Dundee Methodist Church

27 February 2005

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.

Preparing to worship

To help produce a suitably calm & reflective atmosphere before the beginning of formal Sunday worship, it is suggested that the organ cease playing when the Steward enters with the Bible. It is hoped that this will be a signal for a time of general quiet before and as the choir, Steward and Preacher enter.

Pastoral Committee

Members are asked to collect papers from Jenny today, please.

World Day of Prayer

On Friday, Christian women of Poland invite men, women and children around the world to share in this year’s service on the chosen theme: “Let our Light Shine”, challenging each individual to shine like lights for Christ in a dark world.

“The Christian women of Poland have an important message for all of us. Life in that country has been far from easy. The collapse of the former oppressive socialist government has meant a difficult time of transition to a market economy. The people of Poland seek the light of God’s wisdom to find social structures so that all can lead a decent life.”

WDP, on the first Friday in March, gives people from communities in over 180 countries the opportunity to worship and pray on a common theme. Make a date to pray with them, and especially with and for the people of Poland, in services on Friday - see local press & posters for details.

(Scottish WDP Committee has had close personal ties with the Polish Committee since the European Conference in Edinburgh in 1980 – ask Jenny about “the Polish Cloth”)

Preaching Plans

Plans for March – May are now available from the Vestibule table: please uplift and distribute. After requests for a clearer format, some changes have been made: “feedback” to David Firth, Mary Patterson or Jenny please. More copies can be produced – ask Jenny or David.

Meetings this week

Date & timeVenueDetails
Wednesday 2nd March, 7.30 pm Dundee Methodist Church, “L” Pastoral Committee
Wednesday 2nd March, 7.30 pm St Aidan's Church, Brook Street. Broughty Ferry (east end) (map) Broughty Ferry Churches Group act of worship, based on “Voices from the South”, jointly led with St Stephen’s & West, on the theme “Health”. All welcome.
Thursday, 3rd March, 7.15 pm Meadowside St Paul’s (map) www.mspdundee.com Dundee City Centre Churches study group, using ACTS material “Voices from the South” (available from Wesley Owen).
Thursday, 3rd March, 7 pm to 9 pm (doors open 6 pm) McEwan Hall, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place (map) 2nd Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace. Festival Lecture ‘Spiritual approaches to Middle East Peace’ by Abuna Elias Chacour, a member of a Palestinian Christian family, is a three-times Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and the winner of numerous international awards. Chaired by Rev Prof Frank Whaling (“a weel kent Methodist”!). Tickets £8 / £5 - contact TicketsScotland Ltd; tel: 0131 220 3234.
Friday 4th March, 3 pm St Paul's Cathedral, 1 High Street, Dundee map World Day of Prayer Service
Friday 4th March, 7.30 pm St Aidan’s Church, Brook Street. Broughty Ferry (map) World Day of Prayer Service
Saturday 5th March, 10.30 am - 3.30 pm Dunblane District Policy Committee
Saturday 5th March, 11 am - 2.30 pm or at close of conference session Dundee Methodist Church, upstairs ‘Urgent Action for Africa’ Labour Conference fringe meeting organised by SCIAF (the international relief and development agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland). The speaker, Fr Peter Henriot, SJ, Director of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection in Lusaka, Zambia, will give a firsthand account of the impact of debt repayments on poor countries. Paul Chitnis, Chief Executive of SCIAF, recently returned from a visit to Ethiopia with Cardinal O’Brien, will also comment on progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals, aiming to halve global poverty by 2015. This meeting is seen as part of the MPH campaign: “we hope you will join us at this meeting and strengthen our message to UK politicians about the need to Make Poverty History”. (see flyers on Vestibule table, letter on noticeboard; www.sciaf.org.uk).
Sunday 6th March (Mothering Sunday), from 2.30 pm to 4 pm (tea at 3.15 pm) St Aidan’s Church Halls, Brook Street. Broughty Ferry (map) “A Big Sing” under the auspices of The Iona Community in Dundee & Angus, in aid of Growing Hope Appeal - with members of the Wild Goose Worship Group. The Growing Hope Appeal is to develop Camas Youth Centre and improve visitor facilities on Iona. See posters on noticeboard.

Prayer Points for this week

  • The President of Conference at the Cytun Council, Thursday;
  • preparations for and observance of World Day of Prayer, Friday;
  • members and work of the District Policy Committee;
  • Montrose Pastoral Committee, tomorrow;
  • projects and partners in El Salvador (Christian Aid);
  • commitment of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kiboga in Uganda to work against female illiteracy (Feed The Minds);
  • The Leprosy Mission’s work in South East India – Andhra Pradesh;
  • Bible Society work in Cambodia and in the West Indies;
  • we pray with and for all the peoples of the United Kingdom and of the Republic of Ireland;
  • we remember fellow Methodists in the Tiverton Circuit (Plymouth & Exeter District) and fellow Methodists in Nicolson Square, Edinburgh (Edinburgh & Forth Circuit).