Bridge Summer 2017 :Newsletter of Montrose South and Ferryden Church

Transcription

1 Bridge Summer 2017 :Newsletter of Montrose South and Ferryden Church TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS FOR FERRYDEN CHURCH As the outcome of Ken Linton s Survey is approaching publication, members of the church family will be requested to vote in yet another referendum; in this case to declare their preferred option for scaling the slope up to Ferryden Church. CONTENTS Message from the Manse ALPHA Becoming the church we d like to be Transport Wild West Holiday Club VOTE A,B or C for your preferred transport option A Community Bible Experience Buildings Report Feeding the Hungry B 50 Years of Compass Christian Centre Ferryden Fellowship Data Protection C Dates to Remember And finally TRANSPORT Ken has been surveying the needs of the less mobile members of the congregation, and hopes shortly to present options for bringing members across to Ferryden and up Church Road to the church entrance. Don t worry. The suggestions presented above are NOT considered viable options Go to page 7

2 THE CHURCH WE ARE CALLED TO BE.. I am now 6 months into my ministry here in Montrose South & Ferryden. From the beginning I was impressed by the work done by the two congregations coming together aided by Alistair Morrice and by the work done by the united congregation since the union. I was particularly impressed with the outcomes reached by the Congregational Meeting 18 months ago with the working title The church we want to be. We followed that up earlier this year with an Our future church meeting to evaluate how we are doing. I was impressed on three levels. Firstly, the number of people who were willing to give up their time to be involved in these meetings and help set the tone for the church that South & Ferryden is to become. Secondly, that the priorities set by those meetings echo with the priorities that I myself see as being the essential for the church in this day and age (and remember I wasn t part of the earlier meeting which set those priorities). Thirdly by the way those priorities resonate with the values of the kingdom of God. Resonating with values of the Kingdom of God is perhaps the key. We can all dream of a church that we would be happy in, we can all have a voice and say the church should be like this and the church should do this but at the end of the day none of that matters unless our thoughts resonate with kingdom values. Put another way the question we have to ask is, What is God asking of us? What is God calling us to? The first thing to note is that we are all called by God. Jesus invitation to the very first disciples was very simple Follow me! That invitation echoes down the centuries and is as relevant today as it was when Jesus walked along the shore by the Sea of Galilee. The authors of Church Without Walls report presented to the General Assembly in 2001 note, That calling is personal. Jesus calls people personally by name the church is shaped by our personal faith and obedience. The prophet Isaiah writes Don t be afraid, I ve redeemed you. I ve called your name. You re mine. (Isaiah 43:1 The Message). Jesus calls you to walk in a personal relationship with him, knowing His saving grace and His love and compassion in your life. The call to Follow Me is personal but it is also corporate. As we come together as followers of Jesus to worship and to pray we come as the people of God in our locality. We gather as Montrose South & Ferryden Church and we are called to follow Jesus. We are a people of the way following Jesus. The calling is local. We are called to follow where we are and to live out the good news of Jesus Christ with the people we live amongst. The calling is also relational. Jesus leads us into love for God and love for our neighbour. We are to be a community of people of the Way. So how does the call Follow me work out in practice? One way of thinking about it is this is not my church or your church - it is Christ s church and we have to let him shape it the way he would have it. Our worship is to be Christ centred and an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. It is out of that encounter that we will think like Jesus and love like Jesus. That in itself will shape our weekday activities and our joining together to share God s love through service and acts of kindness. I do believe there is a call upon the people of this church to a deeper walk and a greater encounter with God. Some of how that will effect us and shape us is being worked and can be seen with the launch of the Philos Cafe. The rest is still to be discerned as we obey the call of Jesus Follow me! The call, the invitation, is as much to you as it is to me. Jesus says, Follow me! Come and join us on that journey as people of the Way. Geoff Redmayne The Alpha Course is an exploration of the Christian faith and a great tool for those who are simply curious through to those who have a faith but wish to revisit the fundamentals of their faith. We have had a first look at The Alpha Course film series at our evening services and it is planned to run a full course in the near future. That will need a few folk to get involved and share in the running and organising of it. Ten members met with Geoff recently, and agreed that we should continue our outreach with an ALPHA course beginning just after the New Year Your support and prayers are greatly needed. More information to follow. 2

