News from Presbytery
News from Presbytery Meeting June 2010
"The Rev. Robert Malloch, minister at Castle Douglas, was elected Moderator of the Presbytery of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright for 2010-2011 at the June Presbytery meeting. He will serve for one year.
Mr. Malloch, on the left, is being congratulated by the retiring
Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Maurice Bond."
News from Presbytery Meeting April 2010
""Because He lives" was the
theme taken by the Moderator of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright
Presbytery, the Rev. Dr. Maurice Bond, when he led Presbytery in
the week following Easter. He said that the Resurrection means
that this life is not the end but it also means that it is about
life today. "Because He lives" in our hearts we can face
all our tomorrows and help others to do the same, finding the
"faith within."
News from Presbytery Meeting February 2010
"With a very pertinent
message, the Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Maurice Bond led worship at
the February meeting of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright
Presbytery. He spoke about Christianity being a pro-active
religion and said it was through christian duty and christian
imagination that people are able to have the energy to find
their way into the prison cell, into the situations of the
lonely, and also into the "Haiti rubble". In those places, and
with the experience of pain and sacrifice, the people of the
Church become active. The Church is wherever the people of God
are, and where they are working to do His work. The hymns for
the evening reinforced that message.
The business began
with the welcome news that Mr. Craig McEwan had been appointed
Parish Assistant at Dumfries: North West. Congratulations were
expressed to Craig and it was intimated that his Service of
Introduction will be held on Thursday 25 February at 7.00pm at
Dumfries: North West.
More than a year ago the Presbytery Commission had been given the task of identifying a "strategic approach" to using the Presbytery's allocation of ministers and on the future of its buildings, to enable people to continue to worship and serve God in their community and at the same time to attract others to God. The report of the Commission, entitled "Mapping the Future" acknowledged that church buildings are a visible presence of the Christian faith, but also that the building was less important than the Christian community. Bearing in mind the trends of today's society, the vacancies within the Ministry and the financial difficulties, the Commission suggested that a system of parish groupings be developed to bring smaller and larger congregations together, centred round a single focus church building, where appropriate facilities would enable larger or special church events to take place. After the implementation of such a system, should a church building be closed, through necessity, there would be a support group in place to which people could relate. "Mapping the Future" recommended that all congregations in the Presbytery develop an imaginative vision for the use of their current buildings and encouraged team work and mutual support among ministers, locums, assistants and readers as well as locally trained people. However it realised that, with seven vacancies within the Presbytery, such team work is taking place already with ministers being involved with parishes other than their own. Presbytery members spent much time discussing the report and after due procedure, "Mapping the Future" was approved. There is much work still to be done before any changes take place and before the Presbytery Plan identifies a "focus church" for each finalised grouping.
Bringing people together was also part of the Mission and
Discipleship report. Gatherings for Church Elders are being
organised throughout the Presbytery and a Pentacost Gathering,
jointly run by the Presbytery and Dumfries Christian Council, is
being held on 23 May 2010 in Dumfries. The plan for this is
a Church Family Day with something for every age-group ;
workshops, displays, and activities being held in the afternoon
followed by worship in the early evening. Churches will receive
further information as the weeks go by, but in the meantime 23
May is a date to remember.
Hustings bring people together. Plans are being set in place to
hold a Hustings in Dumfries as soon as a date for the General
Election is known. In the past, Hustings have been held in
Kirkcudbright and organised by the Churches there.
After a long meeting,
Presbytery closed with prayer and meets again in
Dumfries: St. George's on 3 March 2010 at 7.00 p.m.
World Mission Conference Report
"Bangladesh, Peru, Nigeria,
Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, are some of the poorest parts of the
world and all are very far from South West
Scotland, but they are places with which many people in the
Churches of our Presbyteries have a connection. Through these
connections differences are being made so that the people
of those far off places can have lives enriched by education,
employment, health care and places to call home. Those who
attended the Three Presbyteries World Mission Conference
in Castle Douglas in January heard of the ongoing work that is
achieved through the "twinnings" of local churches and their "
twins" abroad. Visits in both directions have been undertaken
and according to one delegate these "visits are the key" so that
the exchange of joy and God's word can underpin the relationship
and both parties receive much.
Pat Jamison, from
Newtonabbey Methodist Church, Belfast, addressed the conference
and told how she is ready to set off to Southern Bangladesh
where she will be directing a health programme, educating
nursing staff and expanding the clinics among the Moslem, Hindu
and Christian peoples. She spoke of her two week sojourn there
to see what lies ahead during her placement and is looking
forward to being partnered with the Presbytery of Dumfries
and Kirkcudbright and also with the Presbytery of Wigtown and
Stranraer while she is in Bangladesh. When Pat was in our
area she took the opportunity to speak at the morning service in
Kirkcudbright and at the evening service in Penninghame, Newton
Stewart, before heading home to prepare for her commissioning
service in her home church on 24 January.
The work of the Vine
Trust and its aid to abandoned children of Peru was highlighted
by June Marchbank, a member of Dumfries: St. George's.
She told how children as young as four are living on the streets
and are subjected to violence, neglect and human rights
violations, and who often turn to begging, stealing,
scavanging and prostitution to find ways of surviving.
The Street Children's Project offers these children
a way off the streets and into residential and educational
programmes and June told of the great work that she
witnessed and of her experiences during her visit to Peru.
Rev. Douglas Irving, World
Mission Convener, gave an update of the Church of Scotland's
HIV/Aids Project and told the Conference that there are 33.4
million people living with the disease and that 3 million
more people will be infected this year. The Church of Scotland
is making a difference by providing care and medication
and helping people to live with their disease as well as trying
to remove the stigma and discrimination that accompany anyone
who is afflicted. Mr. Irving made the point that there are about
400 new infections of HIV/Aids in Scotland each year and numbers
have been rising since the year 2000.
With pictures of his
visit to Nigeria last year, the Rev.David Bartholomew showed
places and people he met on his tour and spoke of their welcome
and great generosity. (He was presented with seven Nigerian
costumes during his visit and he modelled one for the
conference). He also told of the immense wealth that is
generated through the oil business but he emphasised that the
wealth is kept for the elite only, and nothing is shared among
the ordinary people. Mr. Bartholomew said that at the moment
there are no twinnings between congregations in Scotland and
Nigeria but there is the desire to develop links.
As the Conference came to a close it was discovered that the
Congregations of Corsock and Kirkpatrick Durham have started
proceedings to make a linking come about. This will be something
to follow up at next year's conference.
Throughout the day there
was praise led by Rev. Eric Boyle of Wigtown, and display boards
from individual Churches, Boys Brigade and Abbas Rest providing
further information, and in keeping with the themes of
the day, the retiring offering went to assist the work of The
Church of Scotland HIV/Aids Project and the Vine Trust.
December 2009 Presbytery Meeting
"The Church is the Body of
Christ and will not perish." Those were the words of the
Moderator of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright Presbytery, the Rev.
Dr. Maurice Bond as he addressed the December meeting of
Presbytery. He went on to say that instead of being downhearted
by the gloomy statistics of falling numbers and
finances, which are publicised frequently, we should be
looking for a new vision where congregations are working
together and promoting what is best for our Church and our
lives.