SOUTH RONALDSAY & BURRAY PARISH NEWSLETTER. Parish Contact List DUTY ELDERS

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1 Parish Contact List MINISTER Stephen Manners Tel: The Manse St Margaret s Hope SESSION CLERK Sean Hourston-Wells Mrs Margaret Laughton Westlea Skerloom St Margaret s Hope Eastside Tel: Tel: sean.orkney@googl .com margaretlaugton@btinternet.com TREASURER CLERK TO THE BOARD Mrs Yvonne Nicholson Mrs Karen Wood Quoys Odinsay South Parish Grimness Tel: Tel: mjkm1wood@btinternet.com SOUTH RONALDSAY & BURRAY Why is Easter like whipped cream and a cherry? Because it s always on a sundae! What does the Adam and Eve virus do to your computer? It takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple. DUTY ELDERS March - Elma Omand Tel: April - Kath Manners Tel: May - Jacqueline Rosie Tel: (Elders on duty are also key holders) PARISH NEWSLETTER SPRING 2013

2 Pastoral letter Dear Friends Christmas is long past and we re most of the way through winter now. Compared with the rest of the country we have avoided the worst of the snow. Hopefully we re also nearing the end of the season when the barriers get shut. The days are lightening, flowers are getting ready to bloom. The dark of winter is passing, the light of spring and summer are just around the corner. As Christians we are entering the season of Lent now and preparing for Jesus resurrection. But before we can get to eat the chocolate, decorate and roll the eggs and celebrate we have to go through the last period of darkness. We have to go with Jesus on the journey to the cross. Walk with him as he makes his final steps carrying that heavy crossbeam. Stand at the foot of the cross and look up. In Advent we prepared with excitement for Jesus birth, the baby being born. In Lent we prepare for his death, the man dying in agony on a cross. Dying for each one of us. That we might come to know God s love and forgiveness. Easter has exciting times in it. The fun of pancake day. The decorating and rolling of eggs. Endless chocolate. And if you re lucky getting new clothes and money as gifts. But we also have to remember the sadness too. Remember that someone had to die before we could enjoy new life. Let us remember and give thanks. CHURCH AND PARISH REGISTER DEATHS November th George William (Willie) Budge (aged 83), Mount Pleasant, South Ronaldsay December nd Evelyn Margaret Budge (aged 82), Burnvilla, Wheland Terrace, Kirkwall 18 th Ronnie Simison (aged 91), Liddle Farm, South Ronaldsay January nd Grace Smith (aged 81), 6 Braeburn Court, St Margaret s Hope Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46) For God so loved the world, a love not human but divine, a depth not fathomed, love that reaches beyond the restraints of nature to grasp the outstretched arms that embrace the world. Arms outstretched even in death showing a love beyond our grasp, and a hope we cannot measure: love stronger than life, stronger than death. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. THE GUILD Reading the Bible in morning worship In the past various members of the church would do the readings in our church services. I d like to start that again but I need to re-do the list of people willing to read. If you would like to be on the rota for reading could you let me have your name (and address if you have one) and I ll begin to put a rota together. There will also be a list at the front of the church. Thank you. Stephen The Guild met in St Margaret s Church Hall on Tuesday 5th February for their AGM. There is a new President, Mrs Vivienne McLaren and Vice President, Mrs Kath Manners. Our programme for 2013 is being made up and on March 1st we have the World Day of Prayer Service in St Margaret s, this is a service open to everyone so please come along. The Guild is open to ladies and gentlemen and we are always looking for new members. Marjory Nicol Secretary

3 Prayer O that we had the faith of Thomas to doubt, to question what too many take for granted. O that we had the faith of Thomas that could be crushed and broken and be reborn again; learning to trust once more now that everything has changed, for the world has shifted and in some unique and mysterious way Jesus is alive in us, through us, between us, among us, for us, with us. O that we had the faith of Thomas to have our eyes opened wide and our vision set on fire again. Dare we? Come let us worship Jesus, risen among us. The Qualifications of a Good Minister A good Minister must have: The strength of an ox The tenacity of a bulldog The daring of a lion The wisdom of an owl The harmlessness of a dove The industry of a beaver The gentleness of a lamb The vision of an eagle The hide of a rhinocerous The perspective of a giraffe The endurance of a camel The bounce of a kangaroo The stomach of a horse As well as The loyalty of an apostle The faithfulness of a prophet The tenderness of a shepherd The fervency of an evangelist The devotion of a mother And even then, he will not please everybody!! CHURCH AGM On March 20 th at 