUPC UPDATE 27th February 2026
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1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade
‘To seek, serve and follow Christ’
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade celebrated our 50th anniversary with an afternoon tea on Sunday 22nd February. Many previous members, leaders and current supporters of the company attended and enjoyed a photo display of past years of the company. The GB girls sang some choruses from years gone by, led by Rev John Campbell who encouraged everyone to join in. It was a joyful occasion and a chance for everyone to socialise and catch up with friends. Stewart Catering provided a wonderful afternoon tea of sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones, cakes and traybakes.
Many thanks to everyone who supported the event as well as those who handed in donations for the company’s funds.
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade was started in 1976 by the late Christine Slimming. At a well-attended Boys Brigade parade at Lenzie Union church Christine asked the minister, Rev David Orrock, why there was no Girls’ Brigade and his reply was ‘because you haven’t started one’. So she did. The captaincy then passed to Isabel Irvine until 1983 when Elizabeth Lang took over followed by Gay Drummond. In 1989 Sheena Boyd became the captain followed by Margaret Lowe in 1993, and Sheila Milligan in 2001 until 2010 when Niki Coutts became the leader in charge followed by Anne Halliday in 2013 to the present.
All the leaders, current and previous, as well as those who have given their time on Tuesday evenings to visit the company to lead sessions, have helped to make 1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade a welcoming and enjoyable place for girls to meet, where they can learn new things, make new friends, play games and do lots of craft. Anyone interested in their daughter joining the company should email 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com for details.
Coda Estates funded the planting of bulbs by the girls in the memorial garden in Victoria Road, Lenzie, for the 50th anniversary, so if you are out for a walk this spring please have a look to see the lovely bulbs coming up.
The Semitones - a great success!
The Guild and their Guests had a fantastic time on Monday 2nd February when the Semitones entertained them.
The 12 members of the semitones sang with gusto, a variety of songs from the serious to the absolutely crazy.
The audience were invited to participate with voice and actions and they didn’t hesitate!
One of the soloists was none other than our church Treasurer, Kenneth MacLeod, who showed a completely different side to him singing the extremely funny Midge song.
The Guild will now be meeting in the evenings until their session ends on 30th March.
Look out for information about our next open meeting on Monday 30th March at 7.30pm, when again we will be entertained by the lovely Celia and Isobel.
Bearsden Fiddlers
Lenzie Fair Trade presents The Bearsden Fiddlers
An evening of Scots Fiddle Music inside Lenzie Union Parish Church
Thursday 5th February 7.30pm Admission £10
School pupils and students free
There will be tea/coffee home baking available and an opportunity to learn about Fair Trade.
Cluster Service at Lenzie Old
Lenzie Old Parish Church are hosting the Kirkintilloch and Lenzie Cluster Service on Sunday 1st February at 11am. A crèche is available for children under 3, and Sunday school for young people.
Tea/Coffee will be available in the New Hall after the service. There will also be a Fairtrade stall.
Come together to worship God
LUPC UPDATE 17th January 2026
Download and read the latest news from Lenzie Union
January Guild Meeting
The Guild Bring, Buy and Blether Afternoon on Monday, 5th January 2026 at 2.00pm was a great success with a total of £185 being the profit from the sales table. This money goes towards the Guild’s Projects for this year.
The volume of noise from the ‘Blether’ would suggest that everyone was delighted to be back meeting after the Christmas break. Instead of the usual Afternoon Tea fayre, sausage rolls, cheese and biscuits, cup cakes and empire biscuits were provided by members of the Committee and Guild members on the rota that afternoon. This food went down very well!
At the Guild’s next meeting on Monday, 19th January at 2pm, the members will be hearing about one of this year’s Guild projects. Cathay and Christina will be telling us all about Bear Necessities. This is a non-profit making group supporting social and educational projects in a small Bulgarian village.
More information about this wonderful organisation will be posted after our next meeting on the 19th January!
Mission Sunday
A special service focusing on Mission will be led by Rev Donald Macleod.
Hear from Emily & Jasmine about their upcoming trip to South Africa.
