St Mark’s Messenger Winter 2013
Aberdeen St Mark's Church of Scotland is a registered Sco sh charity No SC015451 St Mark’s is twinned with Mpachika Church Malawi
Index to the Winter 2013 Issue Le er from the Manse
3 Guild of Friendship/Strollers
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Visita on from Presbytery
4 Note from the Treasurer
17
Sco&sh Country Dancing
5 Circle of Care/Carols Quiz
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30th Coy. Boys’ Brigade
6 Guild/Rambling Group
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Stewardship Report
7 Men’s Club
20
Malawi Report
8 O.A.K. Report
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Deadlines 2014
9 Carols Answers
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Worship Calendar (1)
10 St Mark’s Contacts
23
Duty Rotas - Pull Out
11 A New Year Message
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Worship Calendar (2)
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HAPPY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU ALL GOOD CHRISTMAS TIDINGS FROM THE MANSE FAMILY. DIANE, DAVID, REBECCA, RICHARD AND LITTLE ISAAC.
Look out for the new Christmas Tree which will be sited on the front steps during the fes ve season thanks to a generous dona on. 2
Le-er from the Manse Hello, it’s Christmas me again when we celebrate the truth that, as the Bible records, “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw HIs glory, the glory which He received as the Father's only Son." (John 1:14) I think these are some of the greatest words ever wri en on earth. The message they convey is just so powerful! Take, “grace” for instance. One online dic onary defines grace as meaning elegance, poise, refined, smooth, and stylish as well as good mannered, polite, decency and respect. Jesus originally came from the heavenly source of all elegance yet His birth didn't take place in elegant surroundings nor did it reflect the respect due to the Son of God. It was however all about grace! Grace that empowers people to approach God confidently, regardless of where they may come from or what they have done or said! People who have been invisible to their family or friends can know that God understands exactly what it feels like to be invisible and unimportant. The only people who were “Smooth operators”, who came to see baby Jesus were the Wise Men! The truth is that no one is too rich, too influen al nor too poor nor too awful to be acceptable as a friend of Jesus! His birth was grace in ac on. Another remarkable truth is that everyone can accept or reject Jesus according to their own free will. It never ceases to amaze me that God is so polite in His dealing with us! Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, the Wise men and Jesus Himself all had a choice to accept or reject God's idea and offer. (Con nued on page 4)
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Jesus makes it clear to us that the respect, value and depth of love that God has for each one of us was considered by Jesus to be worth the vulnerability, frustra on and risk of being a dependant human baby. Amazingly, God the Creator, Holy Spirit and inevitably Jesus knew exactly the type of life and death that Jesus would come to know 33 years aPer His birth, yet Jesus s ll went ahead with the plan! Now that is the best meaning of the word grace! So wherever you may be, whatever you are doing, no ma er how you feel about yourself this Christmas, the grace of Jesus Christ be with you. God Bless you and Happy Christmas to you
Diane THE VISITATION FROM PRESBYTERY This is a different process from the more tradi onal quinquennial visit. A small group of visitors from Presbytery will be asking us to par cipate in a process that aims to find out about the life of St Mark's over the last 5 years, and then help us to develop a five year ac on plan for the future. This process will take place over the next year.
St Mark’s Christmas Gi5 For a number of years now a GiP Envelope (surplus FWO envelopes) has been included with the Messenger and the same is true this year. When you are thinking about giving Christmas giPs to friends and family remember your St Mark’s family and please give a giP to your Church. Any amount will be welcome and you can give anonymously, unless you wish GiP Aid to be claimed on your giP when your name, address and signature will be needed, you only need to be a taxpayer. Thank you for thinking about St Mark’s 4
St Mark’s Sco sh Country Dancing The Sco&sh Country Dance Class con nues its fortnightly mee ngs in the Church Hall at 7.30pm. We are looking for new members. Why don’t you come along and give Sco&sh Country Dancing a try? You don’t have to be a church member and you can bring a friend. We resume on Wednesday 8th January 2014. Hope to see you then. Margaret Brown
Here are some things that a Minister dreams of hearing in the church. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Hey! It's my turn to sit in the front pew. I was so enthralled, I never no ced your sermon went 25 minutes over me. Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf. I volunteer to be the permanent Sunday school teacher. Forget the denomina onal minimum salary, let's pay our Minister so she can live like we do. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before! Since we're all here, let's start the service early. Minister, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign! I couldn’t find space to park outside. Praise God! 5
The 30th Company Boys’ Brigade As most of you will know St Mark’s is now affiliated with the 30th Coy Boys’ Brigade. It is a small but ac ve company and they now have a couple of pages on the St Mark’s website which tell about the Company and its Officers and boys and what they get up to. For those of you without internet access here’s the latest story. On Sunday 6th October the boys and officers of the 30th took part in 130 years celebra ons organised by Aberdeen Ba alion. We first a ended a service in Queen Street Church, then, led by a piper, we walked round to The Town House for a Civic Recep on. The boys were well behaved and really enjoyed the events, especially the food at the Recep on! Then it was a quick dash up to the Sports Village with our Junior Boy to take part in the 130 penalty kick fun. Steven Dobbie, the AFC community development goalie had a busy aPernoon! The first person to take a kick was MSP Lewis McDonald followed by many Anchor Boys and Juniors from all around Aberdeen. Angus the Bull added to the fun and the aPernoon ended with more cake and a medal for each boy who took part. We look forward to the next 130 years! Happy Birthday Boys’ Brigade! P.S. We’re off to to see Aberdeen v Dundee United at Pi odrie on Saturday 19th October as guests of AFC as part of our celebra ons!
