CASTLE DOUGLAS PARISH CHURCH NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 CASTLE DOUGLAS PARISH CHURCH NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2017

2 WHO TO CONTACT INTERIM MODERATOR DAVID BARTHOLOMEW LOCUM MINISTERS DR JOHN LOCHRIE REV OONAGH DEE SESSION CLERK AILEEN STODDART FABRIC CONVENER RICHARD BROWN TREASURER FIONA MCGREGOR ORGANIST CALLUM WYLIE CHURCH OFFICER PETER FRENCH CARETAKER RENA REID NEWSLETTER ANN BROWN WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR IAIN MCDONALD Intimations to be with Aileen Stoddart by Thursday each week at the latest please. We are grateful to Small Print for the production of this newsletter. Their help is invaluable. Castle Douglas Parish Church SC011037

3 Letter from the Interim Moderator Dear Friends, One night Toscanini, the famous Italian conductor, led the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven s Ninth Symphony, a very difficult piece to direct. So majestic was the music that after the finale the audience stood for ten minutes applauding. Toscanini took his bows again and again then turned to the orchestra who also bowed. The audience continued to clap and cheer. Finally Toscanini turned his back to the audience and, speaking only to the orchestra, said, Ladies, gentlemen, I am nothing. You are nothing. Beethoven is everything! The orchestra and conductor were faithfully following the instructions of the composer, but the credit for the beautiful music belonged rightly with Beethoven. That is an instructive lesson for us all. The creator has placed us all in this beautiful world and given each one of us gifts and talents. Sometimes we can be guilty of taking all the credit for our successes and ignoring the one who gave us life. We try and pretend that he has no call upon our life. But the reality is that he loves us and wants to live his life though us, so that our lives become a symphony of beauty and harmony. Too often we try and live our lives out of our own resources and end up with too many discordant notes! Regardless of how eloquent or gifted we may be, we are called to throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus Christ and say, I am nothing, you are everything! And it is when we acknowledge his call upon our lives and open up our lives to him, as a home where his Spirit may reside, that we will find the greatest inner harmony and purpose for our lives. When men first learned to navigate the seas by using the stars, a whole new world opened up to them. It was said, He who is a slave to the compass enjoys the freedom of the open sea. Commitment to Christ is our compass. It opens the door to God s kingdom for us. When we commit our future to Him and let Him set our course, He will direct us to places of freedom, fulfilment and blessing that we never knew existed. But first we must be willing to say, It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. We are called to bow before Him and declare, I am nothing, you are everything. Here are my gifts, my abilities and my dreams. I lay them at your feet. I give them all to you. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. That is the way to the greatest fulfilment and contentment. This is not something that we do once, and from then on all is plain sailing. There needs to be a daily resolve and desire to live in relationship with the Lord and walk with him where he leads. And we find that in the process of seemingly giving up our life, we actually receive far more than we ever dreamed of.

4 It has been a pleasure to get to know many of you over the last year. We may not know what the future holds, but we know that God holds the future and can guide us along good paths as we seek his help and strength. With all good wishes, David Bartholomew. Date for your diary- Christian Aid Fundraiser Vintage Film Evening Sat 21 st October, Gordon Memorial Hall with light supper. If you have any requests of local footage eg I ve requested the Paddy Line!! Please contact Lorna McDonald YOUNG WOMEN S GROUP The Young Woman's Group met 6th June 2017 to organise the syllabus for the next season. For our first meeting on Tuesday September 5th we have organised a trip to the Ken Bridge Hotel New Galloway where we will be given a short history of the hotel followed by supper there. We will meet at the church hall about 5.45p.m before heading up to the Ken Bridge. On October 3rd we will have a talk in the church hall about the work done at Loch Arthur Community. The meeting will start at 7:30 pm and be followed by a light supper. Our meeting on 7th November will be in the church hall when we will have a visit from the Kidney Cancer charity who will give us a talk on the work they do and will also bring along a sales table. We have had a good another good year with our members new and old. We meet first Tuesday of the month from September to March in the Church Hall at 7:30p.m.and welcome new people to come along anytime and join us. Gwen Breckenridge

