Crosstalk June 2012

A CHURCH OF SCOTLAND PARISH CHURCH

June 2012

CROSSTALK

Congregation No. 161054

Scottish Charity No. SCO15579

Musings from the manse – June 2012.

People have been looking a bit bemused because we have had some days of warm sunshine! And in May. It is incredible the difference it makes – people are in a better mood, smiling more, relaxed! And the garden has been transformed also – all of a sudden all the buds have opened up and come into flower, and there is vibrant colour and shape and beauty all around.

At the end of May, Christians celebrate Pentecost – the coming of God’s holy spirit, and in the 1st century, people who were worried and scared and unsure were transformed into people who were enthusiastic and courageous in sharing their faith with others. And so it is my prayer that, as a church family, God’s Holy Spirit would help us to blossom and to develop in new ways, and to reflect something of the beauty and loveliness of God our Creator. It has been lovely to see some blossoming in recent months – to see the formation of a men’s group and a women’s group, helping to bring people together and to get to know one another. It was great to enjoy fellowship over the Easter services too, and to hear the insights of many different preachers. The Kirk Session teams are also bringing new ideas and life to the congregation. It is good that Castlebank Gardens have asked for a monthly ecumenical service, and that we have been able to see this established. It has also been stimulating to listen to Joe Houston giving presentations on various topics. The summer time should be a time of rest and refreshment after all the busyness of the term, and I hope everyone is able to recharge their batteries. Whether you are at home or away, may you find times of refreshment. We also have some

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exciting events coming up later in the summer, and I would value your prayers for each:

The Holiday Club – 6th-10th August “ On your marks” for P1-7 children.

Please pray for our team – for creativity and good relationships Please pray for the children – for many to come, and to really enjoy it, and to learn much about Jesus! Please pray for wisdom for the ‘end of week’ family service, and follow up.

The Big Event - 28th-29th September. – Friday evening – 7-9pm/Saturday morning 10.30am-12.30pm.

This is our stewardship event, asking everyone, with thankful hearts, to review our relationship with God, and our use of our time, talents and money for God. It is a time of celebrating the life of our church family, and asking how God might want us to become more involved. Everyone will be invited to come along to one of our two presentations.

Please pray for our great team who are organising things, and for people to come along, and for God’s Holy spirit to encourage many to respond positively, and to bring renewal to our church.

Our Retreat Day – Saturday 6th October,

A group of us are going up to The Bield at Blackruthven from 11am till 4.30pm - a Christian retreat centre at Tibbermore near Perth. To find out more about it, you can go to www.bieldatblackruthven.org.uk . We are going to have a day of relaxation and renewal, and have the opportunity to visit the chapel, the stables, the walled gardens, the swimming pool, the labyrinth etc. Please pray for everyone who comes along, that we have a wonderful time, and that we find deeper ways of connecting with one another and with God. Some words from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-22 are worth remembering: “ be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. “ We really want our church to be a place where prayer is key to all that we do, and where people blossom and flourish in their faith. Please pray for all these activities, and for one another. The vision from Isaiah 35 of what God’s kingdom will look like hopefully inspires us:

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“ The desert and the parched land will be glad, The wilderness will rejoice and blossom, Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom, It will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.” May God’s church experience a renewal through His Holy spirit, and may there be a new creativity and grace in all we do. Wishing you a wonderful summer,

Every blessing, Fiona Gardner

LETTERS

I would like to place on record my appreciation of Fay Platt for her time as Editor of our Church Magazine “Crosstalk”. It was nice to have a “Woman’s Touch” for a change.

John Brown

Dear friends, I would like to thank our minister Fiona and the congregation for the prayers and tremendous support we received during the period of Janette’s illness. I thank you all for your prayers, flowers, phone calls, visits and cards. All were very much appreciated. Our Minister Fiona visited Janette regularly, especially during the final days of her illness. Her prayers and encouragement helped Janette and the family through this very difficult time. Once more, great thanks to you all for the support, kindness and sympathy we received.

