20 August 2017

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.

Circuit Service of Welcome

The Service to formally welcome the Rev Nik Wooller to the Circuit will be held next Sunday at 3pm in Scott Street Methodist Church, Perth. We are all very warmly invited to show our support for and to meet Nik. If you can offer or wish help with transport, please advise a Church Steward. An idea of numbers would also be useful for catering purposes.

Methodist ClothesBank

Mondays 10am -12 noon (i/c Liz)

Thursdays 1pm - 3pm (i/c Sue)

• new Volunteers please contact Sue or Liz
• donations of clothing welcome
• 'Rag bag' collection point: table at top of stairs - recycle and fund-raise!
• Starter Packs are desperately in need of curtains or material: spare curtains no longer needed by you would be very much appreciated.

Preaching Plan

The Plan for September-November is now available.

Safeguarding Training

The previously publicised dates will be changed; the proposed new arrangements will be notified when available.

Dundee Methodist - URC relationships

Following the agreement of our General Church Meeting and the equivalent expressions of support at the URC Salem Church (Salem Street off Constitution Road, above North Marketgait) further conversations took place on Wednesday to take forward, at a gentle pace, the developing relationship between the two congregations.

It remains the intention to proceed at a steady pace, in getting to know one another as individuals, congregations and churches; we are agreed that it is important that there is a spirit of mutual honesty and openness to sharing with and learning from each other.

To this end, there will be joint services of worship as from September on an alternating pattern of “the two congregations together” one week, and “in our separate congregations” the next.

• There will be 7 joint services next Quarter (see forthcoming Plan) - 5 in Marketgait, 2 in Salem (the latter two being Sundays 1st Oct & 12th Nov).
• The Rev Alan McGougan is named on our Plan as a “Visiting Preacher” and will lead worship on Sundays 17th September and on 12th November.
• As it is the Dundee URC's practice to celebrate Communion each Sunday, the services in Salem will be in line with that practice - the Rev Nick Baker will conduct 'a Methodist Communion' in October and the November service will be “a URC Communion”.
• Other practical aspects were addressed and will continue so as appropriate and as things arise.
• Further information is available from Nick Baker, Jenny Easson or Sue Marshall-Jennings. Please contact them with any queries, comments, suggestions etc.
• Practical advice and information for particular services & questions will be provided as appropriate.

Worship Consultation résumé

At the meeting on Wednesday the following topics were discussed and agreed where necessary:

• worship from September, especially practicalities of joint worship with the URC, including provision for children in both sets of premises;
• Harvest on Sunday 24th September will celebrate “A harvest of talents”, with a proposal for a retiring offering for Project Linus through which hand-made quilts and blankets are provided for children in hospitals or with particular needs;
• a public act of worship on Monday 25th December;
• next meeting - Wednesday 8th November in Marketgait at 1pm.

Traidcraft

Copies of the new Autumn catalogue are now available on the vestibule table. Please take one away, and return to Margaret with your order!

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Our support via the Bible-a-Month Partnership is invited in August for work in Iraq.

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

• Bible Society of Serbia's production of the Old Testament in a modern Serbian translation, also plans for the revision of the New Testament into a modern version;
• Pakistan Bible Society working with Scripture Union in Vacation Bible Schools;
• Bible Society of Indonesia's work on digitising Bibles and Testaments in many Indonesian local languages;
• Slovak Bible Society's production of Luke's Gospel in Slovenian Sign Language;
• Bible Society of Estonia's Bible exhibitions in museums and libraries, weekly radio broadcasts, workshops and conferences.

Prayer Points for this week

• the President of Conference at the Methodist Church in Hong Kong and Fijian Methodist Conference to Saturday;
• inauguration services for the incoming Chairs of the Northampton District and the (new) Yorkshire North and East District next weekend;
• preparations to open a ClothesBank in St John's Methodist Church Arbroath;
• residents and staff in London (Methodist Homes);
• 'Think and Do' providing business-start-up loans to widows in Egypt (Embrace ME);
• partner SKA's support for Dalit women in India (Christian Aid);
• work in South Sudan (MAF);
• Bible Society work in Iraq;
• work in Bangladesh (The Leprosy Mission);
• we pray with and for the peoples of Liberia and Sierra Leone (WCC);
• we remember fellow Methodists in the Thetford, Diss and Mildenhall Circuit (East Anglia District) and in Buckie (North of Scotland Mission Circuit).

• 13 August 2017
• 27 August 2017

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