Magazine - Monkton and Prestwick North Parish Church

Autumn 2015 Edition
I hesitate to use the "S" word. It seems a bit a Kirk Session has been ordained to their
odd. I mean it hasn't actually happened yet
and this is the September magazine. Well it
hasn't happened here yet - Summer, that
is. I saw this picture on Facebook recently
which sums it up—
ministry, and as a result, accepts the
privileges and responsibilities of office.
Elders are expected to be active in the life
of the congregation and have a key
responsibility in regular attendance at Kirk
Session meetings. (emphasis mine)
It is particularly important that all Elders take
responsibility by setting a positive example in
attending services, visiting, praying,
welcoming people to church and, as much as
possible, getting involved in the life of the
congregation. Other members have a
responsibility to support and encourage the
Elders in their work. One of the things that
If you managed to get away somewhere for makes a congregation attractive is how faith
a bit of sun please don't go on about it, you'll is lived out, and if the message that comes
across is that the leaders are active in service
just annoy everyone else.
and backed by a supportive membership
people are more likely to come and get
Seriously though, in most of our churches
involved themselves. To that end we have a
things stop for the summer because the
committee structure with five
leaders, planners and helpers need a
rest. We need to recharge our batteries for committees covering the life and work of the
church: Pastoral Care, Fabric and Finance,
a new session of activities. We are very
Outreach, Discipleship and Worship. Each
fortunate to have lots of people who
one has a different area of responsibility and
volunteer and I want to take this
we are looking for members to get involved
opportunity to say thank you. We really
in these committees to help share the load
need people to run the CIA, Young Church,
and also bring new ideas.
BB and GB and other organisations, as well
as door and count duty, making tea and
Each committee is responsible for ensuring
coffee and doing all the small jobs that so
there are people in place to do the work—
often go unnoticed.
not necessarily to do it themselves and a
brief summary of their different areas of
AS Interim Moderator at Fisherton and
responsibility follows:
Kirkoswald I am trying to encourage the
Board and Session to think through how they
Pastroal care: Organise and m anage
could engage in mission in their parishes,
congregational visitation; Prepare and
and how they might take things forward in
implement annual Stewardship Campaign;
the absence of a minister.
Arrange quarterly church events; Oversee
I want to quote from the Church of Scotland Lunch Clubs, after church tea/coffee. Chair:
book 'Eldership' (pg 40):
Jim Riach
Congregation leadership is a collegiate
Fabric and Finance: Bank ing; R ecord
responsibility given to the Kirk Session, NOT Safe-keeping; Monitor investments;
SIMPLY TO THE MINISTER. Everyone in
Monkton & Prestwick North Parish Church of Scotland
Scottish Charity Number: SC004271
Budgeting; Purchase supplies; Regulate all
fundraising; Maintain and repair facilities
and equipment. See Robert Gibson
however, the mandatory training would
need to take place over four Saturdays in
November from 10am-3.30pm, which is a
big commitment to ask of people so close to
Outreach: All aspects of m ission;
Christmas. To establish if this is possible it
Communication strategy – advertising,
was agreed that we have the Launch on
website, church magazine; Seasonal and
Thursday 24th September. It would take
event specific advertising; Provide mission the following form:opportunities; Supervise Christian Aid. See 4pm Press Launch with Police, SAC, Church
Margaret MacBain
Leaders and Ascension Trust.
It is hoped that there would be a number
Discipleship: P rom ote regular personal signing up at the meeting
devotions; Promote Bible study; Develop
7pm Public Launch to allow people who
small group ministry in the congregation;
cannot come in the afternoon. It would
Develop ways to involve young people in
follow the same format.
Sunday worship; Support existing leaders,
and train new leaders. Chair: Sam Gilmour To establish if a December go live is
possible, people would be asked on the
Worship: Encourage people to m eet
24th if they could commit to the training
for worship; Recruit and maintain a rota of taking place in November. If enough say
members to assist in reading and praying;
yes we would work for a December go live.
Provide planning and practical help for
If not the training will take place in January
weekly, special and seasonal worship
for an Easter go live. A minimum of 16
services; Operate and manage AV
people are required to sign up for the
equipment; Train new AV operators.
project to go ahead. Age is no barrier to
Chair: Scott Wardrop
volunteering, in fact grannies & granpas are
more effective than those nearer the age of
If you have skills which you would like to
the clients as they are more respected and
offer one of these please let the relevant
listened to, as well as not being a perceived
person know or contact the office if you’re threat! More details to follow.
sure who these named people are.
