Dundee Methodist Church

19 March 2017

Next Sunday
26 March 2017
Lent 4
Mothering Sunday

11 am
All-Age Worship 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.

Lent Readings

This year our Circuit's churches are encouraged to use the booklet of daily reflections produced by “All We Can”. Themes from this booklet will be reflected during Sunday worship in Marketgait during Lent. Please ask a Steward if you wish a hard copy. Download a low resolution copy, or sign up for daily resources by email.

Lent Study Groups

Broughty Ferry Churches Group gives a warm invitation to

Both the Monday and Wednesday groups will share experiences and explore questions raised by material published by CTBI, entitled 'Returning Home: Christian Faith in Encounter with Other Faiths'.

Meadowside St Pauls also have sent an invitation to their Lenten Group in the church halls on Tuesdays at 7.15pm, using 40Acts material.

Methodist ClothesBank

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

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

Volunteers please contact Sue or Liz

More clothing is still needed; please have a good spring clean of your wardrobes. Anything is welcome. We will

  • keep good adult clothing for the clothesbank;
  • send good clothing for children and teenagers to “Togs from Tots to Teens”;
  • recycle clothes that are not suitable for either; we can raise money in this way.

Please take a collecting bag from the table at the top of the stairs or ask a helper for one.

Meeting with other churches

Rev Nick Baker writes:

As part of ongoing conversations and developing relationships with the other churches in Dundee I recently met with Revds Alan McGougan and Andria Randall. Alan is the minister of the URC church and Andria the minister of the Congregational Church in Dundee.

We discussed a wide range of things including what is happening in the life of our churches, the ways in which we serve the city, and the way forward recognising the challenges we all face in terms of ministry, people, and buildings. As such we thought it would be a good idea for a couple of representatives and the ministers from each church to meet and reflect on this together, exploring options for working together.

I am writing because I want to keep you informed of these and invite you to share any thoughts if you wish. Jenny Easson and Sue Marshall-Jennings have agreed to attend the meeting on Wednesday 26th April with myself to represent Dundee Methodist Church. No decisions are being made, but rather an opportunity for us to meet and listen to one another seeking God's guidance.

If any of you do have any thoughts about this or the future direction of the church I should be grateful if you would communicate this to Sue, Jenny or myself prior to the meeting.

The General Church meeting at the beginning of June will give us the opportunity to discuss together what was shared at the meeting on April 26th but if you have any particular questions I will do my best to answer them.

Methodist Women in Britain

The Rev Jenny Jackie Bellfield was to have been the speaker at the forthcoming Fellowship Day, but has been asked to represent UK Methodism at that time in the US. The Rev Sally Binyin, Methodist Minister connected with the Bread Church in Liverpool, will now speak at the Fellowship Day.

Copies of the latest MWiB district newsletter are now available on the vestibule table.

Meetings this week

Date & timeVenueDetails
Monday 20th March, 10.15am - c.11.45am St Mary's, Queen Street Broughty Ferry Lenten Study Group
Tuesday 21st March, 7.15pm Meadowside St Pauls church halls Lenten Study Group, using 40Acts material.
Wednesday 22nd March, 7.30pm St James' Church halls Fort Street (by Lifeboat shed), Broughty Ferry Lenten Study Group
Thursday, 23rd March, 12.00 noon St Mary's Episcopal Church, Queen Street, Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry Churches Prayer Service for Persecuted Christians. "If one member of the body suffers, all suffer together with it" (1 Corinthians 12:26). Christians in more than 60 countries worldwide face persecution and ask for our prayers. All are invited to join together for our monthly prayer for persecuted Christians. If you wish, bring a packed lunch to eat after.
Saturday, 25th March, 10am to 3.30pm Stirling Methodist Church, Queen Street District Safeguarding Support Day. It is important that every church and circuit has sufficient representation there; if you wish to know more about the Day or to attend yourself, please let Sue (as Safeguarding Officer) or any Church Steward know. More details.

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Our support via the Bible-a-Month Partnership is invited in March for work in Kenya.

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

  • literacy project run for women in mountain regions by the Bible Society in Panama;
  • seminars by the Bible Society in Romania for law, theology and medical students;
  • translation of the Bible into Kono by the Bible Society & partners in Sierra Leone where some 800,000 people speak this language;
  • provision by the Bible Society of Uzbekistan of Proclaimers, a wind-up player with the Bible in audio form.

Forthcoming events

Date & timeVenueDetails
Monday 27th March, 10.15am - c.11.45am St Mary's, Queen Street Broughty Ferry Lenten Study Group
Tuesday 28th March, 7.15pm Meadowside St Pauls church halls Lenten Study Group, using 40Acts material.
Wednesday 29th March, 7.30pm St James' Church halls Fort Street (by Lifeboat shed), Broughty Ferry Lenten Study Group
Saturday, 13th May, 11am to 3pm City of Edinburgh Methodist Church (Nicolson Square) Methodist Women in Britain District Fellowship Day. The Speaker will now be the Rev Sally Binyin, a Methodist Minister connected with The Bread Church in Liverpool, since the Rev is then to be in the USA representing British Methodism.

Prayer Points for this week

  • the President and Vice-President of Conference in the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District next weekend;
  • Stationing Committee, Thursday;
  • Methodist Anglican Panel on Unity and Mission (MAPUM), residential meeting in Welwyn Garden City Tuesday - Wednesday;
  • Arbroath Methodists as they look to the future;
  • work on the Isle of Man (Methodist Homes);
  • workshops for people with learning disabilities, run by the Zvartnotz Centre in Lebanon (Embrace ME);
  • world-wide Prayer Vigil for peace in the Holy Land, Friday (Christian Aid);
  • Bible Society work in Kenya;
  • international officers and staff (The Leprosy Mission);
  • women and girls world-wide (MAF);
  • we pray with and for the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (WCC);
  • we remember fellow Methodists in the South Holland Circuit (Lincolnshire District) and in Partick (Strathclyde Circuit).