7.30pm we will hold our church annual general meeting. This is an important meeting of the church, when we reflect on the past year and all that we have achieved and we look on the year ahead and imagine the possibilities. One thing we ask all members and adherents of our church to do at this time of year is reflect on the money that they give for the work of the church. Recently while looking through old church accounts I came to realise that our income 10 years ago is the same as what it is now. Yes we have fewer members and so fewer people giving to the church but we can t really sustain our congregation unless our income goes up and goes up quite drastically. As a congregation we are beginning to find it difficult to make payments to central funds for our contribution to the costs of having a minister here. We would ask everyone to reflect on how much and how they give. When was the last time you increased the amount that you gave each week. If you are a member but don t really attend when was the last time you gave anything to the work of the church at all. I don t really like asking for money because that is how the church is often seen, just looking for money but we need money if we are going to have a physical presence here in South Ronaldsay and Burray and be able to maintain the buildings that we have. We need more money if we are going to have a full-time minister here to serve all the people of these islands. We are now required to send the money to central funds every month so we need to ask you all to maybe change how you give to the church and give every week or every month instead of once a year as some of you do now. We would ask that all who pay tax give to the church by gift aid as we then get money back from the government. It would also help if people gave by standing order directly into the bank as we would then have a better idea of what income to expect each month. Giving to the church is a topic that we are going to have to return to. As a congregation we will have to look at some kind of giving campaign and that may mean coming individually to members and asking them directly about their giving and to increase their giving if they can. No-one likes to do that but we have no choice. Sunday Club Sunday Club meets every week at 11 am at the Hope Church. We welcome all children from the pre-school year and upwards to join us. Please come along to our annual meeting and contribute to the discussion. Please reflect long and hard on what and how you give and if you would like to start giving by gift aid speak to our treasurer, Yvonne Nicholson. If anyone would be interested/willing to help with Sunday Club you can contact Elma Omand or Wilma Currie on

4 FROM THE TREASURER The start of the New Year means to me a lot of work to get the accounts in order for the AGM which, is to be held on 20th March at 7.30pm at St Margaret s Church. The format has to comply with the charities regulations and again this year I will be asking Orcadia to complete the work. In 2012 the weekly offerings were slightly down as was the Free Will offerings both in number of envelopes used and amounts donated. The Gift Aid Donations have increased slightly both in number of donors and amounts given. The tax reclaimed is a great bonus and I would again ask any taxpayers to consider this as it is a help to the Church at no extra cost to you. Forms are available at the Church or just ask me. The Statement of Requirements for 2013 shows a total of 10,847 for the Ministries and Mission. We have Endowment Income of 2,121 which leaves 8,726 to be paid by the end of the year. This is to be paid by standing order as required by 121 over 10 or 12 months. We have travel costs to pay Edinburgh quarterly now that we have a minister. We will have Presbytery Dues to pay Orkney Presbytery by the end of March, last year we were asked to pay This is calculated by the number of members and buildings we have in the Parish. The congregation pays the council tax on the Manse and part of the telephone and broadband costs. We also have costs for St Margaret s and St Peter s to be paid over the year such as electricity and insurance. We are fortunate to have at St Margaret s a nice warm, well equipped building, which is available for hire to anyone in the community. The soft play area continues to be popular with our local Mums and Toddlers and visitors from across the barriers too. Birthday parties held in the hall and the soft play area are quite popular. The sale of goods after the Harvest Thanksgiving took in , which was sent to Farm Africa again. Thank you to everyone who donated or bought goods. The Guild gave 1,400 to the General Fund from the proceeds of the sale held in November. The Jar of Grace collection raised , which has been sent to UNICEF. We are going to do more fundraising this year so any suggestions will be welcome. Yvonne Nicholson Treasurer Dates for your diary March 3 rd Communion 5 th Guild meeting, 7.30pm 20 th Annual Stated meeting, 7.30pm 24 th Palm Sunday 28 th Maunday Thursday Communion service, St Margaret s, 7.30pm 31st Easter day, family service. April 2 nd Guild meeting, 7.30pm May 7 th Guild meeting, 7.30pm World Day of Prayer Service on Friday 1st March, 2013 at 7pm in St Margaret s Church Supper served after service by the Guild

