preview

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Adventures in Faith
July 2026

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

News and Highlights

The Logos Hope is docked near Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh until 19 July. Entry is £1 per person and includes an introductory presentation and access to the ship's large bookshop and cafe. There are all sorts of other events happening onboard, too: see the Waves of Hope website for more.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am–10pm; Sunday 1pm–10pm.

From 14 to 17 July Sanctuary First will be running a new labyrinth at St Cuthbert's Parish Church in Edinburgh, just next to St John's, Princes Street. It's an audio-visual art installation that will lead you through a ten-stage spiritual labyrinth focusing on a theme of waiting. Sanctuary First has created a full audio and prayer soundscape to guide you through the labyrinth. At each stage there will be props and items to engage with as you follow the labyrinth inwards to the centre point. Find out more here.

A few day tickets, plus Saturday night tickets, are available for the Magnitude Festival at Lendrick Muir, Kinross, starting this weekend! See what's available and register here.

More 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. And check out our Events Calendar for something local that might take your fancy!

Festival at St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral has released its Festival programme, which includes:

🔹Traditional Japanese Theatre Music

🔹Song School Tours: a rare opportunity to see one of Edinburgh's best-kept secrets!

🔹Choir Concert: Parry's Songs of Farewell and Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor

🔹Lunchtime Recitals at 1pm

🔹Piano Afternoons, with pianists from across Europe, including Susan Tomes

🔹Afternoon Originals, a chance to hear new music of all kinds.

Get the full line-up here.

Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts

Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts runs from 16–22 August, and many of the events are taking place in our churches. Here's a list of events:

Sunday 16 August
🔹11am: Festival Opening Service (St Giles' Cathedral)

🔹3pm: Exploring Sacred Space 1 (St James, Goldenacre)

🔹7.30pm: Tango Mass & Magnificat, Mackintosh Choir (St John's, Princes Street)

Monday 17 August

🔹10am: Opening of Exhibition: Bordering on the Sacred (closes 22 August) (St Vincent's Chapel)

🔹1.15pm: Young Composers' Event (Canongate Kirk)

🔹3pm: Exploring Sacred Space 2 (St James, Goldenacre)

🔹7.30pm: Whatsoever You Do: Music for the Homeless Jesus (St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral)

Tuesday 18 August

🔹11am and 3pm: Exploring Sacred Space 3 & 4 (The Magdalen Chapel)

🔹1.15pm: A Hymn on Divine Musick: Britten's Baroque Songs (St Vincent's Chapel)

🔹7.30pm: Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus (St John's, Princes Street)

Wednesday 19 August

🔹11am: Exploring Sacred Space 5 (Old St Paul's)

🔹1.15pm: Young Religious Poets' Competition Final (Canongate Kirk)

🔹2.30pm: Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus (St John's, Princes Street)

🔹7.30pm: O For a Thousand Tongues: Celebrating 'The Musical Wesleys' (Church of the Sacred Heart)

Thursday 20 August

🔹11am: Exploring Sacred Space 6 (St Michael and All Saints)

🔹7.30pm: James MacMillan – Ninian: A Concerto (St Giles' Cathedral)

Friday 21 August

🔹10.30am and 3pm: Exploring Sacred Space 7 & 8 (Church of the Sacred Heart)

🔹1.15pm: The Shamrock and the Cross – Irish Religious Poetry (Canonmills Church)

🔹7.30pm: To Be a Pilgrim: Words and Music in Search of God (Old St Paul's)

Saturday 22 August

🔹11am: The Life of Moses (St Vincent's Chapel)

🔹4pm: Festival Closing Service (Old St Paul's)

Find out more and book tickets.

Epiphany Group

God’s Invitation to Relationship: An Introduction to Ways of Praying
Thursdays from 5 November to 10 December 2026, 7–8.30pm online, free, donations welcome. Find out more.

Growth in Prayer & Reflective Living
Tuesdays 3 November 2026 to 16 March 2027, 7–9pm online plus three in-person Saturdays in Edinburgh, £450. Find out more.

Spiritual Conversation Formation Programme
Tuesdays 22 September 2026 to early May 2027, 7–9.30pm online plus Friday and Saturday sessions in Edinburgh in person, £840. Find out more.

Heart in Pilgrimage

A River Runs Through It: Insights from the river for the journey of faith
New retreat package for summer 2026. This is a deep dive into all things river, drawing on Scripture and other writing, images, poetry and the natural world. There is an audio reflection for each of the themes, with transcripts and further reflective material in an attractive printed booket.

Cost: £30 (£35 with printed booklet)
Book at: https://heartinpilgrimage.org.uk/a-river-runs-through-it/

Hand Made: Going Deeper on your Journey with God draws on insights from craftsmanship and art to understand more about our relationship to the Maker in whose loving hands we are fashioned. It’s an invitation to get to know God as craftsman and ourselves as unique and precious.