There will be a prayer focus following the service.
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade’s Christmas Adventures
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade had great fun in the lead-up to Christmas with various events. We had Baking at Home with Rhona when we made muffins in a variety of flavours: white chocolate and raspberry, blueberry, lemon and other combinations. The girls were really pleased with their baking and their families appreciated it too! The Nethy Bridge trip girls went tubing at Bearsden Ski Centre and had a thrilling time there, with a few ‘spills’ too. The Brigaders had a night out at Craft Daft on a Raft making Christmas ornaments and we made our own Christmas decorations in the hall too. There was also a Christmas movie night watching ‘Arthur Christmas’ in the hall with popcorn and snacks and, finally, we all enjoyed the Christmas party with a special visitor! Thanks to Coda Estates for funding the party again this year. It’s been a busy festive period!
Sharing the Joy of the First Christmas
The Christmas Experience - performed for school pupils
What a joy it was to share the joy of the first Christmas through drama, with pupils from Lenzie Meadow Primary and Woodland View!
Having witnessed Mary receiving a message from God through Gabriel, they followed Mary and Joseph towards Bethlehem. There, on a hillside they met some rather grumpy shepherds tending their sheep, scaring away the wolves.
What a surprise the shepherds (and the pupils) experienced when, with a loud rustling noise and dazzling light, an angel appeared!
They travelled to the East, met some wise men who were so enthralled by the appearance of a bright new star that they set off on a journey to find a new born King. The pupils, of course, went on that long journey with them all the way to a stable in Bethlehem!
And there they met Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. What Joy!
The Christmas Experience - also open to the public
Many are now regular visitors to this annual drama and some came for the first time. They all experienced the JOY of the first Christmas!
Also go to Lenzie Union Facebook to read more about the CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE
also The BETHLEHEM EXPERIENCE Another wonderful opportunity to share the joy of the first Christmas!
Step back in time as you enter BETHLEHEM 2000 years ago! ........
Guild Christmas Activities Afternoon
The members of the guild had a great afternoon singing favourite Christmas Songs and trying to complete craft activities that they had done when they were much younger! Church Treasurer Kenneth MacLeod played the piano and Guild Secretary Morag MacLeod challenged the members to complete 3 tasks. Christmas crackers and crepe paper decorations proved fairly easy to make but fancy snowflakes were problematic as an important step in their construction was missed out!
The results of the members efforts are on the Guild noticeboard.
The Guild finishes off this year with a lunch at The Golden Pheasant.
Look out for notices about exciting 2026 Guild activities.
Fantastic Fun at the Ceilidh
Anyone who stayed at home to watch Strictly missed a fantastic night of dancing the New Hall! The Ceilidh organised by the teenagers going to South Africa was great fun!
Although the ceilidh band had to cancel at the last minute due to illness, they gave the team excellent sound equipment and recordings for all the dances. This worked a treat!
Everyone there was keen to dance and the floor was full when at the end the Orcadian Strip the Willow was called.
Cakes and drinks were available throughout the night and at supper time they tucked into true Scottish fare - rolls with Lorne sausage and potato scones!
A Scottish Quiz gave dancers the time to catch their breath.
Altogether a successful night out!
Another opportunity to put on your dancing shoes ...
The Ceilidh Band are sorry about having to cancel and have offered to come back early in the new year.
Look out for posters with the new date and take all the family along for a great night out.
Something to celebrate!
Today, on the First Sunday of Advent, at our service led by Rev Donald Macleod, 4 young people from our church family were welcomed into membership of our church! What a joyous occasion!
May God continue to bless each one of them in their journey of faith!
The Big Quiz - a big success!
What a great night and such a relaxed atmosphere!
The evening got off to a good start as we took an opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated service of Janet Dickson our Tearfund representative for well over forty years. When interviewed by Gordon, the convenor of our Mission and Discipleship team, Janet spoke enthusiastically as she recalled some special memories.
Soon it was time to join the Big Quiz nationwide and we got down to the business of teamwork! Not too seriously though, with opportunities for a laugh. Who would have thought that we'd be singing Abba songs!
