16 January 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.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Broughty Ferry Churches Group are marking the Week by

• Pulpit Exchange today, as part of which Jenny Easson is leading worship in Broughty Baptist Church
• Coffee-with-Worship next Satuday in St Aidan’s Church Halls, Brook Street, from 10 am to 12 noon - all welcome.

Unity Octave 2005: 18th – 25th January

Material for this year’s theme, “Christ, the one Foundation of the Church”, is based on 1 Corinthians 3, 5-14 and has been chosen and prepared by churches in Slovakia. The initial work on the material was by the Theological Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia, ie representatives of the Old Catholic Church, the Reformed Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Church of the Brethren, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union, the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia.

The material was then considered internationally and nationally, with publication in Great Britain and Ireland through Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

The Churches in Slovakia (which in area and population corresponds to Scotland) chose the text as speaking to them as “they witness that Christ remains the enduring and underlying reality in the face of enormous social, political and economic changes of the last 15 years since the end of the communist period.”

Their present experience is as follows:

“Church congregations are growing in all denominations. The disadvantage of growth is, as they tell us, that many new Christians have shallow foundations to their faith, as no solid Christian formation was possible in the decades of Communism. Many have a strong adherence to their own denominations, and little vision of the unity of Christians in Jesus Christ. For that reason, preparing ‘Christ the one Foundation of the Church’ has been very important to them”.

Creche

It is a matter of concern that we need to have a crèche rota. Please would you kindly consider going on the rota once in every 6 weeks. As you are aware, we need 2 people for each meeting of the crèche. Please contact Elaine if you are available to help.

Coffee Rota

Will any new volunteers willing to have their names added to this rota, please see the Senior Church Steward, Paddy, as soon as possible – thank you!

Property Items

Please note the following

• the photocopier in the upstairs office is still out of use and will be until an ordered replacement part arrives – contact Jenny or David for updates
• redecoration of the premises will commence on Monday 31st January – please consult Norah for details.

Meetings this week

Support other Organisations

MRDF Tsunami Appeal

Last week’s retiring offering raised £314.70.

Amnesty International – Global Letter-writing Campaign

Between 1st November 2004 and 31st January 2005, Amnesty International UK asks supporters to send cards with messages of hope and solidarity to victims of human rights violations and those who defend them. Details of persons or bodies to whom cards may be sent, plus guidelines for doing so, are available on the papers on the Vestibule table.

Annapurna Base Camp

Alan & Philip Suttie are to undertake this trek in Nepal, hoping to raise £5,000 for new projects targeting isolation amongst blind and partially-sighted people in Fife. Sponsorship list at head of front stairs.

Make Poverty History - “MPH”

A “Church Launch” will be held on Saturday 29th January from 11 am to 4 pm in Bloomsbury Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, as an “ecumenical event to mobilise and inspire people of faith to take action throughout the year” (see leaflet on Vestibule table). Anyone in London at that time is invited to join in.

NB Our Service & Mission Committee is now considering ways of responding to MPH and taking action on ‘Trade Justice’ issues.

Scottish Bible Society

In January the Bible-a-Month Club invites our support for work in Ghana (see library noticeboard for further details).

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

• work in Botswana and Zambia, where many are afflicted by HIV / AIDS
• planning for a mobile version of Bibleworld in Scotland
• translations into the Elomwe language in Malawi.

Forthcoming events

Prayer Points for this week

• The President and Vice-President of Conference in the Oxford and Leicester, and Lincoln and Grimsby Districts this week;
• Lay Staff Pension board meeting on Thursday;
• grant applications for work in the Scotland District;
• relationships with other churches within our Circuit’s area;
• work in Senegal after locust-infestation (Christian Aid);
• work among the 10 million Kabyle-speakers in Algeria (Feed The Minds);
• The Leprosy Mission’s work in China, Korea, and Laos;
• Bible Society work in Ghana;
• we pray with and for the peoples of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya;
• we remember fellow Methodists in the Barnstaple Circuit (Plymouth & Exeter District) and our Circuit colleagues in Blairgowrie (Angus, Dundee & Perthshire Circuit).

• 09 January 2005
• 23 January 2005

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