Sanctuary First

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. This time we are speaking with Rev Martin Fair the former moderator of the Church of Scotland about his new role and how he hopes we can begin to foster a new generation of church leaders and ministers that will help us to come together, heal past wounds and build the kingdom of God. Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Listen to the previous: Episode Five: Love & Community

Unity Trumps Everything Albert Bogle and Laura Digan enter into an inspirational conversation with best selling Christian author Jeff Vanderstelt, centred around the strategic missional importance of Christian communities honouring each other and seeking to work as one church in order to share the mission of Christ in the world today. We are called to make disciples not denominational members. As Jeff prepares to be a keynote speaker at the Refuel Festival this Summer this is an opportunity to hear some of his insights into the crisis facing the church worldwide today. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. This time we are speaking with the community from Dundonald Parish Church and we hear all about there transformations and changes over the last few years and how they have placed Love & Community at the heart of there church. Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Listen to the previous: Episode Four - Journeys of Faith

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. This time we reflect on our first three episodes and dive into a bit more detail on the back stories behind Steve, Neil and Ruth’s Journeys of Faith and what has brought them to where they are now… Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Listen to the previous: Episode Three - Creative Expressions of Faith

Our theme: Spiritual Health An in-depth discussion about the spiritual health of the nation, while numbers at church attendance are on the wain, interest in spiritual ideas and science fiction, self help material, and Well Being are all on the increase. Have we concentrated too much on social issues without linking the social to the spiritual? Where’s the balance? Martin Fair talks about his new role within the Church of Scotland and explains what the strategies will be for establishing new forms of church and recruiting/training new types of church leaders.

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. This time we are speaking with Fiona Stewart and Peter Gardner all about ‘Creative Expressions of Faith’ and how art can help us to come closer to God. Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Listen to the previous: Episode Two - Acting In God’s Time

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. What does it mean to Act in God’s Time? What is the difference between a Good Idea and a God Idea? This time we are speaking with Rev Tommy MacNeil all about his Ministry and about Acting in Gods Time and how there may be hope on the horizon in the Church! Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Listen to the previous: Episode One - Change & Hope

Our theme: Innovation This week Albert Bogle, Iain Jamieson and Laura Digan, are in search of Inspiration. They chat with Scott Shackleton who is head of the Church of Scotland Faith and Action Programme, and also Hannah Sanderson who has a special remit to seek and search for areas of innovation in congregations. Hannah shares inspirational stories where the churches are partnering with others and in doing so embarking on a mission that shares faith with others as a journey of discovery. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Welcome to the Emerging Emmaus Podcast, a new biweekly podcast on Sanctuary First. In this Episode we are speaking to the community from Granton Parish Church about the changes they face with a new presbytery union ahead, a departing Minister and an ambition to continue they’re open hearted approach to outreach… Together, Neil Urquhart, Ruth Kennedy and Steve Aisthorpe explore the stories of struggle and perseverance within the church allowing Jesus to renew our vision & vigour for His New Life. Join us as we discover, faith hope and stories of grief in the Church of Scotland. Come! Emmaus, Emerge from the gloom. Come Holy Spirit Come! Read Neil’s Blog to find out more about the podcast series: Emerging Emmaus Podcast Series

The First Episode of the Emmerging Emmaus Podcast series will air on Wednesday the 22nd of March at 7pm on Sanctuary First, here on our Facebook page and will be available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Neil Urquhart tells us a bit more about the podcast series and what we can expect as we start this new journey together in faith together… Read Neil’s Blog to find out more about the podcast series: Emerging Emmaus Podcast Series

Our theme: Outreach & Fellowship In the newest episode of our monthly podcast we are speaking to Brian Honey-Morgan from The Hive Cornwall and to Craig Mackay from The Refuel Summer Festival all about Outreach and Christian fellowship. Watch live here on Facebook on Sanctuary First’s website or via our App, or you can listen back as a podcast later on via all of the above and Spotify and Apple podcasts. The Hive is a U.K. based charity that believes they have a solution to world hunger and famine. Over one third of the world’s food that is produced is wasted. They are turning discarded industrial farmed food into nutrient-packed meals to feed the hungry. This will be a fascinating conversation as our usual presenters; Albert, Iain and Laura learn how Brian is seeking to explore how their work might be replicate in Scotland. Find out more: This Charity Wants Us To Rethink Food During The Coronavirus Pandemic - YouTube Laura will be exploring with Craig the benefits of congregations going on holiday toge