Having fun, enjoying a tasty supper and each others' company while raising £500 for a great cause! What's not to like!
Just heard that £36000 was raised by the Tearfund Quizzes across the UK ! Great to be part of that!
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade
It has been a busy year at 1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade for the start of our 50th anniversary year. As part of our service topic we planted bulbs in the memorial gardens on Victoria Road. The girls all enjoyed the event and we put up a plaque to commemorate this. We would like to thank Coda Estates for their continued support of the company and for their funding of the spring bulbs. We are celebrating the 50th anniversary with an afternoon tea in the church hall on Sunday 22nd February 2026 from 2pm to 4pm. Please email 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com to reserve a place.
The Commonwealth Games is the educational and physical topic this year. We discovered Finnie the mascot, named for the Finnieston Crane, who is a unicorn with an orange-and-white striped traffic cone horn, copying the cone that is always on top of the Duke of Wellington’s statue in Glasgow.
So far we have learned about the countries of India, Malaysia and Vanuatu and we still have more to come. We had pakora for our India session and also practised yoga. For our Malaysia evening we had sweet cakes called kuih bahulu and played badminton. We had a boxing exercise session with 2018 welterweight champion Ally Black – the girls enjoyed trying on the boxing training gloves and holding Ally’s championship belt. On our Vanuatu evening we did a weaving craft which is one of the country’s traditional crafts. It has been interesting learning about the foods, cultures and traditions of these different countries.
The spiritual topic is the fruits of the spirit and we are covering them all with Kim’s help. We have also enjoyed trying actual fruits to represent each fruit of the spirit. You may have seen the mural the girls have started to put up in the New Hall.
We are looking forward to our next few evenings as Christmas approaches. We have baking at home with Rhona, Christmas crafts, a Christmas movie night and our Christmas party!
We have a stall at Lenzie Meadow Christmas Fayre on Saturday 29th November so do come along and say hello!
THE GUILD for men and women
What a terrific start to the new Session of the Guild when we were entertained by the group Harmony. Music from the 50’s and 60’s encouraged some of the ladies to get up and dance . We had the Twist and the Slosh and others joined in with singing. A really uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable evening and a wonderful start to the new Session.
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade enrolment - 50th anniversary year!
Girls’ Brigade is enrolling for the new session now. If your daughter is interested in learning new things, making new friends, playing games and doing crafts then GB is perfect for them. In anticipation of next summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow we are going to be learning about the Commonwealth countries and the sports that are part of the Games. Our spiritual topic this year will be the Fruits of the Spirit - some actual fruits may appear on the snack menu!
GB meets on Tuesday evenings during term time from 7 till 8.15pm in the New Hall for all school ages. Email Anne Halliday on 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com to obtain the enrolment forms and details for GB.
It’s an exciting year as this is 1st Lenzie Company’s 50th anniversary! If you used to be a member or leader please email 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com to express an interest in attending our celebratory afternoon tea on Sunday 22nd February 2026.
Primary 1 Parents Coffee Morning
Now that the children are in school primary one parents are invited to meet and relax over a coffee (or tea if you prefer)
Thursday 14th August 10am to 11.30am.
A great way to get to know other parents.
Kirkie & Lenzie Build South Africa 2026
We are a group of young people & young adults from local churches travelling to Johannesburg in July 2026 to build a new home for a family living in poverty. The trip is organised by Amor Europe and promises to be an unforgettable 10 day experience. Your support for the many fundraising events we have planned to take us all to South Africa is crucial to our success! You can also support us by donating directly via our Crowdfunder page and in prayer. Please look out for our upcoming events on the calendar!
The Pentecost Experience
You are invited to come along to the Pentecost Experience on Saturday 7th June
Take some time out of your busy lives to explore the work of the Holy Spirit
- in the life of Jesus,
- in the lives of his disciples,
- in the church today
- and in our own lives.
Wander around the church at your own pace, stopping awhile at each display for a time of reflection before moving on to the next one.
Enjoy the calm, relaxing atmosphere and feel refreshed.
There will be time for tea, coffee and cake afterwards.
