Mission & Discipleship 65 – February 2012

The February 2012 newsletter from the Church of Scotland’s Mission & Discipleship Council contains details of a number of events, conferences and resources of interest to church folk all over Scotland. There is something here for everyone.
Among the events listed is HEART and SOUL 2012: the follow-up to last year’s Roll Away the Stone celebration on General Assembly Sunday in Princes Street Gardens. This year’s event will embrace the full length and breadth of West Princes Street Gardens, with more attractions, stalls, exhibitors, and activities for children and young people. Sunday 20 May, 1–6pm. For further information and to apply, visit the Heart and Soul website.
Another is a series of conferences called WHY BELIEVE? Two conferences have been organised to help people ‘give a reason’ for the faith. The emphasis will be on workshops to help church members explore contemporary ways of responding both to new questions and classic issues, like science, suffering and pluralism, and also to explore the opportunities of today’s changing social contexts in presenting the claims of Jesus Christ. The first is called “What can I say? – commending faith in a sceptical age” and takes place on 12 May in Edinburgh and the second, “How can I say it? – sharing faith in a post-modern age” is on 27 October in Glasgow. More details in the newsletter.
Life and Work feature writer, Jackie Macadam, has a request…
We’re thinking about a series called ‘The Sign of the Cross’, where we’ll feature special crosses in churches across Scotland. Some churches have crosses made for a special reason or by a special person. Maybe even out of a special material. Or for a particular reason. We’ll be looking for a good photograph of the cross and tell its story. Could I ask people working in churches across the community to keep an eye open for interesting crosses and get me in touch with someone who will tell the story. Please email jmacadam [at] lifeandwork.org and tell her all about the cross that holds a special place in your church or community.
Read the full newsletter at Mission & Discipleship 65 – February 2012

Christian Aid News – Winter 2011/12

The latest edition of Christian Aid News looks forward to Christian Aid Week 2012 (13-19 May) and encourages everyone to get involved in some way. There is a story of how one Kenyan church minister is fighting the stigma that is attached to people with HIV, news of the singer Beverley Knight’s visit to Malawi as a Christian Aid ambassador and an appeal for the UK Government to do more to “tackle the role that British banks and companies play in fuelling and facilitating corruption overseas”.

The newsletter also reports on some of the ways Christian Aid and its partner agencies are dealing with devastating flooding in Central America and East Africa and launches an appeal to churches to raise £500 each to fight malaria in Sierra Leone this year. There is a report from the UN Climate Change Summit held in Durban, South Africa in December, and how Christian Aid is joining the fight for land rights in India. And these are only some of the articles, so please click on the link above to read the complete thing!

Church and Society News – February 2012

The latest edition of the monthly newsletter produced by the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland reports on the launch of a fair trade agricultural project in the Jezreel Valley in Galilee, Israel. This Arab-Jewish cooperative, an olive-producing project, helps empower women and is a sign of hope for a people and a land. The newsletter also looks forward to Fair Trade Fortnight which runs from 27 February to 11 March and provides web links to various promotional material, resources and ideas.

There is also news of material produced by the Council for Lent discussion groups, details of a survey of attitudes among Jewish people living in Scotland, and a joint event called Equipped to Transform 2012 run by Scripture Union Scotland, Tearfund and the Church of Scotland Priority Areas Group. This event aims to equip and inspire individuals and churches to build inclusive communities that welcome and value disadvantaged children and young people. The full newsletter can be read from Church and Society – February 2012