Riverside Methodist Church, Blairgowrie & Rattray
There is no service at the Wellmeadow House until further notice As soon as there is further information we will let you know Online service Sunday Jan 17th www.riverside-methodist-church.co.uk SC038412
'We see the launch of our online worship together on YouTube and Rev Nik Wooller is leading the worship and will share her musings and reflections ‘in person’. I would have sent the link – but we have been a bit sneaky and set a time on it – so I can’t!! The early birds will be able to view it from 9am on Sunday but for the rest of us – it would be a really lovely feeling to think that we will all watch it at the same time at 11 on Sunday. It will be a good idea to find the channel beforehand and there is a short service there – the worship we had at the Local Preachers’ meeting – for you to practice with. Go to ‘Search’ on YouTube and put in Angus, Dundee and Perth Methodist Circuit (Yes - I will have a word with Nik about the title!!) It has a name and a logo - shown here.'-Sue Marshall Jennings. If you go to the Dundee Methodist Church website you can get the link there Ruth
Angus, Dundee and Perth Methodist Circuit
Nik's Musings 17/01/21 The Call to Worship for our covenant service, from Jeremiah 31, says this: “31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD,
But what does it mean, when God says he will write his law on people’s hearts? We’re obviously using more metaphorical, symbolic language, for God isn’t going to literally carve words on the organ beating away in our chest. Today we tend to think about the heart as the seat of the emotions, particularly emotions such as compassion and love. The heart symbolises love, particularly romantic love – think of all those Valentine Day cards we’ll be sending (or receiving) in a month’s time. In contrast with the heart the head is the logical, reasoning part of ourselves. In actual fact science tells us our thoughts and feelings all come from the brain – the heart is just a muscular pump – but this is the language of metaphor, of poetry. So we feel with our heart and think with our head. Now for the ancient Hebrews, the heart wasn’t just associated with emotions, but with the rational, decision-making part of us as well. So, when Jeremiah speaks of God writing his law on our hearts, he doesn’t just mean that we will have a warm and fuzzy emotional feeling toward God; he means that the desire to put God’s will and purposes into practice will be absolutely engrained in our deepest being. For some reason I’m reminded of those sticks of rock that my home town of Brighton is famous for. Wherever you break them or bite them, they still say Brighton Rock, for the words go all the way through. God’s law will be written on our hearts – the Hebrew word for law is Torah, which also means teaching and instruction. It’s actually very close to what Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2) These ideas are brought together in the hymn ‘O for a heart to praise my God’. It is really a prayer for a heart that is cleansed, changed and renewed. In the last line Charles Wesley asks that God will write a ‘new name’ on his heart. And what is that word? The word is love. The word that summarises the whole of the law. That’s what we need God to inscribe in our innermost beings, so we are people guided, motivated, ruled by love.
nd Methodist YouTube Channel. The Shetland District Facebook page has lots of other news and resources too. · Inverness Circuit is broadcasting on their YouTube Channel Inverness Methodist Church and you can follow all that’s happening at The Bike Shed Coffee House with Dave Saunders the Bearded Woodworkerwho is hosting a series of online conversations connected to issues of faith and everyday life raised by the current pandemic. These are posted on the Kyrios Facebook page. ·
The North of Scotland Circuit offers acts
of worship and a variety of ways to connect: · Angus, Dundee and Perthshire Circuit offers reflections, prayers, artwork and more on the Circuit Facebook page, and Scottish Methodists Online is a gathering place for prayer, bible reflection, worship and more, for all who are, or want to be, part of the Methodist family in Scotland. · Ayrshire and Renfrewshire Circuit has links to a variety of streamed events. To connect with others gathering regularly in the online small group, contact Rev Rob Morton ·
Strathclyde Circuit is offering
acts of worship and a variety
of online gatherings to all seekers through the Trinity Methodist
Shettleston YouTube Channel as well as Webinars on many different topics. Subscribe
to the Shettleston Trinity
Facebook page to find out more about resources and events in Strathclyde. ·
Forth Valley Circuit offers worship downloads and
links to online worship at:
Dear Church Stewards and others.
Hope you are keeping well.
Attached are the usual resources for worship and prayer at home this week.
Last week I gave news of Rev Nick Baker and promised that I would be in touch again after the Circuit Leadership had met. We met today and talked through the various options for moving forward and combining these with the responses from both Preachers and those who responded to Rev Nik Wooller’s letter. As a Leadership Team, we cannot make any decisions about opening churches – that decision must be made by local Church Trustees. There is a lot of guidance on the Methodist Church website and I have already sent you a lot of this. There is an awful lot to consider because it is not just about making sure the church is clean after not being used for so long – it is about making sure people can socially distance, that there are enough people around to do the various tasks such as welcoming folk, ensuring you take a record of their name and contact details in case there is a need for tracing them, counting them in to make sure you do not exceed the permitted numbers as well as ensuring appropriate cleaning etc. The official guidance still says no singing and masks will need to be worn – and of course no coffee and biscuits afterwards. Oh and making sure that we have preachers available!! Obviously all of this will need to be discussed at your church council and if you need any help or advice – then please contact Nik or myself.
The good news is that we can make some decisions - so we have decided that from 6th September we will have a weekly Circuit Service which will be pre-recorded and put on YouTube where it will be available from 11.00 each Sunday. Before people panic about lack of access to the technology or internet, we will also produce a full transcript of the service and also an audio CD and - if I can get my technology to work – maybe even a DVD!!! The intention is to get these additional resources out before the Sunday – so that all those who want to share in worship at 11 on a Sunday can do so! We will also have music and the words on the screen so you can sing along as loudly as you like!
We will try this for a month at least and the preachers are meeting next week to sort out who is available to do what. In our normal services we would often have members of the congregations do a reading – and we are hoping that some people will be willing to take part in this. Most tablets, phones and cameras will record videos these days – so please encourage folk to have a go or volunteer yourselves!! We are hugely grateful to Nik who has offered to compile and edit the individual elements of the service and also to her son Joe – who has shown her the short cuts for doing this!
Please share all this as widely as you can and encourage folk to volunteer to do a reading or even a prayer if they want. The size and spread of our Circuit has always made it difficult to get together for a Circuit Service but this is an opportunity to do it without having to travel and potentially whilst curled up on the sofa still wearing your PJs and with a cup of tea too!!
Last but not least – thank you for all that you are doing in keeping in touch with people, sharing information, passing on news and responding to a massive change in all our lives.
Take care and God Bless
Sue
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