Didn’t they do well!
In B.B. national competitions during session 2024/2025 the Company are delighted to have been crowned the Scottish and U.K. under 15 five a side football champions.
They are also the Scottish Chess Champions and in 5th place in the U.K.
Congratulations to all who took part!
Girls’ Brigade visit to Almond Valley
On Saturday 10th May a group of 22 girls from 1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade attended the Divisional Fun Day at Almond Valley Heritage Centre. It was an early start and the sun was already shining as we started our journey by bus with other Girls’ Brigade companies from our area.
Almond Valley occupies a large site in the Livingston countryside on both sides of the River Almond. The Girls’ Brigade companies had exclusive use of a barn area with picnic tables and these were welcome shelter from the sun!
The girls had fun with all the activities on offer. We started at the subterranean trolleys and zip wire, next to the woodland enclosures for the reindeer, the beautiful peacocks and the Highland cattle. Next we visited the adventure castle, with its big slides and high walkways. The paraffin works play space was next and the girls ran and climbed around the engines, pipes and tanks of a Victorian shale oil works. There was a chance for a quick turn on the go-karts before lunch in the barn area.
The girls absolutely loved the bouncing ‘pillows’, huge green bouncy domes set into the ground and surrounded by sand. Next we headed off to see the animals. In the fields we saw goats with their kids, alpacas and sheep and inside the barn were some donkeys and more really cute baby goats – everyone wished they could take one home! There was also a barn with smaller animals like rabbits, mice and newly hatched ducklings. We made a trip to the gift shop and museum and then went on a tractor ride around the paddocks for the horses.
We managed to find another adventure area to climb around in before we headed back to the barn revisiting all the favourite spots on the way.
The event finished with a music worship session for everyone in the barn.
Thanks to GB Greater Glasgow Commissioner Karen Scott and her team for arranging this event.
The Latest UPDATE
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Girls’ Brigade Display
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade enjoyed a successful Display on Tuesday 22nd April. Family and friends attended the Display to celebrate the girls’ year of achievements at Girl’s Brigade. This year our topics were: Construction, Building faith, Football and ball skills, and the Trussell Trust.
The older girls held a quiz about buildings/structures in Lenzie and four members of the audience courageously ‘volunteered’ to take part in a buzzer round to demonstrate their knowledge of the local area. With the help of the parachute and various percussion instruments, the girls narrated the parable of the two builders. We then had a demonstration of football tackling and goal-scoring skills as well as some netball skills. After sharing some facts about Lego (did you know that for every person on Earth there are 62 Lego pieces!) the girls and some family members made balloon-powered Lego cars, culminating in a race to see whose car could go the furthest!
Awards were presented to all the girls and we were delighted to present one of our Brigaders, Jasmine McLean, with her Brigader brooch. Jasmine is going on the Build South Africa trip next year and she gave a short talk about the trip.
This year we are grateful for the help we received from a variety of people: Marian and her colleague Fiona for our Fairtrade night, Erin from Cumbernauld Colts football team, Elaine from the Trussell Trust, Neil for our engineering slides for the church and discussion on arches.
Thanks to East Dunbartonshire Council for our ball skills grant, Tesco for our Lego and construction topic funding, and Coda Estates for our Christmas party. The GB leaders would like to thank parent helpers Alyson, Michelle and Suzanne, and also say thank you to ‘the two Suzannes’ for running the tuck shop to provide funds for our company.
Still to come this term: ten pin bowling, crazy putting and golf lessons, and a summer party!
To join Girls’ Brigade for the new session after the summer holidays please email 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com
Anne, Kim, Rhona, Jennifer and Karen
Girls’ Brigade Display
1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade enjoyed a successful Display on Tuesday 22nd April. Family and friends attended the Display to celebrate the girls’ year of achievements at Girl’s Brigade. This year our topics were: Construction, Building faith, Football and ball skills, and the Trussell Trust.
