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Teddies for Tragedies

People often ask me where are the teddies going, but I have never been asked ‘ Why are the teddies going?’

So I’m going to tell you.

Use your imagination and think back to your childhood. Imagine you have no toys, NONE at all

There may be lots of reasons why this has happened to you, but here we are, no toys to play with except perhaps for a few stones and maybe some twigs.

I think you would feel very sad, maybe bored, lonely, worried, frightened and maybe ill or depressed.

One day someone comes along and gives you one of these teddies. If you have brothers and sisters they get one too so you DON’T even have to share.

When you hold this teddy your natural instinct is to hug it, and when you do, you get a feeling of LOVE for this teddy that is all yours, to keep with you forever. You don’t have to share it or give it back.

Then you think, wow, someone who lives in a country far away knows I exist and cares about me enough to make this special teddy and send it to me as a gift. And you feel LOVED.

This gives you FAITH, that despite everything, there is good in the world somewhere. This in turn gives you HOPE for your own future, that things may not be quite so bad now and might be a little bit better.

So you now have LOVE, FAITH AND HOPE. Then you realise you have something you can whisper your secrets, worries and fears to, it is bad to keep your worries inside you, it can make you ill, it’s better to speak about them and share them. And you realise this gives you COMFORT and eases your worries and fears. When you go to sleep at night holding one of these teddies in your arms, you feel safe and comforted, and get a good night’s sleep so in the morning you start to feel better. These teddies can even change your life even if just a little bit, They give you LOVE, FAITH. HOPE and COMFORT.

This year we have received an amazing 675 Teddies, and around 1,750 other items.

We have had donations of teddies and other items from kind, caring people in Queensferry, and further afield, Kirkliston, Bo’ness, Lochmaben Church, residents of Emmaus House Trust in Whitehaven, Ireland, Nairn, Edinburgh,from patients and volunteers in Whitefield Day Hospital in Dunfermline and many more.

A great big thank you to all who have donated items, or helped in other ways, your kindness is much appreciated.

Many of last year’s items went during May to children in Moldova, with the Scottish Emergency Rescue Association.They have trained men as fire fighters in Serbia, Romania and Moldova, and donated many Emergencyvehicles to areas of these countries which had, little or no Emergency services. Their next visit is to Ukraine in November and they will take more of our items with them.They already have 300 hats from us!

We continue to support Haiti Help.3 Nurses from Lochgelly set up this charity to help by giving free medical treatment to victims of the 2010 earthquake. They do a lot of fundraising to help initiatives over there. They took 75 of last year’s teddies with them on their April visit to an orphanage on the Island of La Gonave, and they will get more from us for next April’s visit.

Children from the poorest areas of Belarus, Chernobyl, continue to come to Scotland for 4 weeks of recuperative healthcare. The West Lothian Group, based in Broxburn, took teddies out to Belrus in time for Christmas last year and they have already received a donation of 60 teddies this year, so far. vvv

Last year we received a late donation of 100 teddies, which I sent to the charity’ Hand in Hand for Syria’, based in London, who work with organisations in Syria, ensuring the help gets to where it is needed, They confirmed that the teddies reached the children in the refugee camps.

In December I was approached by a friend in Kirkliston Church, could I supply 100 teddies for Bethel Orphanage in Juarez, Mexico. They had had a speaker in church and she was very moved by the stories of these neglected, abused and abandoned children and felt compelled to send them teddies to comfort them. I approached some of my volunteers and we managed to collect the 100. They were flat packed and sent off on their journey. They arrived safely in Mexico, faster than second class mail in this country, and were much appreciated.

Blythswood Care’s2017 Shoe Box Appeal resulted in 112,932 boxes being sent to eight countries in Eastern Europe and to Pakistan and we contributed to that with hats, scarves and mitts.They already have 154 mixed items for this year’s Christmas appeal before and theywill get more from us.

In November, 14 teddies went with Ken and Christine Kirkcaldy and organiser Rev John Webster, for children in Dr Grahams Homesin Kalimpong and Kolkata (Calcutta), India.

I have already given 90 blankets and 235 other items from our total, to re-Act,who work with refugees, mainly in camps in the Greek island of Samos. They will be taken out there in October, and they will get more from us later.

