No.28(1) 24th May, 2024
Hi,
There is lots to read about in the magazine this week - obviously a very significant week for our church as we become part of the Free Church of Scotland - all those details are below and of course, the details of this Sunday's service too. A key point to consider will be the question of whether this is magazine No.28 or No.1.
The rest of the Christian world continues to turn too of course, and in June and through the Summer there are a number of events and meetings of different kinds - I have noted them below.
Some are our own events - Starter for 10 - Holiday Club - Community Week so note them especially!
And there are a couple of newsletters too... as we become Mearns Free Church this week, and as we consider what sort of church we will be in our very well off, Southside suburb these two newsletters call us to remember that life is quite different for many on the margins. Take a moment to click through and read about Glasgow City Mission and SU Scotland's important work in difficult areas, with people for whom life can be very difficult indeed for a whole host of reasons.
Enjoy the mag.
M
Sunday 26th May 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland and Rev Ian Watson
Scripture - Isa.60:1-5 and Matt.5:13-16
LARGE PRINT
If you would prefer to have a large print copy of the song words which appear on the screen on a Sunday morning let the door team know.
We don't want to print copies which aren't used so just the team know and we can organise that for you.
If you require a lift to get to church email office@nmnewchurch.org
Psalms on Sunday
There will be no instruments for praise on Sunday - here are the tunes we will be singing for the Psalms, to acquaint yourself.
Click on each link to take you to an example...
Psalm 96 (v1-9) O sing a new song to the Lord [just the tune 'Glasgow' is on the link)
Psalm 131 My heart’s not proud [just the tune 'Dennis' is on the link]
Psalm 23 The Lord’s my shepherd [Townend] (Nice and clear on the different parts, men and woman)
Psalm 139 Were I to cross [New Scottish)
Letter from the Manse
Dear Congregation,
Many thanks to all! You responded brilliantly to our request to create a “new” congregational roll for Mearns Free Church. I am truly delighted to share that all members of “Newton Mearns New Church” have confirmed their desire to become members of “Mearns Free Church”. On Sunday, I will present to our first Kirk Session for acceptance, a congregational roll with 135 names on it.
Many of you will know that on behalf of Newton Mearns New Church (and soon-to-be Mearns Free Church), I attended the Free Church General Assembly in Edinburgh this week. On Monday night I enjoyed observing the early business of the Assembly.The praise and prayer were a delight.
I was delighted to accept the invitation to attend “The Moderator’s Reception” in a local hotel. The Reception was a light-hearted, warm affair with a “finger buffet” and a series of “best-man” speeches about the Moderator, Rev Callum Macleod. It was lovely being there.
On Tuesday afternoon, I attended the Assembly formally with four of our elders (Alastair, David, Jack and Sandy McD). I am delighted to tell you that our congregation was not only accepted into the Free Church of Scotland under the Mission Board report, but I believe received with genuine warmth. The Assembly kindly arranged its business so that my own application to become a minister in the Free Church could also be dealt with at the same time. My application was discussed in private for about 15 minutes. On our return, we were delighted to hear that I was to be accepted. I was given an opportunity to speak. I thanked the Assembly on your behalf for all the time and effort they had put into the application of NMNC, now “Mearns Free Church”.
We now look forward to this Sunday, 26th May, when a small number of representatives from the Presbytery of Glasgow and Argyll will meet with us in worship at Belmont House School to welcome us into the Presbytery. This is the last step of the process that brings the congregation into the Free Church and with me as minister.
Technically, this Sunday's gathering will be a Presbytery meeting. It will therefore be a representative of the Presbytery who will lead us in worship (I believe it will be Rev Ian Watson). As I have been explaining recently, because of the history of the Free Church, Presbytery meetings only sing Psalms and without musical accompaniment. I distributed during the week, tunes for two of the Psalms we will sing. You will also find links to the same tunes in this magazine (above).
During the service on Sunday, the Presbytery will welcome us as a congregation. They will also go through the formal process of installing me as minister.
Prior to worship, two representatives from the Presbytery will be appointed as “Assessor Elders” for our Kirk Session (I believe this will be Rev Ivor MacDonald and Iain Sanderson). Also during the service, I will "constitute a Kirk Session" in front of the congregation. That Kirk Session will initially be me and the two Presbytery representatives. They are needed to create a “quorum” (= the minimum number of elders needing to be present to make a Kirk Session legal). With this three-man Kirk Session, we will then install the elders our congregation elected earlier in the year. We will attend to some other matters very swiftly (e.g. appointing a Session Clerk, Presbytery Elder, calling a congregational meeting, etc.).