_________________________________
So, having recharged your batteries, the
challenge is to work together to make this a
We have been asked to advertise and
great year and our prayer is that the
support a meeting about Street Pastors on congregation will grow in faith and in
Thursday 24th September. Street Pastors numbers.
are trained volunteers from local churches
who care about their community. They
patrol in teams of men and women, usually
from 10 p.m. to closing time on a Friday
David
and/or Saturday night, to care for, listen to
and help people who are out on the streets.
A street pastor is someone who is…
a Christian and is part of a local church;
concerned for society and their local
community;
willing to engage with people, whatever
their perspective on life and wherever they
hang out;
happy to work in a team and with other
agencies and projects, both statutory and
voluntary.
The Police and South Ayrshire Council (SAC)
met local church leaders with a view to
forming teams in Ayr and Prestwick. In
fact, they hoped that Street Pastors would
be on the streets by Christmas. It was
agreed that this was a laudable aspiration,
1st PRESTWICK BOYS’ BRIGADE
COMPANY
1st PRESTWICK BOYS’ BRIGADE
Our Annual Display was held on Friday 8 May and was well attended by parents, friends and Church
family. Our Inspecting Officer was Rev. George Fiddes from St. Nicholas Parish Church, Prestwick.
During the first half of the evening, the Inspection took place with Rev. Fiddes taking time to speak to the
boys and officers. The boys then took part in Marching, Games and P.T., all of which they performed with
great enthusiasm. The second half of the evening was dedicated to the presentation of Awards, Badges,
Prizes and Certificates. These awards together with the presentation of the Steven Muir Memorial Award
and the Valerie Greig Trophy were presented by Mrs Fiddes. One of our Company Section boys also
attained their Queen’s Badge this is the highest award in the Boys’ Brigade and our congratulations go to
Jason McClymont.
In his closing remarks Rev. Fiddes praised the boys for their hard work and enthusiasm which he said had
showed in all the events throughout the evening and he hoped it would continue into next session. He also
paid a fitting tribute to the officers. Our thanks to all who helped make our evening such a success.
The Junior Section camp to Moffat took place two weeks later and the boys enjoyed a varied programme of
events including walking in the countryside, sports, football, rounders and trips to the sweet shop, toy shop
and boating lake, all of which proved very popular.
We meet in the Monkton & Prestwick North Church Halls, Monkton Road, Prestwick (opposite Bryson’s
garage) on Friday evenings and our new session commences on Friday 4 September 2015
at the following times:
Anchor Boys – (Primary 1 - 3) - 6.00 p.m. – 7.00 p.m.
Junior Section (Primary 4 - 7) - 6.30 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.
Company Section (Secondary School) - 7.15 p.m. – 9.45 p.m.
Please note that boys aged 5 years and upwards can enr ol and we would invite any boy who thinks he
might be interested to come along and join us for a night of fun, games and fellowship. Please contact Pat
Simpson on 01292 477289 for further details
Sgd.: Sam Gilmour, Captain
Monkton & Prestwick North Parish Church, 10 Monkton Road, Prestwick, Ayrshire, KA9 1AR
Captain: Sam Gilmour, 22 Angus Avenue, Prestwick, Ayrshire, KA9 2HZ Tel: 01292 470614
Chaplain: Rev. David Clarkson, Craigard, 40 Monkton Road, Prestwick, KA9 1AR Tel: 01292 471379
Object: The advancement of Christ’s Kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience,
Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.
Registered Charity No: SC033197
“OPENING UP YOUR HOME”
I had the real privilege to be able to offer accommodation to four of our visitors
from Arizona. This was a big decision for me as my husband has a brain injury and
severe memory problems. How would Ian cope? Would it cause stress? Worry worry worry, anxious thoughts, negative thoughts! Do I never listen to what God is saying to me? God doesn’t want me to live a life full of anxious and negative thoughts
and I had to trust that God knows my situation.