5 So what about Orkney? A chance encounter led Shaun to discover that the Hourston part of his name was an Orkney word. Orkney became a holiday destination and, when Molly was born and Doune seemed to be getting a rougher place to stay, a holiday at St Margaret s Hope was the catalyst for the family to up sticks and get on the ferry with all their worldly possessions. Shaun puts it down to the friendly children in the playpark who were so chatty and welcoming to him as he passed one summer evening. It just seemed like the ideal place to bring up Molly. And so they arrived in March Shaun continued his on-line business and got involved in the local community. For several years he served as a volunteer ranger. And as we all know, he doesn t pass by an opportunity to take to the stage in amateur dramatics especially if it involves dressing as a woman or, as in his most recent role at Hogmanay, appearing as a man in tights. Shaun recently started a new job, working for Orkney Islands Council, as Self Directed Support Project Development Manager. He is very excited about this new role and the concept behind it which will see people in receipt of care packages having much more say in their care. We can only be glad that Christmas Day 2011 saw the Barriers shut [or doubtful at best] making the trip to church in Kirkwall too risky. And Shaun, Eve and Molly came up the road instead and joined the congregation in our church. They felt so welcome that have come ever since and it is great to see their wholehearted commitment to the life of the church. Membership of the Church Recently as a Kirk Session we went through our membership roll as we have to do very year. As we did so it became clear that some people may not know whether they are on the roll or whether they have been put on what is called the supplementary roll. We hope to clarify that for everyone during this year and are happy for everyone to be on the main roll who wants to be. We have many members who may have joined many years ago and for various reasons over those years have stopped taking any part in the life of the church. We would ask all of you to think again about what your membership means to you and come back and join with us in our Sunday morning worship. We would really welcome you with us. Some of you may have decided a long time ago that you no longer want anything to do with the church and would rather an elder didn t come by and visit or the magazine wasn t put through your door. Though we still want you to be in membership with us we understand that you may have changed your mind. If that s the case let your elder know and ask to come off the membership roll. Or write to the minister at the manse to let him know. (Or sk.manners@me.com) Those who live outside the parish may not have been kept in touch with the church as much as we would like but we hope to rectify that in the future. Kath Manners has recently joined the Session and she has been appointed elder of those who live away from the parish. She hopes to visit at least a couple of times of year. At other times magazines will be posted to you. If you have all ready started going to a church nearer to where you live let us know so that we can send you, your membership certificate. Volunteering Do you relate well to young people? Fancy an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a young person in Orkney? If you do, and you have a few hours time to give for fortnightly or weekly one-to-one befriending sessions with a young person, the Young Person s Befriending Project at Voluntary Action Orkney would like to speak to you. We are currently recruiting volunteer befrienders who, after training, would be matched up with a young person between the ages of 8 and 18. We have a number of young people on our waiting list from various backgrounds with a wide range of interests who would benefit from regular interaction with a positive role model. We provide training, support and cover any expenses incurred for activities, so please get in touch if you would like more information or to have a chat about what is involved. You can contact John or Hannah at VAO on ; john.clancy@vaorkney.org.uk or hannah.rendall@vaorkney.org.uk or visit our website Advance Notice: Church Sale 1st June 2013 in St Margaret s Church Please see notices nearer the time for details (This may be a good time with Spring just around the corner to think about any items you no longer need/require and would consider donating to the Church Sale, we will be grateful for any items received) Tea rota If you d like to help on a Sunday morning to make and serve the tea, please put your name on the rota at the church in the front entrance. (Maybe some men could put their names down.)

