28 September 2003

We give the assurance of our thoughts and prayers to all who are unwell, awaiting or undergoing treatment, or anxious or grieving for the loss of loved ones.

Ecumenical Worship

• The monthly United Evening Services will resume this evening at 6.30 pm in Meadowside St Paul’s. The other congregations regularly involved are Dundee Congregational Church and the United Reformed Church.
• Denise & Andy will be joining our friends at the Salvation Army for worship on Sunday 12th October at 10.45 am. If you wish to go with them, please meet in our porch at 10.30 am for the short walk across the road.

Flowers

Church Council

The Council brought its scheduled meeting forward, in the light of recent news about the Circuit’s finances and staffing from September 2004 (following Conference decisions). Council

• accepted the Church accounts for the year 2002-3 and budget for 2003-4
• noted its previous decision that the Communion Offering in November will be for the Dundee International Women’s Centre
• agreed that estimates be obtained for a replacement stair-chair
• re-appointed Clare as a Church Steward (thereby superceding ‘the 6-year rule’)
• received reports from the Pastoral Committee, the Service & Mission Committee, and the Worship Group
• noted that Jenny is to attend the Church Census Roadshow in Perth on 1st October
• heard with pleasure that very few of the tickets for the Theatre Trip to “Peter Pan” remain to be taken-up
• agreed its next meeting for February 19th 2004

Pastoral Committee

• the resignation of Sue as a Pastoral Visitor (for parts of Fife)
• the need to consider the overall care of our Members, taking note of existing relationships and links, towards establishing a realistic and manageable system
• the Circuit Pastoral Day, which might give impetus to our thinking about our ways of caring
• an autumn series of Study Groups is to be arranged in Marketgait at 7.30 pm on Monday 20th October, Tuesday 28th October, Wednesday 5th November, Thursday 13th November, Friday 21st November, the proposed material - “His Presence Makes the Feast”, the Report on Methodist understanding and practice of Holy Communion, received by Conference this year and commended to us all for study and comment
• Safeguarding documentation is increasingly being required of those involved in Church life (as in many professional and voluntary spheres of work) – the Committee aims to bring an outline paper and proposals to the next Church Council, to seek to ensure our awareness and compliance with appropriate practice

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 18th November at 7.30 pm when the figures for the annual Schedule will be agreed – these include the “October count” of those attending worship, for which Church Stewards will be responsible.

Meetings this week

Support other Organisations

NCH

• September is designated as “curtains” month in our request for surplus items for use by the Cowan Grove and Families projects. See Margaret G for more details.
• Margaret has left a copy of “Children Today Summer 2003” on the table at the top of the stairs – available for anyone to read.

EMMS International

• 6th – 14th November : Bike Ride Mt-Carmel to Nazareth. To raise funds for the work of the Nazareth School of Nursing - jointly organized with BibleLands;
• 20th – 28th March 2004 : Trek the Sinai Desert to raise funds for the Nazareth Hospital and the Bethany Christian Trust (working with vulnerable & homeless people in Edinburgh) – jointly organized with the Bethany Trust.
• See posters / information from Joe Cooney – tel: 0131 313 3828; email: info@emms.org; website: www.emms.org.

Forthcoming events

Prayer Points for this week

• the President & Vice-President of Conference at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, Tuesday, and the International Finance Facility meeting in Westminster, Wednesday;
• Connexional World Church Committee, Thursday;
• members of the Circuit Meeting;
• partners in Africa, especially in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (Christian Aid);
• publications of Relate Communications, Kampala, Uganda (FTM Grant List);
• Bible Society work in India and in Haiti;
• The Leprosy Mission’s promotional work in Singapore, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe & New Zealand;
• we pray with and for the peoples of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania & Niger;
• we remember fellow Methodists in the Bradford (Great Horton) Circuit (West Yorkshire District), and in Barrhead (Ayrshire & Renfrewshire Circuit).

• 21 September 2003
• 05 October 2003

© 2002—2003 Dundee Methodist Church.