John Edgar

I would like to thank all my friends at Temple Anniesland for the messages of support and kindness shown to me when I was ill. I also thank the Minister who visited me when I was at the hospital and to my Elder and her husband who helped me so much. This was really appreciated. With good wishes to you all,

Christine Davidson

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Treasurer’s Report I thought to myself as the weather is so good I should keep my report as short as possible. More time for golf!!!!! The Church finances are in good health thanks to your good givings. Do you think that is short enough? Does it tell you all you want to know? Probably “Yes” but will I get away with it? Probably “No”. I will now, therefore, waffle for the next 1,000 or so words and you will wish I had just given you the short report! Her indoors and I have just returned from Rhodes bringing the good weather with us. We are very kind that way. Did we have any mishaps this year? Well, apart from the fact that we nearly missed the plane on the way out, everything else ran smoothly. You may ask why did we nearly miss the plane ... well, we got to the air-port in plenty of time but her indoors decided to do some shopping - and when she goes shopping time stands still!!!! Talking about running smoothly, the committee for the Big Event, of which I am chairman, is running very smoothly and building up to the BIG EVENT at the end of September. As well as getting you to look at your givings, we are also wanting you to look at the giving of your time and your talents. Additionally, there will be a chance for you to tell us what YOU need, so this will be two-way giving. The three main parts of our income (Offerings, Plate and Gift Aid) are all up this year as at the end of May. I will stick in my usual plug at this time - if you pay tax you should contact Elisabeth Robertson on telephone number 959 0498 to ar-range to sign a gift aid form. We also have a new income stream - the use of our premises by commercial groups, namely Slimming World, Weightwatchers and Ku-mon (sounds as if it should be a type of Japanese wrestling but it is actually an after-school class to help pupils with their studies). As at the end of May we have re-ceived £2,880 for the use of our premises, whereas for the whole of last year only £395 was received. Once again, thanks to everyone for their good donations for Christian Aid with the lunch raising £642.20 (including envelopes in the plate) plus this year there was the rolls and sausage which raised £112.20 and, let us not forget, there was the gift aid tax of just over £100. Jim Stewart has the rest of the details in his report. Robert Dallas, our fabric convener and his team have once again been busy with looking after the church building. The main job in the last couple of months has been the new windows in the committee/Sunday Club room plus the painting of the room at a cost of £2,480. There is still a lot of work needing to be done on the

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PARISH REGISTER

Deaths

Mr. John Davies Reith Avenue (07) Miss Helen McLeod Great Western Road (02) Mrs Chris Robertson Castlebank Court (02) Mrs. Lorna Pollock Castlebank Gardens (02) Mrs. Janette Edgar Great Western Road (04) New Members Mr. G. Small Anniesland Road (postal) Mrs. J. Small Anniesland Road (postal) Mr. J. Small Anniesland Road (postal) Mrs. Jean Campbell Dunkeld Road (postal) Mrs. Morna Chisholm Cedric Road (15) Mr. G. Peach Mingarry Street (postal) Mrs. J. Peach Mingarry Street (postal) Transfers & Disjunctions Rev. Joseph Houston Gilmour Street (postal) Change of address Mrs. Marianna Palinkash (5) From: Crown Road To: Hutton Drive.

church buildings, with the most pressing item, according to the Presbytery Quinquennial Fabric Report (which has just been re-ceived), being the windows in the New Hall. Mind you the Quinquennial Fabric Re-port gave us pass marks on most parts of our buildings. At the moment I am fight-ing - sorry discussing - with our gas supplier the new rates being offered by them, which of course are higher than our present rates. Well that is 500 words of the 1,000 words that I stated that I would waffle and as the sun is now shining I think I will forget about the other 500 and will go for a game of golf. Did I hear you saying “Thank goodness for that”?