5 Memorial plaque and tree planting - July 16th 2017 On behalf of Hamill family, Brian welcomed friends and members of the congregation to the ceremony to commemorate the service of their parents to the Church over a 30 year period from 1960 to Particular thanks were paid to Aileen Stoddart and the Kirk Session for making it possible to plant a magnolia tree and to install the plaque in the church grounds. Brian also thanked Colin Kennedy for his help and guidance on the planting of the tree Heaven Scent. In thanking Rev Dr David Bartholomew, Brian recollected that David and his Father had enjoyed a long friendship in the Ministry, so it was particularly fitting that David was able to conduct the ceremony. Brian themed his introduction to the commemoration as the three P s. The first P stands for Parents : Robert and Jean were terrific and loving parents to Elaine, Chris, Jennifer and Brian. Family life was a priority for them and they always put their children s interests and wellbeing first. Always there for the family, Robert and Jean gave encouragement every step of the way and instilled in their family the strong values and respect by which they themselves led their lives. Brian said that quite simply, his parents were the best, and will always be remembered with great affection and appreciation by the family. The second 'P' is for People : And by people, Brian referred to his parents many friends, some of the closest of whom were present at the commemoration. He recalled the happy memories of the special times spent together and of much fun and laughter and thanked those family friends for remaining so special to the family today.

6 The third 'P' stands for Place : It was in the old Manse, in the Church and in the lovely grounds that the family spent so much time together - with Robert and Jean at the very centre of family and church life. Brian mentioned that it was therefore fitting that this simple act of remembering the lives of two very special people should take place here where they spent 30 very happy years together. This lovely corner in the grounds of The Parish Church will serve as an enduring memorial to much loved parents and to their faithful and devoted service to this Church. MUSIC CONCERT held in the church on 2nd July Some months ago, I noticed that our choir and congregation included some quite gifted musicians, and that we have a very gifted organist and his wife. I spoke to the organist, and also to the Session Clerk, about possibly getting up a concert in the church. Both agreed and a date of 2nd June was set. Several musicians contributed to the programme. These included our organist and his wife, a harpist, a pianist, bagpipes, a men s choral group, a women s one also. Two boys played a duet on their violins, and two girls did the same. Two of the women sang solos and a duet. A horn player was booked to come, but could not attend on the night. About 90 people enjoyed the evening, which included refreshments. We hope to have another concert next year, so please start practising your pieces now. JF Here is a picture of the children who were given hats in Malawi recently. They are extremely poor, and live at a place called Nyanyali. Right now is the cold season, so they are grateful to be given warm hats. Please thank the knitters. More will be welcome. Jim Figgis For all those knitters out there, we will once again have our Knitting Tree in our Festival of Christmas. Please get your needles out. In particular we are looking for Baby Blankets about 30 x30, hats and mittens, however anything you give will be gratefully received and passed on to those who need them. If you have any items you would like to donate please contact Isobel Prowse or your elder. Thank You.

7 JIM DUCK Dear Friends As I write this I have the words of Matthew 14; read so powerfully by Martin last Sunday, ringing in my ears! It s the passage where the Disciples are out in a boat and Jesus comes to them across the waters. It made me realise what a powerful metaphor it is for us as the Church here. Sometimes we float along and all is calm, sometimes the waves are excitingly high?! And then there are the times when we are, Jolted awake in the fourth watch of the night and we are sore afraid and in the eye of a storm. An unexpected, tragic loss, like Jim s death strikes me like that. From no-where we were catapulted into a grief that was palpable among us. Looking back, I feel two things. Firstly, it did seem as if we were all held in the strong and powerful hand of the One who reaches out to us. Through the grief was an awareness of the Love which stands among us His hand strong to save and His arms of compassion open wide. Secondly I was so in awe of you all. The flawless mechanism that swung into gear; the solidarity of us all; made not just the memorial service for Jim, but the whole desperate week, a powerful witness of the Body that Jesus calls us to be. The outpouring of practical compassion for Judi and her family was testament to our high esteem of Jim; our lovely Elder and Doctor and friend.

