On Sunday 24 and 31 January there is an opportunity to donate money for the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal to support the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake in that region.

You can also make a donation direct online.

A thanks to all the members of the Magnification Action Group and the helpers they had enlisted in preparing and serving lunch on Souper Sunday, 10 January 2010, and to those who were involved in leading the worship. In St Andrew's, along with many other churches across Scotland and the world, we shared in a service of hope, under the theme from Isaiah: "Do not be afraid - I am with you," and heard about the work of the Church of Scotland's HIV/AIDS Project.

This was part of an awareness and fund-raising initiative for the project. If you were not at church on Sunday but would like to contribute, then you can do so next Sunday, or you can make an online donation at the HIV/AIDS Project site.

On a freezing cold Sunday morning, with flurries of snow still descending, the sun briefly broke out over the church as members and friends gathered for a rather different service at 10 a.m. organised by the Magnification Action Group in a café-style format complete with bacon rolls and sausage buns, croissants and refreshments during the service - a very civilised start to the day and helping to warm us up!

The cold weather and early start filled the organisers with a fear that it would be a quiet morning... that two extra tables had to be quickly set to cater for everyone was great to see.

With contributions from the Praise Group and Puppet Ministry during the service and the opportunity for everyone to decorate their own Christmas Star to place on the tree with their own wish for Christmas, it was a good start to the day. 

The Magnification Action Group are interested to hear people's feedback from this service. Thanks to them for organising the morning and recruiting many others to help out in cooking, serving and leading the service. A thanks too for the donations of sausage from B & T The Family Butchers and bacon from Bobby McKean, both on Glasgow Road.

[Thanks to Geoff Krawczyk for photographs.]

The Sunday Funday Club led us through the Christmas Story with the help of the travails of the Walker family in their nativity service on Sunday 13 December. The young folks did a spendid job and thanks also to the leaders for all their preparatory work to get things ready.

A splendid night of music and song took place in St Andrew's on Thursday 10 December 2009 led by Lanarkshire Cecilian Orchestra under the guidance of Harry Watson ranging from Pachelbel and Mussorgsky to 007 and Abba, with powerful accompaniment to the community carols. With additional contributions from the beautiful voices of the Ferguson Choral Ensemble and the Auchinraith Primary School Choir it added up to a great evening.

Thanks to the Lanarkshire Cecilian Orchestra (who rehearse in St Andrew's) for the suggestion to host a Christmas concert, for Harry Watson coming out of retirement to conduct the orchestra - it was good to see his encouragment of a younger generation when he let two of the children from Auchinraith take the baton and conduct a verse each of God rest ye merry gentlemen. Thanks also to May Shaw and Geoff Krawczyk and their teams for getting the church ready and providing the refreshments.

During morning worship on Sunday 29 November 2009, Valerie Krawczyk (on right) and Bobby McKean (middle) were ordained to the office of eldership and admitted with Sally Jamieson (on left), who was ordained in 2003, to become elders of the Kirk Session of St Andrew's.

Our prayers are with them as they take up the responsibilities that come with being an elder in the Kirk.

A big thank you to everyone who visited St Andrew's Christmas Fayre on Saturday 28 November. We enjoyed the usual great variety of stalls including bric-a-brac, books, homebakes, videos, Traidcraft, toy stall, gifts, tombola, Wesley-Owen bookstall, refreshments, puppet shows, tombola, hot dogs, chocolate fountain and even a visit from the man in red!

Thanks go to everyone who helped out in setting up and operating their stalls, giving donations and time. As soon as we have a total we'll let you know how much was raised for church funds.

The Cambus Ladies Choir led an evening of song in St Andrew's on Wednesday 28 October 2009. With wonderful singing, good company and a great spread of food organised by the Ladies Group, an extremely enjoyable night was had by all. Thanks go to the Ladies Group for organising this event.

[Thanks to Geoff Krawczyk for photos]