Fergus

Treasurer’s Report—continued

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As a church we are participating in the National Stewardship Campaign which was launched by the Church of Scotland in 2011. Many of you will have received information about this in your March copy of Crosstalk A Stewardship Team has been formed and is meeting regularly to organise "The Big Event"

which will be on 28th and 29th September. "The Big Event" is our stewardship event celebrating the life of our church, and the aim is to encourage more people to become more involved in the life of the church through using their time and talents and in their giving. A visitor will bring you an invitation shortly and we hope you can manage to come along to the Big Event. At the Big Event, there will be opportunities for all of us to find out about the work which is funded by the money we give regularly to God for the work of His Church. You will also find out all about the good things that happen at Temple Anniesland, good things that happen throughout Scotland, good things that happen in other parts of the world and all because members of this congregation and other congregations of the Church of Scotland give money to enable the sharing of the gospel. Our giving does make a difference by enriching individual lives and the lives of communities. “The Big Event" is on Friday 28th September from 7-9pm, and then on Saturday 29th September from 10.30 till 12.30. Newsletters will be issued with more information over the next few months. Please keep an eye on our website too, if you have access to a computer

Jessica Smyrl - Publicity

Convener

Cross Rock Reunion Do you remember Cross Rock? A reunion is planned

on September 1st at the Church. Time? “CrossRock time”, so 3pm for 1pm start.

Programme could include Tea, Chat, Meal together at 6 ish and Jam session

later. More details including the world’s best flyer from Jean Findlater (0141 959

3219) or David Buchan (01389 765121 ) or [email protected]

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Christian Aid Week 2012

This year members of Temple-Anniesland Church helped raise the following sums for the work of Christian Aid with the world’s

poor: House-to-house collection: £ 528.42 Christian Aid Lunch: £ 677.45 Rolls and Sausage £ 112.20 Erskine Bridge Sponsored Cross: £ 809.00 Total £2127.07 Tax reclaimed through Giftaid: £ 220.00

Grand Total: £2347.07

A ‘well done’ to all those involved, whether crossing the Erskine Bridge in a sym-bolic journey between North and South, knocking on doors in an act of Christian witness and charity or paying generously for your bread and cheese or roll and sausage lunch.

What happens to the money raised?

Most goes to project work undertaken with partner organisations in 45 countries. Christian Aid works with people of different faiths and none. It aims to provide aid where the need is greatest. The focus is mostly on long-term solutions aimed at helping people become self-sufficient, create healthier environments and live in peace with each other. This year the British government is ‘match funding’ the first £5million pound raised in Christian Aid Week. The money received from ‘match funding’ will be used to support poor communities in Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Africa, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Burma to im-prove access to healthcare and build sustainable livelihoods.

When disasters occur available funds will go towards emergency relief. Campaign funds enable Christian Aid to speak out about such things as the unfair rules of global trade and the burden of third world debt.

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accom-panied by action, is dead. (James 2:16-17)

Jim Stewart

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A Spiritual Oasis for Renewal—The Bield at Black Ruthven As we are having a family day out at the Bield in October I would like to tell you a bit about the place. Robin and Marianne Anker-Peterson run the Bield as a Christian charitable foundation. They have a large staff of very talented people that ably support them in all they do. Everyone there plays their part in generating the special atmosphere of the place, which is in total harmony with the main ethos of the Bield. This, in their own words, is to nurture healing of body and soul and to encourage reflection and learning. It is very much a team effort. The healing, rest and spiritual renewal provided has a strong emphasis on respect for and sympathy with the natural environment that is all around us. There are plenty of activities available to keep people occupied, including a swimming pool, a tennis court and an arts room for the more active amongst us. There is also a smallholding with green houses and various farm animals. This is used as a therapeutic measure to help promote self confidence in adults with learning disabilities ,but you are very much encouraged to visit. For those less active or on a different spiritual quest, there is a small chapel and a labyrinth for walking a meditative path. One of my favourite features is the walled garden area. There are also a few walks of varying lengths around the perimeter of the property. For fellowship and reflection the Bield has conference/meeting rooms and a Barn art gallery. There are a whole range of helpful services provided at the Bield, including counselling, listening and prayer, all designed to assist you on your personal spiritual path and, may I add, all done in a very creative manner, trying where possible to enhance our experience by engaging all the senses. This in turn engenders a new awareness of the rich bounty that our Lord has provided for us such as the animal and plant life all supported by the land, too often unseen in the city. It reminds us that we are, after all, only custodians of the total environment around us. To fully engage with the Bield you have to switch down a gear or two if you are a total city dweller and reappraise your priorities; learning again to value things which may have been taken for granted, including, possibly, our Lord Jesus Christ and our stewardship of this earth.

