church of scotland. 2016 townhead parish church parish...
TRANSCRIPT
Church of Scot land. Townhead Parish Church
Greetings to you all.
There are times in life when
you are reminded of certain
things. Often, these times
come with seasons – Re-
membrance Day/Sunday
brings memories of war,
friends and family members
lost in the battles of yester-
day. Christmas and Easter
bring to mind the arrival and
triumphant victory of Christ
our Lord. Anniversaries of
marriages, births and deaths
bring reminders of people
and places, those precious
moments which we share
together.
But there are also times in
life when we are reminded of
truths which we keep re-
membering all the time.
I am in the midst of one of
these times, where I am
reminding myself what a
great opportunity to go on
the Battlefield tour to Bel-
gium with the Army Cadets.
We travelled by a luxury
coach on Saturday, 15th Oc-
tober and took the ferry from
Hull and arrived in Zeebrug-
ge on Saturday, 16th October
in the morning. We disem-
barked and arrived in Ypres
at 9:15am. During our bat-
tlefield tour, we visited war
cemeteries, memorials, bun-
kers, Passchendale Museum
Ypres and Flanders Fields
Museum. We also took part
in the Last Post Ceremony
and had a full day guided
tour of the Somme. As a
Padre/Army Chaplain I had
the opportunity to lead the
one minute of silence at the
Menin Gate and said a pray-
er and more importantly, I
was photographed at Charles
Mackay’s headstone and left
a poppy cross in memory of
him. Charles Mackay was in
the Highland Light Infantry
Regiment, 9th Glasgow High-
landers Battalion. He was
awarded the Allied Victor
Medal. The memory of the
battlefield tour to Belgium
will remain with me. The
memory of being a Minister
amongst you all will remain
with me too. GOD calls us
to dream about tomorrow
and to show caring love.
This is an exciting time for
our Church Family. Let’s
seize every opportunity that
GOD offers us.
With my love,
Ecilo
2016
M I N I ST ER ’S ME SSAG E
Autumn / Winter
Church of Scotland. Townhead Par ish Church Magazine
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Minister’s Message 1
MED 2
Boy’s Brigade 2
Facebook 2
Church Roll 5
Finance 6
Church Diary 8
P A R I S H N E W S !
G E T I N V O L V E D
Do you have time and talents
to help with the many tasks
within the Church such as:
The Congregational Board
Painting
Cleaning
Children’s Address
Gardening
General maintenance
Fundraising
New Connections
Please speak to one of the
Elders for more information
about the many opportuni-
ties to volunteer your skills
and talents, all offers of as-
sistance will be greatly ap-
preciated.
As many of you know I am
serving on our presbytery's
MED committee which is the
Church of Scotland three
letter acronyms for mission,
education and discipleship
committee.
I have been on the commit-
tee for two years now and it
has taught me so much
about the church. The most
prominent thing I have
learned is just how much
work goes on behind the
scenes that we don't see
with our visit to church on
Sunday.
My committee has dealt with
a huge chunk of issue rang-
ing from training events to
employing staff members.
There are so many things
going on it's hard to keep
track sometimes.
Things that I have been
working on recently are the
presbytery Facebook page,
facilitating the 17-25 year
olds in the presbytery and an
event for congregations with
little to no children.
The Facebook page is up and
running now and you can
keep up to date with all the
latest happening at presby-
tery and other churches in
the area as well as some
useful resources and advent
content that we have been
working on.
I have set up the Church of
Scotland youth group for
the 17-25 year olds called
COSY Hamilton and we will
be meeting up and having
events run by ourselves as
a way of keeping in touch
with likeminded Christians
close by to us as well as
bringing more people clos-
er to God. So far the group
has 53 members and our
first event will have been
held on 23rd of November.
There is also a Facebook
page for that too that you
can see what we get up to.
If you know anyone who
might be interested,
please speak to me at
some point.
live videos from every church
service zooming in on our
wonderful choir’s solo piec-
es. So, if you’ve missed a
service and want to see the
order of service (it’s there
too) or need to know what’s
coming up or just want to
hear your favourite hymn
over and over again,
SEARCH COATBRIDGE
TOWNHEAD PARISH CHURCH
and don’t forget to LIKE OUR
PAGE so you get updates
forever more!
Peter McClurg and Aaron
Johnstone are responsible
for the new FACEBOOK pag-
es for the church.
