connect june 12

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Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland, 48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH, [email protected]. Charity Registration No:SC004960

June 2012

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The Forfar Files ...

Lacking the exuberance of Christmasor the solemnity and joy of Easter,Pentecost tends to pass us bywithout fuss. Yet Pentecost marks anextraordinary day in the history ofthe world, a day when a bit more ofGods audacious plan to build hiskingdom through frail human beingswas revealed.

To have been in Jerusalem,witnessing the events of the day,must have been life-changing. Manypeople would have been in the cityto attend the annual festival markingthe giving of the Mosaic Law. Whatmust it have been like to see thepower of Gods Spirit come on thedisciples with tongues of fire, to feelthe wind of God shaking the room,to hear the gospel preached in a

multitude of languages, to witness3000 people turning to Jesus andbeing baptised?

Following Jesus means living inthe light of this extraordinary day,because the Holy Spirit enablesevery believer to live with power andin holiness. God has entrusted uswith the message of salvation, andHe has given us the power to deliverit. But often we are so battle-wearyand beaten down by our culture thatthe last thing we feel is powerful. Weare so adrift in a sea of atheistic andapathetic ideas and values that it can

be hard to know how to live asPentecost people.

It probably helps to start with theunderstanding that not all culture isbad. Taking what God has given us innature and making something goodout of it is a God-ordained thing.

Thats why people enjoy beingcreative - theres a satisfaction andrightness when we knit, or bake, orpaint, etc. Thats also why werecognise and affirm the good inactions and attitudes that bless andencourage even when they dontcome from Christians. We were madeto create and cultivate.

But not all culture is good, and welive with the reality of brokenness,sin and separation. Its evident whenpeople desperately try to leave theirmark, make it alone, or find true lovein defiance of God. The world isbursting with people in need of thelove of a Saviour who choose toreject Him, or spend their livescasting around in total ignorance ofHim. The resulting culture is a

terrible reflection of the emptiness oflife without God.Knowing that culture is both

magnificent (think of your favouritesong, a beautiful painting, an act ofunprovoked kindness) and terrible(think of the blame culture, theculture of underage drinking, theatrocities of war) can leave Christiansconfused as to what to do.We can tryto shut it out - create our ownChristian sub-culture and ignore theworld - but in reading the gospels itquickly becomes clear that this nothow God wants us to live.

Take the example of thePharisees. In the light of the NewTestament they get a bad press butbasically they were sincerely tryingto live the way they thought Godwanted them to. They opted out ofany culture other than their own, and

used rules to define what was goodand what was not. In their attemptsto be holy, they forgot to love andhad no room for those who fell shortof their standards. By condemningthe surrounding culture, they endedup stifling creativity and entirelymissing the point.

Its easy for us to see where theywent wrong, but we have to stop andask how we might have felt about the

hordes of prostitutes, tax collectorsand known reprobates that Jesushung about with. Would we havecaught ourselves wondering how thisbehaviour was affecting his holiness?Jesus example shows condemnationis not an option.

So, maybe the answer is toimmerse ourselves in whatever theworld comes up with next - to ridethe cultural wave and hope that westay afloat. Surely this makes usmore relevant to the people aroundus? When I was younger, I used totake great pride in knowing that mynon-Christian friends could see that Iwas no different to them. The olderIve become, the more I cringe at thatattitude, and the more thankful I amfor Gods gentle perseverance withme in my folly.

Were in the world, we cant escapeit, but we must never be so oftheworld that we lose distinctiveness.People should know that we aredifferent, not because we condemnthose around us, but because ourlives are radically different by theirgrace, love and purity.

Culture is shaped and influencedfor good or for bad. God has given usresponsibility for cultivating our littlepatch of ground, our community. Butshaping the culture doesnt have tomean becoming Prime Minister, or

directing a movie. It can simply meantreating our colleagues with kindness,inviting people into our familyroutines, doing our jobs withintegrity or finding a way of livingthat blesses others. And it certainlymeans praying for the good of theplace in which we find ourselves,helping create opportunities for theHoly Spirit to work.