The older girls held a quiz about buildings/structures in Lenzie and four members of the audience courageously ‘volunteered’ to take part in a buzzer round to demonstrate their knowledge of the local area. With the help of the parachute and various percussion instruments, the girls narrated the parable of the two builders. We then had a demonstration of football tackling and goal-scoring skills as well as some netball skills. After sharing some facts about Lego (did you know that for every person on Earth there are 62 Lego pieces!) the girls and some family members made balloon-powered Lego cars, culminating in a race to see whose car could go the furthest!
Awards were presented to all the girls and we were delighted to present one of our Brigaders, Jasmine McLean, with her Brigader brooch. Jasmine is going on the Build South Africa trip next year and she gave a short talk about the trip.
This year we are grateful for the help we received from a variety of people: Marian and her colleague Fiona for our Fairtrade night, Erin from Cumbernauld Colts football team, Elaine from the Trussell Trust, Neil for our engineering slides for the church and discussion on arches.
Thanks to East Dunbartonshire Council for our ball skills grant, Tesco for our Lego and construction topic funding, and Coda Estates for our Christmas party. The GB leaders would like to thank parent helpers Alyson, Michelle and Suzanne, and also say thank you to ‘the two Suzannes’ for running the tuck shop to provide funds for our company.
Still to come this term: ten pin bowling, crazy putting and golf lessons, and a summer party!
To join Girls’ Brigade for the new session after the summer holidays please email 1stlenziegb23@gmail.com
Anne, Kim, Rhona, Jennifer and Karen
Many visitors came along to Explore Easter
What a powerful, moving, thought provoking way to see and hear the Easter story through drama
Explore Easter through the eyes of those who came along .....
"It was my first time visiting this re-enactment and I’ll definitely come again and bring a friend. I loved it! What a great thing!"
“I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised and I felt moved.”
“I was in the zone!
I was almost as if I was there!
The characters seemed real.
They brought it to life.”
“It was almost as if I was hearing it for the first time! Hearing it afresh!”
“There was a lot of learning in it. So much I hadn’t realised .”
A wide range of real emotions were demonstrated “Peter seemed really upset.”
“He brought a tear to my eye!”
“Listening to bible readings or watching a film are fine, but to actually meet the characters face to face was so much more powerful! It was amazing! I’ll never forget this!
“It just gets better and better! Even more realistic!
“That was wonderful!”
“When the children came to building their Easter gardens they knew all the details from watching the drama and following the Easter trail.” Kim
More construction at Girls’ Brigade
We have been continuing our construction theme at Girls’ Brigade with a variety of activities this term.
We had an evening inside Lenzie Union church building looking at arches, columns and trusses. We explored tension and compression, as well as looking at the beautiful stained glass windows. Thanks to our engineering friend Neil for preparing a PowerPoint for us. Afterwards the girls were able to put what they had learned into practice with some Lego arches.
Another activity we have completed this term was constructing a game to take home. The girls each made a marble run from an empty cereal box (with quite a large quantity of Sellotape!) and decorated one side. The angles of the ramps had to be perfected to allow the marble to run properly from top to bottom – a practical demonstration of gravity!
Next we had some fun with balloon-powered Lego cars. The girls had to work out how big to make their cars and how much air to put in their balloons (thrust) to make the cars go further. It was quite difficult to work out the correct combinations and we used Newton’s third law of motion to get our cars to go in the right direction – ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’.
I’m sure you can guess that the perfect parable to look at for this topic is … ‘The Two Builders’!
On our first evening back after the Easter holidays we have our Display – Tuesday 22nd April at 7pm – where we will celebrate the girls’ achievements. All families, friends and supporters of 1st Lenzie GB are welcome.
EXPLORING EASTER through DRAMA
Want something interesting and fun to do on Easter Saturday afternoon?
Come along to the EXPLORING EASTER event in the grounds of Lenzie Union Church. Wander around at your leisure, meet seven different characters from the Easter story and listen as they tell you all about their experiences on the very first Easter.
An interactive Easter trail for the children will keep them amused.
Afterwards enjoy a cuppa and a hot cross bun!
Drop by any time between 2pm and 4pm. Stay for as long as you wish.
We plan to be outside if the weather allows but we will be inside if need be.