3 BECOMING THE CHURCH WE D LIKE TO BE We've done this before, and nothing happened! Every time an organisation asks its members to review how it is doing in order to make improvements, there s a risk of this comment being made. It s easier to talk about improvements than to bring them about! We ve had two meetings when the congregation has been asked to talk about What kind of church would you like us to be?' and Our Future Church and so we now have a challenge in front of us to put the ideas into action. And so, what kind of church do we want to be, and what are we doing about it? We said we wanted to be a welcoming, inclusive friendly church, with good opportunities for fellowship. Our welcoming teams and those who provide tea after services are making a big contribution to this on Sundays. We've had after-church lunches and a film night. We said we wanted worship to be God honouring, Bible centred, uplifting, attractive to people who don t come, joyful and serious as appropriate with more members involved and times of stillness and silent prayer. The services have introduced new features involving members of the congregation, a regular spot for the music group and thought-provoking dialogues and different prayer experiences. We said we wanted to be involved in serving those in the congregation, with opportunities for members to use the gifts they have. The first step here has been to set up a new pastoral care system to look after the congregation, with more members involved in pastoral care teams. We said we wanted communication to be better. We've introduced a newsletter focused more on what's happening in the church. The website, with recorded sermons, provides lots of information about what's going on as does the Facebook page. In the very important matter of buildings, there have been regular updates. We said we want to help congregation members to grow and develop their faith. The formation of small groups will be key here and the Community Bible Experience has been a good start. We said we wanted to reach out to others, helping them with their faith, providing practical support to the needy. The Holiday Club will provide outreach to our young people.philos and Xaver are two new dropin cafes for those who use the Foodbank, and for other new friends. We have made a start but it is only a start. We re hoping to build on it soon and we are making plans for the future. We look forward to telling you about them in future newsletters. THE WILD WEST 2017 Alan Fraser Well it's nearly holiday club time again and this year it runs from Monday, 31 July until Sunday, 6 August. The theme is Friendship and the club is set in the context of the Wild West. This should prove to be a lot of fun with cowboy games, line dancing, singing, baking, drama and crafts. Our Bible stories will be told by a wise Native American story teller and will focus on what it means both to be a good friend to others and also to be a friend of Jesus. The club will run on Monday to Friday mornings from 10 am until 12 noon in Ferryden Church Hall. It is suitable for any children entering Primary 1 to those leaving Primary 7. There is no charge for the club and a snack is supplied mid-morning. We plan to follow up the club with a film night showing Toy Story, to which everyone is welcome, on Friday 11th August and also a family treasure hunt, organised by the Sunday school, the following Friday, 18 August. Please encourage any young people you know to come along to any or all of these events. To speed up the registration process this can be done online via the church website or on the holiday club Facebook page. There will also be a paper version of the registration form available which can be given to Edith Fraser or myself. It is also OK just to turn up and register on the day! There will be opportunities for the whole church family to support the holiday club in different ways: financially during a retiring offering; by donating wrapped chocolate biscuits to be left at the back of Ferryden Church during July and most importantly remembering the holiday club children and leaders in your prayers. Many thanks Meg Cowan 3

