S†onelaw Parish Church Magazine November 2014 Fifth Series 126 www.stonelawchurch.org And that was true even, and perhaps especially even, of Christians. Letter from the Minister... I was looking recently at a research paper published in the “Clinical Psychology Review”. No, it’s not my usual bedtime reading, but an article called “Gratitude and wellbeing” caught my attention. It outlined a controlled experiment, where a group of people were asked to record each week five simple things for which they were grateful (a sunset, a kindness observed, a new thing learned etc.). The research demonstrated that those who did this became more optimistic, happier, more content (and more motivated to exercise) than those who didn’t. They also got to sleep quicker, slept longer, and awoke more refreshed. The paper also noted that these results were corroborated by their (I presume grateful) spouses. The conclusion: if you want to sleep easier, don’t count sheep, count blessings. This may well all be obvious, and yet it is easily missed. Our society deals so much in discontent and dissatisfaction. We always want more. We are always aware of what we are missing or denied. Not than ambition is necessarily bad, but it does appear that our values are often neither spiritually nor psychologically healthy. My own observation from my time in Ethiopia, was that in that land, where people had so much less than in prosperous Scotland, they were generally much more content. Grins and not girns abounded. 1 Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It’s good advice. And that psychologists find it to be healthy is not surprising. As with any good science, the research simply uncovers the truth of how God made his world and his creatures to be. We are made for praise, for thanksgiving, and to understand and feel valued by all that we receive in grace. That is health. November is, for our American cousins, the month of Thanksgiving (we mark it to a lesser extent in October’s harvest service.) What about us using this month to practice an attitude of gratitude? With thanks to God for all of you. Alistair Contents Church Diary…………………………….2 Church News……………..……………..3 Lenny Shepard………………………….4 News from Therese…………………..5 News from Old Parish……………….5 Activities……………………………...…..6 Where There’s a Will….…….............7 Rotas….…...……………………………….7 Greater Love Hath No Man…..……8 Accounts/Managers Report………9 Contact Information…....................10 Church Diary Morning Service at 10:30 am, conducted by Rev Alistair May unless otherwise stated. Sunday, 2nd November Sunday, 23rd November 10:30 am 10:30 am 6:00 pm Holy Communion (Proverbs) Alternative Evening Service (Toy Story) 6:30 pm Morning Service (Proverbs) Evening Service (Ephesians) Sunday, 9th November Sunday, 30th November 10:45 am 6:30 pm 10:30 am Service of Remembrance Evening Service (Ephesians) 6:00 pm Advent Sunday Morning Service Evening Service (Ephesians) Sunday, 16th November Sunday, 7th December 10:30 am 6:30 pm Morning Service (Proverbs) Evening Service (Ephesians) 10:30 am 6:00 pm Advent2 Morning Service Frozen Service (Alternative) Alternative Evening Services The first Sunday of each month will be an alternative evening service (6pm-7pm at latest). These are suitable for all. Some will be in the Meeting Place with child-friendly communion; some will be in the hall – allowing for a little more relaxed interactivity. All will have a movie theme this year. October will feature The Lego Service – and for December we’re planning a Frozen Service! Remembrance Sunday The service will start at 10:45 AM to better fit with the silence at 11:00 AM. Midweek Meetings In addition to our Sunday services we set aside Thursday evenings for growing, learning and sharing together as Christians. Throughout the year, our 7.30pm Thursday programme will offer a variety of different topics and formats. Missed a Sunday Morning? Recordings can be downloaded from www.stonelawchurch.org. E-Mail Copy of the Magazine If you would like to receive your copy of the magazine by e-mail please contact Isobel Wilson on [email protected] 2 Church News Christmas Party We are organising a Church Christmas Party for Saturday 13th December. There will be Games, Dancing and Food! Everyone is invited, so look out for more information in the weeks to come. I will be looking for volunteers who have good ideas about games, and also folk who like to bake, or anything else that makes a party fun. Put your thinking caps on then and talk to me. Jane Paulsen. Carpenter & May Concert Alan and Louise would like to thank everyone who helped and supported in the arrangements and organisation for the Carpenter and May Band concert on Thursday 25th September. The show was a great success and everyone, including our musician friends from the USA, had a great time. Profits from the concert were donated to the church funds. Church Register Additions Mrs Mavis Morrison by certificate of transference 02 September 14. Removals Mrs Margaret Ward, Stonelaw Court, Johnstone Drive, died 23 September 14. Life and Work Many thanks to all who deliver the church magazine and Life and Work. Please can distributors find out if there is any change in the number wanting Life and Work in 2015. The cost will be £22.00 per year. Numbers must be in by mid-Nov. Money can be given to your distributor or to myself on Sunday morning. Isobel Wilson Thanks Thanks Mrs Ruby Ferguson, now living in Templeton House, Abbeyfield, would like to thank her many friends in Stonelaw for their continuing visits, flowers, cards and especially their prayers. She greatly appreciates them all. Alan and Louise Mairs and family would like to express their sincere thanks to all who sent kind words, condolences, cards, love and prayers following the death on 22nd September of Alan's mother, Pearl Mairs. 