When the Holy Spirit is presentpeople are intrigued and captivatedby Jesus and, as we learn to speakthe tongues of our culture and usethem to proclaim Jesus, we will

witness God at workin our communities.Unexpected.Creative. Powerful.Life-changing.Fiona Stewart

Morningside Baptist

Living in the Light of Pentecost

Works Underway

on the Church

Premises! Pray that all

goes smoothly.

Stephen andJulie havent

yet been able

to sell their

house in

Buckie.

Please pray particularly

about this.

The first meeting of the steeringgroup of Forfar Community

Church took place at the end of

April, there were encouraging

reports from the small

leadership team of Rev Oliver

Velacott, Rev Stephen Oyarzabel

and Mr Jim Lees at the way God

has led to this point and a

sense of excitement and

anticipation for the future.


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Even the Children are quite new at St Marys!

St Marys Community Church:

The newly extended and

refurbished church building wasopen for the community to lookround on the Saturday and onthe Sunday Alan Donaldson ledus in dedicating both thebuilding and the congregation tothe Lords service in thecommunity. We were joined byrepresentatives from localchurches and community groups

including the residentsassociation and primary school,all expressing the support whichwe appreciate so much.God has made the way for us tohave a beautiful multi-purposebuilding as a base for ourservice to the community of StMarys, and Alan challenged usto go forward with the rightattitude: Will you keep it or willyou give it away? The heart ofGod is to give, and he is callingus to give what we have,remembering it is here to beused for the community and notfor ourselves. Most important,we have to give ourselves for thiscommunity which God loves.

The work has only begun andsometimes we feel like twelvedisciples faced with 5,000people and hearing Jesus sayYou give them something toeat. We know we cant do it but if were willing we will seewhat He can do. Praise God withus for what He has done, andpray with us as we develop theministry and seek Godsguidance for the way ahead.Toddler group has started backin the new church hall; caf isto come and who knows whatother activities will develop,whether we do them ourselvesor in partnership with others.

Richard Toller, Pastor

There have been many

wilderness years for Erskine

through the 80s and 90s but a

few years back a renewed vision

and sense of purpose led thechurch to call another minister.

But what do you do when you

are small and lacking funds call

a pastor to work bivocationally

and ask the Union for a grant!

Our anniversary weekend

connection with the church

through activities such as FM2

(Friday Mornings For Men)

with its thriving guitar band and

cooked breakfasts. For others it

has been the Craft Group on

Wednesdays where one lady

said Ive never been in this

church before and now Im

going home to embroider

crosses! Our new singing group

(not a choir) has been a turning

point for one member in

recovering from losing a spouse

and then a serious motoring

accident.

In all these the evidence is of the

way people come to Sunday

church having established a

sense of belonging through

these community activities. It

may be that the path to

discipleship will be a long one

but many are taking their first

steps.

As this is written we are

preparing to launch a toddlers

group in the Autumn again

reaching the needs of the local

community and bringing Gods

grace in to it. We sow; we water;

but God gives the increase.Peter Dick, Pastor

brought many folks to a social

evening on the Saturday and to

the special Sunday service,

many of whom had been

connected with EBC in the pastand Alan Stoddarts ministry. It

was good to have the first

student pastor, Jim McGillivray,

there on Saturday. What was

really significant were those who

attended and have made

In the beginning was a newcommunity and a group ofBaptists who wanted to plant a

church in this new community.

So the Baptist church became the

first church in Erskine and on 20

May 1972, Rev Alan Stoddart,

previously at Glenburn Baptist,

was inducted as Initial Pastor.

t was therefore with delight that

we have been able to celebrate

our churchs 40th anniversary by

having Alan come and preach

again in the church on 20 May

2012....40 years later to the day.