I regret that this special service falls within a holiday weekend. A significant number of you have indicated you have already planned to be away. We have chosen this Sunday as it is the first after the General Assembly. We thought it important to complete all the steps relating to joining the Free Church and becoming an OSCR charity, as soon as possible. Hopefully, you will be able to worship with us online from wherever you are (or do so with the recording at a later time).
Let's pray for Sunday's service (it certainly is unusual). Let's pray for God's blessing on any who visit with us, those coming to assist us in worship and the practicalities, and ourselves as a "re-forming" congregation.
Warmest Regards,
Scott
Proposed Constitution Of
Mearns Free Church
MEETING - 7th June, 8 pm
There are two options for us to consider when adopting a Constitution in the Free Church. The key difference lies in whether we think it best for us to have a Deacons Court or a Finance Committee oversee our “finance and fabric”.
A Deacons Court means ordaining men as Deacons, for life. A Finance Committee means the congregation elects men and women annually.
The elders propose that the congregation adopt the constitution with the Finance Committee.
We believe having a Finance Committee elected annually by the congregation from the men and women of the congregation best suits our history and the gifts of our congregation. Members of the Finance Committee may be re-elected each year by the congregation. We propose adopting a constitution at a congregational meeting on 7th June. We will announce this formally as part of our proceedings on Sunday.
To compare and contrast the two constitutions, you can view them here.
Please note that the link takes you to two Appendices.
Appendix I refers to the Deacons Court.
Appendix II refers to the Finance Committee. (We are proposing Appendix II.)
From the Assembly...
"The sooner we get to the bottom of this the sooner we can get on with business...now, for the last time, which one of you shouted out 'He's not a proper doctor!'"
Join us for...
Sunday 2nd June - Everyone’s invited!
In little over a week, we will be gathering for our starter for 10 event, and we would love to see you there.
Whether you are new to congregation, or part of the furniture, young or old we want you to come along and have a chance to share some ideas on...
· Training & Leadership
· Mission & social action
· Pastoral & relationships
· Praise & Worship
· Outreach & Discipleship
· Prayer.
Please think about which 3 stations you could visit and prayerfully consider:
1. What do we do well in this area?
2. What do we do badly in this area?
3. How do you see your gifting in this area?
4. What ideas do you have for how could we develop this ministry at Mearns Free Church?
Your ideas will then be fed back to Kirk Session to discuss and pray over.
As a reminder of the order of the evening.
16:30 – Start with talk from Guest speaker, Simon Atwood, and praise.
17:00 – Chance to go round some of themed stations and share ideas about how we can grow and be a healthy Gospel church.
18:00 – Buffet tea
18:45 – Short closing wrap up from Scott Kirkland
19:00 – End
If you have any questions, get in touch with Jacob (youth@nmnewchurch.org).
Looking forward to seeing everyone there
Starter for 10 – Meet our speaker.
We are delighted to welcome Simon Attwood to speak at our starter for 10 discussion event.
Simon is currently a Minister in Training at St Silas Church Glasgow but is soon to be working at St Andrews Free Church as an ETS candidate. At St Silas he heads up the Ministry Trainee Scheme as well as being involved with Roots, Growth Groups, pastoral work, and other projects in church life. During his time at St Silas, he has received Certificate in Biblical Counselling and has also worked towards a master’s degree in theology. Geordie by birth, Scottish by adoption and Northern Irish by association, Simon has called Scotland home since studying in Dundee over a decade ago. You can regularly find swimming in lochs, cooking people delicious food or enjoying a high-quality coffee, sometimes all at once!
Holiday Club Team Lunch
For all those who have expressed a desire to help with Holiday Club this year (and those who would like to but haven't yet passed this info on to Pauline or Jacob!). We will gather after church on Sunday 9th June to enjoy some lunch together followed by a meeting to do some training and safeguarding, allocate roles and tasks and pray together. Please do come along if you are able!
Pauline and Jacob
Ladybird Book of Mearns Free Church
Mearns Free Church
Community Week
5th - 9th August
The Paris 2024 Olympics marks 100 years since Eric Liddell famously won the 400 metres in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Join us for a week of activities for all ages as we explore more about the life and faith of a Scottish sporting legend whose heart lay in China.