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In the absence of David Yacamini who is currently in Dubai with his family I agreed to do the Stewardship Report for this magazine. Firstly a huge thank you to the Stewardship Planning Team for all of their hard work in making the arrangements for such a successful Programme which culminated in our three Gatherings in September. Thank you also to Fiona Penny the Church of Scotland Stewardship Consultant for her support and good humour but above all thank you to you, members of the St Mark’s family, for your par cipa on and responses to the Gatherings, presenta ons and the Booklet. Our membership (excluding a few of the very oldest members, mainly in Care Homes and oPen with demen a and other age related condi ons) stands at 322 (including adherents). Of these 141 a ended at least one Gathering. This is 44%, ge&ng on for half of our members and a very good response. To ensure that all 322 members however had an opportunity to respond to the Stewardship Programme every household in the congrega on received a Stewardship Pack which included the Stewardship Booklet, Prayer Card, Response card and Return envelope. Out of 322 members, 163 have returned the Response Card so far, with just over half (85) indica ng an inten on to review their giving, 7 members want to start using a Standing Order and 45 to increase their current one. Thirteen members want to start giving by FWO envelope and 15 want to start giving by GiP Aid, 3 members want to know more about leaving a legacy and eight members responded by making a dona on. Those members who need should already have received SO and GiP Aid Forms and FWO envelopes. Overall this is a good response and returns are s ll coming in. If you have yet to respond how about doing it before the end of the year? Alex McConochie 7
Malawi Commi-ee Report The commi ee’s most recent event was the social evening on 28 November, Candles, Cakes and Cosme cs for Malawi funds. Representa ves demonstrated their products and gave opportuni es to purchase goodies for Christmas! The Presbytery Visita on Group has returned from another successful trip to Blantyre and their twinned churches. They managed to pay a visit to the Malabar Clinic to see the Lifestraws water system in ac on which St. Mark’s congrega on helped raise funds for. The money raised by Aberdeen churches for the Maize appeal was divided between the twinned churches and Mpachika received its share of £540 which purchased 40 bags of maize. Rev Master Jumbe and Mr Blessings Mota from Mpachika were among those involved in the distribu on of the maize around these churches and in the case of Mpachika, 150 vulnerable families were iden fied within the area and received supplies. It is hoped that next September, Mr Mota will be one of the Blantyre delega on visi ng Aberdeen and St. Mark’s. Rosalyn’s contact Lasmore sent the photo on the opposite page showing distribu on of the maize and has reported that Rev Jumbe, the Session Clerk, Alfred Samata and Mr Mota thanked the Aberdeen Presbytery for the mely aid rendered to Mpachika CCAP. The Partnership Commi ee responded that Mpachika was the first congrega on to implement the Food Aid Programme and Mpachika administra on was thanked for ac ng with speed. Rosalyn Rennie
No road is long with good company. 8
Deadlines Regular contributors will receive separate in ma on of the 2014 Messenger deadlines but just in case you have something you would like included please note the copy deadlines for next year. With Easter falling on almost its latest possible date in 2014 there is a limited me between the Spring and Summer magazines. Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Sunday 9 March 2014 Sunday 27 April 2014 Sunday 31 August 2014 Sunday 9 November 2014
Maize Distribu8on
Sharing the bags into quarter por ons to help the iden ďŹ ed needy people.
