Sanctuary First

Tonight on the Weekly Review the team are discussing bling, fool’s gold, being a fool for Christ and weaving the golden thread of love into our lives. Gold is a bit is like love, on the one hand it’s delicate and easily broken but on the other hand it endures — never rusting, or corroding or tarnishing. And both can come out of fire more refined. This year what changes can we make to continue to b...

he dream team of Albert, Laura, Iain and James will be getting to grips with our new theme for January by asking - So what exactly are humans anyway? When it comes down to it, what are we made to be and what are we called to do? We will go spiritual, medical, poetic and far off the beaten track as each of us try to answer from our unique perspectives what it means to be human.

Join Albert, Laura and James (sadly Iain was out on call!) as they look back over a year of Sanctuary First and indeed a year of Weekly Reviews. We started doing these shows back in January and we have had a blast - there’s been tears, laughter, insights, songs and seriously bizarre tangents. In this special pre-recorded edition the team reflect on their favourite moments from 2020 and anticipate...

Look up! Tonight on the Weekly review the team are gazing upwards and discussing how the skies are wide open to let in Christmas! We are joined by Allan Vint a minister and keen astrophotographer who will be leading our Daily Worship (and sharing his pictures of stars and outer space) over the Christmas week. It will be all kinds of cosmos chat this evening as we get astronomical and find out more...

The Weekly Review - an hour of banter, discussion, theology, anecdote and whimsy! This Advent we have been opening up Christmas at Sanctuary First and tonight we want to ask - how open are our hearts? Open to God? Open to one another? Open to our own fears, longings and hopes? Alongside the regular team to discuss stitching our hearts to our sleeves is this week’s Daily Worship writer Lily Cathcar...

Tonight on the Weekly Review Advent is underway, the days are getting shorter and we are looking for light and hope in the darkness! We are delighted to be joined by this week’s Daily Worship writer Jane Denniston, Minister of Campsie Parish Church, and to welcome Daniel Ferguson from Westhill. Daniel is a singer-songwriter, worship leader and youth pastor in Westhill Community Church. His latest...

In this week’s episode of the Weekly Review Albert, James and Laura are joined by Norah Summers, this week’s Daily Worship writer. They discuss following in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd. As apprentice shepherds we do what we can to seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

Tonight on the Weekly Review the team discuss how to keep the faith alive… despite everything! It’s been a strange year. Perhaps a time of losing faith in some things and gaining faith in others. How do we nurture our faith when we are up against it? Joining the team to explore this is Pete Phillips of the Centre for Digital Theology at Durham University who has been writing our Daily Worship this...

Albert and Laura are joined by this week’s Daily Worship writer Scott Shacklton and Jack Steel from the SF team to chat about remembrance and how to be church and show God’s love in today’s modern/socially distant world.

This week on the Weekly Review the team are thinking about saints - remembering all those souls who have got us this far and anticipating all those to come who will lead us on from here! In strange and turbulent times we can draw strength from the ongoing Communion of Saints that inspire, encourage and challenge us. Joining us for the discussion is friend of Sanctuary First George Sneddon a studen...

Tonight on the Weekly Review - How do we leave a legacy that makes a good future possible for those who come after us? We discuss Moses, fatherhood, giving thanks for the past, rejoicing in the present (regardless of circumstances), and how we can inspire others to move forward. This week we are delighted to welcome back the man himself Dr Iain Jamieson - fresh and ready for all the banter along w...

In this edition of the Weekly Review the team are asking - What are the big issues facing our world today that are demanding leadership? And what kind of leadership is needed? In politics, industry, church, culture, the arts… and on the street where you live? Do the leadership styles promoted by world leaders influence other sectors? How does our local legacy of Presbyterianism in Scotland shape h...

Imagination is a powerful thing - it can allow us to unlock our potential and to innovate, but it can also be a form of escapism. Rather than living life in all its fullness we can use our imaginations to tune out and switch off. How do we help one another to imagine new ways of being here and thriving rather than new ways of getting away from it all? What role do we have as communities of faith i...

How do you worship God? A classic example of a sentence with multiple meanings depending on where you place the stress: How do you worship God? or How do you worship God? The team will explore the ‘how’ and the ‘you’ of worship. What does worship mean to each of us? We often use the term as a shorthand for church services in general or singing hymns in particular — but there are many ways of prais...

For this edition of the Weekly Review Albert, Laura, James and Iain are joined by special guest Sandy Smith: an expert on the celebrated author and thinker C.S. Lewis. They discuss Lewis’s enduring appeal and his particular relevance to the times we are living in. Sandy also tells us about the new Sanctuary First book group he is hosting that reads through Lewis’s Surprised by Joy .

For this edition of the Weekly Review the team are joined by our Daily Worship writer for the week Dan Harper, Parish Minister of Bridge of Allan Parish Church. Dan has had a returning motif in this series of tuning in to hope, justice and love. As a group we will be wondering if there is a unique role that Christian churches and communities can play in a time of recession and societal restructuri...

​In this edition of the Weekly Review Albert, Laura, James and Iain are joined by Laura Vermeulen. Laura is a volunteer worker in a Christian community in Greece working with refugees. We discuss identity, calling and trembling!

What makes us the church? What does church mean in the Square Mile, the Green Mile, the Difficult Miles and when you’re going the Extra Mile? Albert, Laura, Iain and James are joined by this week’s Daily Worship writer Campbell Dye to discuss what it means to be the church in a time of pandemic.

Albert and James are joined by the missiologist Les Henson and the musician and SF contributor Jim Steel.

​Albert, Linda and Iain are joined by Julie Barr, this weeks prayer writer.

Tonight the Weekly Review dream team of Laura, Albert, Iain and James consider the importance of unity as we consider how we are going to have to come together as a wider society to face the tasks ahead. Unity is vital in our families, in our churches, between band members and co-hosts…

This week our guest is Erick du Toit and the theme is music and how it has shaped our culture starting with the influence of Elvis.

‘Setting Out’ This week the gang are chatting about what it means to pause and draw breath before heading out on the ‘next stage’ in your life. Thinking of those facing new challenges in education, work, family and wider life with special guest trainee minister George Sneddon!

Laura and Iain are joined by Rhona & James Cathcart and Jane & Jack Steel!

NEW PODCAST - Check out our new podcast and the first of this podcast series! In this series we will chat to some of the talented artists involved with the Secret Chord Sessions project, about there inspirations and music This episode we are talking to Ian Paget about his song ‘Simon Says’ which is currently the featured song on the chord sessions. The song was recorded in isolation in lockdown fr...