Housecall
Articles taken from the December Edition of the St James’ Monthly
Magazine
New Logo
Are you a
budding artist or designer or are great at coming up with something
creative? If so, then the Parish
Grouping Development Team need your help. Almost 10 years ago a logo was
designed to be used for the when the churches were undertaking a joint event or
communication. That logo now looks a little dated and we are now looking for
new suggestions for a logo for the Church of Scotland congregations in
Portobello and Joppa working together.
We are
looking for something that is more than just a logo – something that
captures the image of Portobello and the sense of Partnership between the local
Church of Scotland Congregations (St Philip’s, St James and Old Parish). Going
forward as we work together, we wish to do so with a shared identity that
doesn’t diminish us as individual congregations but shows that we share
our efforts. If you would like to design a logo then we would love you to do
so. It doesn’t have to be designed or drawn out to a high professional standard, it’s the idea and ethos behind it that we
are looking for. The chosen logo will be brought up to a standard that will fit
both electronic, magazine and poster style communication.
You can
submit your entries electronically to either
webmaster@stjamesparishchurch.co.uk or by handing it to one of the Ministers -
Stewart Weaver (St Philip’s), Peter Webster (St James’), Andrew
Patterson (Old Parish). The top entries will be copied and displayed at each
Church and everyone will get their chance to express their thoughts. Based on
this, the Parish Grouping Development Team will nominate a winner although, in
line with our processes, prior to using the winning entry it will have to be
confirmed by the individual Kirk Sessions. The deadline for entries is 30th
January 2013 and a small prize will be awarded.
Alternative
Christmas Card
This year,
instead of giving cards to people you see regularly at St. James’, why
not give– a donation to the Anniversary Appeal supporting the maternity
wing of the Chogoria Hospital in Kenya. Your money
would be used to make a difference in buying equipment and supplies. This is
more effective than buying charity Christmas cards, where very little of the
purchase price actually goes to the charity concerned. All you need to do:
1. Take the
money you would have used to buy and send cards to people in St James’
and put it in an envelope
2. Put your
name(s) on it – so we can send greetings from you to all at St
James’ via the projector in church on Sunday 16th and Sunday 23rd. All
the names will also be published in Housecall in January.
3. Put the
envelope in the offering plate, or in the special box at the back of the
church.
This way we
can make Christmas a little less commercial and a bit more caring. Grant
Hutchison and Paul Mitchell are co-ordinating this and once the money is
collected, it will be passed on to the appeal.
Presbytery
Meeting
In the
second week of November Andrew Patterson, Peter Webster, Russel
Moffat and Stewart Weaver met with George Whyte, the
Clerk to Presbytery. It was a
meeting suggested by the Parish Grouping Development Team as a means of
ensuring that our efforts in the local churches are on the right track. It was
also the means of finding out a bit more about the thoughts of Presbytery in
this process. There were a few items worth relaying to the congregations.
Vacancy at
the Old Parish: Andrew will be stepping down in May of 2013 and thus there will
be a vacancy at the Old Parish. It is planned that there will be an interim
moderator and a locum to help steer the Old Parish while we continue to work
together as three congregations, with assistance from Russel
Moffat at St. Martin’s. Peter may be able to
continue at St. James’ beyond 2014 but clarification is still required.
Buildings
and Information Gathering: As another, more detailed article in the magazine
indicates, buildings have been and will be a source of some discussion. This
was mentioned to the Presbytery Clerk and he encouraged us to set this precise
discussion aside for the moment. Instead, we should engage in a thorough
examination of relevant facts and some examples of these are found in the other
article. So What?: We were also encouraged to convene
a meeting of the congregations in the late winter or early spring. We should
gather together the information we have collected and encourage the
congregations to think about the ramifications of this information.
Where does
it suggest we go? What resources do we want or need?
Why? What
decisions, therefore, should be made? In essence, much of the detail will be
left to us in Portobello. With hard work, open minds and gracious good will we
can travel this road together as faithful companions.
Junior
Church
St
James’ Messy Church launched in September this year and has met monthly since
then. Messy Church is not designed to be either a children’s activity
morning/afternoon or a stepping stone to 'proper' church – it is a style
of church which stands on its own. A Messy Church typically includes a welcome
(board games, introduction of the theme), crafts - everything related to the
theme of the day, short reflection/worship – based on the theme and
finally, a simple meal.