Corstorphine Guildin Edinburgh, keep us stocked up with knitted donations, 524 items since last year’s service! Most have already been distributed this year.

The new Queensferry craft group, ‘Ferry Crafters’ has been very generous with their donations of teddies, hats, scarves and blankets.

This year’s fund raising coffee morning was on 8th September and we raised a wonderful final total of £374. Thank you to my helpers and all who supported this. The money will ensure the teddies and other items reach the children who need them, and to help keep this initiative running.

Once we have distributed the 400 teddies here today, the local and wider community, through this church, will have given over 7,000 children, Love, Comfort, Faith and Hope. This is a BLESSING!

Thank you

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25 years of ministry

In June our minister , Rev. David Cameron celebrated 25 years of Ministry. Having served in his first charge , Maxwell Mearns Castle , west of Glasgow, for 16 years and here for almost 9, this seemed a good time to reflect over his life of Ministry.

  • How did you come to be the minister in QPC.?

It began on a golf course overlooking the Kyles of Bute . I was shooting for the green with a 7 iron and feeling my life was in a bit of a transition phase. I idly tossed up a prayer ‘ Lord, is there anything by way of a calling you have for me?

That night I awoke from a dream with the strong impression I should become Minister in QPC. I had met Guy Douglas, then session clerk, on the Church Without Walls project, but otherwise I knew nothing about Queensferry. I didn’t even know there was a vacancy. It was a very powerful moment of calling requiring the proverbial ‘leap of faith’

  • The public face of the minister is usually just on a Sunday. Can you describe a typical day?

A typical day? No such thing. Today started with a meeting about a cross-community support project, followed by preparation for and then conducting a funeral. Then phone calls to set up another funeral followed by another ministerial meeting. After this interview I am meeting a couple to arrange their wedding, and of course I always need to find time to check emails and respond to urgent business.

  • Striking in the answer to this question is the emotional and psychological range that the average day holds. To turn from supporting a grieving family to planning for the happiest day in a couple ‘s lives requires great strength of character and must be tough at times?

Indeed. I have learned that it is important to prepare and recover properly afterwards. After a particularly difficult funeral I will ensure the diary is lighter for the rest of the day.

In the early 80’s, at a time when many ministers were experiencing stress and overload,

a paper presented to the general assembly suggested 7 basic tasks for ministry.

  • Preaching and teaching
  • Pastoring and caring
  • Leadership and planning
  • Mission and evangelism
  • Administration and organisation
  • Presbytery and assembly
  • Personal devotion and study

I use the analogy of plate spinning. Keeping all these tasks in the air is a challenge. And, following this analogy the plates have to be paper as they may often wobble and sometimes they fall.

  • What do you think are your particular strengths?

A difficult question, perhaps someone else should answer that one!

At school I enjoyed English interpretation. Taking a passage from a book, conveying and summarising its meaning. I like to bring that element to my preaching and teaching.

And when listening to a bereaved family I hope to bring this craft to my writing so that those less familiar with the deceased will have an illustrative picture of their loved one.

I enjoy people and company. Coming to Queensferry has awakened the sense of community within my ministry. In my previous church, which was a city suburb , it was the church which was the community, but here the church sits within a wider community. This brings different and in some ways greater challenges.

  • What element of Ministry are you most passionate about?
  • What do you get the most satisfaction from?

The symbol of the Cross, reaching upwards to God, outwards to the world is very important to me. Helping people hear from God so they can step out in faith, seeing people through testing times, discovering the relevance of faith. Journeying with people awakened to faith, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

  • Ministers minister but who ministers the Minister?

I feel that I receive ministry on a number of levels.
Staying in touch with God is vital. I feel God is ministering to me through the acts and actions of my own ministry.
The ministerial support groups of QPC and Presbytery are very important and the Church of Scotland provides study leave annually to allow ministers to take time out to reflect and recharge.
I try very hard to reserve a day each month for personal reflection. I often go to the Bield, a Christian retreat and conference centre in Perthshire www.bieldatblackruthven.org.uk. I will go with ‘baggage’, stuff which needs done, but usually realise all I’m meant to do is to stop, connect and be still in the presence of the One who called me here.
And then there is the Uno society.

