NETWORK Ardeer Parish Church Magazine september 2015 1
NAME POSITION PHONE NUMBER E-MAIL ADDRESS K WELCH Interim Moderator 01475 675259 kswelch@talktalk.net REV D Interim Minister 01294 829228 HEBENTON K TUDOR Session Clerk 470008 Kaytudor@yahoo.co.uk J DUNWOODIE Treasurer 466895 jsd1810@aol.co.uk R McMILLAN Elder 556014 sirbob@tiscali.co.uk M BRANNAN Elder 466017 bandmbran@live.co.uk F BURNETT Elder 469737 M CRAIK Elder 214733 margaret.craik01@btinternet.com J CUNNINGHAM Elder 466174 J DUFF Elder 466545 G EASTON Elder 463269 g-easton1@sky.com A EWART Elder 601117 G FERGUSON Elder 467742 C GRAYSTON Elder 468992 muttley49@aol.com R KELSO Elder 468264 kelsowr@aol.com I MAGNESS Elder 465724 ianmagness@tiscali.co.uk M MONTGOMERY Elder 605110 maggs1512@yahoo.co.uk. P MOORE Elder 469883 J MCGARVA Elder 461365 jostig@hotmail.co.uk M MCKINNEY Elder 464940 PW MCLELLAN Elder 464778 J NIVEN Elder 467788 jeanniven14@hotmail.co.uk D ORR Elder 468345 J RAMSEY Elder 462688 M ROLLEY Elder 461963 A SANDS Elder 469287 D THOMSON Elder 469067 dthomson57@googlemail.com M THOMSON Elder 469067 marilynthomson@talktalk.net The next celebration of Holy Communion takes place on Sunday 6th September at the usual time of 10.00 a.m. 2
Dear Friends, As I write this letter at the end of July, the central heating is on and the rain is cascading down the window. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is rather gloomy but as we move into August, we hope for better things and perhaps some warmth before autumn begins. However, in Ardeer, we can say that it has been a great summer. 10 new members joined by Profession of Faith and were welcomed at a service at the end of May, the scaffolding was erected around the building to start the Restoration Project and work is now proceeding so Ardeer is still very active and looking to the future. We have not heard from the Nominating Committee so we can assume that their efforts have not yet borne fruit. However, whilst we don t have a forecast, we can look forward with more than hope because we also have faith. That wonderful psalm I to the hills will lift mine eyes assures us that as God created the universe and all around us, he continues to guide us, he never sleeps. He is always at our right hand and will preserve us from all ill. Whilst we may be dis-appointed that the minister of the linkage has not yet been found, there is no need for us to be downcast. Ardeer Parish Church has a strong Kirk Session and extremely good leaders of the organizations. This will ensure that the smooth running of affairs continues until the day comes to welcome a minister. That may be in the near future or bearing in mind the number of vacancies throughout Scotland, it may be well in the future. What I do know is that God has a plan for us and that it will be revealed in his good time. Until then, we should continue to give thanks to God for all that he has provided for us and seek his guidance by our prayers. Jesus said The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. He spoke of the Holy Spirit. We may not be able to predict the weather; that is something with which we have to contend and neither can we predict the influence of the Holy Spirit. The surprise element is what we need to take us out of a stodgy predictable past. With every blessing Ken Welch 3
Treasurer s Report August 2015 General Funding Regular Offerings to end July 2015 total 18,240 which equates to a weekly average of 608, a slight increase on the figure reported in May. General funding has been boosted by income of 5,548 from Gift Aid plus 783 claimed under the Small Donations Gift Aid Scheme. Major items of expenditure over the above period include: Salaries 2,285 Energy Costs 7,423 Insurance 2,199 Ministerial Costs 10,733 Stewardship Campaign Planning for our Stewardship campaign continues. The culmination of the Programme will be an evening event to be held on Wednesday 7 th October 2015. Please note this date in your diary. Literature to support the project is presently being prepared and hopefully by the time you read this report we have recruited the required number of volunteers to visit all members of the Congregation with an invitation to the event. The success of our campaign will be dependent on reaching all our members with a view to increasing our current levels of income. On the three Sundays immediately preceding the Gathering we hope to have guest preachers dealing with the topic of Stewardship. Rev Alan Gibson, Head of Stewardship, will preach on Sunday 4 th October. Guest Preachers