The theme
for the first two meetings was ‘Water’. In September we met Jesus
while he spoke to the woman at the well. We looked at how water is important in
life and made our own water filter. In October we saw Jesus fall asleep in a
boat with the disciples and how he calmed the storm. Everyone made their own
‘storm in a bottle’ and after shaking it up, saw how it settled and
calmed. Our November ‘Messy Church’ was a Halloween themed event
and we read all about ‘the lady who was never scared’ and learned
that the words ‘do not be afraid’ are mentioned in the bible 365
times. Our Christmas ‘Messy Church’ was a Christmas Craft morning
on 2nd December while the joint service was at St James’.
We have
been delighted to welcome several new families to Messy Church – most of
whom spotted that we were doing ‘Messy Church’ by the new banner
!We’d love to welcome more people to this exciting new venture. Messy
Church is for children of all ages. The next ‘Messy Church’ event
at St James’ is on Sunday 13th January at 10.30am – Noon and the
subject is ‘Colours’
CoS in Portobello and Joppa
In March of
2012 the final draft of the Presbytery Plan was agreed This plan suggests that the 3
congregations become 1 congregation in 2014 with one ordained minister, one
associate minister and time contributed to the area by the St. Martin’s
minister. This plan was approved by
the relevant committee in the national church and finally approved by
Presbytery in May of 2012. The various Kirk Sessions have agreed that this is
the way ahead and see that there is great scope for possibility, for
excitement, for innovation and for energy in the midst of this process of change.
The Parish
Grouping Development Team (PGDT) are responsible for building on the meetings
of the Joint Kirk Session and the session that we held A Place for Hope (APfH) in September. This group serves the Kirk Sessions and
has no actual voting power – all decisions must be referred back to the
Kirk Sessions.
The current
priorities for the PGDT came from the Joint Sessions. The Joint Sessions suggested that the
PGDT should take forward the priorities of Unity/Oneness; Communication;
Buildings; Staffing; and Vision.
Steps are being taken to ensure that we undertake proper ‘fact
finding’ to ensure that we have the correct information for the process
of determining our mission and shaping the future of the Church of Scotland in
our area.
We need
information about our area such as its demographics and possible future
developments. Facts are also needed to get a clear picture of where we are now:
numbers on rolls; numbers attending; the state of the buildings; running costs
of the buildings; hall usage; and the future costs of maintaining each
building. We also need information
on what type of worship people are looking for and at what times. The PDGT is trying to ensure that we
communicate what is happening. Articles have appeared in the various church
magazines and all articles are now being jointly produced and distributed.
Every
effort is being made to keep congregations up to date. But, no matter what is
communicated, the one question that keeps returning is “What about the
buildings?” In truth, decisions on the buildings can only be made once we
have the information outlined in the fact finding section to hand. Any
conjecture or speculation about what will happen is currently just
that--speculation.
We locally,
and not Presbytery, are in control of our destiny here. As things stand, we
could have the status quo and have three buildings in operation - but would we
wish to do this if future maintenance costs were so high that all our resources
and focus was spent preserving them?
Would two buildings, geographically better covering the Parish than just
one be ideal? Who knows at the moment? There are simply no answers to this at
present. Everyone together - the PDGT, the
Kirk Sessions and the Congregations will all get to influence the direction
that we travel. There will be many different paths available to us and many
reasons to travel down each. By working together, gathering facts and with
prayer and guidance, we will find our way together.
Paul Mitchell
Articles taken from the November Edition of the St James’ Monthly
Magazine
St James’ News
Words, Wisdom and Wit -
This popular event was held on 3rd October and was a fun night and was well attended.
With a variety of speakers and music everyone who came along was well
entertained. The sum of £250 was raised for the new building of St Columbas Hospice. Thanks to Ella Lynch for her organisation
and to all who assisted her.
As part of our centenary celebrations, 100 years of
worship on our current site, this the Kirk Session has
decided that we should have a project. This will focus on Chegoria
Hospital where a new maternity wing has been opened. It is hoped that through
our efforts we can help to ensure that this hospital has many things to enable
it to function properly. If you have any fundraising ideas then don’t be
shy in sharing them with either Peter or your Elder. You may want to organize
something yourself in or outside of church. Every little will help. The Kirk
Session voted at its last meeting that all proceeds from our fayre in November would be given to this appeal.