As he preached on Acts 1 Alan

spoke of the 40 days when the

Lord appeared to his disciples

hen ascended having

commissioned them to go andmake disciples; for them the

work was just beginning. For us

his anniversary brought many

memories for some but we were

eminded and challenged that

he work is still unfinished.

Rev Alan Stoddart

- back in Erskines pulpit

for this special Anniversary

St Marys Community Church a new beginningAfter several years planning and

ongoing fundraising; after ahuge amount of hard work bymembers and friends; nearly ayear after we moved out to atemporary home in thecommunity centre and thebuilders moved in, St MarysCommunity Church in Dundeehad a weekend of celebrationon 21st-22nd April 2012.


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An appreciative client!

PLEASE NOTE: The events advertised in our publications or on our website cover the wider Christian scene in Scotland and do notnecessarily reflect the involvement or endorsement of Baptist Union staff or any specific knowledge about content.

Notice

Board

Mission Praise WantedDoes your Church have copies of

Complete Mission Praise (up to

No 1021 hymns) which you do

not now use? If so, Largo Baptist

would be happy to have them!

Please contact Ina Caldwell on

[email protected] if you

can help. It would be much

appreciated and arrangements

could be made for their collection.

National

Parenting InitiativeSome of our churches are signingup for an initiative called NPI

(national parenting initiative), a

website for parents enabling them

to find parenting courses near

them. Over 500 churches across

the denominations have signed up

so far, using a variety of course

materials. All of these courses are

church based. Interested? Sign up

at www.thnpi.org.uk.

Eleven Lanarkshire faith

communities have become the first

in the country to unite to publicly

pledge their commitment to work

with See Me, Scotlands national

campaign to tackle the stigma and

discrimination of mental ill-health.

The See Me campaign aims to

form partnerships with companies

and organisations across Scotland to

take positive mental health messages

into local communities. See Me is

committed to empowering people to

speak openly and confidently about

mental ill-health and break down the

associated barriers.

The 11 Signatories of the Pledge

Representatives from the faith

communities publicly signed the

pledge and agreed action plans to join

with See Me in these objectives by

taking action as community

stakeholders.

Participants were Baptist

Churches of North and South

Lanarkshire; Hamilton and Lanark

Presbyteries of the Church of

Scotland; Lanarkshire Hindu Welfare

Association; Islamic Education

Trust, Cumbernauld; Central

Mosque Lanarkshire, Mossend;

Lanarkshire Circuit of the Methodist

Church in Scotland; Roman Catholic

Diocese of Motherwell; Lanarkshire

Regional Council of the Scottish

Episcopal Church; the United

Reformed Church in Lanarkshire;

North Lanarkshire Muslim Womens

Association.

Suzie Vestri, See Me Campaign

Director, said: We welcome the

commitment of Lanarkshire faith

organisations and look forward to

working with them to break down

the barrier that stands in the way of

people talking about mental ill-

health. Mental health problems canand do affect people from all walks

of life. Its the reaction and support

of family, friends and colleagues that

can make a huge difference to

recovery. ...

Rev Stephen Younger, of the

Baptist Churches of North and

South Lanarkshire, said: Baptist

Churches are deeply committed to

Jesus as Saviour and Lord, revealed

in Scripture, and seek to emulate His

healing ministry to the whole person

body, soul, spirit and mind. Faith

sees Gods peace brought to the

Whole Person and sees that every

person is loved and valued by God.

For more information on signing

the See Me pledge visit:

www.seemescotland.org

Rev Stephen Younger

Rev Stephen Younger, minister of High Blantyre Baptist

Church, with Suzi Vestri of See Me.

Faith Communities Unite in Pledge to Tackle Stigma The Payne MemorialEssay CompetitionThe Payne Memorial Essay

commemorates the life and

work of Revd Dr E.A. Payne

(1902-80), General Secretary of

the Baptist

Union of Great Britain and

Ireland, a President of the

World Council of Churches and

President of the Baptist

Historical Society.

This year the subject matter

for the competition was: LocalChurch, Associations of

Churches, National Unions,

Continental and Global

Organisations.