3 Special Tribute Lenny Sheppard Noo, as many o you’ll ken, we are awfy fond o oor Len An a widnae mind if you would excuse ma run away pen! He’s come o’er here tae join us, oot ae his wee den Is that right Len? Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed! So as we come together, wae oor cups n saucers We’ll celebrate the time we had wae oor church officer It’s been 19 yrs, we’ve been privy tae your good cheer Noo dry your eyes, n wait til ye hear!! Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed! Noo a fair ken, that when you’ve been ben, In that church hoose there’s been a few times, You’d want tae let yir tongue loose A tale or two, that wid scare a moose!! Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed! You’ve telt me the tale, or rather Regailt! When a wumman who was teeny, checked you out rather keenly I am Church Offcer, Leonard Sheppard, quite supremely Oh! She said really, just wit we’re in needae – A good Sheppard, yes indeedy!! Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed! Noo, ma man’s yer pal – that’ll be Big Al! Oor weddin wiz yir first, which nearly saw ye fall, When ye said tae ma faither, who wiz in a bit o a lather Dinnae fash fir al hae a dram fir ye efter The Rev Alistair Morrice had a look that wid melt ye!! Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed A said tae wan or two – whit does Lenny mean tae you? “He’s always pleased tae see ya, and greet ye with a smile” “He’d go the extra mile, tae git ye through the turnstile” “N Gee ye a sweet, that wid jist go doon a treat!” Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we’ve been much bless-ed As you begin, your retire-ment, you’ll be glad I’m ending this indictment Load’s o time way Jackie n Tay you’ll spend When yir no listening fir your doves’ lament But we waant tae leave you way this sentiment – Your time here has been well spent, N we awe love that you’re well kent. Oh! Lenny Sheppard, we really have been much bless-ed!! Joanne Jenkins 31 August 2014 4 News from Therese Foodbank Update Who are the hardest people for us to love, and what does it mean that God loves them anyway? In the foodbank one of the most difficult decisions to make is the decision to refuse someone food because they have an addiction to either alcohol or drugs. Foodbanks have not been set up to support these lifestyle choices or create yet another dependency however what would Jesus do? A huge thank you to all who responded to my appeal for help at our latest food collection at Morrison's Store in Cambuslang and the subsequent food sort at St Columbkille's. We gathered 3.8 tonnes of food. Glasgow Soup Kitchen This humble quiet ministry of compassion is carried out by various groups, one of which originates from Stonelaw Church. The Stonelaw team go out onto Cadogan Street in Glasgow every Sunday night, hail, rain or snow, to offer hope in Jesus' name. Could I please encourage you to continue to support this ministry, by bringing along a can of soup, beans, pot noodles, tea bags or a packet biscuits? Thank you for your continued support. Blessings, Therese x News from Rutherglen Old Parish Church Very many thanks to everyone who has been knitting “wee jumpers” and hats. Glasgow Caring City Charity now has a stock of these items. They would be most grateful for “Beanie” type hats for adults, and long scarves, and they still need the blankets. I would personally like to express my appreciation of all the love and work which has been put into the many thousand garments which have been supplied by Stonelaw Church and friends at home and abroad. God works through so many people and in so many ways. Best wishes to all from 5 Marjory Greig Activities Tuesday Chat Acoustic nights @ The Meeting Place Thanks to everyone who came to the October meetings. By the time you all read this we will have had the Table Top Sale. Look out for any news in the December Magazine. Our 1st meeting in November is on Tuesday 11th at Faith Mission (in Glasgow) from 79pm. It is a good way to spend a couple of hours. First you can buy Christmas cards etc and browse round the shop. Then we can get together for Tea/Coffee and Cake and have time to Chat. All welcome. The cost is £5.50. If anyone wishes to come please give your name to Jill Rennie ASAP. We can also provide transport. We have done this for a few years now and it is always a good evening. We will have a meeting in the Meeting Place on the 25th Nov. We will only have one meeting in December on the 9th. This will be our Christmas Celebrations