So don’t hesitate to come along!
Litter Pick
Saturday 22nd March
An Opportunity to Help the Community
Want to help tidy up the litter in your local area? Come along to DEAN HOUSE next Saturday morning at 10am to register for the event. Then set off to gather up as much litter as you can!
When you return enjoy some hot chocolate and cake as your reward!
Hope to see you there!
World Day of Prayer
Kia orana'
Kia orano is from the Maori language and means hello but also may you live long and may you live well , may you shine like the sun and may you dance with the waves .
This was the opening to our ecumenical World Day of Prayer service in Lenzie Union church for the Lenzie / Kirkintilloch area but written by the Christian women from the Cook Islands
The ladies taking part were from the various local churches, dressed in bright colours and wore garlands of flowers .
The communion table was decorated with a blue cloth , a bowl of water and seashells to represent the sea . A plant in place of a palm tree and coconut shells and bright flowers as seen on the islands . We even had a full size canoe in the vestibule as that is their main mode of transport.
The main part of the service focussed on the stories of three women, different ages and different backgrounds but all with very strong Christian Faith.
A fifteen year old, anxious through Covid, discovered, “God knows me , and God knows you and God knows everything we are going through.”
A lady in her sixties who had spoken Maori language but, forced at school to learn and speak English, felt devalued, but she knew God was still with her.
The third was a Paediatrician from the Cook Islands who graduated in Fiji but returned to work back home . She has tried to improve services on the islands and says that, “God created me wonderful by blessing me with the motivation to study medicine.”
We all joined and said -
“I am fearfully made and wonderfully made
Marvellous are Gods works that, we now know very well
And we'll praise you all our days”
World Day of Prayer, 7th March
World Day of Prayer celebrated in over 120 countries. Join us at 1.30pm on Friday 7th March in a worship service prepared by Christian women in the Cooks Islands. The theme this year is "I made you wonderful" A warm welcome awaits you.
Guild Coffee Morning
Come along and enjoy the Guild Coffee Morning on Saturday 1st March 2025
10am to 12 noon
in aid of Guild projects
Bibles for Bairns (Scotland)
Build my Church (Bulgaria)
Ticket £4.
Faith in Action, at Home and Abroad
Faith in Action, at home and abroad.
Humbled and moved, whether present in church, or watching from home, we all felt the same!
We had focused on the plights of others, young and old, on their dreadful circumstances in which they found themselves. And we heard of the amazing differences that a few willing workers can make.
The Sunday Service on 26 January led by the Mission & Discipleship Team focused on Mission. Our all age talk explained Mission to the young folks , and the not so young!
We heard about the Lodging House Mission in Glasgow and its work with many vulnerable, homeless people. Not only do they provide them with food, they enable them to turn their lives around as they develop life skills, self-esteem, confidence and a sense of belonging, What a difference this makes!
We read from James 2: 14 –17 “ ….. If one of you says to them Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
We were pleased to hear about the work of our partner Crosslinks and we joined them in praising God that the door is wide open for the gospel to be preached in Moldova, which borders Ukraine. We heard by video link from Graeme who works for Crosslinks in Moldova. He thanked us for our support as he and his wife Bequi lead Bible studies and youth groups for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Callum Henderson from Comfort International gave us a moving presentation of their work in Rwanda and South Sudan and in particular the work of Batsinda Street Kids Rescue. Building schools and ultimately providing a way out of poverty is making such a difference. Hearing how individual lives have been changed and seeing the happiness on their faces was heartwarming!
We also heard of the work of their partners Comfort Congo who work to help the many displaced people there who are affected by war.
Humbled and moved, we prayed for the 3 organisations and also for guidance when carrying out God’s mission work in Lenzie.
Stay Curious -Try Alpha
Alpha is a series of group conversations that freely explore the basics of the Christian faith in an open, friendly environment. Everyone is welcome and if you are curious about Christianity and finding out more about Jesus and associated benefits to our wellbeing please open the attached link and also email alpha.lenzie@gmail.com to register your interest.