4 COMMUNITY BIBLE EXPERIENCE The Community Bible Experience, introduced in the last newsletter, turned out to be a big success. Around 40 members of the congregation met up in different homes over an 8-week period to read the Bible together, but in a different way from our usual Bible studies. Instead of studying a passage closely each time, those involved read the books of Luke and Acts like a story, a few pages at a time. That approach was refreshingly different, and gave a new perspective on a very old book. What did people think of the scheme? Here is a selection of their comments. I found the course looking at parts of Luke and Acts using the book The Story very interesting. The book throws a fresh light on Jesus story and supplements the Bible in a positive thought provoking way. I have enjoyed the Community Bible Experience. Knowing that many others are joining in within the church family increases a sense of learning together and fellowship. Learning more about God's love and how we can serve him better and become more relevant in our community can only be a good thing. I'm looking forward to our next group meeting. I enjoyed learning more as the Bible experience was simpler to understand. And Ann's cakes were really tasty! I feel that the Community Bible E x p e r i e n c e i s a p o s i t i v e experience which not only reinforces scriptural knowledge but promotes discussion and fellowship within the groups. A great way to learn about the Bible. The Community Bible experience was an opportunity to discuss and share parts of the Bible which I thought I knew. However, I quickly realised that there was a lot more to be gained by shared discussion, and finding out others views. It was also a good way of getting to know better the other members of the Church. The Community Bible Experience concluded at Easter but the groups have indicated a willingness to continue meeting together. The new programme will start in September with the possibility of folk joining one the existing groups or indeed additional groups starting up. Watch this space for for more information in due course. OUR BUILDINGS Where will we be worshipping in the Autumn? The Kirk Session has decided that July will be our final month regularly worshipping together on a Sunday morning in the South Church. From August for the foreseeable future we will be worshipping on Sunday mornings in Ferryden Church, with evening services taking place in South Church. The Session has taken this decision because of the confusion that has arisen from time to time about where the Sunday morning service will be held and the realisation that we need a settled 'home'. The South Church is up for sale because of the problems and expense of maintaining its elaborate roof. Our future church buildings. Although we are moving to Ferryden Church and using it as it stands meantime, we realise that it too is not satisfactory for the long term as it is presently because of the lack of integrated hall accommodation and difficulty of access up its steep hill for some members. We are therefore exploring the following possibilities - 1. Building a new church centre on a new site closer to the centre of our parish. 2. Substantial rebuilding of one of our two buildings in Ferryden. To allow us to think about the latter of these possibilities we have engaged an architect to think about four possibilities in Ferryden. a. Demolish Ferryden Hall and use that site to b. Build a two storey church centre, or c. Modify and extend the present Ferryden Hall to create a sanctuary and create up to three halls on two floors to the rear of the sanctuary, or d. create two floors within the shell of the present Ferryden Church buildings, and (another re-arrangement of Ferryden Church as may seem feasible to the architect. All of these four options would have both sanctuary and halls on the same site. Roy Nelson 4

5 FEEDING THE HUNGRY good rains and a good crop. Next year, the children will have porridge to help feed them when the other maize runs out and some will walk miles to get just a mug of it - all because of the determination, love for his community and Christian concern of just one man, Josham. It is a long time since we hosted a group of Malawians from Engcongolweni who visited our churches and brought colour, music and some serious heart searching to us. It's even a long time since our connection was officially ended, but one part of the community still has a link with that part of Malawi. And, of course, with the assistance of a donation from here. The money was necessary but it was hardly a challenging amount. Among the Malawians who visited us was Josham Thawi, session clerk at that time. Josham is one of the elders of the village of Luhomero where one of the Engcongolweni prayer house is situated. Luhomero is a very, very poor community, quite isolated with no regular transport to and from the village. All those who live there are subsistence farmers who try to grow enough maize to feed themselves for a year. Unfortunately, that never happens. The maize has to be seriously rationed for three or four months a year to prevent starvation. All that was needed was 130. It doesn't take much to make a real difference, does it? Alan Fraser Josham has a real concern for his community and he was determined to get a link arrangement for his local primary school. Eventually, that link was formed with Ferryden Primary. One of the things he wanted to do was provide food for the school pupils to give them something to help them through the hungry season. He spoke to the community and to the village chiefs and persuaded everybody to plough up a new piece of ground, a field to grow maize for the school. Everyone agreed and that field is being farmed by community effort. A school sized porridge pot. Effort alone, however, could not produce a maize crop. What he asked of us was money for seed and fertiliser. There was Malawi money left over from donations including Café donations and some was sent out to buy what was needed. Even then, success was not guaranteed as the rains can be sporadic but this year has seen PHILOS REPORT ON THE FIRST TWELVE WEEKS Philos (Greek for friend) opened for the first time on Wednesday 29th March. It started because it was felt that there was a real need to help people in the community who are marginalised due to unemployment, mental health issues, drug addiction etc. Having volunteered at Foodbank for almost 3 years, I ve had conversations with people who've spoken of their loneliness and how difficult it can be to fill a day. Josham adding fertliser Cont. on P6 5