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Staying at the Bield makes you realise what it means to get back to and be close to nature and appreciate all the natural beauty that surrounds us. “Consider the lilies of the field”. The very heady bouquet and rich vibrant colours of the flowers and the tastes and textures of fresh organic food grown at the Bield and provided for our table are all to be treasured. Each time I come to the Bield I come away with a fresh appreciation of the rich bounty that the Lord provides for us on a daily basis and also the realisation of how alien large city life can be to us all, with its very real tendency to distort our life values. The Bield is one of those vital places which remind us in an unobtrusive manner of just how much we have to be thankful for in our daily lives, and how closely we humans are tied to the daily rhythms of this planet. When we try to distort this rhythm by living a faster, 24/7 lifestyle, we tend to lose focus on the real and important things in life including our creator and the provider of all we have. If you have access to a computer and want to learn more, have a look at their website: - “www.bieldatblackruthven.org.uk”

John.

Temple-Anniesland Mother and Toddler Group a member of the

Scottish Pre-School Play Association

We are doing well with an average of 10 children attending. Dads come along with their children as well as Mums. I often believe we are not just the Mothers and Toddlers. Sometimes it feels like we are also a Citizens Advice Bureau. There is always someone who needs advice! If you feel you could help with occasional administrative work for this group, please contact the Minister. Also I would like to thank the church for the lovely flowers I received on the death of my sister.

Angela Sweeny

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201st Glasgow Guides

The last few weeks have been very

busy for the guides as they prepared

for their May camp last weekend. We

couldn’t have hoped for better weather as the Guides donned sun cream and

hats and enjoyed a weekend of outdoor living. All meals were made on an open

fire and we enjoyed a trip to Loch Lomond, a challenging climbing wall and a

good old sing song around a real campfire with a couple of other guide groups

who were also making the most of the good weather .

Our last night together before the summer break will be on Tuesday the 19th

of

June when our new recruits will be making their Guide promises and we will also

be saying farewell to a number of our older guides who are now ready for senior

section. The guides will also be presenting what they have achieved over the

last year. All are welcome to attend from 7:30pm to 9pm.

Angela Gardner

201st Glasgow Brownie Pack

The Brownies have been very busy recently.

We had a great time at Pack Holiday in

March where we spent the day at the Loch Lomond Aquarium and Balloch

Country Park. If you haven’t seen the pictures, do have a look at them in the

new hall.

We have been learning to bake shortbread and cupcakes on a Tuesday eve-

ning. The Brownies then had a bake sale where they brought along their baking

and we raised £86 which we put towards our summer outing. We have raised

over £50 over the year by each week bringing along spare pennies and two

pence pieces, which we have given to Mary’s Meals charity this year.

We will be finishing our year with a trip to Ten Pin bowling in June. I am sure the

competition will be fierce!

We will be promoting 8 girls to Guides at our Parents’ night and we all wish them

well in their new section where they will have great fun as they have more inde-

pendence in choosing what activities they do each week.

Lesley Murray - Brown Owl

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Rainbows

The Rainbows finished the session by celebrating

their 25th Birthday at the Glasgow Art Galleries.

This imvolved a afternoon of fun and crafts organised by the Glasgow County.

This included making spacemen and rockets, games, dancing and songs, all

with a theme of spacetacular. All the Rainbows received a bag which included

a variety of activities and the Scottish Rainbow 25th birthday badge. The

Rainbows had a great time.

I would like take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the

Rainbows this year.

Fiona MacIntyre

133rd Glasgow Brownie Pack

The Thursday Brownies have had a great session and we are looking forward to

starting again after the summer. We have some spaces for girls to join so please

get in touch via the church web site and we will give you all the details.