Well what a wonderful time both Ian and I had. Dinella, Jayne, Jesse and Colin
arrived as strangers and left as family. Ian unfortunately can’t remember any of
the visit but in that moment in time he had a love time chatting and getting to know
our four new family members. There were emotion times for Ian when he realised
he hadn’t remembered they were in the house or when we were sharing our faith
Together Ian could not cope with his emotions. However I think the positives to
both our lives were amazing. “Opening up your home” does involve opening up your
life—the not so good and and the good bits. Our visitors arrived as visitors but left
as family—God’s family.
Irene Smith.
LUNCH CLUBS AT PRESTWICK AND MONKTON
Our Autumn Session is about to commence and we are looking forward to seeing our regular
lunch Clubbers and hopefully a few new faces. Dates and menus are as below and I hope you
can come along and join us.
September
Prestwick 2nd
Monkton 17th
Cottage Pie & Strawberry Mousse
October
7th
22nd
Chicken Ham & Leek Pie & Apple Crumble
November
4th
19th
Soup & Sausage Casserole
December
2nd
Jeanette Munro
10th
Christmas Chicken & Trifle
1ST MONKTON AND PRESTWICK GIRLS BRIGADE.
The Junior Outing was a fantastic trip to the Sea Life Centre at Loch Lomond with a
sleepover under the glass tunnel with baby sharks and eels overhead. This was followed
the next week by a Youth Event at Prestwick Beach with camp fire songs and BBQ. Our
Display on the 11th May was extremely well attended and everyone had a super time.
We were proud to be able to present our chosen charity, the Foodbank with a cheque for
a £100.00 which was received by Liz Ewing who officiated at the Display by kindly
presenting the prizes.
With four new girls joining the Junior Section we now have 16 on our roll and as we will
have 11 Explorers when we start back, I have made an appeal for new volunteers to
help us and the appeal has been published in the Prestwick edition of Going Out
magazine this month and which is distributed to every home in Prestwick. At the time of
writing this I have already received some encouraging responses with an offer of
assistance from a new volunteer.
Our service badge work this year includes knitting poppies the proceeds of which go to
the Poppy Appeal, and we are also sewing small square cotton bags to cover infusion
pumps, for our chosen charity, which this year is Cancer Research. I have arranged for
instructors for both these activities to come along and participate in helping the girls with
their knitting and sewing.
In our new 2015/2016 programme we will be devising keep fit routines and looking at
healthy eating regimes in the session up till Christmas. Our Company sleepover takes
place on Saturday 26th September at St Meddans Church Troon which we are all looking
forward to.
We start back on Monday 7th September at 6.30pm to which I warmly welcome all girls
old and new.
Susan Christie: Captain
Lesley Keenan : Lt--- Brigader Section age 11-18 (S1-S6)
Gayle Reid: Aux-- Junior Section age 8-10 (P4-P7)
Lesley Yuill : Lt Explorer Section age 5-7 (P1-P3)
GOD WITH US CONCERT.
Confirmation has just been received that the “God With Us” Choir from Glasgow will
be making a return visit to our Church in November (probably 1st November but
subject to confirmation). Those who attended on the last occasion found that this was
definitely a “not to be missed” event.
We will be extending an invitation to all other local Churches but it would be great to
have a full turnout from our own congregation. Last time many said that, if they had
known how good their presentation, they would have been there. So don’t make that
mistake again!
Jim Riach
We have had a busy few months at Messy Church. We are very happy to welcome Catherine McCormick to
the Messy Church Team and grateful for her fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
In June we had an extra session in order that our American visitors could experience the fun, mess and
celebration that is Messy Church. Prestwick Prom should have been the day before but was unfortunately
cancelled due to the weather, another authentically Scottish experience! This meant that the Western
themed photo booth and crafts could come to Monkton and they were extremely popular. The rescheduled
Prom day in August was a great success with much improved weather, if sadly without our American
friends.
We will be having another extra session on 6th September when our Malawian visitors are here. This is a
great opportunity to spend some time learning about their culture and a chance to share how and why we
have Messy Church.
Messy Church is a fresh way of being church for families, involving fun and is now found around the world
with 2975 Messy Churches currently registered.
Messy Church is an opportunity for us to show our community the unconditional love that Jesus offers.
Jesus first let individuals know that they belonged – that he loved them regardless of their behaviour, lifestyles and choice to follow Him or not. Something that followed naturally from receiving this unconditional
love was that people believed. They didn't have to believe in Jesus before they were shown His love and
compassion. Rather, they believed because of it.
