adventures-in-faith

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Adventures in Faith
August 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

On Thursday 30 July and Saturday 1 August, Bishop Dagmar, and Tilda the dog, above, set off on their own adventure in faith, walking two routes within the Diocese of Edinburgh: a city churches crawl and a Borders walk, taking in 17 churches in all. There was prayer, fellowship and food, and afterwards Bishop Dagmar expressed her huge gratitude for the warm welcome and hospitality she received at the various charges.

A few pictures from the trip are featured below. For more, visit Bishop Dagmar’s Facebook page or our website.

Edinburgh Festival Season: Highlights

St Mary's Cathedral's Festival programme includes:

🔹Traditional Japanese Theatre Music

🔹Song School Tours

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

🔹Lunchtime Recitals at 1pm

🔹Piano Afternoons

🔹Afternoon Originals, a chance to hear new music

Get the full line-up here.

Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts is running from 16–22 August, and many of the events are taking place in our churches. Here's what's coming up:

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.

Whatsoever You Do: Music for the Homeless Jesus, a concert by Schola Cantorum on 17 August at 7.30pm at St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, will take its inspiration from Homeless Jesus, the recent installation outside St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral by Timothy Schmalz.

The evening will include Gavin Bryars’ iconic composition Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, built around a haunting loop of an unknown homeless man singing a simple, improvised refrain. The concert will be an opportunity to reflect on Christ’s presence in the most marginalised of our society.

Tickets from Fringe Box Office and Eventbrite.

Timothy Schmalz, the sculptor of Homeless Jesus, will join visitors at the Cathedral on Tuesday 18 August at 11am to reflect on the inspiration behind his work, the relationship between faith and art, and the message of compassion and hope at the heart of his sculptures. This event will be free and unticketed.

Other Festival Events in our Edinburgh Churches

St Columba's-by-the-Castle: ScotlandsFest, a series of talks, conversations, storytelling and poetry, from 19 to 27 August. Find out more.
Old Saint Paul’s is also the venue for four music performances, including the Orthodox Vespers service on 22 August, an evening service of hymns, psalms and readings. Find out what’s happening at Old Saint Paul’s.
St Vincent’s Chapel is Fringe venue 197 and will be hosting a range of events. Find out more.
Ps & Gs, venue 346, is hosting gospel music and an a cappella choir. Find out more.
The hall at St Ninian’s, Comely Bank, venue 230, is hosting a theatrical production of ‘Cluedo’. Find out more.

The full Fringe programme can be accessed here: https://www.edfringe.com/

Creationtide

Creationtide, or the 'Season of Creation', begins on 1 September and runs until 4 October. It is a time when Christians around the world celebrate God as Creator, acknowledging Creation as a ongoing gift and act of God, and earth as our common home.

The Season of Creation theme for 2026 is Living Water, inspired by the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of life-giving water flowing from the temple of God (Ezekiel 47:1–12).

We've put together some resources for Creationtide and you can find these on our website.

Talking Faith: Does Prayer Work?

Have you explored the Talking Faith podcast yet? Hosts Revd Philip Blackledge and Revd Lesley Penny have recently discussed the subject 'Does prayer work?', a great topic which covers lots of questions about prayer. In the archive there are more conversations on interesting topics, plus interviews with the Primus and Bishop Dagmar, and reaction videos, where Pip and Lesley share music from their different traditions with each other. Get the Talking Faith podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingFaithPod

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

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!

Trinity College, Glasgow

Trinity College Glasgow is running a series of online and hybrid short courses this autumn. Two that might be of particular interest are:

🔹Contemporary Visual Art and Christian Worship

🔹History and Theology of Christian Worship.

The deadline for applications for these short courses is 11 September.

Get more information via the Trinity College website.

Sarum College

This autumn, Sarum College is running a new 'Modern Mystics' series on Mondays from 7.30–9pm. They cost £20 each or £55 for the full series of three:

Egied Van Broeckhoven: 21 September

Mother Teresa of Kolkata: 28 September

Iris Murdoch: 5 October

Here are the rest of Sarum College's online courses in September and October:

Being Christians Online: 14 September, 10am–1pm, £40.
Missiology 101: Reimagining Christian Mission Today: 22 September, 2–4pm, £40.
The Courage to Care: Francis and Clare of Assisi for Today: 23 & 30 September, 7 & 14 October, 7.30–9pm, £75.
A Deeper, Rooted, Lasting Faith: Your Church’s Ministry to Parents and Carers: 7 October, 10am–1pm, £40.
Biblical Models of Neurodiversity: 15 October, 1pm–4pm, £40.

Further information and booking via Sarum’s Short Courses web page.

Beyond the Walls

Gill Sakakini will be presenting 'Pioneering Art', Webinar 18 of the Beyond the Walls series, on Tuesday 8 September at 1pm. Gill is a Pioneer Priest in the Arts in the Church of England. She is co-author of Imaging the Story: Rediscovering the Visual and Poetic Contours of Salvation. Find out more.

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

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. This live reflection series is 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/

On Saturday 29 August, acclaimed Edinburgh songwriter and choir leader Kim Edgar leads Songs of Unity at Stockbridge Parish Church.

During the workshop (11:30am–5pm, bring your own lunch) you’ll learn uplifting, accessible songs. You will then form a special “scratch choir” to perform a few pieces live at the evening concert (7–9pm).

No singing experience or sheet-music reading is required. Tickets are offered on a “Pay What You Can” sliding scale at edfringe.com (search Kim Edgar). Reserve your space with a 25% discount by emailing [email protected] before 15 August.

Retreats

The Bield at Blackruthven upcoming retreats:
🔹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.

Abernethy Kilmalieu upcoming events:
🔹Ardnamurchan Adventure, 3–7 September, from £408.
🔹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:

🔹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.

Children and Young People

The latest Youth and Children Newsletter is out now!

Read about activities and events since New Year
Discover new pre-school group ‘Little Seeds’
Get tips from the youth team at St Mungo’s Balerno & Livingston
See how the PYC got on at Synod.

On 30 August from 3–4.30pm at St Mark's Portobello there'll be an afternoon for 3–11 year olds to discover God in the Holy Communion/Last Supper/Mass – with the Diocese of Edinburgh's Play Church and hosted with Portobello and Joppa Parish Church.

St John’s, Princes Street is launching three new choirs for children and young people: one for 4–6 year olds, one for 7–12 year olds and one for 13–18 year olds. These choirs will provide high quality musical training, including vocal technique, musical theory and choir in context (why we sing in church). The launch day is on 5 September. Register your interest for the Choral Singing Taster Day here!

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!

Holy Habits

Holy Habits, supported by the BRF, is an approach to discipleship based on the early church's habits in Acts 2:42–47. It encourages the development of ten holy habits:

Biblical teaching
Fellowship
Breaking bread
Eating together
Gladness and generosity
Serving
Worship
Sharing resources
Prayer
Making more disciples.

Holy Habits is designed for church communities in particular, and its website emphasises that small churches as well as large can benefit from exploring Holy Habits – the early church started small! There is useful website where you can find information, including explanatory videos, and further resources, and a book has been written to guide you.

Find out more about Holy Habits 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.

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Youth and Children

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Cathy Ballantine, Communications & Support Officer

0131 346 9085, [email protected]

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