6 Philos -cont. From P5 To encourage Foodbank clients along to Philos we decided to work in conjunction with Montrose Foodbank which was originally open on a Monday afternoon and Friday morning. It now also opens along with Philos on Wednesdays from 1 till 3pm. They work separately, with Foodbank having its own volunteers (though four of us volunteer for both Philos and Foodbank) and operating from the downstairs hall and Philos upstairs in the Wilson hall but the two organisations are still very much part of the same team trying to encourage and support the same group of people. Philos is run by a group of eleven volunteers, ten of whom are members of Montrose South and Ferryden, with one member from Old and St Andrews. We work on a rota basis with four or five volunteers working at Philos at any one time. We also now have Maureen McEvoy, Social Care Officer (Homelessness) who as well as encouraging some of her clients to come along to Philos provides support and advice, on matters such as debt, budgeting, dealing with mail, benefit changes, facing homelessness or having difficulty maintaining their tenancy, and housing matters. She is also perfectly equipped to direct them to the correct services. The aim of Philos is to show the love of Christ through practical means, providing somewhere for people to go, something for people to do, someone to listen, other people to meet; bottom line, a friend. We do this by interacting with those who come in, encouraging conversations, listening, providing coffee and cake, playing games and endless wooden puzzles. We have now acquired an old pool table and dart board which have proven to be very popular and a lot of fun. Since we opened we've had 19 people come into Philos. We have a group of four or five regulars, with the most at any one time being fifteen, plus Maureen, and our volunteers, all of which contributes to a real buzz about the James Wilson Hall in South Church. Philos is very much in its infancy, and we're working a bit on a trial and error basis but hopefully we'll be able to expand on what we're doing. This will depend on the needs of those who come in and what they themselves would like to do. In terms of progressing, it would be good to raise funds for more resources e.g. craft materials, tools, more games or whatever the interests of those who come in are. Funds would also be useful for Christmas parties, outings etc. Additionally, we would like to look into the possibilities of specific training for volunteers. Our client base has been predominantly people with mental health issues, it would be very helpful to have someone who works in mental health, housing or social work (or all three!) to speak to us and to underline some of the difficulties that some of our friends encounter. We would very much value your prayers for both volunteers and friends who come into Philos. Pray that they would receive a warm welcome, that we'll be compassionate and be able to help with some of their issues or at the least point them in the right direction and that God would use us to bring real blessing on all who come into Philos. -0- FIFTY YEARS OF FAITHFULNESS AT COMPASS CHRISTIAN CENTRE The Compass Christian Centre is a residential outdoor centre that is non-denominational and run as a self-supporting charity. The centre welcomes everyone: Christians and non-christians: young people; less young people: schools; youth groups; whole church groups; work colleagues; deacons retreats and conferences. In 1967, a group of Christian friends rented Glenshee Lodge from the Invercauld estate and used the building as a weekend retreat. They wanted somewhere that they could share their love of the outdoors and their Christian faith with each other and with new friends. In those early days they used to ski in the winter and go walking in the summer. 50 years on and Compass is doing exactly the same thing. We aim to share the love of Jesus Christ in the atmosphere of a caring home while providing opportunities for the enjoyment of outdoor activities Much of the work of Compass is with young people. Every year we welcome over 1700 young people for a residential break at Compass. And we share the love of Jesus Christ in real and relevant ways, with every one of them. Many of those young people who have visited, have Cont. on P7 6