Why not come to Messy Church and show our community that we love them and that we all belong to
Jesus. How else will we have a chance to reach the many who do not yet believe? We cannot expect
people to come to us, we have to do as Jesus did and get out among the people.
Messy Church is on every 4th Sunday of the month from 4-6pm at Monkton Community Church and there
are lots of photos on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MPNchurch.
Finance update
At the Congregational meeting held in March, we reported that our offerings have
educed considerably mainly due to bereavements. We said that if every member would
give an extra £1 per week it would alleviate the financial situation in our Congregation.
Many of you have already responded by increasing your offerings and on behalf of the
Kirk Session I want to thank you most sincerely.
At this time, our Ministries & Mission contributions to The Church of Scotland are up
to date.
From January - August this year we have paid £9767 for gas/electricity.
We can only achieve financial stability by the grace of God, hard work by the finance
team and the continuing support of YOU the Congregation. We thank you for your
ongoing support and would welcome any thoughts on stewardship and fund raising.
Your Brother in Christ
Robert Gibson
Treasurer
Easyfundraising
If you are one of our 30 supporters, a big thank you for raising £465.32 of funds for our
Church.
If you don’t use easyfundraising, please take a minute to consider supporting us through
this website. Did you know that whenever you buy anything online - from your weekly
shop to your annual holiday - you could be raising a free donation for Monkton &
Prestwick North Church? There are nearly 3,000 retailers including Amazon, John Lewis,
Aviva, the trainline and Sainsbury's, who will donate a percentage of the amount you
spend to Monkton & Prestwick North Church to say thank you for shopping with them.
It's really simple, and doesn't cost you anything.
All you have to do is:
Go to www.easyfundraisinq.org.uk/causes/monktonprestwicknorthchurch
Sign up for free
Get shopping - your donations will be collected by easyfundraising and automatically
sent to Monkton & Prestwick North Church. It couldn't be easier!
There are no catches or hidden charges and Monkton & Prestwick North Church will be
really grateful for your donations. Thank you for your support. A free and easy way to
generate donations whenever our supporters shop online.
ASHGROVE HOME IMPROVEMENTS.
Kitchens, Bathrooms, Bedrooms and Marble
Fireplaces, Stockists of Wall Panels and floor.
STEWART & SONS
LOCKSMITHS
24 HOURS SERVICE
NO CALLOUT CHARGES
We also cater for the less abled.
Our specialist staff will tailor a design
to meet your needs, and help inspire you
to create the home of your dreams.
New showroom at
21 Mackintosh Place, South Newmoor Ind.
Estate, Irvine KA11 4JT.
Tel. 01294 211888.
Open 7 days.
07876027812
01292678895
stewartnsons@gmail.com
www.locksmiths-prestwick.co.uk
FRIENDLY FAMILY RUN COMPANY
ALL OUR WORK IS GUARANTEED
www.ashgrovehomeimprovements.co.uk
THANK
Y O U.
Many thanks to our congregation for the many cards and visits during my recent stay
in Ayr Hospital (June 1st—9th July) with Pulmonary fibrosis. Quite a long haul so
visitors from the Church family and our minister were very welcome. Home now
under Margaret’s tender care but permanently on oxygen—so keep away from naked
lights! Visitors welcome to Caerlaverock Avenue.
God Bless you all— Jim Goodlad
A few words from Max Lucado (The Applause of Heaven).
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm
23:3.
It’s hard to see things grow old. The town where I grew up is growing old ... Some of the
buildings are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down ... The Old movie house where I
took my dates has “For Sale” on the door ....
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets ,, but I can’t.
I can’t. But God can. “He restores my soul,” wrote the shepherd, He doesn’t reform; he
restores. He doesn’t camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out
the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigour. He will restore the energy. He will
restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
Elaine’s Childminding Services
Registered Childminder
23 years experience in Early Year
Education
Open Days available on request
Contact:Elaine Wardrop
155 Adamton Road South
Prestwick
01292 670513
Mobile 07526128194
wardrop.elaine@gmail.com
F L O W E R
DATE
L I S T.