for the previous two Sundays have been approached and will be advised when final details have been confirmed. All three Sundays form a major part of our Stewardship Programme, we hoped that as many of you as possible are able to attend these services. Restoration Fund As you know work on the building restoration has been underway for the past 3 months, with the bulk of the work being concentrated on the outside areas. Work inside the building has now commenced and it is anticipated that all work will be completed during the first week in October. We are grateful to the following organisations for their financial support to the congregation: Heritage Lottery Fund Landfill Tax Credits (ENTRUST) NAC Community Fund Robertson Trust Ferguson Bequest Fund Dalrymple Donaldson Fund Gen Trustees of Church of Scotland Beatrice Laing Foundation All Churches Trust NAC Education Grant Awards for All Scotland Baird Trust Garfield Weston Trust Gloag Foundation Foyle Foundation National Churches Trust 4
In addition to the above grants we are grateful to our members for their continued support to our restoration fund. To date we have raised 42,200 locally. As advised previously, to enable the restoration work to start and help prevent an escalation in costs, it was agreed by the Session that arrangements would be made for a loan facility with General Trustees. At that time it was estimated that this would be approximately 80,000 to cover the shortfall. Now that work has progressed, we are in a position to provide a further update in the financial position. At present total costs are anticipated to be 451,000 plus 30,000 in fees. I am pleased to report that our present available funding as at the end of July is just under 440,000, representing a shortfall of 41,000. In addition we have a significant number of applications with other funding bodies, which if successful should reduce the shortfall even further. We ask therefore for your continued efforts, both by way of your on-going regular donations and special fund raising. Our predicted funding shortfall currently stands at 41,000. We hope that successful grant applications may reduce this even further. Anything that we can do locally to increase our income over the next 2 3 months would close the gap even further, ideally putting us in a situation where we can fully self-finance the work, without recourse to a loan arrangement. If you do not currently support the Restoration fund but feel you are now in a position to do so, please contact either Margaret Montgomery or myself who will be only too pleased to provide you with donation envelopes or Bank Standing Order form. Jim Dunwoodie (Treasurer) The guild recommences on Monday 5 th October at the usual time of 7.15 in the church hall. We follow on from last year s success with a very full programme of speakers and outings arranged and will be delighted to welcome all, both old and new to our meetings. 5
hall from 5.45 p.m. The Girls Brigade Registration will be Tuesday 25th August in church Explorers register at 5.45 p.m. and all the other girls register at 6.30 p.m. We hope to see old and new faces, and look forward to a busy year. Carrying on from our last newsletter update, the Anchors had a great time at the heads of Ayr Farm Park, we had lots of sunshine, the boys fed the animals, played in the pirate ship, slid down the very large slide and lots more. We have also had our parent s night which was a great success and a lot of fun. A big thank you to our top table guests; Mr Wilson McClellan, Mrs Jean Robertson, Mr & Mrs Welsh and Mr & Mrs Jackie McBlain. The boys did; Figure Marching, Simon Says and dancing along to different songs, while the company boys along with some officers danced to Y M C A. Now that was a sight to be seen. We have to say a big thank you to all the parents who handed in baking, it was very much appreciated. And a big thank you to Darriane for all the dance moves, as she had to teach all boys and officers and that wasn t an easy task. The prize winners were; Best Anchor Boy was won jointly by Calvin Murphy and Calvin Egan. Best Junior was Alex Stewart, Best drill boy was Alec Leaker. The Wright Family Endeavour Award went to Alec Leaker also, for his dedication and hard work throughout the year. Company best boy was Marc McColgan. A special award was given to Garry Webster for his 12 years of service, Garry is now moving onto officer training next year, which will be beneficial to the entire company. We then had John Wilson receiving his President s Badge in front of the church congregation, followed by a small tea in the hall. We are very proud of all the work John has put into receiving his President badge. He attended a training course, did a bible paper, volunteered to help with the younger sections every week, also 6