The pack recently entered a competition run by HobbyCraft to design a crown

for the Jubilee. A lot of creative thought and hard work went into the final design

and we were delighted to come in third. The crowns made for the competition,

including ours, were all on display in the HobbyCraft shop and the customers

who came into the shop, many of whom take crafts very seriously, voted for the

ones they liked. We

won a voucher for

£25 to use in the

shop which will

come in very useful

now that the girls

have confidence in

their skills and ideas

i n c r a f t s .

Congratulations to

everyone involved.

Clare Sinclair

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THE GUILD Hello Ladies, didn’t we have a great day on the Guild bus

run - great weather, good food and most of all great

company! I am sure everyone enjoyed the day. Over the

summer months it is important that all Guild members

take note of anyone who may need support and be sure

to let either myself or one of the committee know and we

will do what we can. Now, I know that by the time you

are reading this article we will have had the first of our

“Tea & Chat” Days on Tuesday 5th June 2012. I list below the dates the dates

for the following 3 months, please take careful note of these dates. All

commence at 2 pm.

3rd July, 14th August, 4th September.

Generally these days are held on the first Tuesday of the month. However in

August this will not be the case as the Holiday Club will be on that week so we

will not meet until the following Tuesday, which is the 14th of August . All in the

congregation are invited to come along on any of the Tuesday’s above – you will

be sure of a warm welcome, a cup of tea and lots of chat!

The Guild Committee is working on the Guild syllabus and, as usual, I am sure

you will not be disappointed. Please remember your “sunshine bags”. I am

hopeful that we will have lots of sunny days over the summer and this will set

everyone up for the winter months.

Fay Platt - President

Church Cycling Our next cycle planned is for

Callendar. Don't worry we are not cycling to

Callendar. The plan is to meet at the

Church car park for 9.30am where Robert

Dallas will put the bikes in his van. We will

go in cars to Callendar where there is a

lovely cycle track to Strathyre. It is approximately 10-12 miles. The date for the

cycle is 14 July. If you are interested, can you please let me know as we will

also need to arrange cars to take people there. Clare Sinclair.

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Men and Gentlemen - not a formal group yet but getting on well! We are having another night out on Monday, 25th June, meeting at the church at 6.45pm. This time we are planning a meal at a country inn which we shall book once we have a better idea of numbers. Our first venture, the Gentlemen’s Curry Night, attracted eleven men and we raised almost £50 for our mission partner, Susan Clark. If we have not managed to invite you along personally, we would like to do so now. You will be made most welcome. Please phone Ian Murray (579 6470) or John Brown (334 6942) if you would like to come along. If you need transport, that can be arranged.

Ian and John

Blythswood Shoe Boxes Thanks to those who have knitted hats, scarves and cardigans for the shoe boxes, which go to Eastern Europe and Asia at Christmas. We now have hats, scarves and gloves for 45 elderly men, 10 elderly women, 20 children under 2 and 25 children aged 2 to 13. We would appreciate the following to put in the shoe boxes:

Toothpaste and toothbrushes

Soap and faceclothes

Combs

Socks

Note pads and pens Children also need pants and small toys, such as cars and rubber balls, pencils (only sharpened ones, please), felt-tips, rubbers, pencil sharpeners and exercise books. Please don’t hand these in yet, as we don’t have storage space. It is likely that in Sep-tember we will start collecting things for the adult boxes and in October for the children boxes. Please also save shoe boxes as we will need about 100. Money is also very welcome as Blythswood suggests a donation of £2.50 a box to help with transport costs. Every little helps.

Thank you Marion, Maureen and Alison.

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FINDING OUT

I wonder how many of you, with or

without your magnifying glass or spec-

tacles, recognise the picture on this

page. It is, with apologies to those who

do recognise it, the welcome page of

our web site and I want to give you a

brief look at it’s possibilities.

Churches are in communities and

churches are communities in them-

selves—we often refer to the church

and the being together of the church as

fellowship, implying a closeness that

has strong qualities of love, under-

standing and trust. In the past we relied

almost entirely on word of mouth and

regular attendance to find out what was

going on, who needed care or a visit or

prayer. Even so, the written word was

important too. Rev J Carswell, first Min-

ister of Temple - he of the clock in our

sanctuary - even kept a printing press

in his study more than 100 years ago.