All activities will take place at Belmont House School, home of Mearns Free Church, and are free to attend.
Monday – Friday:
10am – 12.30pm: Holiday Club for children P2-P7 (going into)
Registration required (link to follow)
Café for parents 10am-11am
Tuesday:
1.30pm-3pm: Café Connect. Cake, refreshments and a chance to connect with others in our community.
7pm-9pm: S1-S6 Youth Sports event with Christians In Sport
Registration required (link to follow)
Wednesday:
7pm-9.30pm: Chariots of Fire film showing
Friday:
6.30pm-8pm: Scottish/Chinese cultural evening. A time of food, dancing and activities for all ages.
Sunday:
10.30am-12pm: All-age worship service to round up our community week.
Another enjoyable afternoon at Cafe Connect.
Jacob tested our bible knowledge with a quiz and Martin reminded us of the importance of seeking God.
Next Tuesday we will welcome Lynne Hamilton the SU Regional Worker to tell us about her role.
Elizabeth
Connect Magazine
The latest magazine CONNECT with news from Glasgow City Mission was sent out this week.
You can read it
here - and sign up to receive it in your own inbox.
Scott
In a similar vein, SU Scotland have 'Ministry at the Margins'.
Tim Raynes heads this great work up - their latest magazine can be read
here.
DATES FOR DIARY IN JUNE
If you’re a dad, mum, grandparent or anyone wanting to help children build strong emotional wellbeing, join us for this popular event.
by Care for the Family
Thursday, June 20 · 7:30 - 10pm
C7 Conference Centre100 High Craighall Road Glasgow G4 9UD
Event info and booking here
Anxiety levels and struggles with mental health are on the rise in children and young people, and as mums and dads, this can feel overwhelming … even at times debilitating. But there’s good news! You, as parents, have incredible power to help your children build strong emotional resilience and healthy mental wellbeing.
A Mind of Their Own is packed with simple and effective strategies for you to use at home, helping you to better understand what’s going on in your child’s head. Together with Katharine Hill and Sim Dendy, we’ll explore the science of the mind, and why children act and react the way they do.
Featuring interviews with mental health professionals, Dr Rob Waller and Dr Kate Middleton, this event will expand your understanding of the unique pressures and opportunities facing young people today, so you can help your child develop an emotional resiliency that lasts.
Summer Conference
Allander Evangelical Church
We are pleased to announce the event, High hope for low days: a weekend of hope the Bible, with invited speaker Simon Manchester. He will be speaking through the weekend from Friday 28th June to Sunday 30th June:
Friday 28th June at 7:30pm
Saturday 29th June at 10:00am and 11:45am
Sunday 30th June at the 10:30am morning worship service
Life is a battle and can leave us feeling weak and hopeless and even with faith we can find ourselves lacking strength. This is not a modern phenomenon as we discover that the Apostle Paul, often felt overwhelmed at life’s challenges.
However he discovered that there was Divine strength for him to find in the consciousness of his own weakness. As Paul prays for himself and for the church, he opens our awareness to the reality that there is help to be found from the highest source when we endure our lowest experiences.
Come and hear Paul’s prayers expounded and find God’s help for your life.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
We are in part 3 of a new series looking at aspects of the Gospel. Don Carson has a short booklet based on this exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 from the plenary address at The Gospel Coalition's inaugural public conference in 2007
You can buy it here.
I shall try to bring things to clarity by focusing on eight summarizing words (six of which were first suggested by John Stott), five clarifying sentences, and one evocative summary.
1. The Gospel Is Christological; It Is Christ-Centered
2. The Gospel Is Theological
This is a short-hand way of affirming two things. First, as 1 Corinthians 15 repeatedly affirms, God raised Christ Jesus from the dead (e.g. 5:15). More broadly, New Testament documents insist that God sent the Son into the world, and the Son obediently went to the cross because this was his Father’s will. It makes no sense to pit the mission of the Son against the sovereign purpose of the Father. If the gospel is centrally Christological, it is no less centrally theological. Second, the text does not simply say that Christ died and rose again; rather, it asserts that “Christ died for our sins” and rose again. The cross and resurrection are not nakedly historical events; they are historical events with the deepest theological weight. We can glimpse the power of this claim only if we remind ourselves how sin and death are related to God in Scripture. In recent years it has become popular to sketch the Bible’s story-line something like this: Ever since the fall, God has been active to reverse the effects of sin. He takes action to limit sin’s damage; he calls out a new nation, the Israelites, to mediate his teaching and his grace to others; he promises that one day he will send the promised Davidic king to overthrow sin and death and all their wretched effects. This is what Jesus does: he conquers death, inaugurates the kingdom of righteousness, and calls his followers to live out that righteousness now in prospect of the consummation still to come.
