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Adventures in Faith
October 2025

Welcome to Adventures in Faith: where everyone in the Diocese of Edinburgh can explore, learn, and grow in faith and fullness of life.

News

Bishop Search
Nominations for the next Bishop of Edinburgh are currently being sought and submitted. Please pray for all involved in this process, particularly those who are discerning their call to this vocation.

Scotland Demands Better!

Scotland's Poverty Alliance, coordinator of Challenge Poverty Week (6-13 October), are running the Make Scotland Better campaign. This campaign is being supported by the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Primus will be part of the March and Rally, to be held in Edinburgh on Saturday 25 October.

Individuals and congregations are invited to be part of the campaign, following events that are listed on the website and/or attending the Rally.

SEC Expertise Audit. The Doctrine and Church and Society Committees of the Province are asking members to complete this 'expertise audit' as a way of scoping members who could advise them. At this stage, they are seeking information and an indication of willingness to respond to requests for assistance on an ad hoc basis. Please have a look, and complete the form as you are able.

The Sparrow, the Swallow and the Mother of God
Come and see David Grossart’s latest icon paintings, exhibited for a month at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Free, no booking required.

9am–6pm weekdays, 9am–5pm weekends until 7 November. (The exhibition is not available for viewing during service times.)

Thinking about Advent? There are some suggestions for 'Retreats' later in this newsletter. Or you might want to check out our curate list of books and resources that are New for 2025. Find this, and lots of other ideas for marking the season, on our website!

October is Black History Month (BHM). If you are looking for resources to mark BHM, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) has collated a useful document, which you can access here.

BHM resources from previous years can also still be accessed via their archive website.

On 30 October, Edinburgh University School of Divinity will host its Black History Month Lecture 2025. Professor Tommy J. Curry's lecture will be titled Under-MAN: Fanon and Frazier on the Phobo-Genetic Expression of Evil as Nihility. Get more information here.

If you want to find out more about Black history in Edinburgh, why not join a Black History Walking Tour? These tours run for between one and two hours and explore different areas of Edinburgh, including New Town, Portobello and Leith. Tours run throughout October. Find out more and book on this page.

For Vestries

If you are a member of vestry, you are a charity trustee! This brings with it duties and responsibilities, and we are here to help you do these well. At least twice a year, we offer training from an excellent speaker and experienced lawyer, and we encourage all vestry members to attend. If you have yet to join us, or it feels like a long time since you did, please do register for our next session in Haddington on Saturday 15 November. There are breakfast rolls, tea, and coffee from 9am; the training proper starts at 9:30am; and we finish by 1pm. Register here.

This autumn, we are again hosting a series of Sunday Afternoon Teas for key members of vestry. This year, we are inviting people by area, so please encourage your Vestry Secretaries, Wardens, Lay and Alt Lay Reps, and Treasurers to come along to one of these events. Start: 3:30pm. Finish around 5pm. Register here.

▶ 19 October: St Peter's, Galashiels

▶ 9 November: St Ninian's, Comely Bank

Online Support from the SEC Net Zero Team

Webinar: Sustainable Travel Grant - Thursday 30 October, 1–2pm.
Webinar: The Energy Footprint Tool – What We Have Learned - Thursday 6 November, 1–2pm.
Remote Roadshow - Thursday 20 November, 10am–2pm.
More information and booking via the SEC Net Zero Team website

Events and Learning Opportunities

The Adventures in Faith: Courses page on the diocesan website is where you can find a whole range of courses running in the coming weeks and months. There are course provider websites so you can explore further. AND check out our Events Calendar for something local that might take your fancy!

Prospects Across Scotland aims to raise awareness among Christians in Scotland about the needs of people with autism and learning disabilities, and to equip churches to be more effective in how they welcome them.

Hilary Lacroix for Prospects Across Scotland is offering two online courses over the next few weeks:

▶ Autism in the Church Family: Monday 27 October, 7–9pm, online, £15.

▶ Offering Bereavement Support to Adults with Learning Disabilities: Monday 3 November, 7:30–8:30pm, online, free. There is an accompanying leaflet on the Prospects Across Scotland resources page.

For more information about either of these courses, visit the Prospects Across Scotland EventBrite page.

