The Church of Scotland Christ s Kirk Chronicle Glenrothes Christ's Kirk Pitcoudie Avenue Glenrothes KY7 6SU May 2017 Prayer Call The resurrection of Christ at Easter brings new hope into our lives. Hope for a brighter tomorrow after the winter darkness. Hope for peace between nations and war to cease. Guide all who work towards building peace in troubled countries. Let us pray for our politicians that they may work together to benefit our country and its people after the general election in June. Loving God, we give our thanks that you gave yourself for us. Help us to give of our time, energy and resources to those in need. We pray that we can be a blessing by spreading love and friendship in our families and communities. In your name Lord we seek your help to achieve these goals. Amen Isabelle The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be celebrated here at Christ s Kirk on the 28th May 2017 Everyone is invited to attend. The service begins at 10.30am.
Well it s magazine time again so that means another few months have flown by! We had another Craft Fair which went well, with lots of new exhibitors! It was nice to see people from the church come along to support it. We also had our first Takeaway & Tipple Night which was a resounding success. We ve already planned the next one which is on Saturday 20 th May at 7pm. It was nice to see people involved in various different ways at the church getting to socialise, relax and get to know each other better. It was a bonus that the night attracted some folk who don t normally come to the church as well! This is not a fundraiser, it s a free event; just bring money for your takeaway and whatever your tipple is, whether it s Irn Bru or Prosecco children welcome! Our Equip New Testament Bible Study group started in February and it s been encouraging to have a good number every week; there s always room for more though! We re currently working our way through the gospel of Mark, the group having been given a few weeks of introduction/overview to it. We re now the proud owners of a drum kit and have already had a new person (Rachel) come along to play it. I plan to add more instruments and people in due course in the meantime, I can at least play the drums! I ve also started promoting Space around homes in Glenrothes, which is designed to offer young people a safe option for someone to talk to about anything that might be bothering them; we never want any young folk to feel they have no option. We ve also got Flowers - Glorious Flowers to look forward to in June, thanks to Anne Crombie. Regrettably after unsuccessfully negotiating with some of the staff at Central Offices for over a year to try to take advantage of our entitlement for a part-time MDS worker whom we hoped to use for a youth worker employed by Ministries Council, we have eventually given up. There seemed to be no way of getting past the policy that only those with academic qualifications (preferably a degree) or significant relevant experience would be deemed of the quality necessary to maintain standards. We weren t at all happy with this way of categorising people and the Session voted unanimously in favour of forgoing the funding from Ministries Council that seemed to have too many strings attached, and seek our own funding to employ someone direct. I m on the case and look forward to letting you know when funding is in place! I ll leave it at that just now. Thankfully I ll be on a much needed holiday in Turkey when this magazine comes out hopefully to return recharged! In Christ Rev Scott McCrum Since the above letter was submitted for publication, the Presbytery Clerk received a request from Rev Scott McCrum asking to be allowed to demit his charge at Glenrothes Christ s Kirk. This matter will come to the next meeting of Presbytery on 6th June. Pastoral Care We send cards to those we know of who are ill and visit those who have been recommended for a visit. In conjunction with Anne we distribute the flowers from the church on Sunday. If the elders know of anybody who could do with a visit please let us know. Pastoral Care Group
Flower Festival As mentioned earlier in the minister s article there will be a Flower Festival to be held in the church on Saturday 10 th June from 10am until 4pm and on Sunday 11 th June from 1pm until 4pm. The church will be adorned with lovely displays and at the close on the Sunday the displays will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It will be something quite spectacular to see and only costs 5 which also includes refreshments. Our DASG group celebrated their first anniversary in March and decided to meet at the bowling for a few games instead of at the Church. It was a good night and although most claimed not to be any good at bowling beforehand, the scores told a different story! The group also met and did a sponsored walk to raise awareness for mental health issues and also to raise money for the future fund that was used to establish DASG. They raised enough to promote DASG and the church on the radio for a week, so keep your ears open to Kingdom FM! DASG is a peer support group for people who suffer or have suffered from Anxiety or Depression; it s a safe environment where you can be honest and open about how you feel and know you won t be judged. All are welcome, of any faith, or none! Rev Scott McCrum NGCC Fun Day on Saturday 3rd June at Gilvenbank Park from noon. This well-established community event for the people of North Glenrothes takes place on the first Saturday of June. As well as a funfair there are local charity stalls, activities of interest to all ages, competitions and food. Given fair weather, the organizers are looking for over 1000 people to attend, as per last year. Contact Ron Page, Chair of the NGCC, or the Fun Day Organiser, Morris Brown Tel. 562092, Email: morrisbrown.mb@gmail.com The Guild A.G.M. was held on Monday 24th April. The 2017/18 session begins on Monday 9th October at 2pm, when we will be happy to have new friends join us. Meetings are held every second Monday and we have an interesting mix of speakers lined up on our new syllabus. Put the date in your diary now! We look forward to seeing you after the summer months. A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. (Anon)