To access these pages,
Search Coatbridge Town-
head Parish Church in Face-
book.
So far we’ve had hundreds of
likes AND OVER 2,000 VISI-
TORS to the Facebook pag-
es in just over 3 months.
The Facebook pages include
Page 2
1 0 T H C OA T B R I D G E B O Y ’ S B R I G A D E D O N A L D I N N E S , C A P T A I N
Mission, Education and Discipleship Committee Aaron Johnstone
T OW N H E A D PA R I S H C H U R C H O N FA C E B O O K ( P E T E R M C C L U R G & A A R O N J O H N S T O N E )
Following this 3 boys
took part in the battalion
Top Team Quiz and did very
well finishing in second place
the best we have achieved
for some time.
The Company Section took
part in two competitions the
Top Team Quiz and PT and
performed very well without
winning. Our badminton
team played our first ever
match in the competition
and won.
Officers and Boys wish every-
one a Happy Christmas and
a Good New Year.
The Boys Brigade resumed in
September with 12 boys
enrolling in Junior Section
and 16 boys enrolling in
Company Section. The Jun-
ior Section took part in a
Giant Sleepover in the Glas-
gow Science Centre on Fri-
day 10th November
alongside 400 boys from all
over Scotland although not
much sleep happened.
The Anchor Boys
and Junior Section
will finish for the
holidays on
Thursday 15th of
December and the
Company Section
finishing on Friday
16th December.
Hamilton Presbytery
2016
Townhead Parish Church on Facebook
Presbytery Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/hamiltonpresbytery
COSY Hamilton Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/cosyhamilton
Parish News !
The Club continued through-
out the year meeting on
Mondays with between 25
and 30 members attending
regularily
Two outings took place since
June, the first was a trip to
Loch Katrine with a sail on
the Loch followed by dinner
in Callander.
This was followed in Septem-
ber with a shopping trip to
Gretna and Christmas Lunch
has been arranged in De-
cember at the Georgian
Hotel. The club will continue
to run over the holidays and
we wish everyone a
Happy Christmas and a Good
New Year.
Come along every Monday
from 1pm to 3pm and
enjoy:
Crafts
Card Making
Armchair Aerobics
Games
Knitting
Meeting new friends
Outings
I hope you enjoy the Autumn/Winter edi-
tion of our magazine.
I am always interested to hear what has
been going on in and around our church
family and would welcome your ideas for
future magazine features so please get in
touch with your comments.
Page 3
5 T H C O A T B R I D G E G I R L S ’ B R I G A D E ( R H O N A M E L R O S E , C A P T A I N )
FR I E N D S O F TOW NH EA D ( JE A N IN NE S )
M A G A Z I N E ( A I L E E N M C L E N A G H A N )
gaders challenge. We had
our annual fancy dress party
in October when the Junior
section organised two pyja-
ma parties, well done to the
girls and officers for a great
night. Our swimming compe-
tition has been postponed
due to renovation work being
carried out at the John Smith
pool. We are now looking
forward to our Christmas
party and a well earned rest
before returning in January
to continue badgework and
prepare for more competi-
tions.
On behalf of officers and
girls I would like to take this
opportunity to wish you all a
very Merry Christmas and a
happy New Year
The Girls Brigade are back
for the new session with a
few new faces including two
new officers. Badge work is
well under way and the girls
have already taken part in a
few competitions, Explorers
had to design fairy wings,
Juniors designed canvas
bags and Brigaders have
been busy organising after-
noon tea for three and Bri-
Friends of Townhead Christmas Party
The Baby and Toddler Group
is running wonderfully. We
have around 20 children
each week from the local
area. The feedback we have
had from the parents/carers
has been great all commend-
ing the running of the
group. Parents often tell us
how much they enjoy being
able to socialise with each
other and how much the
children enjoy coming along
and look forward to doing
so. There is such a lovely
atmosphere among every-
one, it’s heartwarming. Each
week we have free play time,
craft table, snack and sign-
ing time. We would love to
welcome more children, if
anyone has young children in
the family please tell them
about our Group, we would
love to see more join
us. Group takes place every
Wednesday morning form
9.30-11.30.
