((deep)) -- 23rd August

I'm giving an early heads-up to the next ((deep)) gathering on the 23rd August... The guest speaker will be Garry Brotherson whose story exemplifies grace, redemption and the good news for all. He was the keynote speaker at the Salvation Army's East and West Scotland Summer School in 2007... and his is a story well worth hearing!

Music will be provided by Paul and Jen Clement (and who knows... maybe Garry will have his guitar too) with space for prayer & responsive contemplation. Coffee and refreshments will be available throughout the evening... with space for catching up with old friends (maybe some you've just made at Summer School???) or gives you the opportunity to connect with new people and build meaningful networks of likeminded individuals.

Door tax is £3... or what you can afford... with all monies being reinvested in the ((deep)) project.

Spread the word... post the flyer on your blog... share this post on facebook / bebo etc and be there. This is one evening you won't want to miss!

Thomas Mathie aka Headphonaught

Podcasts...

Teaching is a core part of the Summer School week... with speakers introducing the topic to be covered within the cell groups. This year we were blessed to have Maj. Graham & Dawn Mizon, Capt. Alison McCaffrey, Maj. Alec Still and Capt. Barry Ashton lead various sessions.

Below are links to the thoughts from Alison and Alec (AAC and MP3 formats are provided). Please take time to listen to them - they are both approximately 15 minutes long and help to unpack some of the ideas discussed throughout the week on the concept of shining our lights for the Lord.

1) Tuesday Morning - Capt. Alison McCaffrey :: AAC or MP3

2) Wednesday Morning - Maj. Alec Still :: AAC or MP3

Thomas Mathie

The Truth

The video proves one point which we’ve all heard so many times. That we can all turn our life around. No matter how many sins we have committed, how many times we’ve turned our back on god or if we’ve never really picked up in your faith yet. You can turn your life around, because God loves us all, and his love is there for anybody who wishes to accept it.

When the video starts off, it talks about the things we worry about in life when times get bad. When we think that our life is only going to get worse, when we get worried about “children’s health and safety”. These are the negative thoughts that flow through our heads when we don’t have the Lord in our life.

The second half of the video is a completely different kettle of fish. Complete opposites, like happiness and sadness. It gives us an idea of what having the Lord in our life can do to our lives. It makes our life so much better, gives us a second chance, keeps us happy and gives us more than plentiful supply optimism.

Ewan Taylor

Review Of Midweek Festival

Wednesday 30th of July 2008 Midweek Festival for summer school 2008. Wednesday night was a fantastic night of fun and entertainment. We had 3 bands playing on Wednesday night. the A band, the B band and the C band. They did brilliant Work playing their instruments. The B band kicked off the night with a song called Be Bold … Be Strong … Be Still. Then they played a song called Days of Elijah. They did excellent well done B band.

Then the C band did Lovely Day which got the audience on their feet. Then the C band did Agnus Dei at the end of the programme. Well done C band and we can’t wait till the final festival and I hope you have something big this year. Then we had the A band first they played Salute the General then Tynley Hall. Also well done to the A band which lifted the roof of the Chapel. We also have some Singing and Drama at summer school as well. We had a Girls Chorus which sang lovely songs to us. The first one they did was Dona Nobis Pacem then Circle of friends and then Let me tell you. We had a A chorus who sang excellent they had to audition to be in the A chorus well done who got through. First they sang Indescribable and then when you believe. Then we had the Drama group and they did an awesome job. They did Questions, Questions and then they did a remaking of The Parable of the sower. We all had a good time. And we thank the staff for preparing and playing as well for the the Midweek festival. And we can’t forget the pupils who put on a show for the audience.

Tim Mizon

The Wednesday Mid-Week festival

With only four days of practising on instruments, acting in drama and singing in the girl’s chorus we had a mid-week festival so parents and relatives could come and see how we are doing in our chosen activity. There were lots of parents and relatives of the students there to come and watch them and it was really fun and tiring at the end.

After the festival most of the students went to see their family and friends that came to see them and they were all very happy to see them. Also after the festival some of the students had Chinese or chips from the chip shop for their supper and some people shared. Just after we had the Chinese and the chips some of us went swimming for twenty minutes and it was really cold in the shower! Then we came back to our dorms then went around everywhere in our swimming costumes and then our pjs!

We will also be having a final festival on Saturday at Grangemouth town hall before we leave the summer school for this year. Most of us hopefully are hoping that they can come back next year to have more fun and make more friends.

Danielle Taylor

Mid-week Festival

At the mid-week festival all the students family, friends, corps members came through to the school to see what we have been doing during the week. The night started off with the B-band. They played a selection of songs, such as be Bold…Be Strong…Be Still and days of Elijah. They all played really well. The A band Played Salute the General and Tynley Hall.

The Girls Chorus sang 3 songs, Dona Nobis Pacem, Circle of Friends and Let me tell you. The A chorus sang 2 lovely songs, Indescribable and When You Believe. The C band sang 2 songs as well, Lovely Day and Agnus Dei which went down well.

And Of course the drama, the preformed 2 sketches at the festival, Questions, Question and the Parable of the Sower…Retold…Yet again. the Drama group all enjoyed themselves and tried their best to remember all there lines.

Overall the night ran smoothly and everyone had a good time.

Rachel Watson x

You are here to be Light

We are all here to shine, in one way or another. We may want to shine through music or drama. We could be here to strengthen our spirituality even more or to pickup our spirituality which we may have lost in one way or another. We are all here to learn how to bring out God-Colours by using the talents we’ve been given.

We’re here to shine, to project God’s name to the world, to be as public as we possibly can. We’re here to understand the true glory of God and things that we can do to shine and make him proud. Absolutely everyone can shine, no matter who you are.

Ewan Taylor