DONATED BY
DELIVERED BY
6 September
Jim & Hazel Ann McLauchlan
Margaret Thomson
13th September
Lynn Richmond
Leslie McCarrell
20th September
Mary Yuille
Elaine Wardrop
Ann Shelton
Jim McLauchlan
4 October
Valerie Greig/Vicky Parker
Jan Armour
11th October
Tricia & Kevin Harkness
Carrie Lamont
18th October
Jessie Muir
Tom & Lily Dougan
Elspeth Manson/Mary Yuille
Morag Hamil
1 November
Marie Cuthbert
Nan Dagostino
8th November
Emily Kerr
Susan Campbell
15th November
Pat Simpson
Marion Balish
November
Lily & Tom Dougan
Elizabeth Ewing
29 November
Christmas Flowers
1st Sunday of Advent
6th December
Christmas Flowers
2nd Sunday of Advent
13th December
Evelyn McHarg/Mrs I Sheilds
3rd Sunday of Advent
20th December
Christmas Flowers
4th Sunday of Advent
27th December
Christmas Flowers
--------------------
th
th
27 September
th
th
25 October
st
nd
22
th
Our MP held a surgery at Monkton
recently and Robert managed to get
her details if anyone needs to
contact her.
I have always believed and known that the
power of prayer is beyond measure and also
sometimes beyond our understanding
knowing this has never stopped me from
talking to God my Heavenly Father and
Jesus my Precious Brother—recently due to
my dear husband and best friend passing
away—I discovered that prayer was
difficult. This is the time in our lives that
the prayers of family, friends and Church
Family are so important and I thank you all
from the depths of my heart for supporting
me.
Your friend—Valerie.
Your friend—Valerie.
CHRISTIAN AID WEEK 2015
Christian Aid week this year was held between 10th -16th May.
The following events were held:The Annual Fun Day held on Satur day 9th May was hosted this year by the St
Nicholas Church and was well attended considering the weather on the day. The
total raised was £1265.28
Songs of Praise Service, led by the Salvation Ar my Band, was held in our own
Church on Sunday 10th May. A collection taken at the service raised the sum of
£227.07
Door to Door Collections & Penny Jars, The sums r aised by Monkton &
Prestwick North in respect of Door to Door collections and Penny Jars were
£1810.50 and £237.29 respectively.
The overall total collected by Prestwick Churches for Christian Aid week was
£11634.20
The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who
contributed to the success of Christian Aid Week. In particular those who took part
in the door to door collections and also those who gave their time to assist with the
counting of envelops and penny jars. Your continued participation and support of
Christian Aid allows the charity to continue it’s mission to provide life changing
support to some of the poorest people on earth.
Margaret Ferguson
Treasurer—Prestwick Churches Christian Aid Committee
THE
G U I L D.
We look forward to the new Guild Session which starts on Thursday 1st October at 2pm
in the small hall. We will welcome any new members who wish to join us. Our recent
new members have brought friendship, enthusiasm and new ideas – all much
appreciated. We are a friendly group who meet once a fortnight, on Thursday to enjoy
talks, music and fun. We also provide support for each other. I have benefited from this
support this summer – thank you all.
The Guild theme this session is ‘Be Bold Be Strong’ and the theme is ‘Go in Peace’. The
World’ certainly needs peace today. The Guilds of the three Ayrshire Presbyteries have
organised ‘The Big Sing’ at St Nicholas Church on Thursday 19th November at 2pm. This
should be special so make a note of the date.
The Syllabus until Christmas.
1st October
8th October
2pm
7.30pm
Music and Memories
Autumn Rally in St Columba’s
Church
15th October
2pm
15th October
1.30pm
28th October
10.30am 3.30pm
2pm
2pm
2pm
2pm
2pm
The History of Nursery
Rhymes
Christian Education Meeting
In Auld Kirk Halls
29th
12th
19th
26th
10th
October
November
November
November
December
Irene Smith
Linda Young
National
Convenor
Catherine Mills
Project Partners - Fund Raising Projects
Aberlour Trust
Morag McGowan
The Rev Abi Ngunga
THE BIG SING - St Nicholas Church—all Guilds invited.
The Bring and Buy Sale
Christmas Party and Allocation of Funds
Please come and join us on the 1st October at 2pm.
Margaret Goodlad.
A few thoughts from God’s Little Acre.
Tears are prayers too. They travel to God when we can’t speak.
A true friend sees the first tear, catches the second and stops the third.
Charity begins anywhere and should have no end.