For more information speak
to Moira Cooper or Christine
Chalmers
Craft Club
The Craft Club is still proving to be popular
with ladies in the local community. Sewing,
knitting and crocheting takes place most
weeks with the ladies happy to help begin-
ners. A favourite is patchwork quilts of
which there have been many produced. We
have been looking now to some Christmas
crafts as the Festive Season comes upon
us. For something a little different we en-
joyed a shopping day at Livingstone a few
weeks back which was nice for the ladies to
get out and about
together - a good day was had by all. We
are always looking for new ideas, if you have
a craft you could share with us please come
along some Monday morning and demon-
strate. The Club runs every Monday morning
from 9.30 - 12.00. New members most wel-
come, come along join the crafting or just for
a natter and a cuppa.
For more information speak to Moira Cooper
or Christine Chalmers
Page 4
P R AY E R
BA BY & TOD D L ER GRO UP (Moira Cooper)
C R A F T G R O U P
Let’s keep praying for:
Pupils and Staff in our local Schools.
Staff and Residents in our local Care Homes.
The bereaved in our Church Family and Parish.
Those who are ill and those who are housebound within in our Church Family.
“O God, please be with those whose lives are difficult and filled with pain and sadness. Please
minister in personal and mighty ways to every believer with a crushed spirit. Dear Father, please
rekindle the hope of every discouraged Christian. Empower them as they hold on to their faith.
Pour out your Spirit with power, strengthening each weary and burdened heart. Help each one of
your children hold onto his or her faith, finding a renewed sense of hope in your presence. In
Jesus' name I pray. Amen.”
2016
Parent & Toddler
Group
9:30 to 11:30
Wednesdays in Church
Hall
Craft Group
9:30 to 12:00
Mondays in Church
Hall
Parish News ! Page 5
M A R R I A G E S
CHURCH FAMILY & PARISH (RE V . EC I LO SEL EM A N I )
W E G I V E T H A N K S F O R T H E L I V E S
Kimberly & Derek, married on 26th September, 2015
Carly & Matthew, married on 29th October, 2016.
Mason Mooney McCrone baptised on 21St February, 2016.
George Mooney McCrone baptised on 21st February, 2016.
Callum Mooney Gaffney baptised on 24th April, 2016.
Calvin McBride baptised on 29th May, 2016.
Lily Rose Greenock baptised on 28th August, 2016.
Robert Lammie, died on 3rd May, 2016 (Church Service: 01. 05. 2016)
Alexander McInnes, died on 3rd August, 2016 (Interment: 22. 10. 2016)
James Miller, died on 13th October, 2016 (Cremation Service: 21. 10. 2016)
B A P T I S M
Fund Raising
This year, there have been
various fund raising activities
held by the Church ie Spring
and Summer Fayres, Jim’s
Munro Walk, Bingo Night,
1953 Club, Cash for Clothes
etc. So far this has raised an
additional £3,700 for Church
funds. Please support any
events throughout the re-
mainder of 2016 and 2017
as best as you can.
A huge thanks to Jim for his
recent Munro Walk which
has raised £600 for Church
funds, and also to June
Mooney who raised £660 for
the Church with her Prize
Bingo Night.
Weekly Envelopes
The new envelopes for 2017
will shortly be distributed by
your Elder. If you do not
receive these by end of De-
cember and would like a set,
please see myself.
Annual Accounts
The Church’s Annual Ac-
counts for 2015 were ap-
proved by Presbytery, and
were thereafter submitted to
the Office of the Scottish
Charity Regulator (OSCR) for
filing as required of all chari-
ties. If anyone has any ques-
tions about the annual ac-
counts or any other financial
issue, please speak to me at
any time.
Standing Orders
An option available to con-
gregation members is to set
up a Standing Order with
your bank to donate your
offerings direct from your
bank account. This benefits
the Church and yourself by
ensuring regular giving even
ble comparison.
Do you pay UK income tax?
If so, then the Church could
claim Gift Aid on any dona-
tions/offerings that you
make to the Church. For
every £1 that you donate,
then the Church can claim
an additional 25p in Gift Aid
thereby boosting your dona-
tion by 25%. It’s very simple
and easy to set up so if you
have not already signed up
for Gift Aid, please see me
If you are current a Gift Aid
payee, please check that you
are continuing to pay tax to
HMRC equal to or more than
the amount that the Church
is claiming on your dona-
tions, following the rise in the
personal allowance. If this is
not the case, the individual
may be liable for the differ-
ence. If in any doubt, please
speak to myself in confi-
dence and I can update on
the Gift Aid reclaimed on
individual donations to ena-
for a Declaration Form and/or
further information.