attended trips and parties and was a great help overall. He will now be starting on his Queen s badge when we restart the new session. This session we have Marc McColgan finishing his Queen s Badge, so hopefully he will receive his award at the beginning of next year. We will keep you updated. In June, a few company boys went fishing, they all had a great time even though some had never fished before. However none of the boys were very keen on putting the worm on their lines, so this was left to Mr Shaw. Although we only caught two fish, a great day was had by all and the weather, for a change, was very kind to us. We also took part in The walk a mile in Largs, the boys and officers walked all the way, even in the pouring rain. Then we enjoyed a good summer to recharge our batteries ready to begin again with registration on the 20 th August. Some up and coming activities that we have planned are; for Anchors we have a road safety night, a visit to the Fire Station, a Paddington themed night, a wonders of science night and lots of stories and games. Juniors are to have visits from the police and RAF, a visit to the Fire Station, an American themed night, road safety, baking, cooking and the favourite, our legendary sleepovers. Company have, drill, a visit from an archery trainer, a visit from police and RAF, baking, cooking, a beetle drive, design a t-shirt and polishing shoes, plus all the usual games and visits to local ten pin bowling and gym. On Friday the 25 th September we are holding a prize bingo in Ardeer Rec Bowling Club all money raised is going into our funds. Everyone is welcome so please come along, eyes down for 7pm. We are also running a raffle for the month of September costing 1 a ticket with some great prizes, so far we have tea for two at the Hilton in Glasgow, a tour of Parkhead Stadium for 4 and a tour for 6 around Ibrox Stadium. All in all, we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead with boys and officers from 1 st Stevenson Boys Brigade. Children s Church This years summer mission was great fun. We started with the Fun Day in the High Kirk Manse on a lovely sunny day yes sunny, one of the few this summer!! Blessed by good weather there was a great turnout with about 250 children and adults there enjoying the fun as well as the BBQ. During the week the Kids Club which was for children in P2 P7 drew 61 children with 45 50 attending on any one day. There were two youth nights which attracted over 20 young people. There was a good response from the young people here in Ardeer. The day was a good mixture of games, songs, stories, prayers, craft and of course food. 7
There was a team of 10 young people who were fully involved in the planning of the summer mission, attending the planning meetings, the preparation days and helping the younger children at the Kids Club and on the fun day. 8 of those young people came from Ardeer and I think we can be very proud of them as they really stepped up to the mark and played a full and very important part in the whole mission. The mission ended with a challenge night on the Friday night and the prayer walk on the Sunday afternoon. Once again, against all the odds, we were blessed with dry weather for the prayer walk. Not sunny this time perhaps but it stayed dry for the afternoon, although there were quite a few brollies in evidence just in case!! We started at Ardeer with about 20 people and picked up people at each venue as we walked through the town, ending up with about 45 people for tea at Hayocks Hall. It was really good to be able to share this with other congregations and there was a good mix of people from all the congregations in the town. By the time you receive this magazine the normal Children s Church will have started on Sunday mornings and we would ask you to pray for a good year when the children can learn more about Gods love for them. We would also like to thank those who donated to the summer mission. It was very much appreciated. Jean Robertson My General Assembly Trip I had the privilege this year to be a commissioner at the assembly, and as I really didn t know what I was getting myself into I assume you may be interested in hearing about my week in Edinburgh. It all kicked off on Friday night with a meeting specifically for the new kids