with Secret Santa. Anyone wishing to come, please bring a secret gift value £5. We usually have Mulled Fruit Wine and Christmas pies. Do come along and join in our fun!!! Alison McCartan The Wednesday Ladies Another successful meeting took place in October and we are looking forward to getting together again on 19th November at 2 p.m. A minor difficulty we are encountering is the logistics of travel as few of the ladies attending have access to transport and relying on those who do is placing a strain on goodwill. To delete one 'o' from the last word of the preceding sentence and prove its truth, two or three volunteer drivers on the one day per month for the five monthly meetings would be a tremendous help to maintain attendances at this fellowship. Anyone willing to help out? Please 'phone Myra Howitt at 0141 6475228. 6 On 28th November 7.30pm The Meeting Place presents Scotland's foremost exponents of traditional ballads and contemporary folk music – Pete & Heather Haywood. Not to be missed! See you there! Alan and Louise Mairs 6th Rutherglen Girls’ Brigade The Juniors are continuing to work their way through the Ten Commandments as well as having a lot of fun with Team Games. They are also going to explore well known bible stories through drama (hopefully they won’t suffer from stage fright). The Explorers have been continuing to think about journeys and having made their passports are now heading for France on the first stop on their trip round the world. They very much enjoyed the night that we spent playing team games with the Juniors. Please feel free to have a look at what we have been doing by visiting the Girls Brigade board which can be found in the main hall of the Church. Please continue to pray for the girls and the team. Fiona Benson (Captain) Sundries Where there’s a will…….. Going through some of dad’s many memoirs, mum and I came across this story which I thought I would share with you this remembrance season. It is a story from the Second World War and is of a British soldier who had been killed. His comrades asked the parish priest if he could be buried in the catholic churchyard. The priest was very apologetic, explaining that he wasn’t allowed to bury him in the churchyard as he wasn’t of the catholic faith. Instead, he would have to be buried outside the churchyard fence. The next morning, a group of soldiers gathered to stand by the grave outside the fence. But they couldn’t find it. There wasn’t a grave to be seen. Then they discovered that, during the night, the priest had uprooted the wooden fence around the churchyard and had re-routed it so that the soldier’s grave was now inside! He’d solved the problem without breaking the rules - where there’s a will there’s always a way…… May you know His peace at this time of remembrance. Margaret A. Borland Rotas Door Duty DATE 09/11/14 16/11/14 23/11/14 30/11/14 07/12/14 NORTH AISLE M. Moore G. Morrison C. Baillie B. Stewart R. Taylor DRYBURGH M. Galt M. Morrison A. Stewart E. McDonald J. Baird 7 SOUTH AISLE B. Shields J. Shaw P. Howitt B. Stark M. Baird FLOATER J. Paulsen M. Shaw M. Ewing T. Finlayson I. Wilson Sundries Greater Love Hath No Man These words can be attributed to Jane Haining, a committed Christian, who gave her life for the Jewish girls in her care. Jane was born on 6 June 1897 in Lochanhead Farm, Dunscore, near Dumfries. She was 5 when her mother died and from an early age Jane showed maternal feelings towards her younger siblings. A pupil in Dunscore primary, she won a scholarship to Dumfries Academy in 1909, where she received 41 prizes in total and won the Dux Medal in 1915. After completing a business course at the Atheneum in Glasgow, Jane began a 10-year spell as a secretary with J and P Coats in Paisley. She found digs in Pollokshields and attended Queens Park West United Free Church, where she heard a talk about work with Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. Shocked to hear about the murder of Hungarian Jews following a Communist uprising, Jane told friends she had found her life’s work. In 1931 she answered an advert in Life and Work for a Matron at the Scottish Mission School in Vǒrǒsmarty utca (street) 51, Budapest, Hungary. Most of the 400 pupils were Jewish, sent there by their parents for safety. Jane began a Diploma course at the Domestic Science College in Glasgow, attending German language classes in the evening. She paid her fees from her savings, passing with distinction, and took up her post in 1932. Popular with both staff and pupils, Jane soon became fluent in Hungarian. When war was declared, Jane and her fellow staff member Margit Prėm were on holiday in England. They left immediately for Budapest. In 1940 Jane was advised by the church authorities to return to Scotland and safety but she insisted that her girls needed her. She disregarded two further warnings and when the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944 she still resolutely refused to abandon her charges. All Jews were herded into ghettos and this included the mission on Vǒrǒsmarty utca. Jane was arrested in April on the charges of helping Jews, listening to the BBC and spying. She admitted to the first