Page 6
M I N I S T R I E S & M I S S I O N S C O N T R I B U T I O N S
F I NA N C E (Ryan McNamee)
G I F T A I D ( R YA N M C N A M E E )
for our congregation. For
2017, the church will apply
for similar support as contri-
butions are based on 3 year
averages so the full impact
of recent income is not yet
fully accounted for in the
calculations nationally.
It was confirmed by Church
of Scotland HQ of Hamilton
Presbytery’s award of relief
to our central contributions
for 2016. Our successful
application resulted in our
contributions again being
reduced by £10,000, which
is in effect a 38% reduction.
This is obviously great news
Do you pay UK income
tax? If so, then the Church
could claim Gift Aid on
any donations/offerings that
you make to the Church.
For every £1 that you
donate, then the Church can
claim an additional 25p in
Gift Aid thereby boosting
your donation by 25%.
2016
Parish News !
1953 Club:
Named after the year the
church was built this new
venture will appeal to ladies
who lunch and boys who
munch; save pounds on your
waistline, instead of a cake
why not choose a healthier
and cheaper snack and
pocket the difference to-
wards church funds. Please
pass your donations to Mar-
jorie Gilroy or David Melrose.
Well done to contributors
and organisers.
£1 per Week Fund Raising
Venture:
George Johnstone is availa-
ble each Sunday from 11am
in the crèche for anyone
wishing to join or contribute
to this worthwhile venture.
Many Thanks to all who sup-
port this worthwhile venture .
Clothes for Cash: David Mel-
rose will be supporting this
venture on behalf of the
church and has advised that
clothing donations can be
brought to the church every
week and stored on the
church hall stage. Please
see David Melrose for further
information.
Summer Fete: The summer
fete held on 17th September
2016 raised £1087 for
church funds with the event
being a huge success and a
day enjoyed by all, young and
old.
Prize Bingo: Organised by Jim
McKenzie, June Mooney &
Joan Elwood raised £660
towards Church Funds.
Many thanks to the organis-
ers and to all who supported
this event
Moira Anderson Foundation:
The Kirk Session have agreed
that our Congregation will com-
mit spiritual and financial sup-
port to this local charity. A col-
lection box will be available in
the foyer every Sunday for those
who would like to make a dona-
tion.
Page 7
E A S Y F U N D R A I S I N G
F U N DRA I SIN G
Amazon, John Lewis, eBay
and Tesco will donate a
small percentage of what
you spend to Coatbridge
Townhead Parish Church to
say thank you for shopping
with them. It's a really sim-
ple process, all you have to
do is: Register at easyfund-
raising.org.uk When you’re
asked to choose your cause,
select Coatbridge Townhead
Parish Church. Get shopping
- it couldn’t be easier!
Easy Fundraising: An easy
way to raise funds. Turn your
online shopping into dona-
tions for Coatbridge Town-
head Parish Church! Do you
shop online? Did you know
that every time you buy
something you could be rais-
ing money for Coatbridge
Townhead Parish Church?
That's right, over 2,700 well
known retailers, including
Girls’ Brigade
Christmas Carol
Service & Craft
Sale on Tuesday
8th December at
7pm.
Tickets will be on sale,
£2.50 for adults and
£1 for children, this
includes tea and
mincemeat pies.
St Andrews Day Soup Lunch
This year’s soup lunch will take place on Sunday 29th November 2015, tickets cost £2.00.
U P C O M I N G F U N D R A I S I N G E V E N T S
Rev. Ecilo Selemani
Crinan Crescent,
Coatbridge,
ML5 2LH
Church of Scot land. Townhead Parish Church
Phone: 01236 702914
Fax:
E-mail:
Church of Scotland
A War m Welcome Awaits Al l !
Advent & Christmas Church Services:
Advent 1: 27th November 2016 11:30am
Advent 2: 4th December 2016 11:30am
Advent 3: 11th December 2016 11:30am
Comfort Service: 14th December 2016 at 7: 00pm
Advent 4: 18th December 2016 11:30am
Christmas Eve/Watch Night Service: 24th December 2016 at 11: 00pm
Christmas Day Service: 25th December 2016 at 11: 00am
C H U R C H D I A RY