The Autumn lecture series 'Here I Stand' is being run by the Church Times and St Martin in the Fields, London. Anyone can access remotely for £10 a lecture. Highlights include lectures by:

▶ Chris Bryant (Mon 20 Oct)

▶ Michael Rosen (Mon 3 Nov)

▶ Elif Shafak (Mon 10 Nov)

▶ Mary Beard (Mon 17 Nov)

Find out more and book on the St Martin in the Fields website.

ReVision: What Do We Do with Christianity? Center for Action and Contemplation Autumn Conference, 24 to 26 October 2025

An invitation to see with new eyes, this conference is an opportunity to ask honest questions and engage Christianity as a living tradition still unfolding.

Online places still available! Visit the CAC website for more information.

Godly Play has been developing since the 1970s and during Godly Play afternoons we enter into parables, silence, sacred stories and sacred liturgy in order to discover God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us.

You can join a Godly Play Circle at St Ninian's, Comely Bank on Sunday 26 October from 3–4pm. For more information email [email protected]

Growth in Prayer and Reflective Living will be running again from 28 October through to May 2026 on Tuesday evenings (online) plus three Saturday sessions in person at Christ Church Morningside, £465. Further information on Epiphany's website.

Edinburgh Interfaith Association. Adrian Cristea will be giving the Key Note Lecture at the AGM of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association on 28 October at 5:30pm. The topic of the lecture will be Seeds of Peace & Hope. Adrian played a key role in establishing the first official Interfaith Forum in Ireland in January 2012 and led the process for developing the ‘Dublin City Interfaith Charter’.

Get more information and tickets for the lecture here.

Scottish Episcopal Institute Lecture

Dr Dafydd Mills Daniel, Lecturer in Divinity at St Andrews University, will offer the 10th Annual SEI Lecture on Thursday 30 October at 5pm via Zoom, titled ‘Scottish Theology and Scot-Land’. Find out more on the SEI website.

Sarah Jones's Everyday Normal UK Tour will come to St Columba's by the Castle, Edinburgh, on 1 November at 7:30pm. Sarah will explore the reality of being trans and of being outed as the first person to be ordained by the Church of England having previously made a gender change. It promises to be a life-affirming session for people who would like an entertaining exploration and to understand trans issues for themselves. Find out more and book here.

Bethany’s 'Passing the Baton' training, next running on 5 November from 1:30–4:30pm, equips people to build meaningful connections with others who have previously been homeless or who are at risk of homelessness in Edinburgh. It is open to church members who want to befriend people back into their community by demonstrating God’s love in action. Find out more and book here.

New College Festival of Books and Belief is bringing together an array of speakers and writers from the UK and beyond to explore the fascinating relationship between literature and all aspects of belief. It involves a series of events over 7–8 November: each individual event is ticketed, with most priced around the £12 mark. Read the full programme here.

READ WRITE HEAR is a live, hands-on event that explores how reading has been shared, spoken, and shaped by voice, setting, and gesture across time. Led by Dr Elspeth Jajdelska (University of Strathclyde), the event, being held on 9 November from 1–2:30pm at St Michael and All Saints, Tollcross, invites participants to explore different ways of reading – from literature to ceremony – and to reflect on how reading works in practice, from sacred spaces to everyday life. Find out more and book here.

The Church Mission Society's Pioneer Mission Training Assembly is taking place in Glasgow from 10–13 November. It's described as 'two vibrant days of listening, sharing, celebrating, and ideating – a space to reconnect, reflect, and regenerate'. Find out more here.

Advent Retreats

Rediscovering Wonder, from 28 November

This series of Advent Reflections from Heart in Pilgrimage is an invitation to rediscover wonder and what it has to teach us: to be open to possibilities, not be afraid to ask questions, to live with everyday mysteries and be willing to accept unexpected gifts… and to reconnect with the God of surprises.

There is a new reflection to listen to each week along with a selection of other material to read and ponder during the week. The reflections draw on poetry, art, music, Scripture and other wisdom writing. All the printed material (including transcripts of the audio reflections) is available in an A5 size booklet — if you would like to receive this, please select this option when you book.

Cost: £25 or £30 with printed booklet. Get all the details on the Heart of Pilgrimage website.

Star of Wonder, Quiet Day, 29 November

St Columba's by the Castle, Edinburgh, 10am to 3:30pm

The coming of Christ in the world was heralded by a star, a pin-prick of light in a dark sky, so easy to miss. Sometimes, to catch the good news, we need to stop, stand still, look up and wonder. As Advent

begins, this Quiet Day is an opportunity to pause amid the busyness of life and notice the small signs which invite us in to new possibilities. It’s a chance to revisit familiar stories, perhaps noticing new things, and spend time with those who wondered at the Wonders of God, large and small, which were revealed to them.