two �offences’ but not the latter. It is possible that her betrayer was the housekeeper’s son-in-law, a member of the Nazi party. Jane spent time in Futca prison and was interrogated by the Gestapo on two occasions. After time spent in a holding camp in Kistarcsa, she was transported to Auschwitz on 15 May. Her last letter to Margit Prém was dated 15 July and postmarked Auschwitz 21 July, by which time Jane is believed to have been dead. In 1948 two stained glass memorial windows were placed in Queen’s Park Church and in 1984 the Jewish community in Budapest erected a marble plaque in the Scottish Mission. She is also remembered at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and in 2005 people in Dunscore erected a cairn in her memory. A Foundation was started in her name and a stone from Lochanhead Farm was gifted to the Budapest synagogue. Jane’s ex-pupils, now aged 80s and 90s, describe her as a kind and caring Matron. A solid silver �British Heroes of the Holocaust’ medal is housed in Dunscore church. Reverend Aaron Stevens from Jane’s old church, St Columba’s on Vǒrǒsmarty utca, found treasure in an old safe in the church; a bible presented to Jane in 1931 by her fellow Sunday school teachers in Glasgow and a book on plants, a school prize from Dumfries Academy in 1910. These are now in the Foundation’s safekeeping. The school in Budapest is now run by the State and The Jane Haining Foundation brings the three top students and one of their teachers each summer to visit Dunscore. Accommodation and hospitality is provided by church members. Pamela Mitchell, one of the team leaders involved in running the Foundation and an elder of Dunscore Church, has welcomed many teachers and students over the years. Irene Lebeter 8 Treasurer's Report Cash Summary Sep 2014 Income Free will offering Tax recovery Donations and other income Total Income Month Actual £ 8,570 0 11,382 19,952 Year to Date Actual Budget £ £ 77,994 84,510 17,733 18,890 18,550 6,725 114,277 110,125 Surplus / (Shortfall) £ (6,516) (1,157) 11,825 4,152 Note 4% Expenditure Ministry, mission & wider work Local staffing costs Building costs Rates, water, insurances Power Repair costs Other local costs Reachout Trust Printing and stationery Organ & piano Other Total Expenditure 8,204 1,643 67,158 15,934 70,209 17,260 3,051 1,326 1,172 1,460 140 8,451 7,076 8,423 8,743 7,392 4,440 292 316 (3,983) 0 621 0 289 13,528 0 2,068 402 2,835 112,347 0 1,847 350 3,184 113,425 0 (221) (52) 349 1,078 6,424 1,930 (3,300) 5,230 1% Income less Expenditure Surplus / (shortfall) Figures relating to the Development Worker Fund are excluded. Other income includes VAT reclaim for Project Wall. NOTES FROM THE MANAGERS A request to all hall users...... As winter approaches and the church heating is now firmly ON, could you please advise the Hall Convenor, Vetinia Gorman, if your organisation is not using the hall on a day that it has previously booked, eg holiday, an outing, etc? This will allow the heating to be altered accordingly, which will save energy by not heating an empty space and also save money on our fuel bills. Thank you for your help with this. Would you like to join us? Have you ever considered becoming a church manager? We are looking for people to join the Managers’ Court to help in the smooth running of the church. You don’t need to be an expert in electrical maintenance, masonry, or plumbing (we get people in to do that!), we just ask that you have enthusiasm and an interest in keeping the church ticking over. If you think you would like to join us, or even just to find out more, please speak to Stuart Menzies or any of the other managers. Helen McKechnie 9 Contact Information: www.stonelawchurch.org Rev Dr. Alistair May 80 Blairbeth Road, Burnside, Rutherglen G73 4JA 583 0157 (Day off Monday - urgent calls only) [email protected] Outreach Development Worker Therese Reid 07 508 213 099 (Day off Monday - urgent calls only) [email protected] Organist Alan Jenkins, B.Ed 16 Eden Grove, Mossneuk, East Kilbride Church Officer Jackie Sheppard, Church House 647 5113 (Day off Monday) Session Clerk William K Liggat, 148 Langlea Avenue, Cambuslang. 562 0966 [email protected] Rollkeeper Morag Moore, 26 Buchanan Drive 647 2130 [email protected] Preses Stuart Menzies, 46 Milburn Avenue 647 4664 [email protected] Clerk to the Managers Helen McKechnie, 21 Cragwell Park, Carmunnock. 644 3618 [email protected] Treasurer (inc. FWO) Iain Morrison, Flat G/L, 5 Parkhill Drive 569 3609 [email protected] Weekly Announcement Sheet Vetinia Gorman, 12 Calderwood Road 647 2488 [email protected] Church Flower Requests: Cathie Baillie, 583 5591 Margaret Stark, 258 8750 Halls Booking Officer (inc. Meeting Place) Vetinia Gorman, 12 Calderwood Road 647 2488 [email protected] Church Magazine Editorial Team Stuart Willins, 42 Kingsburn Grove 613 0858 Irene Lebeter [email protected] MAGAZINE DEADLINE Items for the December issue of the Church Magazine to be delivered to the editorial team no later than: Sunday 23rd November. It may not be possible to include items submitted after that date. Note the change of e-mail address. 10
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