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Worship Calendar Worship Calendar Worship Calendar Please note that Sunday morning services at St Mark’s normally start at 11.00am. Any changes will be in mated in the Pew Leaflet. Further details of the services will be available on the Church website or in the Pew Leaflet. www.stmarksaberdeen.org.uk/stmarks8 December
Second Sunday of Advent 11.00am Morning Worship A Service of 9 Lessons and Carols
15 December
Third Sunday of Advent 11.00am Morning Worship ‘The Way of Holiness and Everlas ng Joy’ Joint Service with St John’s for Deaf People including a Bap smal Service
19 December
12.00noon - 12.30 Shoppers’ Service Followed by soup & sandwich lunch 6.00pm Carol Singing on Church steps
22 December
Fourth Sunday of Advent 11.00am Morning Worship Sunday School Na vity Service
24 December
10.45pm - 11.25pm Carol Singing and Fun! 11.30pm - 12.05am Watchnight Service ‘Watching for the ‘Light of the World’ Followed by tea & mince pies in the hall
25 December
10.30am - 11.10am Family Service for Christmas Day ‘Songs of Joy’ A short Service of Holy Communion will follow
29 December
11.00am Morning Worship ‘Healthy Praise for a Perfect Person’ Con nued on Page 15 aPer the Supplement 10
St Mark’s Church Duty Rotas Winter Messenger Pull-out Supplement Beadle Duty Rota
Date 01 December 2013 08 December 2013 15 December 2013 22 December 2013 29 December 2013 05 January 2014 12 January 2014 19 January 2014 26 January 2014 02 February 2014 09 February 2014 16 February 2014 23 February 2014 02 March 2014 09 March 2014 16 March 2014 23 March 2014
Beadle Duty Alan Brown Jacqueline Hepburn Graeme Low Lynn Low Betty Steel Malcolm Steel Derek Caie Mary Caie Bill Forbes Joyce Forbes Jean Black Elsa Black Ian Beagrie Alice Officer Jacqueline Hepburn Maurice McFarlane Graeme Low Lynn Low Bill Forbes Joyce Forbes Ian Lord Marjorie Lord Bill McDonald Elaine Macdonald Carol Main Alan Brown Lewis Donaldson Anne Donaldson Malcolm Steel Betty Steel Garry Watson Rosalyn Rennie Douglas Craighead Dianne Morrison
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St Mark’s Church Duty Rotas Winter Messenger Pull-out Supplement Door Duty Rota
Date 24 November 2013 01 December 2013 08 December 2013 15 December 2013 22 December 2013 29 December 2013 05 January 2014 12 January 2014 19 January 2014 26 January 2014 02 February 2014 09 February 2014 16 February 2014 23 February 2014 02 March 2014 09 March 2014 16 March 2014 23 March 2014
Door Duty Communion Derek Caie Mary Caie Betty Steel Malcolm Steel Gail Hogg Dianne Morrison David Yacamini Jean Yacamini Bill McDonald Elaine Macdonald Douglas Craighead Sheila Main Carol Main Elaine Macdonald Lewis Donaldson Jean Yacamini Gail Hogg Bill McDonald Alan Brown David Yacamini Anne Donaldson Elsa Black Jean Black Garry Watson Rosalyn Rennie Douglas Craighead Sheila Main Helen Burr Sandra Andrew Sylvia Strachan Helen McKenzie Margaret Brown Maurice McFarlane Graeme Low Lynn Low Jacqueline Hepburn Margaret Donald
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St Mark’s Church Duty Rotas Winter Messenger Pull-out Supplement Church Readers Rota
Date 01 December 2013 08 December 2013 15 December 2013 22 December 2013 29 December 2013 05 January 2014 12 January 2014 19 January 2014 26 January 2014 02 February 2014 09 February 2014 16 February 2014 23 February 2014 02 March 2014 09 March 2014 16 March 2014 23 March 2014
Readers Jean Yacamini Sheila Main Alex McConochie David Yacamini Milton Montgomery Malcolm Steel Gail Hogg Anne Donaldson Kay Montgomery Alex McConochie Elsa Black Jean Black Margaret Donald Sheila Main Gail Hogg Jean Yacamini Alex McConochie
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St Mark’s Church Duty Rotas Winter Messenger Pull-out Supplement Flower Supply & Distribu8on Rota
Date 01 December 2013 08 December 2013 15 December 2013 22 December 2013 29 December 2013 05 January 2014 12 January 2014 19 January 2014 26 January 2014 02 February 2014 09 February 2014 16 February 2014 23 February 2014 02 March 2014 09 March 2014 16 March 2014 23 March 2014
Flower Supply Flower Distribution Miss S Strachan Mrs Lord Miss A McDonald Mrs Pamela McDonald Miss M Donald For the Minister Mrs M Leslie & Miss O Watt Miss O Watt Mrs Peggy Mitchell Mrs S Main Mrs S Mann Mrs B Coull Mrs B Coull Mrs Carol Main Miss Sheena Henry Mrs B Duthie Mrs A Brown Mrs E Leys Mrs A Officer Mr A Sim Mrs S Kessack Mrs M Brown Miss J Davie Mrs M Rae
As you can see there are quite a number of gaps in the Flower Distribu on Rota this quarter. Receiving the Church flowers gives a real boost to bereaved or ill members and all you have to do is drop them off on the way home. Please think about helping out in this small way. One day it might be you receiving them.