Live on Tuesdays 7–8pm on Zoom on September 22, 29, October 6, 13, 27, November 3, 10, 17. Cost: £120
More information at: https://heartinpilgrimage.org.uk/hand-made/

Retreats

The Bield at Blackruthven upcoming retreats:
🔹Family Day of Play and Discovery: 11 August, £75 per adult with up to two children.
🔹Stillness and Stitching: 19 August, £75.

🔹Benedictus: 27 August, £75.
🔹Silent Retreat Day: 1 September, £70.
🔹Capacitar Wellness Taster: 5 September or 14 November, £25.
🔹A Day to Explore Peace and Creation: 8 September, £75.
🔹Holding Memories in Light & Colour: A Creative Day of Reflection and Remembrance:
9 September, £75.
🔹Advanced Enneagram: 19 September, £75.
🔹Journey into Healing: 3 October, £75.
🔹Creative Day Using Music, Art and Poetry:
13 October, £75.

The Journey is also a Place – a poetry trail commissioned by The Bield at Blackruthven and written and narrated by Kenneth Steven – is now available on the Bield's website. You don't have to be at The Bield to experience it: it intends to offer quiet healing and a deep place of meditation, wherever you are.

Abernethy Kilmalieu upcoming events:
🔹Celtic Wisdom for the 21st Century with Scott Brennan, 27–31 July, from £480.
🔹Introduction to Silence, 7–10 August, from £360.
🔹'What Next, Lord?' Discerning Your Next Steps, 24–28 August, from £480.

🔹Ardnamurchan Adventure, 3–7 September, from £408.
🔹HerWildness: A Retreat for All Women, 21–25 September, from £425.
🔹Autumn Birdwatching Retreat, 28 September–2 October, from £480.
🔹Adventure and Friendship: Insights in Following Jesus from Lewis and Tolkien,
16–19 October, from £350.

Whitchester Christian Centre:

🔹Personal Retreat, 18 to 22 August, price dependent on length of stay.
🔹Discovering the Gifts of Sacred Wandering,
25 to 27 September, £230.

🔹Ministers/Clergy Retreat
10–14 November, any two nights or more at discounted full board rate.

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.

Talking Faith continues ...

This podcast with Revd Pip Blackledge and Revd Lesley Penny, SEC priests in the Borders, is well worth keeping up with. Pip and Lesley have recently discussed how they answer people who ask them why on earth they wanted to be priests, and have run through their working week, for people who think priests only work on a Sunday! There are also interviews with the Primus and Bishop Dagmar. Get the podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingFaithPod

or here: rss.com/podcasts/talking-faith

Children and Young People

Godly Play at the Fringe, 10–13 August, Salvation Army at the Pleasance: The Salvation Army’s City Corps is right in the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe venues. Among all the buzz, the comedy, drama and music, they are offering eight Godly Play sessions.

Come along and hear stories, wonder, respond and feast. The sessions start at 11am and 2pm.

Find out more about Godly Play events here.

Pilgrimages to Iona, October 2026

The Provincial Youth Committee will be hosting two pilgrimages to Iona for young people in October 2026:

▶ 10–14 October for 12–18 year olds
▶ 14–17 October for those aged 18–25+

The cost, which includes travel from Oban, accommodation and food on Iona, will be £235 for 12–18s for four nights and £210 for 18–25+ for three nights, with a supported rate of £160 available. There will also be the option to pay by instalments.

Places are limited, and applications should be completed by 10 August. Book here:
12–18 application or 18–25+ application.

beHeld: Youth & Children's Ministry Training Days

In 2026, all involved in youth and children's ministry are invited to a fresh series of training days at Ps & Gs Church called 'beHeld'. The next is on 26 September (the final date this year is 28 November). Each is on a Saturday morning, 9am–1pm, with light refreshments, worship, and the chance to hear from experts on key subjects.

beHeld costs £15 per session, but the diocese will cover the cost of one ticket per charge. Just email us at [email protected] with your name and charge, and we'll book you in for 26 September.

Awareness Days

We list Awareness Days on our website here. Most entries have links to external websites that provide information and resources for the particular cause or event.

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!

GoHealth Podcasts

GoHealth (The Guild of Health and St Raphael) is an ecumenical Christian charity with over 100 years of experience in holistic health and wellbeing. It exists to equip and inspire churches and individual Christians to be healing presences in the world.

GoHealth has a podcast which includes episodes about pilgrimage, disability, food, movement, healing and more. The latest episode is entitled Worship: A Safe Place for Pain.

Access GoHealth’s podcasts here.

Adventures in Faith: All Day Every Day!

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.

🔼 Check out the AiF webpages via the menu above.

📧 Please forward this email to congregational friends, who can sign-up using the button below.

👈 Share the QR code via church magazines, noticeboards, pew-sheets, etc.

👇 Check out our other newsletters via buttons below.

Sign up for Adventures in Faith!

The Communicant

Youth and Children

Do you follow Edinburgh Diocese on social media?

We appreciate every look, like and share!

Cathy Ballantine, Communications & Support Officer

0131 346 9085, [email protected]

If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.