The winning essay for 2012

was submitted by Rev Ian

Birch, lecturer in Biblical

Studies and Baptist History and

Theology at the Scottish

Baptist College. The title of his

essay was:

The Counsel and Help

of One Another.The Origins and Concerns of

Early Particular Baptist

Churches in Association

Congratulations Ian!

For more details please

contact Alan Donaldson.

[email protected]

leaders for the future. Startingin September and meeting oneSaturday a month until Junethe course will cover areassuch as discipleship,leadership, mission, baptistidentity and biblicalinterpretation.

This fresh initiative willenable participants to developinter church relationships for

future support, new missionalmodels to reach our nation forChrist, a deeply rootedunderstanding of church andpersonal growth as a discipleand servant leader.

For more details pleasecontact Alan [email protected]

Have you ever wanted to grow

as a local church leader? Tohave a chance to think throughyour beliefs and practice? Toreflect on the way you dochurch and imagine how yourlocal Baptist church mightgrow in its ability to reach outin this era of change?

The Baptist Union ofScotland and the ScottishBaptist College have united toproduce a new 10 sessioncourse to develop church


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Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland 48 Speirs Wharf Glasgow G4 9TH admin@scottishbaptist org uk Charity Registration No:SC004960

Sunday 3rd

Rev Carol Campbell: Healthcare

Chaplaincy, Clyde Area. Please pray for

personal spiritual growth and Christlikeness.

Also wisdom and guidance for the daily task

of caring for others. Thank you.

Rev Anne Dougall: Chaplain, West

Glasgow Hospitals. I work full time as a

chaplain in Gartnavel General Hospital,

Western Infirmary, Beatson West of Scotland

Cancer Centre, Blawarthill Hospital,

Drumchapel Hospital, and the Glasgow

Homoeopathic Hospital. I would appreciate

prayers for good health. Please pray that I willknow God's leading and guiding as I go round

he hospitals to visit patients, staff and

visitors. Give thanks to God for the

opportunities that I have to pray and to bring

a word of hope and encouragement.

Please pray for safety when I am travelling

between the hospitals sites, particularly when

am on call for all the Glasgow and Clyde

Hospitals during an evening or a weekend.

Sunday 10th

Helensburgh. We give thanks to the Lord for

his care and provision for us as a Church

during our vacancy. Please pray for wisdom

and discernment for the vacancy

committee,deacons and membership as we

eek a new Minister. At present two young

mothers in our fellowship are seriously ill in

hospital. Please pray for Audrey and Trish

hat they will be restored to full health and

trength and that we will show God's love and

compassion as we try to support these

families.

High Blantyre: Rev Stephen Younger.

While the cessation of our BU grant hasbrought severe challenges, God is good and the

Church continues its mission to the local

community. We are determined that financial

constraints should not limit our witness or our

faith. There are so many encouragements too.

Our schools are our mission field and we

continue to have an open door and great

opportunities. Our Junior SU group continues

o grow from contacts in schools and our

Senior SU group has maintained its presence in

he local secondary school. The Bubblegum

n Fluff Christmas presentation and the

Easter Code materials written for our

Primary schools are now in their fourth yearand have been taken up by over 80 schools

across Scotland. The Rights Respecting

Award material the Church contributed to for

use in Calderside Academy is also set to

become a model for secondary schools. The

Pastor also currently serves in South

Lanarkshire Councils Religious Observance

Group (forming the policy for all schools across

the region) and on the facilitating team for

Glasgow Universitys Religious Observance

training qualification for Teachers and Chaplains.

The Church has also re-established an

Evening Fellowship time led by members of the

congregation. This has been a real joy and

blessing for everyone involved. The relaxed

format allows greater participation and flexibility

and variety and open discussion. Already we are

seeing some on the fringes coming more regularly

and finding this new format more comfortable.