Cost: £35 or £25 concession (or pay what you can). Get all the details on the Heart of Pilgrimage website.

Holy Trinity, Haddington's Lantern Group are holding a morning of pre-Advent reflection along the theme of 'Gifts Past, and Gifts to Come'. You can either attend in person (on 29 November) or online (the following Saturday, 6 December). For more information, email Janet McKinnell:
[email protected].

Whitchester Christian Centre, near Hawick, will be running an Advent Retreat from 28–30 November.

This will be a weekend to pause and embrace the mystery and anticipation of Advent. The cost is £210, includes creative input and materials. Hurry – spaces are limited!

Further information on the Whitchester website.

Pre-Advent Retreat from Church Times: O Come Emmanuel: Exploring the Advent prayers & songs of expectation Saturday 22 November 10am-1pm, online. Join with the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the author of Listening to the Music of the Soul (the Archbishop of York’s 2025 Advent book) and others for an online retreat in preparation for Advent. Cost: £15/10.

Creighton Online Ministries offers various ways to pray in the Ignatian tradition. One is a journey towards and through Advent, in the style of a 'Retreat in Daily Life'. Find out more here.

Other Retreats

This autumn at The Bield at Blackruthven:

One Day Silent Retreat
29 October, 10am–4pm
HerSong: A weekend retreat
31 October at 3pm to 2 November at 3:30pm
Celebrating Celtic Advent Through Song and Meditation
15 November, 10am–4pm
Multiday Silent Retreat
25–27 November, 10am on arrival day to 4pm on departure day

Journey into Healing – November
29 November, 9:30am–4:45pm
Seasonal Quiet Garden Day
9 December, 10am–4pm

For more information, visit The Bield's website.

The Bield also now offers a self-catering Shepherd's Hut, which you can book for a minimum of three nights. It's particularly recommended for writing or other project work, but also just to relax. When The Bield is open to guests you can use its garden and pool, and you are welcome at the services in the Chapel. For more information, email [email protected]

Retreats in Daily Life. As the nights draw in, you might want to take a retreat that doesn't require travel – a retreat in daily life. The providers below offer a range of retreats that you can access, including retreats for Advent.

Heart in Pilgrimage's Retreats in Daily Life include reflections to listen to and art, poetry, Scripture and other reflective writing. Themes include desert living, the Book of Ruth, and seeking God in the natural world, plus Advent retreats for two previous years. Find out more on the Heart in Pilgrimage website.

Los Olivos Retreats offer Quiet Days at Home packages, with themes including the image of Christ, the beatitudes, the road less travelled, and an Advent retreat. These retreats were originally delivered live, but the recordings and accompanying materials give you all you need to follow a retreat day – or longer – whenever you want.

Former Los Olivos retreat speaker and poet Mark S. Burrows will be speaking at St John's, Princes Street, on Saturday 25 October, about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Find details below!

Creighton Online Ministries offers various ways to pray in the Ignatian tradition. There is the Advent series, which can be accessed here. Or you can enter into a 34-week retreat, inspired by the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Or explore what other options might be drawing you...

You can find more than 25 retreat venues that we have come across, or that have been used by members of the diocese, on our Retreat Venues page. There is also a map, so you can see at a glance where the listed retreat centres are based.

Around the Diocese

Have You Tried?

In this section, we share a resource that might help you explore, learn, or grow in your faith: it could be a book, a podcast, an email subscription, or something else!

The Bible Project started just over a decade ago and has grown to offer hundreds of videos and resources to help us explore the Bible. Whether you want to get an overview of a particular book of the Bible or understand a topic or concept more fully, there is likely something to pique your interest.

Homepage – Outlines what Adventures in Faith is, with links to other landing pages.

Newsletter – Links to all previous newsletters and to sign-up for emails.

Calendar – Events happening across the Diocese, in congregations and partner organisations.

Courses – A list of courses & retreats from across the UK: something for everyone!

Awareness – Awareness days that link in with our faith and Marks of Mission.

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Revd Fiona (Fee) Reynolds, Advisor for Christian Life
0131 346 9089, [email protected]

Cathy Ballantine, Interim Administrative Assistant (M&M)
0131 346 9085, [email protected]

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