The value of face to face meeting and

words on a piece of paper still remains

and the Crosstalk in your hand is a wit-

ness to the latter. What has changed

since Mr Carswell’s time is the advent

of the Internet which not only makes

vast amounts of information instantly

available but is also another way of

building and connecting with communi-

ties - and these are the reasons we

have our web site and Facebook page.

To see both of these you just need an

internet-connected computer. No need

to join anything.

I am constantly amazed how many

people want to find out about us, both

locally and even from other countries,

through our web site. What do they

look for? Here are some of the possi-

bilities:

Couldn’t make it to church be-

cause of illness? Listen to the

sermon on the web site. Click on

Sundays.

Need to find out week to week

what is happening? Click on

News & Events where you will

find the latest events coming up

and our calendar.

Want to write say something to

the minister or one of the office

bearers? Click on ‘How to Con-

nect’ to contact them directly or

find our phone number.

Need the latest intimation sheet

or Crosstalk? Click on Publica-

tions.

If you can, take time to explore what

we offer - it’s another aspect of fellow-

ship. Tom Griffiths

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Thoughts and Prayers

With our Big Event coming up in Sep-tember with its focus on the giving of time and talents as well as the financial aspects, this meditative prayer from Eddie Askew may speak to you and with you. With many thanks to Dr Eve-lyn Jiménez, mother of Miyaray and Elliot, for sending this in.

(Matthew 25:14-30)

Lord, I understand,

that what you´ve given

is meant to be developed.

I understand.

Which isn´t the same

as saying I like it.

I´d prefer life ready-made.

Bought off the peg.

A reasonable fit, but cheap.

Nothing too demanding.

A holiday cruise,

full of colour and romance,

but air-conditioned from the heat

of commitment.

What you ask sometimes seems

more like a seat in a galley.

Rowing hard against the tide,

and sometimes into danger.

A little exercise,

a little love,

a little bit of giving,

is one thing - or three, to be exact -

but your demands are so much more.

You ask my life and time,

my mind and heart.

You´re never satisfied with less.

It seems a bit unreasonable, Lord.

Too much for you to ask,

or me to give.

But then, Lord, I acknowledge

that your demands are made in love.

That in its fertile ground my roots can spread

and grow up to maturity.

That what you offer me

isn´t the grind of soulless self-denial,

but the affirmation of my being.

That in the contradictory freedom

that your service brings,

I can be so much more

than I ever was before.

I find I´m rich with talents

I never knew I had,

whether through laziness or lack of consciousness

I´m never sure.

And I can live beyond myself.

Lord, help me step out

in fearful faith today.

Ready to use my energies for you.

In hope.

In confidence.

With joy.

An excerpt from: Facing the storm. Meditations and Prayers by Eddie Askew OBE. Published by Leprosy Mission International (Dec 1989). ©

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Holiday Club!! Where:

Temple-Anniesland Church

When:

August 6th - 10th

10:00 am to 11:55 am

Cost: £2.50 for the week

Ages: P1-P7 (5-11)

Details: http://tinyurl.com/OnYrMarks

This is Susan Clark, our Mission Partner.

Susan is now in Pakistan where she is

undergoing orientation - learning the cul-

ture - before she goes to Lahore to work

with women. Getting to Pakistan has been

a long and difficult road for Susan- she

was ill last year and took a long time to

recover. However she finally got her visa

to go to Pakistan in May but it is only a 3

month visa.

She would greatly value your support in

prayer and in particular, would you pray

that her visa is extended so that she can

start her work in the confidence that it will continue?

As you know our own Minister was in Pakistan as part of her work for the Church

of Scotland World Mission Council. If you have access to the internet you can

read Fiona’s account of her time in Pakistan to get a feel for the challenge that

Susan will face and so understand the importance of your prayers for her. Just

go to http://ministerabroad.blogspot.com if you have internet access.

A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved

you, so you must love one another. All people will know that you

are my disciples if you love one another. ( John 13:34-35)

Crosstalk June 2012

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Transcript of Crosstalk June 2012