6 EVIL TRIUMPHS WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING You may have noticed some leaflets lying about at church, entitled Watching What s Going In?. They are published by an organisation called Mediawatch originally known as the National Viewers and Listeners Association which was founded in 1964 by the late Mrs Mary Whitehouse, whose main aim was to encourage all that is wholesome in life, and to discourage anything which undermines decency and family life. Video nasties were the first focus, along with any television programmes which she and her associates felt portrayed gratuitous violence, explicit sex, or overuse of swearing and blasphemy.[do you remember her Clean Up TV Campaign?] V.A.L.A. encouraged readers to write to TV producers (to commend as well as to complain!), along with MP s (to try to change censorship laws where necessary, as - at the time - the 1959 Obscenity Law did not cover videos) She also tackled pornographic content in magazines, and the manner in which they were displayed in shops (ie at children s eyelevel.) Since then, of course, we have seen an escalation in computer technology, enabling youngsters easy access to all that the internet can offer. Mediawatch has been concerned about the current Opt-out system, where internet users can opt-out of undesirable sites/programmes etc. They have been advocating an Opt-in system, whereby anyone wishing to access pornographic material has to actually opt-in to watch it. In this way, parents can have a bit more peace of mind about what their children are watching. To this end, they have set up a website called Through extensive research, a leading neuroscientist - Dr. William Struthers - maintains that early exposure, in a child s life, to sexually explicit material, affects development, attitudes and behaviour...often leading to poor selfimage, social isolation, maladjustment and depression. And, as far back as 1993, Mary Whitehouse was declaring that It is nonsense to claim that the unexpurgated portrayal of depravity on screen does no harm. We know it does harm. We know that what comes on television motivates people profoundly... Campaigning isn t easy, especially when one receives bland comments from TV programme producers, or finds that an MP has not been present at a particular debate, but maybe it is one way of putting our faith into action? If you would like more information about Mediawatch, please ask... Eileen Unsworth Our Session Clerk Shaun, our recently appointed Session Clerk, has agreed to be interviewed for this issue of the magazine. Shaun was born and brought up with his younger brother, Scott, in Wallingford which is on the Thames half way between Reading and Oxford and has been immortalised in recent years as a location for filming the Midsomer Murders. From his earliest childhood he has had a passion for music. At school he was always in productions - a bit of a boy soloist - and at High School and with Wallingford Youth Theatre he was frequently in musicals including some leading roles. And he sang in the church choir! Shaun left school at 16 and went to work in insurance firstly in Reading. He moved about a bit with his job and must have done really well as he was headhunted for the UK office of an American company in London. And despite a two and a half hour commute each way every day, he enjoyed it and was happy to move with the same company to their Glasgow office in So Shaun and Eve [who agreed to the move a few days AFTER Shaun had accepted the job!] moved to the village of Doune in Perthshire and he continued the commuting lifestyle on the train to Glasgow. It was in Doune that Shaun and Eve got married in the church outside their back door. This is the church which, interestingly, Shaun assumed was a Church of Scotland well, it was a church and it was IN Scotland..But after a few years he discovered that it was actually a Scottish Episcopal Church and so that was why it all seemed so familiar to an Anglican. It came as a bit of a surprise to discover that the Church of Scotland is actually a bit different! Not that he seems to object too strongly now that he has been headhunted again to the roll of session clerk here! Redundancy at work loomed in 2002, a prospect which Shaun was not unhappy about, after too many years of pressures and deadlines and commuting. But a decent redundancy package allowed him to achieve a lifetime ambition of entering the music business. So, after careful market analysis, Castle Classics was born, an on-line music business which he ran for years. ctd over...