Parish Appraisal Questionnaire

The Church of Scotland is currently going through a Parish Appraisal process in Cumbernauld. Part of this process is for each Church of Scotland congregation to get to know its parish, and the people in it, even better than it does already. For this reason we have produced a very brief questionnaire – just three questions – from which we would like as much feedback as possible.
The questions are:

• What is the role of the Church in the Parish?
• What do you think is the key issue, for you, living in Cumbernauld?
• What should the Church be doing in the community (which it is not currently doing)?

We are not asking anyone to bang on doors of complete strangers; just to discuss the questions with friends and neighbours in the parish – in an ‘over the fence’ sort of way, this is not an inquisition! We do not need to know who said what, just their answers. If you want, please use this blog for your comments. They will be passed on to the appropriate people.

Christian Aid: Poverty Over

Christian Aid has a vision: an end to poverty. They say, “Poverty is an outrage against humanity. It robs people of dignity, freedom and hope, of power over their own lives.” They believe their vision of an end to poverty can become a reality, and urge us to join them. Read the report, watch the video, and take action.

Kirk news update – July 2009

With summer now well and truly upon us, things in the kirk are a bit quieter than normal. That, perhaps, is no bad thing given how busy we were during the first six months of the year. However, there is still a lot going on behind the scenes and there are two particular events to which I would like to draw your attention:

The Stated Annual Meeting of the congregation is on Wednesday 15th July at 7.30pm in the Parish Church. As well as the opportunity to look back at the congregation’s life over the past year, we hope to have a presentation showing the progress of our “Year in the Life” photo journal of our 350th Anniversary Year.

And the Prayer & Launch Event for Connect 2009 will be on Friday 7th August at 7.00pm in Seafar House. This will consist of presentations from the various Steering Groups to pass on information about the events planned for this year and how we can all be involved. There will also be time for prayer for the Connect events taking place in September. We will feature Connect more fully in a future ‘update’.

A selection of photographs from this year’s Garden Fete and June’s 350th Anniversary celebrations have now been posted onto the kirk’s website. To see pictures from the Birthday Party that followed the worship service on 7th June click on the “next page” link at the foot of the Anniversary Service page.

The July edition of the Church of Scotland’s Good News magazine includes a special report from Edinburgh Presbytery that argues the Church of Scotland can seize on the challenges of a secular society, and also the convener of the Panel on Review and Reform, Reverend David S. Cameron, explains how congregations can help cultivate change in the Kirk. You can download Good News from here.

The Ekklesia news service reports that The Church of Scotland has welcomed the Scottish Government’s new climate change targets but warned they were doomed to fail unless the people of Scotland were involved at a grassroots level. Speaking a day after the Scottish Parliament approved the trail-blazing Scottish Climate Change Bill, The Rev Ian Galloway, Convener of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council, said: “We warmly welcome the amendment to the Bill requiring the Scottish Government to publish a strategy for public engagement. Without an effective strategy the new law stands little chance of success. Congregations across Scotland, particularly Eco-Congregations, will have [a] vital role to play in coming months to help the Government get this right.” Read the full article here.

Ecumenical News International (ENI) reports that the Methodist Church, the third largest in Britain, has become the first church in the country to ban its members from belonging to the British National Party, which Methodism deems to be a group advocating racism. The church said on 9 July that its annual conference in Wolverhampton had passed a resolution that none of the church’s 265,000 members could be a member of a political party whose constitution, aims or objectives promote racism. This specifically includes, but is not solely limited to, the BNP. More on this here.

ENI also reports that Protestant Christians are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Jean Calvin, the French-born church reformer who inspired a movement that now has tens of millions of adherents worldwide. Calvin was born on 10 July 1509 at Noyon in northern France, and is known throughout the world for his role in the Reformation while he lived in Geneva, a once independent city state that is now part of Switzerland. Religious and political leaders gathered on 10 July at Geneva’s Cathedral of St Pierre, the church where Calvin preached during the Reformation, where they heard a call for the theologian to be commemorated as a source for a contemporary response to social issues. Read the full article here.

Out of the mouths…

Among the drawings and contributions made by our children at the 350th Anniversary Service on Sunday 7th June was the following. It proves, apart from anything else, that the most profound expressions of faith can come from the youngest members of the church.

Some of us might be lucky.
Some of us not.
Some of us might be a star.
Some of us not.
But it does not matter if you are lucky or a star,
Because God loves us all the same
And he always will.

Kirk news update – June 2009

WOW – what a weekend that was. I am referring, of course, to the weekend of 6/7 June which saw our annual summer fete followed by a worship service commemorating 350 years of continuous worship in our present church building followed, in turn, by our birthday party on the manse lawn. Phew, one can get tired out just by thinking about it. But it was a marvellous weekend and the culmination of many hours of hard work and effort by lots of different people. And, to them all, we say “thanks”.

First up was the Summer Fete on Saturday 6th June. As the hailstones battered the manse garden on Saturday morning, serious doubts about the success of this year’s event must have been going through many people’s minds. But the skies began to clear as opening time approached and, as the afternoon wore on, the showers gave way to bright sunshine. By 4pm over three hundred people had thronged the gardens and tearoom and over £2205 was raised for church funds. Radio Heartbeat provided the musical entertainment, the official opening was performed Rev. Alan Sorensen from Greenock Wellpark Church (better known for his radio programme on Clyde 2) and our usual stalls did a roaring trade. The cheerleaders J C Pom Poms amazed us by their athleticism and the children’s fancy dress competition was yet another highlight of what turned out to be a brilliant day. We have got a lot of pictures from the event and they will be added to our website over the summer.

On Sunday 7th June we had the second of our worship services celebrating 350 years of continuous worship in the present church building. The service was led by our worship team and the Very Rev. David Lunan, until very recently the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The theme focused on how we are all parts of Christ’s body – the church – and how we each have a part to play. The children and young people provided drawings of what it means to them to be part of this body (see the poem at the end of this update); there was a musical solo from Claire Dalling on the flute; Graeme Currie (trumpet) and Lucy McDonald took part in one of the meditations; and various members of the congregation came forward with items representing different contributions we all make to the life of the church. During the service, our new specially-commissioned Pulpit Fall was dedicated. Pictures of the new fall have been added to our website along with Maggie Dobie’s description of what the various elements represent, while the remaining pictures from the anniversary service and the birthday party will be added to the kirk website over the summer.

Leading up to the anniversary weekend, we had asked members to send the church a Birthday Card and invited them to make a donation of one penny for each year of the church’s history (£3.50) or whatever they felt they could give. The birthday cards were displayed in the church on the day of the service and we were delighted that £2034 had been donated. Some of this money will pay for our new pulpit fall and the rest will be used for the mission work of the church. We will be able to give you more information about this in a later bulletin.

While most of the committees and councils are taking a well-earned break after the General Assembly, there is some news to report. The June edition of Good News contains a summary of, and pictures from, the main proceedings at the General Assembly and contains news of an East Lothian kirk that has become the first Church of Scotland congregation to open a debt counselling centre for parishioners struggling with their finances. There is also news of a fund-raising scheme in Caithness Presbytery for a hospital in Malawi that prevents and reduces the major causes of blindness.

The kirk’s Church & Society Council has produced its June news update. This contains a simple checklist to enable churches to measure their carbon footprint and more about the Eco-Congregation Scheme. There is also news from the Poverty Truth Commission that was launched in Glasgow in March.

Finally, the latest newsletter from the World Mission Council – WM29 – features news on what it is like to be a Christian in a country where Christians are not only the minority but face hardship for their faith. With features on India, Pakistan and China among others, WM29 provides much of interest as well as topics for prayer.