Dundee Methodist Church

11 September 2011

Next Sunday
18 September 2011

10 am
Bible Reading Group, “B”
11 am
Worship led by Mr Charles Richmond

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.

Broughty Ferry Churches Group Christian Aid Lunches

A warm welcome is given to everyone to the weekly “bread and soup” lunches in the YMCA, 151 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry (next to the garage opposite M&S). For a donation of £2, there is soup (choice from 3 or more), bread and cheese, and coffee (plus occasional shortbread!). The Lunches run from the start of September to mid-December, then January to the end of May. The Episcopal - Methodist Team will be providing soup on 16th September, 25th November, and 2nd March. If you wish to help in providing / serving soup then contact Kate, David or Jenny.

Church Photocopier

Please note that there are no photocopying facilities in Marketgait at present.

Prayer Handbooks

Jenny still has one spare copy of “Run the Race” - please see her if you wish it. Please also note that there is a large print copy on the hymnbook shelves in the Vestibule.

International Bible Reading Association

Heather will be pleased to take orders for IBRA material, including “Light for our Path” notes. Please sign the paper on the Vestibule table or contact Heather direct.

Circuit Preachers Meeting news

The Circuit's Preachers are pleased to intimate that, at the Meeting on Thursday, a request from Tom Penman was brought and accepted for Local Preacher Training. He will therefore be given a “Note to Preach” ('placed On Note', in Methodist terminology) and will accompany his appointed Mentor, David Cowling, as the first phase of his training. The Meeting is sure that Tom will receive the prayerful support of all the Circuit's congregations.

“A Time for Creation”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called for the period from 1st September to 4th October to be observed as “a time for prayer, reflection and re-dedication regarding care for and just use of God's gifts in nature”.

This Call is linked to
  • the UN declaration of 2011 as the International Year of the Forest
  • the start of the Orthodox New Year (British Methodist also!) in September and a challenge from the late Dimitrios I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, proclaiming 1st September 1989 as “a day of prayer for the earth and its eco-systems”.

For more than 20 years, Christians throughout the world have reserved dates in September and early October as a time to give thanks for God's creation and to join in common prayer and action for the environment. In its public policy, the WCC has called for commitment to “eco-justice” and stressed the need for action to overcome planetary pollution and other causes of climate change.

Meetings this week

Date & timeVenueDetails
Saturday 6th August to Friday 28th October 2011 Edinburgh University Library, George Square “Singing the Reformation” Exhibition. The Exhibition will include displays of the famous 8 extant Partbooks, illustrations of the life and work of Thomas Wode (the preserver of this music), the role of psalm-singing before & after the Reformation, and its continuing influence.
Opening times are as follows
  • Aug 6th - 31st (“during the Fringe”): Monday - Saturday 10am to 5pm, closed Sundays
  • September - October : Monday - Friday 10am to 5pm, closed Saturday and Sunday.

There is now a CD, 'The Wode Collection', which has been recorded by Linn Records, featuring The Dunedin Consort, the viol consort Fretwork, and lutenist David Miller.
Wednesday 14th September 2011, 7pm Dundee Methodist Church, “L” Circuit Meeting
Thursday 15th September 2011, 7.30pm Dundee Methodist Church, “L” Bible Reading Group
Thursday 15th September 2011, 7.30pm St Mary's Episcopal Church, Queen Street, Broughty Ferry Recital of piano music by Joseph Fleetwood. Entry £10 / £9 concessions, at the door.
Friday 16th September 2011, 12 noon - 1 pm YMCA 151 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry (opposite “M&S Food”) (map) Broughty Ferry Churches Group Christian Aid lunch. Soup (choice from 3 or more) is served with bread & cheese, followed by coffee (plus occasional shortbread!) for £2, in support of this ecumenical aid, relief and development charity. A warm welcome is given to all to come and share food and fellowship regularly or from time to time.
Saturday 17th September 2011, 1 pm St Paul's Cathedral, 1 High Street, Dundee Music at St Paul's Cathedral: the weekly series of lunchtime concerts continues with music by Emma Versteeg (soprano) and Chris Bragg (organ). Tickets - £4 / £3 / £2 at the door; refreshments after. See poster on noticeboard or www.stpaulscathedraldundee.org.

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Our support through the Bible-a-Month Club is invited in September for work in Peru.

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

  • permission to import much-needed Scriptures into Morocco where a team is working on a first translation into Moroccan Arabic, with the New Testament launch due later this year;
  • availability of imported material in Algeria where rising demand for Scriptures is exceeding internal ability to supply them;
  • impact of unrest earlier this year in Tunisia, the subsequent renewal of peace and possibly of religious freedom.

Forthcoming events

Date & timeVenueDetails
Wednesday 21st September 2011, 7 pm Dundee Methodist Church Church Council
Saturday 19th November 2011, 9.30am to 4pm St Mary's Centre, Kinnoull, Perth “Volunteering in Faith: Obligation or Joy?”
An invitation is extended to ecumenical partners to this Conference organised by the Scottish Episcopal Church's Church in Society Committee. The Keynote Speaker, Anne Morrissey, is a free-lance community theologian, lecturer and author, who has worked in the social responsibility field for many years. There will also be interactive and creative workshops on aspects of volunteering.
To book, please send details (name, address, email) and cheque for £5 (payable to The Scottish Episcopal Church) to the Church Relations Officer, SEC, 21 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EE, no later than 14th October.

Prayer Points for this week

  • The President & Vice-President of Conference at the Trades Union Congress, London, Monday - Tuesday;
  • The President “doing the Great North Run” next Sunday!;
  • District Induction Day for new Ministers in Scotland, Thursday;
  • Church Council meetings in our Circuit;
  • residents and staff in the Southampton District (Methodist Homes);
  • The Leprosy Mission's work in south-east India;
  • Mission Aviation Fellowship work in Uganda;
  • Episcopal Technological and Vocational Training Centre Ramallah, training for catering & hotel industries (BibleLands);
  • the people of Jamaica where rates of violence are high (Christian Aid);
  • Bible Society work in Peru;
  • we pray with and for the peoples of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania (WCC Ecumenical Calendar);
  • we remember fellow Methodists in the Medway Circuit (South-East District) and all in Mosspark Local Ecumenical Partnership (Glasgow Circuit).