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Worship Calendar Worship Calendar Worship Calendar 5 January 2014 11.00am Morning Worship for Souper Sunday ‘Radiant Hearts’ Please come along and share a bowl of soup aPer the service. Bring a friend too! 12 January
11.00am Morning Worship Joint Service at Crown Terrace Methodist Church
19 January
11.00am Morning Worship Sacrament of Holy Communion ‘God and Ini a ve’
26 January
11.00am Morning Worship Joint Service of worship with Queen Street Church and the Kirk of St Nicholas Uni ng at St Mark’s
2 February
11.00am Morning Worship ‘Back to Basics’ A Service for Poverty & Homelessness Ac on Sunday
9 February
11.00am Morning Worship ‘Salty Church’
16 February
11.00am Morning Worship Guest Speaker Details in Pew Leaflet and Website
23 February
11.00am Morning Worship Fair Trade Sunday ‘Fair Trade and Sausages’
2 March
11.00am Morning Worship Transfigura8on Sunday ‘God’s Building Blocks’
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Guild of Friendship At the me of wri ng, we are just ge&ng into our session but have already had a few happy aPernoons. We have more entertaining days to come before we hold our Christmas Party on 9 December. We shall resume again in 2014 on Monday 13 January. New members will s ll be made very welcome at any me. Any further details can be had from me on 01224 642293. Pat Skene
The Strollers The Strollers had several very enjoyable ou ngs on some lovely mild Autumn days, the highlight being a walk along the Beach Promenade when there was a cloudless blue sky and the sea was absolutely beau ful. Now we are prepared for colder weather but hope that we shall not be rained o on the dates listed below. January February Tuesdays 10.00am Saturdays 2.00pm
7
28
March
18
18
8
11 1
April 1
22
22 12
We wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.
Punctuality is the art of making sure you're never later than the boss.
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A Note from the Treasurer Although you will be reading this in the run up to Christmas I had to put pen to paper (or rather keys to computer) before mid November so my report cannot be fully up to date. However the news is good. The Stewardship Programme had a posi ve result and you can read about it on Page 7. The results augur well for 2014 and the future but may well have been noted already. At the end of October offerings were up for the year and ahead of budget. That’s not been the posi on in previous quarters. Ordinary Expenditure for the year to October was below budget and it certainly looks that we will not end the year in deficit. In fact I can tell you that following receipt of two generous bequests we will end 2013 with a substan al surplus. The Board and Session however will be looking carefully at our financial posi on because we want to use these generous giPs to do something special for St Mark’s, work we could not do on the basis of our normal income. The purpose of the Stewardship Programme was to show to each and every member where our day to day income comes from and where our day to day expenditure goes. Our income for our ordinary ‘business’ of spreading the Good News of Jesus comes in large part from our offerings as it should be and many members have indicated they will indeed review and increase those offerings. That secures our daily costs. Anything else we want to do can only come from special efforts or as in this case generous legacies so we want to be sure we use these funds wisely and we will keep the congrega on fully informed as our plans move forward. Alex McConochie 17
The Circle of Care As always, the Circle of Care members express their thanks to all who help in the distribu on of their Christmas giPs and we also thank Babs Coull, Oonagh Wa and Sandra Andrew who week by week arrange for the delivery of the Church owers and also those who deliver them. We are most grateful to them. A Happy Christmas to you all and Good Health and Happiness in 2014
Christmas Carols Quiz Each dash represents a le er in the ďŹ rst line of a Christmas Carol. What are the Carols? e.g.