Prayer points:

pray for the Pastors on-going research for

his PhD in Education, focussing on spiritual and

moral development within the Curriculum for

Excellence. The intended outcome is a manual

for Scottish Schools.

rejoice with us in a baptism earlier in May,

our first in many years.

pray for Graham, one of our members, inprocess of applying for accreditation and

currently completing his second year at the

Scottish Baptist College.

Sunday 17th

Hillhead, Glasgow: Rev Catriona Gorton. At

Hillhead there is a real sense of gratitude and

hope as our faithful God leads us forward in our

mission and ministry in the vibrant and diverse

West End of Glasgow. We rejoice in a steady

increase in number of students, home and

overseas, undergraduate and postgraduate, who

are making Hillhead their Glasgow church, andrecently were richly blessed as a group of them

led worship for us. The whole of life is reflected

in our fellowship: we rejoice in new life,

engagements and marriages, stand in solidarity

with those who face illness or uncertainty, and

weep with those grieve and mourn. At the

moment we are really excited at the prospect of

our first Baptism for some years (which will be

a sea Baptism!) as well as a number of folk

seriously considering entering formal

membership with us. June is a very busy time

for us as we participate in the West End

Festival, offering a range of events for all ages

and stages, ranging from story-telling to cupcake

decorating, an indoor beach party to a choral

communion, and lots more besides. Please pray

that we will continue to demonstrate, in all we

say, do and are, the unfathomable love and

endless grace of Big-hearted God in whom we

trust (see also www.bighearted.org.uk ) and live

out more fully our strapline that all are

welcome in this place.

Hillview Community Church, Aberdeen:

Please pray for the church and its pastors Revs

Martin Clarke and Andrew Hayes.

Sunday 24th

Hopeman. Please pray for the church,

currently in vacancy.

Inverkeithing: Rev Ross Brown. Since the

disasterous flood of two years ago and almost

Engagement Diaryfor June

2 The Baptist Sports Day takes place at

Stirling University.

6 John Greenshields visits the churches in

Thurso and Wick over the next two days..

7 Our Unions Trustees meet thismorning, followed by the National Team

meeting

8 The Joint Assembly Planning Group

meets today.Training forStep Outleaders

is scheduled for over this weekend.

10 Mo Gibbs preaches at Inverkeithing

Baptist Church and Judy White preaches

at Westwood Baptist Church, East

Kilbride, today.

12 The Scottish Baptist Ministers

Fellowship conference is on until 14th at

St Andrews, beginning today with the pre-

Accredited ministers conference.

18 The two-day meetings of the Board ofMinistry begin today. Alan Donaldson and

Judy White attend the Mission Forum.

21 Alan Donaldson attends a lunch for

Church Leaders at the Royal Highland

Show.

22-24 Step Outtraining weekend.

seven months out of our building worshipping in

the local high school, the congregation settled well

into the newly refurbished premises.Each week

since then we have had a constant stream of

visitors looking for a spiritual home, a number

have remained with us and are integrating well into

church family life.

Our "Haven" Church cafe on a Thursday

morning has been a beacon light to the community,

which coupled with our very

successful parent and toddlers group gives us a

low key contact with our wider community.

A number from these groups have come along to

our special events.

This past few months we have seen more

young folks come along to worship, for which we

praise God, and we are now taking increasing

numbers to the monthly "Powerpoint" youth

event in Edinburgh.

Over the past 13 years we have been given favour

by the Head staff in the local high school, twonurseries, and two primary schools, to go in and

take assemblies, special "times of crisis" services,

as well as classroom teaching times. These have

raised the profile of the church and given many

opportunities to share the gospel with young

people.

Our Pastor's wife's has been unwell for some

time and recently the illness progressed affecting

her mobility profoundly. Due to

this the church have taken the step of faith to

place the present manse on the market and we are

seeking to raise 50,000 over and above the value

of the present manse, to enable us to purchase a

more suitable property with safe and level access.Please pray for us as we seek to honour the

Lord in every sphere of church life, and for a swift

resolution to the manse crisis.

Prayer Linkfor June

connect june 12

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