Dear Friends, Since I last wrote an update for Chronicle, winter has turned to spring and immediately back to winter again (one of the many joys of living in Scotland). As many of you will know, I have also moved house since then. Jennifer and I are now in Anstruther and enjoying married life very much. I can highly recommend the fish and chips over here and the walks along the Coastal Path! Recently in Glenrothes, I have been involved with chaplaincy in all three of the High schools and many of the local primaries. Across the town, colleagues and I are currently delivering Easter assemblies and taking part in end of term school shows. Every year at this time, I am humbled to see the story of God s love being told with such creativity and joy around town. I enjoy supporting school performances of the Easter story, as well as getting the opportunity to be a witness and tell others about how much the Easter story means to me. This is, of course, something that I explore every year with my youth groups around town and within Scripture Union groups and Messy Church. As you will know, I am always very enthused during my visits to Christ s Kirk. I thoroughly enjoy catching up with all of you and supporting Funday School, as well as many other exciting initiatives within the church, parish and schools. At the time of circulation, we will be moving on from Easter 2017 and looking towards Pentecost and summer. I therefore hope that you have all had a blessed and peaceful Easter, and I will look forward to opportunities to catch up on Sunday mornings or around the parish during the week. With every blessing, Ally Stark (Youth and Children s Worker for Glenrothes and Leslie) Glenrothes Foodbank. It is very difficult to realise in this day and age that there are some people who run out of food, for themselves and their family. For whatever reasons this is a fact. Many people have the misconception that Foodbanks exist to provide emergency help to those unemployed or who have addiction problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of those who need help from Foodbanks are in low paid jobs and are forced into crisis either by delays in the processing of benefits payments or sometimes by the abolition of some benefits. The Glenrothes foodbank has over 50 volunteers - more are needed - for collecting food, checking and organising. Food supplies are issued for three days' emergency food. Their vouchers are provided by the like of doctors, health visitors and social workers. Clients are sometimes signposted to other agencies who may be able to solve longer term problems. Please do therefore continue to donate basic food. This is collected weekly in Christ's Kirk and taken to the Foodbank at the Saltire Centre. You can find out more at www.glenrothes.foodbank.org.uk. When you get to your wit's end, You'll find God lives there.
Social & Fundraising The coffee mornings continue on the first Saturday of each month from 10am - 12noon and we tried a Takeaway & Tipple evening in March which proved to be quite successful and we will be doing it again on 20 th May. Just bring your own refreshment and money to buy your takeaway. A great social event! Café The volunteers in the café are in need of a well-earned rest and consequently the café will be closing on June 29 th and remain closed for the whole of July reopening on Thursday 3 rd August. Newsletter by email If you would like to receive future publications of the church newsletter electronically, please send an email with your name and home address (your email address will be at the head of your email) along with a short notification to the newsletter editor at christskirkglenrothes@yahoo.com and we will send it to you. If anyone would like to join our team, please speak to me or get in touch at the email address above, Ian Morgan SYNERGY This appeared in a church magazine. Synergy is the opposite of what appeared in one church magazine. There are 560 members in our church But 100 are frail and elderly That leaves 460 to do the work But 74 are young people away from home That leaves 386 to do all the work But 150 are tired because of stress at work So that leaves 236 to help out And 150 are mums with small children That leaves 86 A further 46 have important interests That leaves 40 to do all the work But 15 live too far away to come regularly That leaves 25 to do all the work And 23 say they've done their bit That leaves you and me I'm shattered So the best of luck! You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:36) Do all the good that you can, in all the ways that you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. - John Wesley,
Events Diary May Saturday 6th May 10-12noon Coffee Morning Sunday 7th May 10.30am Worship Sunday 14th May 10.30am Worship Saturday 20th May 7.00pm Takeaway & Tipple Sunday 21st May 10.30am Worship Sunday 28th May 10.30am Communion June Saturday 3rd June 10-12noon Coffee Morning Sunday 4th June 10.30am Worship Saturday 10th June 10am - 4pm Flower Festival Sunday 11th June 1pm - 4pm Flower Festival Sunday 11th June 10.30am Worship Sunday 18th June 10.30am Worship Sunday 25th June 10.30am Worship July Saturday 1st July 10-12noon Coffee Morning Sunday 2nd July 10.30am Worship Sunday 9th July 10.30am Worship Sunday 16th July 10.30am Worship Sunday 23rd July 10.30am Worship Sunday 30th July 10.30am Worship August Saturday 5th August 10-12noon Coffee Morning Sunday 6th August 10.30am Worship Sunday 13th August 10.30am Worship Sunday 20th August 10.30am Worship Sunday 27th August 10.30am Communion CONTACTS Minister Rev Scott McCrum 0800 566 8242 smccrum@churchofscotland.org.uk Church 01592 745938 minister@churchglenrothes.uk Session Clerk Ruth Anderson 07970594033 ruthp.anderson@btinternet.com Treasurer Rose Bowie rose.bowie14@gmail.com Website Facebook www.churchglenrothes.uk Christ s Kirk Glenrothes