WEEKLY NEWS
1. OPEN TO ALL Coffee and tea will be served in the Bill McDonald Hall at the close of the Sunday service. Everyone is most welcome.
2. Services of Worship Next Sunday: 9.30am and 10.45am.
3. FUNERAL SERVICES Mrs Pam Gray’s funeral is on Tuesday 9 December at 11.30am, at Mortonhall Crematorium. All friends are welcome. Helen Finlayson’s funeral will take place on 11 December at the Pentland Chapel, Mortonhall Crematorium at 12.30pm. I also have to pass on the sad news that Elizabeth Peploe died this week. The funeral service is expected to be on Monday 22 December at 2.00pm at Mortonhall Main Chapel. Full details tbc. Please keep all families in your prayers.
4. COMMUNITY HERO AWARD Presentation to Julia Yarker on Friday 12 December at Newington Trinity- Mayfield building at 12.30, presented by Ian Murray MP. The award has been given on the request made by Wilma Hogg on the basis of Julia's service to Guide Dogs puppy training.
5. PASTORAL CARE If you or someone you know would like a pastoral visit or phone call please contact Pauline Robertson, Parish Deacon. Pauline’s email address is
6. MORNING PRAYERS ON TUESDAYS We meet for prayers every Tuesday at 10.00am in the Salisbury Room opposite the Office.
7. PRAISE AND PRAYER This small group meets every two weeks at Newington Trinity - Priestfield. Anyone is welcome to join others for this time of prayer from 7.30pm until about 9.00pm. We next meet on Thursday 11 December. All Welcome.
8. Pioneering There will be a Pioneering Get-together on Wednesday 10th December at 7.30pm in the Lounge at Newington Trinity Priestfield, staring with some festive refreshments. We will be very pleased to welcome Rev Elisabeth Spence who is going to share with us her experiences and thoughts on being a Pioneer Minister. There will also be a chance to share some news about local activities as well as consider the qualities we might look for in a Pioneer Minister. Anyone is welcome. Diane Cross
9. SOUTHSIDE FAITH CARE As part of our Care Conversations Series we will be hosting the final talk for this year on Power of Attorney: Wednesday 10th December - 11am -1pm - Marchmont St Giles Church, 3 Kilgraston Road, EH9 2DW. Join with us to listen, ask questions or share personal experiences. Light Refreshments provided.
10. THURSDAY CLUB The next meeting will be on 11 December at 2.00pm in the Bill McDonald Hall at Newington Trinity - Mayfield when the Club will be hearing from Maureen Kelly on A Highland Village in Wartime.
11. STAMP APPEAL Many of us will be receiving more stamps than usual through the letter-box in the coming weeks. Please remember the Church of Scotland’s World Mission Stamp Appeal, who will be grateful to receive them – just snip them off the envelopes and pop them in the red box (marked ‘STAMPS’), on the table in the Halls entrance.
The Stamp Project has been a pivotal part of World Mission Council, collecting much needed money for projects from Partner Churches around the world simply by collecting used stamps. From 1995 to 2024 an amazing total of £96,459.67 has been raised for projects such as the HIV programme and Mount Olivet Boys' home in Jamaica & Cayman Islands. Most recently, it has been supporting the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Sadly, the project will be coming to an end in February 2026. We will stop collecting at Newington Trinity in mid-January, in order to send off our final contribution before the end of the month. But in the meantime, please do bring us your stamps – there’s still time to make a difference to a very worthwhile cause. Thanks to everyone for their support over many years. If you have any queries, please contact Kate O’Brien at
12. Christmas Cards We will be delivering cards to the community during the week beginning 8 December, to take Christmas greetings from the church to our neighbours, to let them know of our Christmas services and other events and to ensure that they know they will be welcome to join us. If you would like to join the team of distributors please contact Fiona Ferguson at
13 YOUTH GROUP DIARY.
Sunday 7th December 5-6.30pm: Christmas Crafts and decorating
Sunday 14th December: NB Family Social after the 09:30 service
6pm Annual Gingerbread Building Challenge
Tuesday 23rd December: Involved in Christingle making (daytime tbc) & Involved in leading Christingle Service 6.30pm
Details from Bettina
14. Do you have a free hour after the second service one Sunday? FLOWERS Our beautiful flower ministry is up and running again. Thanks to all who have already donated or who are about to donate and arrange flowers. What we need now is a rota of volunteers to deliver flowers from the congregation to our friends who might need cheering up.
Depending on the number of volunteers the commitment would be say one hour on one Sunday every six weeks. If you are interested in helping this way please contact either Carole Stiff
15. BETHANY VAN Anne Roberston has been the coordinator of the Newington Trinity – MS team for 5 years and is now stepping down. The rotas are made up for the rest of the year when the post will become vacant. Support from the members of the team is being sought but if anyone is able to oversee the rota their help would be very much appreciated. The team covers the third Saturday every alternate month at lunchtime; and the fourth Monday every alternate month in the evening. Anyone wishing to find out more should contact Anne by email at:
16. Blessings We are planning to deliver “Blessings” again at Christmas time to those who help in the community throughout the year: doctors, dentists, posties, care homes etc. If you would like to provide a tin of sweets (tubs of e.g. Quality Street, Celebrations or something similar are always well received and Sainsbury’s and Tesco sometimes have special offers at this time of year!) or a box of biscuits, please let Fiona Ferguson know, who is coordinating on behalf of the Mission group.
17. Community Carol Singing An invitation to come and sing carols in the community after church on Sunday 14 December at 1.00pm in the garden at Nicolson Square. This annual event is arranged by Newington Churches together and is a great way to bring church to the community at Christmas, as well as to enjoy the thrill of singing with the Salvation Army band!
18. FAMILY SOCIAL Sunday 14 December. We’re having a family social immediately after the 9.30 service on Sunday 14th. Youth and children invited with their parents / carers (and young church leaders too!) for coffee and snacks in Church House. We’ll have some games / Christmas crafts and a chance for everyone to catch up. Planning to finish around 11.30 ish. Please let Ailsa know any dietary requirements (
19. CROSSREACH PNS THANKS. The congregation raised over £1,300 for CrossReach perinatal services from the collection after the services on Sunday 16th November which was CrossReach Sunday. A huge thanks for the support which is so much appreciated by CrossReach PNS and really helps them in providing their counselling and other services.
20. Fresh Start We had a very successful Coffee Morning. Many thanks to all the helpers and for all the donations to the baking stall and for all the generous household items. Very big thank you! Flora Paton
21. ECO TIP The five Rs of waste management: Refuse - Reduce - Reuse - Repurpose - Recycle. Note that Recycle is the last option!
22. CHURCH GIVING Regular and one-off donations are possible online at www.give.net/20311853 or scan one of the QR codes throughout the building. Alternatively, please contact our Freewill Offerings Treasurer, Hugh Somerville on 0131 466 2446 or by email at
Forthcoming Deadlines
Order of Service: Thursday at 10.00am
Next Parish Magazine: Friday 23 January 2026 at 6.00pm
www.newingtontrinity.org Scottish Charity SC000785
