| | | Guild Annual Rally - 3rd November |
Guild members meet outside the Caird Hall Dundee before the annual meeting
The
Guild team organised a change of presentation and location for the
Guild meeting on Monday 3rd November. Agnes Ovenstone had
obtained a video with the highlights of the September Guild
Annual Meeting in Dundee which she and others from the Penicuik team
had attended. We used the church as the location for the showing using
the big screens and projection system, popular for showing the
words of our hymns at the Sunday morning services.
The theme of the 2014 annual
meeting was 'Go Serve'. Kay Keith, National Convener, introduced
the event, welcoming everyone from all corners of the country and
around the globe. Dr Nancy Lin, visiting from the Presbyterian
Church in Taiwan, added her welcome.
The Moderator of the
General Assembly, John Chalmers in his address pointed out that we are
not defined by what we do, but what we are, the core of our being, the
integrity of our lives, the consistency between what we practice and
what we preach. As the Greek philosophers Socrates said, ' to do
is to be', and Aristotle said 'to be is to do'. But John felt that
Frank Sinatra got it right when he said 'do-be-do-be-do'.
John
told us of Jesus' frenetic life, always on the go. However even he took
time out with a few friends for rest, meditation and prayer, to find
the strength he need for the challenges of his public ministry.
He
talked of two great epidemics spreading across western
civilisation. One is stress, which can wear down and burn out an
individual. He believes that Christian faith can speak into lives
that are so worn down, and that a Christian life offers the tools and
rhythm, which can help prevent such breakdown.
John Chalmers
| What does Go Serve mean? It means 850 ministers leading 1400
congregations in Scotland. It means £50 million pounds spent on social
services. The churches Credit Union being developed and launched.
Fighting child labour 'sweatshops' in Bangladesh. A doctor working in a
remote part of Africa. Adults with learning difficulties supported in
Stonehaven, and people with dementia supported in Polmont. A woman's
project enabled in the occupied Palestinian territories. A commitment
to supporting the poorest parishes in Scotland, at a time when in the
economic climate, others can't. We don't just talk about it, we are
doing it. |
The
second epidemic sweeping our nation is loneliness, a huge issue,
despite the plethora of methods of keeping in contact, through the
likes of social media. John questioned if we spend more time
'tweeting' than meeting and talking face to face with some immobile
person, or their family. We should make time to help the lonely, to
make them feel more valued in our society.
John
finished with
the story of the two friends trudging their lonely way to Emmaus, after
the resurrection, thinking that their Lord had gone from
them, when the risen Christ drew alongside of them, entering into
their
loneliness. We are the friends of Jesus, agents of His
friendship, and when we enter into the loneliness of others, we do not
only meet them, we encounter the love of the living Christ. Go
Serve.
Dr.
Margaret Fowler of the United Church of Jamaica, talked of her work
under the title 'Ministry on the Margin,' on the edge.
Whilst the church may be in trouble, Margaret was going to stay on the
front line, and may even go over the edge!
 She
questioned the mission of the church if it is fulfilled by sitting
around a planning meeting with church members talking about church
matters. The margins are where the action is. The bible has no
stories of Jesus attending meetings! Margaret believes that pastoral
ministry involves leading and redirecting the attention of our
congregation toward the margins, where we then fulfil the mission of
Christ.
She said that if we want the church to grow, we must
reach out, stretch ourselves. She explained her work with prostitutes
and human trafficking, and her call to Kingston Jamaica, where she
worked with gay, lesbian and transgender people, living in sewers,
rejected by society. Offering pastoral ministry to a group who are
outcasts in the society was a huge challenge, and very hard.
 Returning
to home Margaret talked about growing our church, and asked how many
challenges are knocking on our doors, within a mile of our church, and
what are we doing about it? However it goes wider than just the
pastoral and the community, to the very way we worship in our church.
Continuing
she said “People of the margins of our church represent the
mission fields entrusted to us by God. They are the reason that the
church exists, not you and me in our fancy churches and ministries.
Your church is the means of grace God uses to reach them”.
Margaret
concluded by congratulating the work of the Guild, that has reached not
only Scotland, but worldwide, and encouraged Guild members to keep
taking their ministry to the margins.
 Iain Whyte,
General Secretary, spoke on how the church is supporting the Guild,
through initiative such as the Golden Age Project.
Rachel Hutcheson, Moderator of the National Youth Assembly spoke how they work together with the Guild.
John Lowrie Morrison, artist and church reader, talked of the place of art and Christianity.
Thanks
to the St. Mungo's Guild team for sharing their experience
with us through showing this video, which members and visitors found
very interesting and moving.
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