Laura and Linda are back with the first Time of the Month podcast of 2023 talking all about Bathsheba from the Bible. Wife of King David and Mother to King Solomon. As usual Linda and Laura have a fascinating and wide ranging conversation covering a lot of topics including some of a more sensitive nature, especially so in this episode. It should be noted: Given the unsettling nature of the story they discuss tragedy, sexual assault and grief. You can read about Bathsheba in 2 Samuel: 11 and 1 Kings 1 & 2. Listen to last months - Midwives of Moses Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Year in Review At the end of the year, Albert Bogle, Iain Jamieson and Laura Digan look back over the past year and reflect up some of the guests and topics covered. We look at the poetry and social conscience of our national poet Robert Burns, and chat with John Lowrie Morrison, the well known Scottish landscape painter, and seek to understand the moral obligations placed upon the Western world to help those who have been displaced through war and climate change. We hope the evening will end with a note of renewed confidence that through all the changing scenes of time God hasn’t abandoned his world. As we come to the end of the year we discussion will seek to find seeds of hope that we can plant for the future. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

The Sleeping Giant This month The Late Show team meet Tommy MacNeil the author of the ’Sleeping Giant’ It will be an opportunity to hear at first hand from Tommy how his book is being received, and to engage with the vision that Tommy Sets our for the church. In his writing of the ‘Sleeping Giant’ Tommy MacNeil seeks to bring before the church a vision of what still can be. He writes at a time of great discouragement and disappointment when many church leaders are exhausted and questioning the tired models of inherited patterns of church life. With the voice of a prophet he calls for the re-awakening of the giant to rise to our full stature in Christ. With great sensitivity and passion he calls individual Christians back to the place of personal renewal encouraging the church community to fall in love with Jesus all over again. The show will be streamed live on our site, app and Facebook page and will be available to listen or watch back later on the site and on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Through l

In the Footsteps of Jesus Sanctuary First contributor Rev Linda Pollock will be leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land Monday 6 February 2023 – Thursday 16 February 2023. Members of the Sanctuary First community are invited to join Linda in this trip following in the footsteps of Jesus. View the Itinerary: In the Footsteps of Jesus For more information and registration, please contact Rev. Linda Pollock at: RPollock@churchofscotland.org.uk Find out more on this theme of Pilgrimage in the most recent episode of the Sanctuary First Late Show: Episode Eleven

This podcast will centre around the rising popularity in pilgrimage. There have been numerous TV productions following celebrities on the Camino and recently Ben Vogle on the Pilgrimage to the Scottish Isles. In the podcast we’ll ask what is it that attracts people to go on Pilgrimage. This week we are joined by Alec Shuttleworth, Ondřej Bockschneider and Linda Pollock. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

The Late Show this month welcomes the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Stuart Forsyth from Digital Parish. Albert Bogle, Laura Digan and Iain Jamieson explore with the Moderator his role in the church and nation. The discussion develops into the place of Digital Ministry in the Church of Scotland and need for great investment in this area of ministry. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Laura and Linda are back with the Time of the Month podcast. This month we are looking at the Midwives of Moses which can be found in Exodus 1: 15-21. To help you get the most from the podcast we invite you to read the text first. First set aside some time when you can be quiet with God. Sit and be still and ask God to open your heart and your mind so that you can receive his blessings, his love and his direction. Listen to the full podcast here on Facebook, on Sanctuary first or via our App. You can also find us on Spotify and Apple Music. Read the blog before you listen: Midwives of Moses Listen to last months - The Witch of Endor Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Welcome to Faith at the Fringe Sanctuary First’s NEW podcast series Find out more. This is the final episode of the Faith at the Fringe Podcast series for 2022. For our fourteenth and last episode of the series we have been talking to the famous author Ian Rankin all about; crime writing, finding inspiration, Edinburgh city during the Fringe and his views on Church and faith and how this has affected some of his characters and stories. We would like to thank everyone who has been a part of the Faith at the Fringe podcasting project and has helped to make it happen. Thanks all our great guests for coming on and sharing your stories, to all our fab hosts from Sanctuary First, and to the technical team behind the scenes, and of course to you the Sanctuary First community for joining in and being part of the discussion. Follow us on Spotify & Apple Podcasts OR Get the App!

Welcome to Faith at the Fringe Sanctuary First’s NEW podcast series Find out more. Judy and David from Searchlight Theatre Group have created a heart-rending production based on the story of Corrie ten Boom called, “Return to the Hiding Place”. Corrie was a Dutch watchmaker who helped Jewish people escape the holocaust by hiding them in her room. They share with Albert and Hannah their experiences in performing this powerful reimagining of the story. #containsSpoilers!