Mgr Aldo meets the Pope!
Our very own Mgr Aldo shares a joke with Pope Francis….. Read more about his meeting in Rome where he represented Scotland’s parish priests for the final session of the Synod of Synodality.
Category: Eco
Did you know …..
that the Church gardens aren’t just about the flowers and veg! We have lots of bird feeders and bug hotels around the area to encourage and protect wildlife and we made a “pond” from an old sink. We make our own compost and, from the leaves we sweep up in Autumn, we make leaf mould to spread on the raised beds. We have water butts to collect all this rain that seems to fall daily and there are several varieties of fruit trees in the orchard which are now really beginning to blossom. As well as growing flowers for the altar and the tables in CCs, we grow herbs and vegetables which are often added to hearty soups to be served up on Thursdays. The garden gang are heavily involved in all sorts of garden maintenance; cleaning, painting, digging, chopping, sweeping and building. So, if you can spare an hour or two over the summer to come and help with some essential jobs such as watering and weeding then it would be much appreciated! Oh, and one more thing…. Did you know … there’s always tea and cake 🙂
CC Juniors and the Sweet Pea Wigwam!
Today we have been planting out our sweet pea seedlings around the wigwam. We filled the bird feeders and the hedgehog dishes, we planted sunflower seeds in the Mary Garden and we enjoyed some flower shaped snacks! Our little robin enjoyed our company too and he says that, even though the wigwam doesn’t look like much at the moment, it will definitely be very pretty by the time summer arrives! Fingers crossed for some warmer weather to really get the plants growing! 🙂
Didn’t our Walkers do well??
Wow! Our parishioners who took up the challenge of the Big Lenten Walk for SCIAF certainly put their best feet forward. The combined group from St Ninian’s and St Clement’s walked the roads and the miles round Dundee and have hiked home with an astonishing total of £5000!
Our super strollers send a huge THANK YOU to all who gave so generously.
This marathon effort has put the Parishes Together group at the top of the Cafod/SCIAF Justgiving page leader board, not just in Scotland, but for the whole of the UK!
So take a bow, St Ninian’s and St Clement’s, you may just have strolled into the SCIAF record books.
SCIAF ‘Thank you!’
Happy Easter to everyone! It’s great to see how well everyone has done with the special parishes’ Lenten efforts they started 6 weeks ago:
- Every week, parishioners from St Ninian’s and St Clement’s have come together to pray the Stations of the Cross.
- Fr Johney and many parishioners joined the Muirhead Church for an ecumenical service
- People have been very generous in bringing food to donate to the Foodbank, and the Foodbank’s calendar was a big help;
- A group effort made the Parishes Together Big Lent Walk a success. 20 parishioners signed up for this and have raised over £4,000! Very well done!
- And of course, the Wee Box appeal- these will be returned to the churches, monies counted then sent to SCIAF.
Fr Johney and several parishioners enjoyed a well-deserved hot drink after their bracing walk along Riverside to complete their Big Lent Walk.
- On Good Friday evening, a Passion Play was acted out beautifully in St Ninian’s. A special mention and a huge thanks to Maureen Ruddy who was the director and the main driving force behind this moving enactment of the passion of Our Lord. Also many thanks to those behind the scenes getting costumes and make up ready, practising lines, musicians and singers and of course a big shout out to the young folk- the actors who were amazing.
All our fundraising will be a massive help to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. View the video from SCIAF’s partners and project participants in Rwanda
Garden Update
As Spring (slowly) begins to make an entrance, work begins again in the Church gardens. Time to clear up after the wet Winter, to admire the first of the flowers – the crocus bulbs that the children planted and our annual daffodils ready for cutting, to look at the new additions such as the Sweet Pea Wigwam, the Hedgehog House and the beautiful Memorial Cross. Our little pal Bob the Robin is ever present and generally spends the whole afternoon with the Garden Gang. Please do come along and visit or lend a hand as Spring progresses.
CC Juniors Litter Heroes!
Our March CC Juniors had a litter theme! On a wet and miserable afternoon we first of all tucked in to some “litter free snacks” with fruit which we peeled and put in the compost bin and blueberry muffins baked in washable moulds! We watched some videos about caring for our world and the importance of not dropping litter! These are the links to the short videos.
As the rain had eased a bit, we braved it and headed out to do some litter picking – we had such a lot of fun, everyone was very enthusiastic and we think we did a great job! On the way we checked to see if a hedgehog had moved into the house yet and left some food just incase. Looking forward to next month – wonder what the children will be up to next! 🤩🌍🌸
Big Lent Walk Update
A willing bunch of parishioners have signed up to complete a 200km walk during the 6 weeks of Lent. Some are walking alone, in families or in social groups sharing the miles. The photos below show some of us in action. It’s been a nice opportunity to take stock of the beautiful world around us and to enjoy some canine company, some friendly chats and to embrace the weather – rain, wind and shine! We are delighted to say that, even at the halfway point, we have already raised almost £2000 and are top of the UK leaderboard – this money will go a long way towards helping those overseas who are supported by Sciaf to achieve their goals and dreams.