  • The UNO society?

The Uno society consists of approx 10 guys. We all went through Ministerial training together and would play Uno long into the evenings after conferences and especially challenging lectures. When we qualified we dispersed to charges all over Scotland and we agreed to meet up 2-3 times each year for prayer, encouragement and lunch . Twenty-five years later we continue to do this along with our wives. Peer support such as this is invaluable.

  • Most families relax and have ‘together time’ at the weekends, just when you are seen to be working hardest. How do you juggle Ministry commitments with family life?

Badly. It’s a challenge. Marrying a very gracious lady has made the challenges bearable.

When I was first considering ministry we had 2 small children. Lesley was initially horrified at the prospect but I am glad to say she quickly became excited as she experienced the same sense of calling which we have shared since throughout these 25 years.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is living with someone who works Monday – Friday. Her weekend is Sat /Sun, whereas mine is Sat and Monday.
We have family with grandchildren in York and Lenzie and it takes a bit of planning and juggling to fit in visits to them, whilst maintaining my Sunday presence here.

  • Up to this point what do you regard as your most significant achievement?

I thought I would answer this from the several phases of my ministry, so far.

In my previous charge my predecessor was a gifted Bible preacher. The congregation was well taught, I could do little more for them in that regard. But I rejoiced to see folk taking this teaching and reaching out in faith, some to ministry here and overseas, some to pastoral support roles, some simply into their homes and workplaces.

In Dalmeny seeing the development of the halls project from conception to completion and the early days of its phenomenal success.

In QPC it was a great challenge taking the congregation, traumatised after John’s untimely death, forward. Finding ways to respect his memory and encouraging new teams and new expressions of faith and actions.
In 2010 there was a call from the General Assembly for each church to plant a new church by 2020. We have only 2 years left!!! So there is a lot of work still to do.

  • What gets you stressed and how do you deal with stress?

Admministration! Managing expectation and demands.
The ministerial training I had was purely academic. It did not include any managerial skills. Happily this is different now but I had to learn all about the business of a ’working church’ on the job. Make it up as you go along as it were.

  • How do you manage your time and prioritise?

Ministry is both predictable and unpredictable, planned and unexpected. It is always a challenge. Key events , like the weekly team meetings provide a grounding structure.

  • Where would you like to see QPC in 5 years time?

We already have a vision for 2020. Soon we will need to look beyond that.

I would like to see the Church refurbished in all its aspects to meet the needs of the 21stCentury, enabling people to step out locally, nationally, even globally in acts of service and ministry.

Here in Queensferry I would like to see fresh expressions of Church coming to fruition with new Church planting and with the further growing of our team structure,

  • Can you describe a particular situation or task which you found difficult or challenging and what did you learn from this?

I was one of a small group invited by another presbytery to help a struggling group of churches. Having met with them and listened carefully to their grievances we put forward a solution. Our proposals were rejected. This was intensely frustrating and I did not agree with what they subsequently proposed. The positive, however, was that the work we did empowered them to take ownership and develop their own solutions.

  • Most people’s encounters with God are intensely personal. Is there a particular experience which you feel you can share when you felt the presence of God?

The initial spark of faith came for me by a pond in Pollock estate. I had a Bible with me which fell open at Galatians 5 22-23 , the passage about the power and fruits of the spirit . As I read I had an overwhelming sense of the presence and peace of God.

More recently in a cocktail bar beside the River Thames with Lesley and my sister in law a woman engaged us in conversation. It was a very random encounter but I just knew God was present. There she was , talking to us and there was God, present in the moment. I do not know or understand what exactly it was but somehow it was a transformative moment for her. Something happened. It was remarkable

  • What is your favourite way to relax?

Good food in the company of family and friends. And golf of course.

  • What was the last film you saw or book you read? (other than the Bible)

Movie- Peter Rabbit, with my grandsons.

Books- One from the LJ Ross crime fiction series set in Northumberland. The genre appeals to me


  • And finally, What is it with Tunnocks tea cakes?

Have you ever eaten one?

