25 July 2010

We give the assurance of our thoughts and prayers to all who are unwell, awaiting or undergoing treatment, or anxious or grieving for the loss of loved ones.

Methodist Homes

Envelopes in support of Methodist Homes are available on the Vestibule table. Please take today and return in the offertory plate as soon as possible.

“Exciting Job Opportunity for a young person”!

As part of the Methodist Church's Youth Participation Strategy, the Scotland Learning & Development Forum is seeking to recruit a young person aged 16-23 to support its work with young people in the District Development, “Holiness and Risk”, and other events specifically for young people. The person appointed will also meet with others across the Methodist Connexion in similar posts.

The post is for 15 hours per week from September 2010 to September 2011.

Applicants need not be Members of the Methodist Church but should be sympathetic with the aims of the Methodist Church and comfortable with being in the company of Christians. Closing date for applications is July 31st, with interviews in Edinburgh on August 10th.

For advertisement, job description & application form, contact Helen Wareing DistAdmin@scottishchurcheshouse.org, see website methodistchurchinscotland.org.uk or ask members of Synod to whom papers may have been forwarded as e-mail attachments.

Support other Organisations

Scottish Churches House Prayer Network

Prayers are invited this week for meetings and events in the House, especially the Epiphany Retreats (to next Sunday) and Bat Awareness for Wildlife Police (Thursday).

Scottish Bible Society

Our support through the Bible-a-Month Club is invited for work in July in Syria. See noticeboard for more information.

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

• 'Bible for the deaf' project in Swaziland, also construction of Bible House;
• three new staff members in Lesotho;
• preparation of autumn programme of support for projects in the Middle East;
• children's ministry in Mauritius, the raising of awareness of HIV / AIDS issues among young people, work among prisoners;
• work with Catholics in Réunion, distribution at bookfair in Rodrigues (both Indian Ocean islands);
• progress on Old Testament translation for the Seychelles.

Feed The Minds Overseas Book Service

For over 40 years, Feed The Minds (the ecumenical literacy agency of the Churches) has worked through the Overseas Book Service (OBS) to provide “high quality, relevant books to partner colleges and Churches that need them”.

FTM's work of sorting and cataloguing donated books seeks to ensure the selection of texts that are most relevant for the needs of the partner community, as a programme which “supports and empowers the Church, to speak with authority on issues such as famine, conflict, HIV and AIDS”.

Donations of new or used theological texts are invited - to contact FTM, phone 08451 21 21 02, no matter how small or large your intended donation. Monetary support is also welcome.

Among FTM partners are communities in

• Dimapur in northern India, where women are being given knowledge to claim their rights to land and services. There is also a developing “Mobile Library of Hope” to reach all the villages of the region;
• Abang Ashu Academy in Mamfe, Cameroon, a college with few resources, where provision of 50 books has made a noticeable difference for staff and students.

For more information on FTM, see www.feedtheminds.org ; email together@feedtheminds.org; phone 08451 21 21 02; write to FTM, 12 Lawn Place, London, SW8 1UD.

Forthcoming events

Prayer Points for this week

• The Connexional Team and all staff in Methodist Church House and the Manchester Office;
• all Ecumenical Partners of the Methodist Church, especially the Church of England and its Archbishops;
• The Circuit Leadership Team and those preparing the welcome for the Rev Benson Chongo & family in Perth and Blairgowrie;
• continuing campaigning on taxation issues (Christian Aid);
• The Jesuit Brothers' Association working with disabled young people in the rural El Minya area of Egypt (BibleLands);
• homes, staff and projects in the Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire District (Methodist Homes);
• Bible Society work in Syria;
• The Leprosy Mission's work in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda;
• we pray with and for the peoples of the Caribbean (WCC Prayer Calendar);
• we remember fellow Methodists in the Gloucestershire Circuit (Bristol District) and in Banff (North of Scotland Mission Circuit).

• 18 July 2010
• 1 August 2010

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