Guild Afternoon Tea
For the first meeting in 2025 the Guild will have an afternoon tea on Monday 6th January at 2.00pm in the New Hall. It's a Bring, Buy and Blether, so bring some items, buy something new and enjoy a blether!
THE CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE BRINGS JOY TO MANY!
What a delight to see the faces of the young pupils , totally engaged in the story of the first Christmas.
They were ….
Engrossed as Mary talked to them in her house,
Amazed when Gabriel appeared,
Excited as they went with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
Amused by the antics of the shepherds on the hillside,
Worried about the sheep when they heard the howls of the wolves,
Dazzled by the Angel when she brought good news.
Bewildered as they wondered what would happen next,
Intrigued by the Wisemen deliberating on the meaning of the star,
Totally involved as they followed the star all the way to Bethlehem,
Delighted to meet Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus in the stable
And reassured that Jesus was God’s Son when they met Simeon and Anna in the Temple.
The evening performances were equally enjoyed by the many people, young and not so young, who came along. Some came for the first time and others came as this is now a Christmas tradition!
Merry Christmas from 1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade
Girls’ Brigade’s educational theme is ‘construction’ this year, so what could you ‘construct’ at Christmas? A gingerbread house of course!
First, so that every girl could take part with adequate supervision, we had a 'Baking at Home with Rhona' evening on Zoom, with every girl in their own kitchen, and parental supervision.
With Rhona’s expert tuition the girls made gingerbread pieces to a specific size and shape using a template. Everyone had fun going through the various stages of adding and mixing the ingredients together, rolling out the dough and cutting it to size. The pieces had to be quite thick to be strong enough for the construction. The bonus was that there was plenty of extra dough which could be used to make gingerbread shapes or frozen to use later.
Once baked, the girls cooled their house sections and brought them to Girls' Brigade the following week to construct into gingerbread houses. Help with sticking the sections together was provided, as well as a large quantity of royal icing (thanks to Rhona!). Then everyone went wild with their decorations! You can see all their original designs in the pictures.
Lodging House Mission Christmas Appeal
Please can you help this Christmas?
Message from the Lodging House Mission
We would love for everyone who comes to us to have something in their Christmas bag that they would like, rather than just what they need. We would also love to provide a bag of goodies to enjoy over the festive period.
We generally need toiletries which we to provide on a daily basis and there is also a miscellaneous list of a few wee extras that would made a big difference.
Constructive Designs at Girls Brigade
Earlier this year, we were delighted to be successful in our application for the Tesco Stronger Starts scheme which supports local good causes. Tesco customers in Kirkintilloch, Cumbernauld, Craigmarloch and Bishopbriggs stores voted during April, May and June with the result that we received a grant to use towards our ‘construction’ theme this year.
One of the crafts we purchased with the grant was Baker Ross kits for every girl to build a doll’s house room. We also bought furniture kits to make tables, chairs, bookcases and beds for our rooms. This project took three weeks and the girls worked hard to construct the kits and strengthen them with wood glue. The furniture was quite fiddly to put together and patience was required! Recycled materials brought from home or from our Girls’ Brigade resources were used to make carpets and curtains, and everyone got inventive with wall coverings, cushions, tablecloths and artwork. The girls had amazing ideas and came up with so many different designs for their rooms.
Finally, the girls made plasticene people for their rooms! Above are some pictures of the craft.
Update November 2024 Released
A Wonderful Evening
On Saturday 26th October, the Kirkintilloch Male Voice Choir entertained a large audience of family, friends and church members. We were treated to a variety of songs from Alexander’s Ragtime Band to Black Island, an American trilogy and a superb finale of Highland Cathedral to name a few. Soloists sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables and Getting to Know You from My Fair Lady and David gave us a lovely rendition of Gabriel’s Oboe on the organ.
The concert was followed by an invitation to join together in the New Hall for chat and light refreshments.
A wonderful evening when over £1000 was raised for Crossreach and Lenzie Union Church!