Scottishness in a bite.Love the taste.

DC interviewed by AMF. July 2018

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Our Eco Congregation

The community group within the church have been busy following our successful achievement of a Bronze award - we are already working towards the Silver award and as part of this we held our ‘Big Green Coffee Morning’ on Saturday 26th May. We were able to team this with hosting the Christian Aid ‘Inherit the Earth’ photo exhibition which was a thought provoking addition to the event and carried on all week.

So - what was the Big Green Coffee morning all about? The focus of the morning was not to fundraise, but rather to raise awareness - and specifically about one issue - single use plastics. We have become a throw away society - coffee cups, water bottles, straws, plastic bags, all are used once and then thrown away. There are 1 MILLION plastic bottles purchased per minute worldwide - that’s an awful lot of plastic! If we think about it we may remember to recycle some of these plastics - but many items, such as coffee cups are not easily recyclable and need to head straight to landfill. Even worse of course they are thrown away as litter and pollute our landscape and in many cases end up being washed into the sea.

Did you know that that there are 46 THOUSAND pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean? Its estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

During the coffee morning people were able to not only find out about the scale of the problem, but also do something about it! We were grateful to Sophie Bridger from Plastics Free Scotland for helping us with raising awareness (have YOU sent your postcard to Tesco to ask them to reduce plastic packaging yet) http://plasticfreescotland.org/. We were also pleased to have lots of plastic free alternatives on sale as well. The One World Shop had supplied lots of their recycled and alternatives products and Anything but Plastic had a great stall with lots of plastic free products from metal straws and reusable Keep Cups to shampoo bars and cling film alternatives. https://www.anythingbutplastic.co.uk/

What can you do?

Buy a coffee on the way to work? Take your re-useable cup with you (you often get a discount too!)

Always have a bottle of water? Use a refillable alternative.

Have lots of plastic bottles lining your bath or shower? Replace them with a bar of soap and a shampoo bar

Always buy your veg in a plastic bag? Try buying them loose (Yes even in Tesco! Weight them loose, self-scan and put straight into your reusable shopping bag!)

A straw with your drink? Just say no!

Plastic plates at your barbeque? Try the www.vegware.co.ukalternatives or of course use your usual plates and wash up afterwards!

Plastic bottles of milk? You can get glass bottles delivered to your doorstep! https://www.mcqueensdairies.co.uk/deliveries/is one local supplier

What are you waiting for! Each item of plastic you ditch is one less bit of plastic that will take up to 1000 years to decompose

We are also looking to take action as a church - so watch this space for more news.

Reminder Mass Climate Lobby of Parliament – Wednesday 19thSeptember 2018

Why not join us on Wednesday 19thSeptember for our Mass Climate Lobby of the Scottish Parliament, and speak to your MSPs directly about why you want to see more action on climate change. You’ll be meeting with lots of other campaigners from around Scotland, and be given lots of lobbying hints and tips in advance and on the day.

Find out more and register via our website:

www.christianaid.org.uk/events/mass-climate-lobby

Climate Challenge Fund - How it works - Thursday 27th September 2018 7.30pm

Granton Parish Church have successfully applied for a Climate Challenge Fund grant, have appointed a project officer, launched ‘‘Granton goes Greener’’ in the local community and have an ambitious programme of work for the churchbuildings. Hosted in Granton Church Hall we can hear how the project was planned and benefit from the experience of a congregation managing this type of project.

Meet our new Environmental Chaplain - Rev David J.M. Coleman November date tbc.

A new Eco-congregation Chaplain will be inducted in September and we hope David will speak to the Network in November. The date will be announced after he has officially started.

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Data Protection and Privacy Documentation

Data Protection Policy

The congregation takes the security and privacy of personal information seriously .

TheData Protection Act 2018 (the “2018 Act”) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) regulate the way in which personal information about living individuals is collected, processed, stored or transferred.

This policy explains the provisions that we will adhere to when any personal data belonging to or provided by data subjects, is collected, processed, stored or transferred on behalf of the congregation.Data_Protection_Policy_QPC.docx

Privacy Notice

The Privacy Notice outlines the way in which the Congregation will use personal information provided to us. Personal information includes any information that identifies you personally, such as your name, address, email address or telephone number.