8 In the coming weeks we will have to hold on tight to the reality of the Lord s love for us, and the strength we can find in fellowship. Only by doing that will we be able to look ahead into all the unknowns of tomorrow, with Hope. Encouraging one another to trust in the words of the Lord, Be not afraid for, Not one will be lost. Oonagh Dee In 2013 Lorna and I had the pleasure of meeting Jim one morning while on the pier while passing through Mallaig. He was staying at his late father s house and took us up to it for a tour. What we saw has stuck with us and is a great reminder of the vision we see in Jim. The garden of the house stretched to the water and Jim and Judi invited us to visit the pirate ship. The grandchildren were not there but on a little hillock with trees overlooking the seashore were plastic garden seats, ropes and sheets making up the imaginary ship. It was easy to picture the excitement of the children playing in this spot. No machine-made toys but one felt the thrill they must have had making and owning their own ship which would be unique. This was an illustration of Jim s life. Many people have knowledge, many are generous but Jim not only had these gifts but also insight and vision. His family had shown this in using their skills to make an idea of a ship a reality. They had looked at what was there and seen what could be made of it. At home Jim did this, looking at the people around him. His Facebook page sums him up when he answered the question interested in? as men and women. We were blessed to have Jim in our midst and to have him lead Sunday evening Study Groups for adults, Bible Quest for the youth for a number of years and be part of the new House Group. He was a good listener and keen to explore ideas with an open non-judgmental mind. His knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm for us to develop ourselves and look at what was around us took us to places we may not have reached ourselves. Above is a story Jim told us when in Tanzania and we were struggling with how little we were doing amid so much poverty. Every little helps and as I reflect on what Colin said at his father s Memorial service If I can do a quarter of what Jim did... Iain McDonald

9 Message from Dr Lochrie From many of the great programmes on TV it is obvious that we do live in a wonderful world as Louis Armstrong s great song insists. To see so many wonderful sights from the comfort of our own fireside is great, but it is even better if we are fortunate to see them in real life. We have been fortunate to be able to travel and many is the occasion when we have simply stopped to look at each other and think, How great thou art!, when confronted by a spectacle of nature. We saw an example of this on holiday this tear when we visited Corsica. We drove up the west coast of the island to Piana Calanche. There the rose granite rocks have been eroded over the centuries in to many weird and wonderful shapes. One in particular stands out as a tourist attraction. At one spot a hole has been eroded right through a pinnacle. In itself that is not unusual as there are many holes in the rocks. This one is different because it is in the shape of a heart. Looking at it, it almost felt as if the Creator was making a declaration of his love. The bible does make two things quite clear. One is God s love for his creation and the other is that when God first looked on creation he saw that it was good. Sadly the way things are now much of that goodness has gone. Perhaps we should be remembering the rest of the Genesis story. What God did was and still is good, but sadly mankind is still following Adam. The dreadful events of these last months have all been the work of people who do not and seemingly cannot understand that violence and terror achieve nothing, other than strengthening the resolve of the rest of us to carry on our lives as normal. Perhaps in times like this we do need a reminder of God and his love and a reassurance that despite anything we might do, the world is still truly a wonderful place. Finally, I want to emphasise the need to keep Oonagh and myself informed about anyone in need of a pastoral visit. Unfortunately I have recently learned of more than one instance where someone has been unwell for quite a long time, but was not visited because neither of us knew. We would far rather hear several times than not at all. John S. Lochrie

