1. JEFF'S WEBSITE

as at : 5 July 2010

Latest changes include: Biblical Garden Elgin (page 15),Public Gardens (Page 16), Bellie Kirk (page 52),Diocesan Centre (page 150) and Our Garden Page 190.

INTRODUCTION

I have prepared this website so that the reader may know something about me, my family, our hobbies and interests and our country, how church plays a large part in our life
(and perhaps you may be tempted to see what it is all about, either here or in your own area). For all these reasons the website is called 'mychurches.org' .

Do please note that this is not an official church web site but my personal one. The official one for our Group of Churches is that run by Peter Reid at: www.gordonchapel.org.uk

For ease of reference I have shown churches by their alphabetical location in the list on the left of this page (e.g. Gordon Chapel is shown against 'Fochabers').

If you have any constructive comments to make on how I might improve this website, or spot any errors do please let me know.

If you have links with churches on this site and would like to include something of interest I would be happy to share the site with you.

Now 'retired' I hope to have more time for my old hobbies of music (piano & organ), photography and my new hobby of camping in a motorhome. (and dodging the list of jobs Lynne has prepared for me)

Do say hullo if you meet me in any of our local churches or a church somewhere else in the UK, especially if you found us through this website.

Where we are

Jeff when organist in King's Chapel Gibraltar (aged 19)
(you see - even the army led me to a church!)

CHURCH - 'MY' CHURCHES

I am a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC). Living in Moray, Scotland I am fortunate in that I have many churches that I may attend.

We are located within the United Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness, one of the seven dioceses of the SEC.

So what is the Scottish Episcopal Church? It is called 'Scottish' because it traces its history back to the earliest known Christian communities in Scotland about 400AD. And 'Episcopal' (from the word for bishops) because we have maintained that form of church order of bishops, priests and deacons which was in use from those early years until the late 1600s. Thereafter the Reformed Church of Scotland broke into two. The story is complex. We espoused the Jacobite cause and suffered the consequences.

We are a Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion -independent and interdependent. We do not have archbishops; instead one of our bishops is chosen as primus (first among equals) thereby picking up a practice of the Scottish Church prior to the fifteenth century. The Scottish Episcopal Church has an ethos all its own, shaped by history, location and of course people.

We value our heritage and maintain a fully catholic sacramental and liturgical life. We also seek to play our full part in the life of Christian witness in Scotland and service to the nation and our local communities. I think those members of the Anglican Communion, particularly the Church of England would find little difference in our services and would be comfortable joining us when in Scotland.

Some Moray Churches

For many years I was a member of a group of churches in Moray spread from the hills to the sea. They are at Lossiemouth (St Margarets), Elgin (Holy Trinity), Aberlour (St Margarets) and Dufftown (St Michaels) - together they form the LEAD Cluster. I am now a member of Gordon Chapel, Fochabers which is linked to the Isla Deveron Group of Churches - consisting of St Marnans at Aberchirder, Christ Church at Huntly and Holy Trinity at Keith (further information about these churches is given in the sections named at the left of this page).

This section of the website is intended to give you a tour of, and an insight to the churches that I attend or have links with. I trust you will enjoy browsing and that this will encourage you to visit these churches remembering this includes not only the buildings but the people too.

I hope that you may find time to be at peace and with God in those quiet beautiful places where we live. If you wish to know more about any of 'my churches' do contact me - if I cannot help I will find someone who can.

For me, church is not just about those wonderful buildings but it is a 'way of life' which encompasses 'my life' and thus includes family, work and leisure - in a way they are inseparable. Hence this website includes all of those things. However I will only put a small amount of personal and family items on this site because it is intended to be primarily church linked - I am making up a separate site for mainly family matters.

May the church be your bridge and may we walk with you on your journey

To contact me

jeff@mychurches.org

Or simply click on this link to email me directly