Youth Cafe
Youth Cafe is a free space for young people so if you want to hang out and enjoy loads of activities, food or just chat come along and pick up a consent form to attend Youth Cafe. You can email for a consent form in advance. Hope to see you there after school 3.45 - 5.00 pm on Thursday 31st October!
youthworker@lenzieunion.org
The Guild – James Carmichael - an excellent speaker
Monday 21st October
Our guest speaker this evening was James Carmichael, a retired lecturer and crime writer who grew up in Glasgow. His topic was Polio which turned out to be a most inspiring, thought provoking and enlightening talk. The heart-rending stories of children diagnosed with polio being completely isolated from family with sandbags set on them to prevent any movement and being kept in hospital for a year or more was a reminder of how things have moved on in treatment and care. Polio, however, is still a problem in many parts of the world and James told us of the End Polio Now campaign of which he is President. In this role he travels all over Britain giving talks on the importance of effective vaccines. There is no cure for Post-Polio syndrome which emphasises the need for everyone to be protected.
James explained that Polio can be caught from being in contact with contaminated water for example. The Pro Plus Society is providing clean water around the world as well as protecting hundreds of children with a potentially life saving vaccine. The devastation of war torn countries such as Gaza cause untold misery to the thousands risking their lives to be vaccinated.
James finished his talk by emotionally explaining that his biggest challenge has been to adapt to the simple fact that his condition will deteriorate. All he can do is to `pace` himself which was not an easy thing for him to accept. His final words were “No-one today should contact Polio”.
What a fantastic weekend away!
This autumn some of the youngsters from 1st Lenzie Boys’ Brigade and 1st Lenzie Girls’ Brigade enjoyed a fantastic weekend away to Abernethy Outdoor Centre at Nethy Bridge, run by the Abernethy Trust. We enjoyed a selection of activities including crate building, adventure course, zip wire, canoeing, raft building, climbing wall, aerial runway, Jacob’s ladder and archery.
At one point the boys on the raft competed against the girls in the canoes to collect balls around the canoeing pond – we won’t say who won!
Some of the brave young people also chose to jump into the water after their canoeing activity – it was very cold! Everyone had time to also go swimming in the indoor pool at the house and to play in the games room.
In the evening there was a Christian session run by Abernethy, followed by an amazing camp fire and a movie night. After church on Sunday we played a scavenger hunt organised by the BB all around the house.
It was a great weekend for everyone and the young people experienced new activities and enjoyed some independence.
Thanks to the Abernethy staff and instructors for a great weekend.
The Guild - Off to a great start!
It's always lovely to get together on opening night after such a long break, to meet up and chat over a cuppa and some delicious home baking.
Last night however, we experienced a real treat! The entertainment was top notch. Kirsty Duncan, a professional singer from Glasgow, enjoyed singing almost as much as we enjoyed listening to her fabulous rendition of songs from the musicals.
What talent! What an entertainer! What a memorable evening!
Looking for Pastoral Care Team Volunteers
The session has agreed to the formation of a Pastoral Care Team to augment the role of the Elder and our Pastoral Assistant, Donald Macleod. The Holy Spirit has given us all different gifts and talents to use to his glory but everyone who belongs to God’s church is part of the shared ministry of caring for each other and for the world. Jesus’s commandment to us was to love one and other and share the Good News of Christ.
It is envisaged that the role of a Pastoral Care Team member would require as little as an hour a month visiting 1 housebound person regularly or as much time in the month that would suit you to allocate to the task eg having 2 or 3 people you would visit regularly.
Should you decide to explore this role within our church and be a part of this team, God will equip you for the task but also we would offer 2 initial training sessions in the autumn led by our pastoral assistant, Donald. As this would be a formal team any member would require to apply for a PVG.
A bible, a baked potato and a blether!
What a wonderful time of fellowship, fun and food we had on Sunday 25 August. Our pastoral assistant Donald Macleod led worship preaching on Psalm 23 , The Lord is my Shepherd. After the service, the Mission and Discipleship team made lunch for everyone and we delved deeper into the Psalm with our friends marvelling at the strength and promises of this portion of scripture.
We are really looking forward to the next time we can meet and do the same! I wonder what verses it will be and what culinary delights we can make!
Thanks so much everyone who took part
The M and D team