Jerusalem and Edinburgh churches mark St Andrew's Day with special services

Congregations in Edinburgh and Jerusalem will unite to pray for peace as they mark St Andrew's Day.

The congregation of St Andrew's Jerusalem & Tiberias will host its annual service for the special day of Scotland's national saint this Saturday (30th November).

A companion service will take place in Scotland at St Cuthbert's Church in Edinburgh on the same day in conjunction with The Friends of St Andrew's Jerusalem & Tiberias.

The Jerusalem service will be different this year as friends and contacts from the West Bank will not be able to attend because they have no permit to travel to Jerusalem.

However, those who can attend will gather together in prayer for an urgent ceasefire, the securing of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of all hostages.

Prayers of Lament and Hope will be led by ministers of St Andrew's Jerusalem & Tiberias Rev Dr Stewart Gillan and Rev Muriel Pearson, together with Rev Ines Fischer of Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church.

The service will be reflective, woven together with music from Taizé and short songs to Scottish folk tunes.

The Edinburgh service will be led by last year's Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Very Rev Sally Foster Fulton, and the collection will be for DSPR, the Department of Support for Palestinian Refugees, which has continued to give extraordinary support in Gaza in the face of overwhelming need and suffering.

Everyone is welcome to join either in person at 2pm at the parish church of St Cuthbert, Lothian Road, Edinburgh or online at St Andrew's Day Service | Friends of StAndrews