10 From Top to Bottom Last edition I commented on a trip to Scotland s most northerly Church. I have also attended one of the UK s most southerly on a few occasions. About 15 years ago the Rev Norman Fairburn gave a children s address about how he got to church by boat while in the Scilly Isles. It is somewhere had always interested me being a lover of islands and having visited most inhabited Scottish ones. Inspired by this talk, the following early April we went off by train to Penzance to cross to the islands for a week s holiday. We arrived on the Saturday after a glorious crossing by boat (the one and only time we travelled by that method the boat is flattish bottomed due to the shallows so, as we discovered, not often a smooth crossing!). Sunday morning we visited the local Methodist church for their early morning service. The speaker was inspirational and we later discovered worked as a traffic controller at the airport. The minster had a team who took turns in leading these services which also had a small praise band. A more traditional service led by the minister was held later in the morning. Our children declared this as their favourite holiday destination and we made four more trips over the next 10 years at the same time of year, a beautiful time as the island was just coming to life with the boats reappearing and tourists like us showing up :all the awakening of life one associates with Easter. The Anglican church and their minister appeared on BBC2 over this period being featured in the early series of Island Parish but we were never drawn to the celebrity church but always looked forward to our visit to the Methodist church. We were based on the main island of St Mary s but boats took trips at least twice a day to the other islands. Each was quite different and each had its own small church reflecting that island s character, with sea images a natural part. Some minister s talks inspire more than others but Norman s is one which certainly had an impact on our lives. The Scilly Isles may not be an easy place to reach physically but they are somewhere to where we often return in our minds with peaceful reflection - not least to memories of the church service at home which led us there and the team serving the church on St Mary s we met on that first morning on the islands. IM Work is underway to give the Church Hall a bit of a face lift with a fresh coat of paint to start with. The Hall is used on a daily basis by the Church and various Community Groups.

11 My Visit to India India is mentioned in the Bible, in Esther 1.1. It was part of Persia in those days, and it has always attracted westerners for its great number of exotic products, such as spices, silks, sugar cane, gold, jewels, and, in former days, ivory. A few years ago I received an invitation through an African friend, to visit Chennai, or Madras, to use its former name. We both went and were hosted by a local pastor, who runs a large ministry in Chennai with its own Christian school, and churches which he has planted across India and in Nepal and in South Africa. In 2011 I went again so this time it was my third visit. My accommodation was booked and paid for in the local YWCA guest house, which caters for both men and women. I was met by car at the airport, and taken to the guest house. The next day I was picked up early, and we travelled 300 miles to Trichy, and put up at a local hotel. We attended a church an hour s drive away, which was just celebrating the first anniversary of its new building, in a very run-down village, much like countless other villages in this ancient and populous land. The congregation assembled in the afternoon, to which I was invited to preach. My words were received with close attention, through an interpreter. Other speakers followed, and we prayed for individuals who requested prayer. We drove home to Chennai, arriving around midnight. I preached again at the Sunday service in the main church, where I had done the same thing twice before. The school which is run by the church is needing a new concrete water tank, to be built in the basement of a new extension which they have been forced to build, to hold the growing numbers of children who attend the school. JF Paul & Hugh Hodson on a practice run for the Palm Sunday Service

12 THANK YOU Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way with the Coffee Mornings over the Summer. Helen Wemyss arranges the rota for flowers in the Church every Sunday and makes sure they are delivered to their recipient. Thank you Helen and helpers and if you would like to be on the rota for flowers please speak to Helen. To Elma Heuchan, Mary Johnston & Ann McGregor and the many people who helped with Easter Blessings. What a beautiful event it was. Thank you. Callum & Sze Ying continue to provide the most wonderful music and John & Oonagh work so hard on our behalf. Thank you. Please remind me of people who need a wee thank you for the next newsletter. NOMINATING COMMITTEE The nominating committee continues to work together in the process of finding our new Minister. A copy of our new Parish Profile is available to view on the Church website. Your prayers for their ongoing work would be much appreciated. LOOKING FORWARD As the nights draw in again we will be looking forward to some events in the Church over the Autumn and Winter. In particular we are looking forward to our Harvest Thanksgiving on 1 st October, and we will continue to distribute potatoes to every household in Castle Douglas. We hope to have some fundraising evenings and these will be announced in the weekly intimations and on the Church website and notice board. It will soon be time to start planning our Festival of Christmas. If you can help in any way please contact Louise Clark, Jacqueline Feenan or Ann Brown. If you want to arrange an event or a group or if you want to help please speak to one of the elders. PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF ANY ARTICLES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER.

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