Much of this description of the Bible’s story-line, of course, is true. Yet it is so painfully reductionistic that it introduces a major distortion.
It collapses human rebellion, God’s wrath, and assorted disasters into one construct, namely, the degradation of human life, while depersonalizing the wrath of God. It thus fails to wrestle with the fact that from the beginning, sin is an offense against God. God himself pronounces the sentence of death (Gen. 2–3). This is scarcely surprising, since God is the source of all life, so if his image bearers spit in his face and insist on going their own way and becoming their own gods, they cut themselves off from their Maker, from the One who gives life. What is there, then, but death? Moreover, when we sin in any way, God himself is invariably the most offended party. That is made clear from David’s experience. After he has sinned by seducing Bathsheba and arranging the execution of her husband, David is confronted by the prophet Nathan. In deep contrition, he pens Psalm 51. There he addresses God and says, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (51:4). At one level, that is nonsense. After all, David has certainly sinned against Bathsheba. He has sinned horribly against her husband. He has sinned against the military high command by corrupting it, against his own family, against the baby in Bathsheba’s womb, against the nation as a whole, which expects him to act with integrity. In fact, it is difficult to think of anyone against whom David did not sin. Yet here he says, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
In the most profound sense, that is exactly right. What makes sin sin, what makes it so vile, what gives it its horrific transcendental vileness, is that it is sin against God. In all our sinning, God is invariably the most offended party. That is why we must have his forgiveness, or we have nothing. The God the Bible portrays as resolved to intervene and save is also the God portrayed as full of wrath because of our sustained idolatry. As much as he intervenes to save us, he stands over against us as Judge, an offended Judge with fearsome jealousy.
Continued next week...
1824—2024
This June, Crow Road Free Church will celebrate its 200th anniversary.
Known originally as Hope Street Gaelic Chapel the congregation was formed in 1824. In 2023 it became known as Crow Road Free Church following the union of Glasgow City with Partick Free Church.
To mark 200 years of life, worship and Gospel witness of this congregation, special services are being held in the church at 29 Crow Road, Glasgow, on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June.
Dr Derek Thomas, formerly First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi and First Presbyterian Church, Columbia and Rev. Neil MacMillan, Cornerstone Free Church Edinburgh, a former member in the congregation, will be our guest preachers.
A warm invitation is extended to you to join us for any of these services.
Saturday 15th June at 7.30 pm
Preacher: Rev. Dr Derek Thomas
Greetings and reminiscences from former members
Book Launch: A Family We Belong To—a new history of the congregation by Evan Macdonald, £10
Exhibition of archive photographs and artefacts
Sunday 16th June
Morning Service at 11.00 am: Rev. Dr Derek Thomas
Evening Service at 6.00 pm: Rev. Neil MacMillan
B.Y.O.C. please
CAN YOU HELP?
it makes such a difference if people bring their own cups rather than using the disposable ones each week - can you help?
You can watch a live stream our services on YouTube each week.
You can find the service
here and don't forget to click SUBSCRIBE
If you have friends/relatives who can't manage out they can simply search on YouTube for Newton Mearns New Church.
Wednesdays 7.15-8.15pm.
Look out for details this week on email/whatsapp
If you need a lift please email office@nmnewchurch.org.
Safeguarding at Newton Mearns New Church
Safeguarding – Ensuring a Safe Church for All
If you suspect or witness harm or abuse, or it is reported to you, you must immediately report it to one of the Safeguarding Coordinators:
Sue Anderson – 07970 261429
Giving at NM New Church
There are a number of ways to support the church financially. The giving page gives details - click here
A number of people have been asking if cash or cheques can now be given. From this Sunday you will have the opportunity to leave offerings in the plate or basket on the table at the back of the church.
If you have any questions please speak to our Treasurer Sandy or email him on finance@nmnewchurch.org
The New Church has a What's App Group for Prayer
See magazine no.4 for an outline of how this Pray Now group operates.
Speak to Margaret Boyd if you would like to be added to this group or email your details to mandmboyd@hotmail.co.uk
You need WhatsApp on your phone to get set up