4 August 2013

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.

Ministerial Pastoral cover

Please note that the Rev Mary Patterson is on holiday leave for the next two weeks, ie until Monday 18th August.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Exhibition

'tricia Laurie draws our attention to 'Hills, Woolcraft, Stone' in the Acoustic Music Centre, Orwell Terrace, Edinburgh EH11 2DP, on 5th - 25th August, from 10am to 10pm. The café will be open Mondays to Fridays between 10am and 2.30pm. The exhibition is a new collection of pieces from Pat Archibald's students, inspired by a poem by George Mackay Brown. See poster on noticeboard and www.patarchibald.com

Gift Aid for Small Donations

An addition has been made to the Gift Aid scheme. This new aspect is unrelated to tax and therefore applicable to those who have not been able to join Gift Aid in the past. The Church can now claim on loose collections and envelopes not previously involved. There are however a couple of restrictions which only affect people who have not been able to Gift Aid.

1. we cannot claim on any cheques
2. we cannot claim on sums greater than £20.

This latter condition has one important practical consequence - if you would normally have combined collections for more than one week into one envelope, it is better to submit all the separate ones eg 3 envelopes with a £10 note in each can be claimed against but 1 envelope with £30 or a cheque in it cannot.

If you are not currently a Gift-Aider, please consider this.

Thanks! (David E - Treasurer & Mary F - Gift Aid Sec)

District Service of Welcome

Everyone is warmly invited to the Service being arranged to say “Welcome” to our in-coming Chair of Synod, the Rev Dr David P Easton. This will be held at 2pm on Saturday 31st August in Perth Methodist Church and will be followed by refreshments and informal fellowship.

Broughty Ferry Churches news

• St Luke's and Queen Street Church, Broughty Ferry serve an Afternoon Tea on Thursdays between 2pm and 3pm.
• Summer Teas and Coffees are served on Saturdays from 10am to 12 noon in the New Kirk St Aidan's Heritage Centre (former St Aidan's church building).

Link Club stall

The Club has again been given the opportunity by Rotary Dundee to take a stall in City Square on Saturday 31st August.

If you have items you wish to donate for sale please consult Lorna as to suitability and the best ways & means of providing them.

Commonwealth Games 2014

It is planned to hold monthly Prayer Walks in Glasgow on Saturdays up to the start of the Games; the first walk was to take place yesterday (3rd August). It is suggested that those unable to join a Walk may wish to prayerfully remember the “More Than Gold” campaign, which aims to co-ordinate the Christian response to the Games and has been endorsed by Glasgow church leaders. For more information see www.morethangold2014.org.uk and www.glasgowchurches.org.uk

Meetings this week

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

Support through the Bible-a-Month Club is invited in August for work in Zambia.

Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to

• Bible Society staff in Syria seeking to maintain their work, and requesting prayers for the church, families who have lost loved ones, and an end to violence;
• provision of funding for distribution work throughout East and West Malaysia;
• Learning through Listening literacy programme in Cambodia, where more than 30,000 students have completed the course in the last 10 years and it is hoped to continue development for the Vietnamese migrant population also;
• literacy and translation programmes through the focus of the Edinburgh International Book Festival's encouragement for reading;
• partnerships between the Bible Society in Northern Ireland and churches & mission agencies for promotion of work to a wider community.

Forthcoming events

Prayer Points for this week

• taking forward decisions of Conference, especially as they affect Methodism in Scotland;
• Methodist Ministers and families “on the move”;
• holiday clubs meeting in Broughty Ferry churches;
• our ecumenical partners in Scotland, the staff of ACTS;
• flights from Kenya to South Sudan and to Madagascar ( Mission Aviation Fellowship);
• The Leprosy Mission's work in Bhutan and Nepal;
• residents and staff on the Isle of Man ( Methodist Homes);
• displaced Syrians staying at Beit el Nour's centre in Lebanon, also the centres at Nabaa and Sabra/Shatila (Embrace);
• partner organisations, especially SOS Habitat, working in Angola (Christian Aid);
• Bible Society work in Zambia;
• we pray with and for the peoples of Canada and the USA (WCC Ecumenical Calendar);
• we remember fellow Methodists in Goole (York and Hull District) and in East Kilbride (Glasgow Circuit).

• 28 July 2013
• 11 August 2013

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