Thanks to all who came along to the Gardening and
tidy-up morning on Saturday 27th October. A large number of jobs were
undertaken and completed. Our halls are exceptionally busy and work like this
helps keeps everything in great shape.
Messy
Church
St James’ Messy
Church launched in September this year and met again in October. The theme for
the first two meetings was ‘Water’. In the first we met Jesus while
he spoke to the woman at the well. We looked at how water is important in life
and made our own water filter. In
October we saw Jesus fall asleep in a boat with the disciples and how he calmed
the storm. Everyone made their own ‘storm in a bottle’ and after
shaking it up, saw how it settled and calmed.
We have been delighted to
welcome several new families to Messy Church – most of whom spotted that
we were doing ‘Messy Church’ by the new banner !
November’s Messy Church is on the 4th and will feature stories and spooky
games with a theme of ‘do not be afraid’. Our Christmas Messy
Church takes place on Sunday 2nd December and focus on Christmas Craft
activities.
Messy Church is not
designed to be either a childrens activity afternoon
or a stepping stone to 'proper' church – it is a style of church which
stands on its ownA Messy Church typically includes a
welcome (board games, introduction of the theme), crafts - everything related
to the theme of the day, short reflection/worship – based on the theme
and finally, a simple meal.
Please let people know
about this new venture and invite them along. Messy Church is for children of
all ages.
Advent Study
The Advent Group will
meet on the following dates, all at 7.30pm in the small hall - Wednesdays 21st and 28th
November, 5th & 12th December.
The theme this year is
best described as ‘Christmas in the eyes of other faiths’. The
order of the Speakers have yet to be finalised, please keep an eye on the Order
of Service and website for details but will feature represenatives
of the Muslim, Buddist, Sikh and Jewish faiths.
If doesn’t matter
if you can only make one night, you are welcome at one or all of the nights.
Transport can be provided. For more information please contact James Foster or
any member of the All Age Learning Group.
Alternative Christmas Card
Every year we spend what
seems a fortune on Christmas cards.
Sending cards to people we rarely see due to time or distance is a
wonderful way to keep in touch. However many of the cards we send are to people
we see regularly. Here at St
James’ we are again running the opportunity to do something different.
This year, instead of giving cards to each other at St. James’, why not
give something more valuable – a donation to the Anniversary Appeal. We
are supporting the new maternity facilities at the hospital in Chogoria and your money would be used to make a difference
in buying equipment and supplies. This is more effective than buying charity
Christmas cards, where very little of the purchase price actually goes to the
charity concerned.
If you want to be part of
this scheme, this is all you need to do:
1. Take the money you
would have used to buy and send cards to people in St James’ and put it
in an envelope
2. Put your name(s) on it
– so we can send greetings from you to all at St James’ via the
projector in church on Sunday 16th and Sunday 23rd. All the names will also be
published in Housecall in January.
3. Put the envelope in
the offering plate, or in the special box at the back of the church.
This way we can make
Christmas a little less commercial and a bit more caring. Grant Hutchison and
Paul Mitchell are co-ordinating this and once the money is
collected, it will be passed onto the appeal.
Articles taken from the October Edition of the St James’ Monthly
Magazine
Mind Bending Mission
On Sunday 9 September the congregations of the Old Parish, St. James’, St. Martin’s and St. Philip’s gathered for a joint service. After some food in the main hall we were treated to a challenging and inspirational talk on mission by John Drane. He is a retired professor from Aberdeen University who has shaped current thinking on mission in England and in Scotland. What did he say? Lots! Here are some of the juicier thoughts.
Mission is a theological issue. It’s not about initiatives and programmes and bells and whistles. We should ask, ‘what is God doing here?’ God is already doing mission in the world. How can we join in this event?
Lifestyle Challenges. Today, patterns of leisure, work, community, learning and communication are hugely different. How do we respond? It is said that most people who don’t come to church make this choice not because of belief but because of lifestyle.
Past and Present. Years ago, people connected with the church through life events such as baptism, marriage, funerals and other collective celebrations. No more. Lifestyles now lead people away from the church. Think of all the activities on Sunday mornings.