- ---- --- -- -------O come all ye faithful
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(Answers on Page 22)
---- -- - --------- --- ------ ------ ------- -- ----- ------ ------ -- --- ----- ------ ---- -- ------------- -- - --------- ---- ---- -- ----------- ----- ------- ---- ---- - -------- --------- --- ----18
The Guild By the me you are reading this the first part of our session will have finished with our usual Christmas party with the Men’s club. The New Year will start for us on the 20th January and listed below are the mee ng dates for 2014 with a brief topic. January 20th An evening with Burns February 3rd A talk about Antarc ca February 17th Discussion topic evening March 3rd Talk about the family history society March 17th Talk en tled Maths/philosophy and Saturday pennies April 7th A G M April 21st End of session meal Mee ngs start at 7.30pm and all are welcome, with mee ngs finishing with a cuppa. Also lookout for coffee mornings on February 8th and March 2nd
St Mark’s Rambling and Hillwalking Group A number of walks that had been planned had to be postponed due to various reasons but the following have been done since the last magazine. On 2nd September three walkers travelled to Johnshaven by bus and walked back to Inverbervie. It was a bit cold but the wind was behind us for most of the way before joining the bus for the journey home. Drumoak to Crathes was the walk on 9th October and a lovely walk it was with the Autumnal colours showing, it was a li le windy but very pleasant in the sun. (Con nued on page 20)
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The future walks planned for the winter period have not been allocated dates, at the me of wri ng this for the magazine, however it is hoped that the following can be undertaken during the early part of 2014: Riverside Drive and Duthie Park; Old Aberdeen and Seaton Park; Stonehaven and Duno ar woods; Hazlehead Park and woods; The Deeside railway line; Winter walk in the mountains; Clachnaben; Banchory and Scolty; Bennachie. Please contact Ian Lord on 321882 mobile 07929 720846 or email ian@thelords.freeserve.co.uk for more detailed and up to date informa on or for any other walking queries.
Commi ee: Graeme Low 01569 731389; Milton Montgomery 486839 Ian Lord 321882; Derek Caie 317978
We start our mee ngs in 2014 with a joint night with the ladies of the Guild and listed are the dates that we will be mee ng and the topics. January January February February March 3rd March 17th
6th An evening with Burns 20th & 27th Games nights 3rd A talk about Antarc ca 17th & 24th Games nights Games night Talk en tled Maths/Philosophy and Saturday pennies March 24th & 31st Games nights April 7th A G M April 21st End of session meal Please come along at 7.30 pm, all welcome and our evenings ďŹ nish with a cuppa. 20
OAK Report O.A.K. has had a number of successful events in the last few months. We had a Special Lunch in September and also an APernoon Tea in aid of Macmillan's ‘Biggest Coffee Morning in the world’. We have been collec ng goods for the Shoebox Appeal, and the boxes are nearly ready for the first leg of their journey to Eastern Europe, (Aberdeen to Peterhead). Thank you to everyone who contributed to the boxes. Our Special Lunch in aid of The Sco&sh Bible Society was especially well a ended and a happy me was enjoyed by all. We look forward to the Christmas Lunches and then, while The O.A.K. Café is closed we will by catering for the Shoppers’ Service on Thursday 19th December at 12noon. The O.A.K. staff have worked well throughout the year keeping the Café open and our customers well fed. Our grateful thanks go to them all. They deserve a short holiday so the Café will be closed from l6th December, re-opening on 6th January 2014. We look forward to seeing you at one or more of our events and wish you a Happy Christmas and Peaceful New year. Be-y & Malcolm Steel
Kindness is something we receive and have to pass along in order to keep it.
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Christmas Carol Quiz Answers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Away in a manger Hark the herald angels sing Once in Royal David’s City Joy to the world O li le town of Bethlehem Child in a manger Love came down at Christmas The first Nowell It came upon a midnight clear S ll the night
Images are © the Pavement 22
Thank You All and Happy New Year What a lot St Mark's has been involved with in 2013. There have been fundraisers, special services, decora ng, new worship opportuni es, new commi ees formed, such as the Worship commi ee, more people par cipa ng in leading Worship, special meals, coee mornings, open days, the enjoyable Stewardship Season gatherings and the wonderful produc on of Jesus Christ Super Star to men on just a few things. Mean me the other ac vi es that are part of St Mark's daily life have carried on such as cleaning, administra on, services, OAK cafe, friendships, laughter, mee ngs and prayer. On behalf of us all thank you to everyone who has been involved. We travel onwards into the New Year with Hope and Faith in God through and with Jesus Christ! A PEACE FILLED NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Diane
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