A Christian is a living sermon whether or not he preaches a word.
The world looks brighter from behind a smile.
Monkton Pioneer Café
Do you want a relaxed place to meet up with friends for coffee or lunch?
Do you want to be served by friendly, helpful staff?
Do you want a bit of company or someone to chat to?
THEN LOOK NO FURTHER! ! !
The church café offers all this and food!
Homebaking, Homemade Soups and a range of lunchtime meals
We’ll be there Mon-Fri 10am – 3pm – so when will you be there?
D I S C O V E R Y.
Discovery Walking Group
The Discovery Walking Group continues to meet on the first Sunday of each month,
after morning worship. We enjoy a nice warm bowl of soup together before setting off
on our walk. This really is for everyone, so please come and join us, enjoy fellowship
whilst keeping fit. We leave by 1pm and return to the church by 2pm, it really is a
“wee” walk (just ask our American friends, they had a Scot’s language lesson when they
joined us on our June walk!)
Cooking Group
Our new beginners class have completed a 3 week taster course, preparing sandwiches
with fillings, baked potatoes and vegetable soup. Over the next couple of months we
have an additional class open to our advanced and beginners, a coffee morning and
plans for our advanced class to achieve their certificate in food hygiene.
Our cookery class worked in the kitchen all morning to provide a wonderful Afternoon
Tea for our American friends when they visited. Well done to everyone.
We would like to thank all our wonderful helpers, to our walkers, soup makers,
cooking ladies and kitchen assistants, Sutherland House volunteers and our
prayer warriors, these fantastic opportunities to partner with the wonderful
people from Sutherland House just wouldn’t be possible without you. Thank you.
May we just ask that you continue to keep all these activities and our friends
from Sutherland House in your prayers. Thank you for your continued support.
Supporting local people in crisis
Sat 19 September 2015
10 - 1p.m.
Monkton & Prestwick North Church Halls
(Opposite Brysons Garage)
Don't Miss It!! Bargains Galore!!
Entry Fee At Door - Please Bring a Tin of Food!
"w and Nearly new"
Clothes 'n' thingsNe
.
KidsZone. Bouncy Castle, Balloon Artistry,
Face
Painting and lots more! Quiz Entries Drawn on Day!
Scottish. Reg. Charity SCIO45322
Our Friendsheep Knitting Group meets every Tuesday from 2.30-4.00pm in the
Session House at MPN. We enjoy a cuppa and biscuits while we knit/crochet and
chat together. We are a mixed age, mixed ability group, we share fellowship
whilst sharing our skills. Over the last couple of months we have held a stall at
MPN Summer Fete and Prestwick Prom Day. We knit squares which are sewn
together to make blankets, when completed, they are placed in a box in the
Session Room, the CIA Foodbank Volunteers are able to access the boxes to
take blankets or knitted clothing to people where needed, they are also able to
request any items needed for families they meet and the knitting group will knit
and supply the items. Later this month, the Knitting Group are going into one of
the local secondary schools in partnership with The Ark, to share skills with the
young people, we are looking forward to this opportunity.
We are so grateful for all the generous donations of wool/ needles/ patterns/
crochet and other craft items and we would like to say a heartfelt thanks for
this and for your prayerful support.
Please come along and join us, there is no need to commit to every week, just
anytime you are able, you will be made so welcome.
If you know of anyone in need of knitted items, please let us know or leave us a
request in the Session Room in the basket and we will try our best to provide.
For more information or any suggestions please see
Catherine McCormick or Elaine Wardrop or call 01292 857153
I was given the great privilege and pleasure of driving the minibus for our
friends from Arizona during their recent visit. Each day was different, we
visited different places near and far, took part in different activities and met
new people together, but each day brought the simple pleasure of just sharing
stories and experiences and building friendships with each other. It was i
nteresting to learn about the huge differences in our lifestyle but also
surprisingly, to learn of the many similarities in our church and faith lives. I
don’t know what I expected, but that really surprised me. I learned new things
each day and I can honestly say, when we took them to the airport I felt I
was saying goodbye to friends.
Last year, Elaine, Kieran & Erin went out to Arizona, they came home with
many stories and photographs, and told me how the friendship part of it was so
powerful. It was so good this year to have that opportunity to get to know the
people that they had met and to get the opportunity to build those same
friendships.