The Congregation recognises the importance of your privacy and personal information. The Congregation, jointly with the Presbytery of Edinburgh, is the data controller and we have therefore outlined how we use, disclose and protect this information.

Privacy_Notice_QPC.docx

More Information also available at

https://www.edinburghpresbytery.org.uk/gdpr-data-protection-resources

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Creative Communicating through Church.

A very successful seminar was held on 21st April 2018.

24 people attended and enjoyed a varied programme covering the range of communication techniques from digital and social media to the exquisite written and spoken word, wonderfully presented by RD Kernohan, over 80 years, sharp, pertinent , thought provoking and challenging . We could have listened all morning.

Follow the links to read a report of the morning and access the presentations given. Download the following presentations: seminar report , Introduction, Social media, Its Confidential.

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a new way to do notices

•A survey held over several weeks in September at both services and this article presents the outcome and changes made. Responses roughly parallel the age of our attending congregation.

•We asked

How do you receive your Church notices?

How would you like to receive notices? as a result we received 13 new email addresses

What do you look for in the notices?

Do you use the Church website?.

•Not surprisingly the younger age groups preferred electronic means, either the web or via email.

But we were surprised how many people use the Sunday overhead and the paper copy, Email receipt is similar across age groups.

Use of OHP and paper increases with age. Oldest age grouping is almost entirely dependant on OHP and paper

49/90 use OHP. (54%)

23 use OHP as only method (25%)

Our methods were presented with pros and cons for each.

WEB

•Advantages

Stores all information, and more

Links to other relevant sites

Central resource

•Disadvantages

Difficult to keep up to date

Difficult to navigate

next piece of work for Comms Team

•EMAIL:

•Advantages

Easy to access

Automatically received once signed up.

•Disadvantages

Too much information.

Really just looking for relevant or new items

•OVERHEAD

•Advantages

Something to look at while waiting for service

Colourful, attractive and informative

•Disadvantages

Quick turnaroundof slides

Too much information

Often settling for service and chatting.

Sometimes takes a lot of preparation

•PAPER

•Advantages

Easy to look at again and again through the week.

Goes into the home where others may read it.

•Disadvantages

Uses paper

Waste.

•What are you looking for in the notices?

We are introducing a new way to do notices. All submitters will now be required to submit their notices directly through the website.

This will be password protected and will be edited as necessary before going live.

  • Advantages

easier, esp for office staff

Coherent appearance

  • Disadvantage

not possible if you don’t have internet. The Comms team considered this and felt this was a low risk, and you can still have notices accepted as before if you can’t do it this way.

•The Website.

64% those who replied do not use the church’s website.

We asked if you don’t use the web , why not?

60% did not give us a reason

Reasons given included

Don’t feel need to.

Get information I need elsewhere.

Only 5 said they did not use the web due to no computer access.

Website fairly static.. No need to return after initial visit.

Might check something I heard elsewhere.

Not got anything I am looking for.

•Use of websites has changed since ours was built. Next project for Comms team.

•And a few other things as well.

•Facebook- active page updated weekly.

•Church as part of community

•Inspiration , prayer, worship

•Pens as mission. Donation if you wish. Please regard these as a missional tool as well as a writing implement.

•Seminar 3 speakers. Open invite to all- NO charge but please sign up in coffee lounge so we have an idea of numbers.

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The Pelican

The Pelican as a Christian Symbol

The pelican was believed to pierce its own breast with its beak and feed its young with its blood.

Because of this it became a symbol of Christ sacrificing himself for man and was frequently represented in early Christian art.

The belief probably came about because of the pelican’s red-tipped beak and very white feathers, and because long-beaked birds such as the pelican are often to be found standing with their beaks resting on their breasts.

Gerald Manley Hopkins, the English poet and Jesuit priest translated the Eucharist hymn “Adoro te devote,” written by St. Thomas Aquinas into English. The sixth verse reads,

‘Like what tender tales tell of the Pelican
Bathe me, Jesus Lord, in what Thy Bosom ran
Blood that but one drop of has the powr to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

AMF/19th March 2018

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