Models of Church. There is the Attractional Church, in which the church simply said, ‘come join us’ and years ago people did. No longer. There is the ‘Engaged Church’, in which members went out, built relationships and said, ‘come join us’. Not many did or do.
We need to think about the ‘Missional Church’. We go out, we share Christ’s love, we stay and we wait to see what happens.
Re-Imaginings. What is church? Is it only minister, building and congregation? What is faith? Is it only believing, belonging and attending? What is discipleship? Is it primarily in the head? What kind of leadership? Managers, lecturers and visitors, or creators, empathisers, storytellers? What tools? Do we need a roadmap in such a challenging age, or simply a compass?
Challenges for Congregations. Be kind: caricatures often portray us as mean-spirited. Avoid at all costs! Be flexible: do we love our family enough to want a different form of church and faith community? Do we want ‘one size fits all’ or are willing to have a mixed economy of worship? Be open to God: God is in mission. What do we do to get alongside?
Re-weave. The church is like a favourite old jumper that has been worn through the years and showing its age. We can continue to let it unravel in a haphazard way. Or, we can consciously take the strands, unravel them deliberately and then weave it back together as a something reconstituted, old and new, and serving once again its proper function. Our choice.
Why does mission matter to the church?
Several people asked at the meeting with John Drane: what does this have to do with us? The British Social Attitudes Survey of 2011 reveals that Britain is becoming less religious, with the numbers who affiliate with a religion or attend religious services experiencing a long-term decline. And this trend seems set to continue; not only as older, more religious generations are replaced by younger, less religious ones, but also as the younger generations increasingly opt not to bring up their children in a religion—a factor shown to strongly link with religious affiliation and attendance in later life. Mission Matters and is a big challenge to us all.
Parish
Grouping
In an effort to keep the congregations updated on the progress of the collective work of the churches, yet another update. Read and be informed!
Ministers - Andrew Patterson, the current minister at the Old Parish, has decided to demit in May of 2013. He feels that an earlier than planned departure will provide space for the churches to move forward with their joint work and it will give him the chance to focus on his great love of pilgrimage and writing. Presbytery’s thoughts on the upcoming vacancy of the Old Parish have yet to be ascertained. Peter’s change in circumstances means that he may be able to continue working past 2014 if he so chooses, thus providing some continuity in the years ahead.
John Drane and Mission - As described elsewhere in this magazine, the churches hosted John Drane in an effort to begin thinking more fully and thoroughly about mission. It is hoped too that it will begin to help us think about the exciting, innovative possibilities in working with our community.
A Place for Hope - Our Parish Grouping Development Team has met with representatives from a group called A Place for Hope. It was set up by the Church of Scotland but is independent of it. In previous years it has worked with churches, presbyteries and non-profit groups who are attempting to work their way constructively through differences and conflicts. No charges are levied. The organisation has also begun working with groups facing major changes before any serious conflict arises. After meeting with the ministers and the Parish Grouping Team, they were invited to a joint Kirk session meeting. The joint Kirk sessions met with representatives from A Place for Hope. Amongst the elders it was discovered there is generally an appetite for change and there is a recognition that conversations and dialogues should adhere to certain guidelines: Listen to understand; Respect the person; One voice at a time; Limit your talking time. Elders were also asked what they thought were priorities. The following were suggested: Unity and cohesion in the process; Communication; Buildings; Staffing; Vision.
It was also suggested that a four stage process be undertaken:
1. Getting to know each other; 2. Gathering information; 3. Options; 4. Agreed solutions.
The three churches seem to be somewhere between 1 and 2. It was finally agreed that the Parish Grouping Development Team, composed of the ministers of each church and three others from each church (at least one of whom is an elder), should take these items and process forward. In essence, they now will be spending some time gathering information.
What now? - As John Drane made crystal clear, in the modern age nobody knows precisely where we are going. We will move forward adventurously with mission as a priority. We will ascertain Presbytery’s thoughts on the Old Parish vacancy. The Parish Grouping Team will be gathering information and consulting with members of the congregations. Joint Kirk Sessions will continue but at this moment they are consultative rather than decision making. Individual Kirk Sessions will make the final decisions on the important matters.