Dundee Methodist Church

20 December 2015

Christmas Day

10.30 am
Celebratory worship led by the Rev Nick Baker

Next Sunday
27 December 2015

11 am
Café-style worship with ecumenical friends, led by the Rev Nick Baker

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

Cumbria 2015 Flood Appeal

A letter from the Connexional Team invites the Methodist people to consider donations in support of the Cumbria 2015 Flood Appeal. In discussion between the Minister, Senior Church Steward and Treasurer, it has been agreed that a Retiring Offering Plate will be available in Marketgait today for such contributions.

The Chair of the Cumbria District, the Rev Richard Teal, recalls with gratitude Methodism's response in 2009 to the previous flood disaster, and says that “the devastation this time is worse than before”. He recommends that donations be channelled through the Cumbria 2015 Flood Appeal set up by the Cumbria Community Foundation.

Celebrating with others at Christmas

  • We have received an invitation to join our friends in Salem United Reform Church at 6pm this evening for their Christmas Service with Nativity Play.
  • Our invitation to our friends in Meadowside St Paul's Parish and Salem United Reformed Churches to again join us in worship on the Sunday after Christmas has been accepted and we will welcome members of both congregations to Marketgait next Sunday. Worship will take the form of a Café-style Service led by the Rev Nick Baker.
  • Broughty Ferry Churches Group has issued a leaflet listing the activities and Services in Ferry churches during Advent and Christmas. See the vestibule table for copies.
  • Christmas services in the Circuit
    Christmas Eve - Arbroath, 6pm; Perth, 6.30pm
    Christmas Day - Perth Congregational Church, 10am

Methodist Publishing

The Publishing Team and the Communication and Campaigns Team have now merged to form one joint Team, based at Methodist Church House London. The Fundraising and Marketing functions have moved to a new Engagement Team, which also undertakes responsibility for Heritage matters.
The booklet A Gift of Christmas, in its most recent edition can now be downloaded.

President's and Vice-President's Christmas Messages

The Rev Steve Wild and Dr Jill Barber have reminded people of the importance of 'welcome' in the Presidential Christmas messages this year. They “highlight the central significance of Emmanuel, 'God-with-us' and how we can encounter God through welcoming others.” They conclude: (the Methodist people) “are called to find our voice and be a people of prayer, prophecy, protest and passion so that the Word may become flesh and dwell among us full of grace and truth.”

Read the full message, or listen to the podcast.

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Our support via the Bible-a-Month Club is invited in December for work in Colombia.

Our prayerful attention this week is drawn to

  • launch of the revised Bemba Bible in the Northern Province of Zambia;
  • Togo Bible Society initiative, The Bible and Me, aimed at reaching young people;
  • Bible Society in Uruguay's work with Sunday Bible School teachers;
  • planned publication of the modern Gaelic New Testament in 2016.

During this year, Bible-a-Month Partners have enabled Bibles to be made available to more than 40,000 people world-wide. SBS has sent a Bible-a-Month small desk-top calendar for 2016, which will be placed in the upstairs office. The usual wall calendar has now arrived so a different page will be displayed on the library area noticeboard each month also.

Thanks are conveyed to us from the SBS for all donations and prayer support by Bible-a-Month Partners.

Prayer Points for this week

  • all who work in Methodist Church House, London, and in property and legal departments in Manchester;
  • the celebration of Christmas in churches and communities, especially in Tayside and Fife;
  • work on the Channel Islands (Methodist Homes);
  • Centre for Gospel Health and Development malaria prevention work in Nigeria (Christian Aid);
  • Bible Society work in Colombia;
  • Learning Centre for the Deaf's pioneering work in Lebanon (Embrace);
  • people affected by leprosy (The Leprosy Mission);
  • work in Angola and in Chad (MAF);
  • we pray with and for the peoples of Ghana and Nigeria (WCC);
  • we remember fellow Methodists in Nottingham Central Mission Circuit (Nottingham and Derby District) and our Circuit friends based in Blairgowrie (Angus, Dundee and Perthshire Circuit).