Quartz
As is our custom we will gather outside the Crichton chapel at 2pm on the third Sunday of the month. Everyone is welcome to join us, and we adapt what we do according to the people who turn up. Have a look around this website to get an idea of what to expect and please […]
What can 5 physical senses reveal? The first of our 2025 Faith and Art workshops has the title “Sensing Beauty”. We won’t be spending our time trying to find a way to define beauty, or even agree on what each person finds attractive or beautiful. If you are interested in that, there are scientific papers […]
A series of practical sessions exploring the relationship between Faith, Art and Creativity. Four Wednesdays in January (8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th).We will meet in St Michaels church hall from 1pm to 3pm. The sessions are free and here is the info about the first one If you have time over Christmas and want to find […]
If you landed as an alien in Scotland who, or what, would you think was worshiped at this time of year? The ancient world made the invisible, visible, by carving idols. People wore charms or wrote sacred texts on their door frames. Modern society in scotland went through a purge where this was burned from […]
An opportunity to take time out in the run up to Christmas 2024. You are invited to help by volunteering, or simply drop in. As mentioned in a previous post, Wordsmith Crafts has a space in the Loreburn centre in Dumfries every Saturday from St. Andrews day to the weekend of the 21st/22nd Quartz volunteers, […]
The most common comments I receive about creative worship fall into two categories. “How can I be more creative?” and “That must take a long time to do”. I think both observations are true, so here are some thoughts from a lifetime based on reflecting about them. From the beginning God is described as creator. […]
A spirituality of making The scars on the Ruthwell cross are witness to the troubled relationship Christians have with art. We are physical beings who need a world of sensations, we are also spiritual beings who can sense a realm that is more than simply physical. The Bible is filled with references to God crafting, […]
What does it mean to “Find Jesus in the trees”, or in daily life, or a shared bite to eat and drink? Jesus himself is recorded as talking about people “finding” the Kingdom of heaven while doing ordinary task like grinding grain. Perhaps you are someone who catches a glimpse of the Rule of God […]
Alison has sent in this reflection from a quiet morning at Elsieshields. Rabbi Yehoshua was once asked “Why did God appear to Moses in such a lowly bush?”The Rabbi answered “Why in a thorn bush? I’ll tell you: To teach there is no place where the Divine Presence is not found, even in a lowly […]
“Light” is used frequently in the Gospels, especially in the good news as told by John. I chose this theme for my final assembly with the Dumfries High School year group I have been chaplain to since they started secondary school during lockdown. As they gather I usually run a video which introduces the theme […]