on the block. We were shown how to work the voting system, very important as it was used to register your attendance, also all the house rules for the coming week. On Saturday the official opening was at 9.30 a.m., no lie in, the spectacle was something else with the dignitaries being ushered in to the sound of heralds. I was told by Margaret, who accompanied me to Edinburgh, that there was also a twenty one gun salute from the castle. Our day finished at 9.00 p.m. so we were busy. The queen s representative was Lord Hope, he had a busy time as the assembly of the free church was also taking place in Edinburgh and he had to attend both. On Sunday there was a special assembly service in St. Giles Cathedral which was conducted by the new Moderator the Rev. Angus Morrison. It throws you off balance when the minister leads The Lord s Prayer in Gaelic, his native tongue. The rest of the week was very busy with different committees submitting their reports and subsequent votes to determine the policy of the church. A great deal of time was taken up by the thorny question of gay ministers and the length the church is prepared to go to accommodate them. Each morning we were issued with daily 8
bulletins to determine the day s business so that you clearly knew what was to take place. By Friday afternoon both Margaret and I were exhausted and happy to take the train back to Saltcoats. Roy Kelso p.s. I was outside the assembly building on the Saturday morning; there were many tiny Chinese tourists who could clearly see something was on. Camera s at the ready they were really torn as there was also a pipe band playing at the castle, they only had one day to see Scotland and didn t want to miss anything. Very funny to watch! Margaret Ardeer Parish Church - Prayer List Mr R. Burnett Mrs M. Rolley Mrs S. Copeland Mrs M. Campbell Mrs I. Mitchell Mrs M. Kentfield Mrs I. Rowley Mr & Mrs V. Cunningham Mrs H. Smith Mrs C. Crawford Mrs M. Harvey Mr & Mrs J. Wilson Mrs J. Jackson Mrs B. Conn Travis Arnold & family Mrs M. Elwood Mr & Mrs T. Chandler Mrs B. Thomson McGregor Avenue, Stevenston Longfield Avenue, Saltcoats Garven Road, Stevenston Trelawney Terrace, Stevenston Parkhouse Road, Ardrossan Sinclair Street, Stevenston Murdoch Crescent, Stevenston Clyde View Avenue, Stevenston Clark Crescent, Stevenston Seafield Court, Ardrossan Station Road, Stevenston Burnside Cottages, Stevenston Trelawney Terrace, Stevenston Mayville Street, Stevenston Redstone Wynd, Kilwinning Mayfield Grove, Stevenston Montgomerie Cres, Saltcoats Dubbs Road, Stevenston 9
Mrs J. Wilson Mrs J. Crawford Mr & Mrs G. Easton Mrs J. Ramsay Miss P. Campbell Mrs M. Sands Mrs J. Robertson Mrs M. McKinney Mrs N. Lockhart Mrs C. Batchelor Mrs M. Young Greenhead Avenue, Stevenston Campbell Avenue, Stevenston Shore Road, Stevenston Shore Road, Stevenston Buchanan Street, Largs Shore Road, Stevenston Burnside Cottages, Stevenston Glencairn Street, Stevenston John Brogan Place, Stevenston Glencairn Street, Stevenston West Park Court, Stevenston Remembering Friends who have Lost Loved Ones Family of Mrs A. Burnett Family of Mr N. Seaman Family of Mr R. Teven Family of Mr W. Harvey Family of Mr S. Batchelor Family of Mrs Dickson Family of Mr J. Thomson Family of Mr P. McBride Family of Mr W. Cotter Family of Mr J. Black Friends in Bonnie Leslie Court Mr S. Gibson Mrs M. Hourston 10
Care Homes Three Towns Care Home Stevenston Miss M McKenzie Abbotsford Care Home, Ardrossan Mrs C. Montgomerie Flowers Many thanks to the members of the congregation who have donated flowers which have beautified our Church over the last few months. A big thank you also to all flower conveners and distributers. Anyone who would like to donate flowers to the church, please add your name to the calendar or you can simply make a donation. The Flower conveners for: September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 Mrs M. Brannan & Mrs J. Niven Mrs H. Smith & Mrs I. Easton Mrs M. Montgomery & Mrs A. McDonald Mrs J. Ramsay & Mrs M. Rolley Next Edition I am only the editor of this magazine and can only publish articles given to me. I therefore require the co-operation of the whole congregation to contribute and improve the magazine. Articles to be included in the December 2015 edition need to be in my possession by Sunday 8 th November 2015. Thank you for your co-operation. Margaret Kelso My e-mail address is margaretkelso@googlemail.com, telephone 01294 468264 Church Website is:- www.stevenstonardeer.com 11
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