Dundee Methodist Church

17 January 2016

Next Sunday
24 January 2016

11 am
Worship, including Holy Communion, conducted by the Rev John Butterfield
Communion Offering for The Benevolence Fund (plate by upstairs door)

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.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: 18-25 Jan 2016

This year's theme is “Salt of the Earth” with material prepared by Christians in Latvia. It is based around the verses of 1 Peter 2, 9-10 with “encouragement to the newly baptised to live holy lives and to answer the calling shared by all the baptised to proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord.”

Latvia is described as “a crossroads where Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox regions meet” and thus “home to Christians of many different traditions, but no single one of them is dominant.”

Material for the WPCU is developed each year by an International Committee, composed of members of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. This material is then used as a basis for national resources developed by a representative group of writers on behalf of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI).

Download the booklet or find more information.

Broughty Ferry Churches Group will mark the Week in a United Service at 12noon on Wednesday in Barnhill St Margaret's Church, Invermark Terrace; there is an invitation to continue fellowship over lunch in the Café (adjacent halls) after.

German response to flooding

A letter has been sent to the Connexion by Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of the United Methodist Church in Germany, expressing support for all in Britain affected by flooding and offering any assistance possible.

District “Youth Weekend Away”

This year's event, for young people aged 12-17, will be from Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th September at Dalguise (by the Tay, north of Dunkeld) with opportunities to undertake a variety of activities under qualified leadership. The cost of the weekend, which includes accommodation (but bring sleeping bag & pillow!) and food, is £108, with a request of an initial deposit of £30.

More details are available from the Rev Gordon Hay: Tel - 07793 222 646 or 0141 632 0691; gordon.hay@methodist.org.uk.

A booking form is on the vestibule table with the covering letter - completed forms should be returned to Gordon Hay by Saturday 7th February.

The One Programme 2016-17: host projects sought

This Methodist Church programme provides for a paid year for young people aged 16-23 to work an average of 15 hours per week, mostly in a local project plus some hours for Connexional work and training. Churches and projects, from across the connexion, or that have a link to the Methodist Church, are invited to apply to host a young person on placement with the One Programme for the year from September 2016 to August 2017.

The Host Project Application Packcontains detailed information and an application form. For more details or for help and advice please contact Gary Williams, telephone, 07799900464. The deadline for applications is Friday 4th March 2016.

Meetings this week

Date & timeVenueDetails
Wednesday 20th January 2016, 12noon Barnhill St Margaret's Church, Invermark Terrace, Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry Churches Group Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service, there is an invitation to continue fellowship over lunch in the Café (adjacent halls) after.
Thursday 21st January 2016, 7pm (note change of date) Dundee Methodist Church, “B” Worship Consultation: a warm welcome is given to everyone to share thoughts about our worship together. Topics will include our observance of Lent and Easter, as well as arrangements for the forthcoming Café Service. Any suggestions, feedback or material can be given to 'tricia Laurie as Consultation Convener.

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Our support via the Bible-a-Month Club is invited in January for work in The Gulf States. Our prayerful attention this week is drawn to

  • supporters and meetings in Scotland promoting the Bible and the work of SBS;
  • Scottish World Day of Prayer Committee mailings and local committees' arrangements for WDP in March;
  • the Bible Society of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Scripture-based trauma-healing programmes, helping more than 700 child victims of war each year in Goma city.

Forthcoming events

Date & timeVenueDetails
Thursday 28th January 2016, 2.15pm Our Lady of Good Counsel Broughty Ferry Churches Group meeting
Wednesday 17th February, 12.15pm to 6pm. Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, High School Yards, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh “Understanding the 2015 General Election result in Scotland”, a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Professor John Curtice and ScotCen Social Research, will present the results of their study into the 2015 General Election in Scotland for the first time. The research has been conducted under the auspices of The Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN).
Contrasting long-run changes since the advent of devolution with recent changes in voting behaviour and political attitudes will provide deep insights into the reasons underlying the outcome of the vote. It will also offer insights into Scotland's political landscape as it prepares for Scottish Parliamentary elections in May 2016.
The event is open to the public and free to attend, but registration through Eventbrite is required as places are limited. Full programme.
Monday 29th February, 12.30pm to 8.30pm. Central Hall, Westminster Methodist Homes conference on the theme “One Day to Explore Why Later Life Matters”. The conference is intended as an exploration of current and future ideas to combat loneliness among older people.
The conference fee is £50 (early bird) or ££90.

Prayer Points for this week

  • the President and Vice-President of Conference's visit to Chapel Aid in York, Monday;
  • Connexional Ministries Committee, next weekend;
  • meetings of the EMU Partnership and the District Ecumenical Forum on Tuesday and Wednesday;
  • work in East Anglia District (Methodist Homes);
  • Peace Sunday today, work of partner Caja LÚdica in urban communities in Guatemala (Christian Aid);
  • transfer of the Helen Keller School to Palestinian leadership (Embrace);
  • work in China, Korea and Laos (The Leprosy Mission); work in Bangladesh (MAF);
  • Bible Society work in The Gulf States;
  • we pray with and for the peoples of Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia (WCC);
  • we remember fellow Methodists in the Nottingham South Circuit (Nottingham and Derby District) and in Orkney, Fair Isle and Shetland (Shetland District).