7 come from Montrose - Ferryden School have visited a few times and other Angus youth groups and schools visit too. FERRYDEN FELLOWSHIP 'Finding a fresh venue for a local outing is a challenge but this year the Ferryden Fellowship didn't travel far to discover uncharted territory for almost all the members. Hospitalfield at Arbroath is a Victorian sandstone building occupying the site of and built around an ancient Christian place of hospitality, the precise original purpose being uncertain. It was latterly the ancestral home of the Fraser family and when Patrick Allan returned to his native Arbroath (at the request of Sir Walter Scott to illustrate his new work The Antiquary), he fell in love with the daughter of the house and married her. Together they set up a foundation to support struggling artists and the breathtaking workmanship throughout the much extended premises is a result of this patronage. On our visit, we first we had tea or coffee and While at the centre, guests can try all sorts of activities, from skiing and snowboarding, to archery, climbing, kayaking and our 160m long zip line. This year we ve also added a brand activity for our guests, a state of the art High Ropes course. Many guests want to enjoy their break by having a lazy time, curled up with a good book or enjoying the quiet and the views of the Cairngorm countryside or sitting by the fire in one of the comfy lounges - the centre provides plenty of opportunity to enjoy your time without having to do any adrenaline sports This year, 2017, is the 50th anniversary of the Compass Christian Centre. We ve witnessed 50 years of faithful outreach of the gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands of people and many lives scones with cream and homemade jam in the beautiful but informal walled garden, and then in two groups we went around the house. The tour guides were friendly and knowledgeable and we were allowed to sit on the chairs, look in the cupboards and photograph the array of decorative carving, paintings and furnishings. We made the most of the opportunity to see everything and then spent time outside (several plants have found new homes in Ferryden and Montrose gardens but they were bought and paid for at the plant stall). changed. We ve seen God s faithful provision for this work through 50 years. And if you d like to be involved in supporting the work of the Centre you could; become a prayer supporter; provide friendship and support to a member of the staff; join one of the regular volunteer work parties. Into the cars we went for the short journey to the Colliston Inn where a substantial high tea was taken amidst a buzz of cheerful conversation, and two additional members joined us bringing the attendance to nineteen people. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly, so grateful thanks are owed to the committee for organising the event. Fraser Linton, a MS&F church member, is heading to Compass shortly to become a member of staff. Please remember to support Fraser in prayer during his time there. If you are interested in the work of Compass you can find out more at Ferryden Fellowship meets once a month on Mondays from October to March and is open to everyone. This past year we welcomed mainly local speakers, with Jean Rose willingly stepping into the breach to tell us about the Mercy Ladies of Kiev when a volunteer from Street Pastors had to cancel at the last minute. Our two remaining visiting speakers were from Malawi Fruits, a Christian organisation finding innovative solutions to the on Facebook, or speak to Pete or Meg Cowan. 7

8 farming issues affecting that country; and Ian Bell who told us all about the Great Tapestry of Scotland. We also enjoyed talks by Joe Wishart, Graeme Bruce and Geoff Redmayne. The two highlights of the year are the Christmas meal (hosted by Alan and Edith Fraser with everyone contributing to the feast) and the summer outing. -0- Dates to Remember Holiday Club - Monday 31 July - Friday 4 August Thanksgiving Service - Sunday 6 August Friday 11 August - Toy Story To which all church members and parents are most welcome We are required by the Church of Scotland to maintain a Communion Roll which lists names and addresses of Communicant members. There is also a separate roll of adherents. Recent National Legislation (ie government not church) now means we have to obtain your permission for any personal information that we hold in our records and that we also have to be clear why we hold that data and that we do so safely. We have yet to begin the process of obtaining your permission to hold your contact data on file. The process was delayed to allow the Union to bed in. We will be undertaking that process soon so please expect a letter and a form in the near future for you to complete and sign. We will be most appreciative of your cooperation in this. We also understand that a few folk may no longer wish to be Communicant Members and the process should also allow you to indicate this and allow us to remove your name from the Roll should you so wish. I would stress, however, that the only reason (apart from Church legislation) to keep a record of your contact details is so that we can effectively communicate with you our members. Thank you Geoff Redmayne Friday 18 August - Family Treasure Hunt And finally These are challenging times, particularly for members of former Melville-South church, established all those years ago in 1861, who must now be experiencing a sense of bereavement, with the last morning worship in the South church sanctuary scheduled for Sunday 30 July at 11 am. Just remember that the New Testament tells us, WE ARE CHRIST S CHURCH. CONTACTS Minister Rev. Geoff Redmayne gnremayne@gmail.com Session Clerk Alan Fraser alan.fraser12@gmail.com Session Clerk Roy Nelson Roy.Nelson@talktalk.net Clerk to Board Douglas Craig hornblower7@btinternet.com Bridge Editors Alan Fraser Douglas Craig 8

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