Elaine also described how refreshing Margueritas were when she was out in
Arizona, let’s just say I wouldn’t describe my experience of them when the
Americans were here as refreshing! I think we’ll leave that there for now!!!
Scott Wardrop
FAIRTRADE
Spotlight on Swaziland
Swaziland is a beautiful small country bordering South Africa and Mozambique.
It has a population of 1.4 million and they have to contend with many problems
– poverty, poor healthcare, and the awful grip that HIV has on society. Traidcraft works with a number of Fairtrade companies which provide secure and fair
employment. This is very important in a country where unemployment is very
high. 3 of these companies are ‘Black Mamba’, who make a range of chilli and
pesto sauces, curry sauce and chutney; Swazi Candles and Baobab Batik – they
make a range of handbaticked homewares.
All three really care for their workforce – making sure their staff have proper
healthcare, that their families are getting enough food to eat, that they are getting financial advice on how to save for the future and manage their salaries.
Swazi Candles has a large vegetable garden with a full time gardiner provding
free food for the workforce.
Swaziland has the world’s highest HIV infection rate -26% of adults are known
to have the virus. The Fairtrade companies ensure their employees have enough
medicine and they provide emotional support. Because so many 20, 30, and 40
year olds die of HIV Aids – there is a missing generation, leaving Grandmothers
to look after young children. A group of these grandmothers are supported by
‘Black Mamba and they now grow organic chillies in small pieces of land near
their homes. The income they get helps them care for themselves and their
grandchildren. Their organic chillies are used in Black Mamba’s chilli sauces.
The number of Fairtrade companies in the country is increasing which is of
great benefit to the people. I have some products from Swaziland on my monthly
stall and they can be seen and then ordered from the Autumn Catalogue. They
are on pages14, 17, 34 and 91. Ordering through me saves you carriage.
Please support Traidcraft to help people work their way out of poverty. Every
little helps.
Margaret Goodlad
LaGuardia airport is one of American’s busiest. It was named after Fiorella LaGuardia, the Mayor
of New York during the Great Depression.
Acting as a judge in one of the poorest parts of the city in the winter of 1935, he found himself
forced to pass sentence on a grandmother who had stolen bread to feed her starving grand
children.
He felt sorry for her but fined her ten dollars. Then he paid the fine himself and fined everyone
in the courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where such a thing could happen! The grateful
woman went home with nearly fifty dollars.
Mayor LaGuardia exemplified the difference between sympathy and compassion: “Sympathy sees
and says ‘I’m sorry’, compassion sees and whispers, ‘I’ll help’.”
MINISTER
Rev. David Clarkson
Telephone : 01292 471379
Email : minister@mpnchurch.org.uk
BIBLE STUDY
Wednesday 10.30 am
Margaret Thomson
Telephone : 01292 477045
SESSION CLERK
James U Riach
Telephone : 01292 476458
Email : james@jriach2.fsnet.co.uk
BOYS’ BRIGADE
Friday pm (Various)
Pat Simpson
Telephone : 01292 477289
TREASURER/HALL BOOKINGS
Robert Gibson
Telephone : 01292 479248
Email : property@mpnchurch.org.uk
GIRLS’ BRIGADE
Monday 6.00 pm
Sue Christie
Telephone : 07751219601
ORGANIST
David Watson
Telephone : 01292 314867
GUILD
Thursday 2.00 pm
Margaret Goodlad
Telephone : 01292 470903
CHURCH OFFICE
Telephone : 01292 678810
Email : office@mpnchurch.org.uk
KIRK SESSION
COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES
Discipleship
Sam Gilmour
Telephone : 01292 470614
Fabric & Finance
Outreach
Pastoral Care
Jim Riach
Telephone : 01292 476458
Worship
Scott Wardrop
Telephone : 01292 670513
MONKTON BROWNIES
Thursday 6.30 pm
Monkton Community Church
Irene Boyle
Telephone : 01292 478376
KIDDIEWINKLES
Monday 10.00 am
Elaine Gilbert
Telephone : 07734806812
TOTS-TOWN
Wednesday 10.00 am
Monkton Community Church
Leigh Flanagan
Telephone : 07545050190
THE YOUNG CHURCH
Sunday 11.00 am
Lesley McCarrell
Telephone : 01292 477779
Duncan Campbell
Telephone : 01292 435020