Services: 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th Sundays at Maryculter;

2^nd and 4^th at Banchory Devenick.

www.bdmc-parish.org.uk

Warm greetings to everyone!

 On the first morning I arrived at Maryculter church as locum minister, the church building was open and warm, so with plenty of time I made myself a coffee and felt right at home.
As folks began to gather, from Maryculter, from Banchory-Devenick and from Cookney, the greetings and chatter of everyone warmed my heart. There was a real sense of family into which I was warmly welcomed and the feeling of being ‘at home’ just grew and kept on growing over the following months until here I am – at home!
The family of God was designed by Him to be a team working together in unity for one purpose, modelling who he is as Father. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are a team! They work together as one in relational harmony to bring about God’s plans and purposes. The Apostle Paul describes the family of God here on earth as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). When each vital, and separate part of the body works as it is intended, ‘the whole body grows and builds itself up in love’ (Ephesians 4:16).
The body of Christ is a body that grows, loves and heals as members of the body express and live out the heart of God. As we seek God through prayer on behalf of others, or ourselves we enter into an intercessory place. If we live our lives from this place there will be no limits to what God can accomplish for His Kingdom. In this environment others find a place where they can experience God’s love, God’s grace and restoration to the fullness of life God intends. God has called us to be His team! That’s ‘all of you’ and ‘me’, here and now, to work with Him and with one another – what an exciting adventure! And what a great privilege it is to be an intercessory bridge bringing people to the heart of God and into His truth.
I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, to working with you and with God finding out what His purposes are for us.
My prayers for you this Easter are expressed in the words of Paul from Ephesians 3:14-21

 For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love – although it can never be fully known- and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. To Him who by means of His power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of; to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

I pray that this Easter you and your families are richly blessed by God through Jesus and in the power of His Holy Spirit alive and active today.

Prayerfully,
Heather M Peacock

On behalf of the Elders, Office Bearers and Congregation I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new minister the Rev. Heather Peacock.  The Nominating Committee made the excellent decision to choose Heather to lead us forward n the next stage of God's work, and we pray that she will have a long, happy and fulfilling ministry in the parish.

The Rev. Donald Walker was our Interim Moderator, and we greatly appreciated his help, guidance and friendship to us all.

I am grateful to all the office bearers, and to everyone who supported and attended church during the vacancy, and I trust that you will all continue to show your support to Heather. 

                                   Joyce Mackintosh
                                         Session Clerk

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU        April 2009

“I thank my God every time I remember you all.  In all my prayers for you all, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

These words of Paul, from Philippians 1: 3 – 6, ring true for me following my time with you as Interim Moderator for the 7 months from August 2008 to 19 March 2009 when Dr Heather Peacock became your new Parish Minister.  It was nothing less than a joy to come and be with many of you in worship, in meetings, in informal settings, as well as to pray and work together to discover who God wanted to live and minister among you as His servant.  Your warm welcome, genuine friendship, rich fellowship and willing co-operation were deeply appreciated.  My sincere thanks to you.

Congratulations both on calling Heather and on this new partnership which has begun, congregation and minister.  I have no doubt that God has brought you together and that He has much in store for you, in worship, growth, witness and service.

Team work is important for Heather.  She will seek to operate well with the office-bearers to develop the spiritual and practical aspects of church life, whether it is with children, young people, families, or older people.  She will seek to identify with you whatever you go through, in the joys and in the sorrows, in the hopes and fears and disappointments.  She will stand alongside you, affirm you in your faith, encourage you to be involved, and work hard herself to build the church and to bring God’s good news to all ages.  Heather needs your support and prayers.  Together you can walk as disciples of Jesus and make a difference in this needy world.   Please continue to welcome, love and pray for her, and be open to what the Lord can do through her and through you all.

When God’s people entrust themselves to Him and to one another, believe His Word, make prayer a priority, and reach out in faith and love then I believe challenging and exciting times follow. 

May God bless you all this Easter and Pentecost.

Donald Walker Parish Minister,
Banchory-Ternan West Church

Sunday School

Sunday School has had a varied and interesting programme since the last newsletter.  We have carved pumpkins, told the Christmas story and held a fund raising soup and sweet.  We have made palm branches and flags to wave on Palm Sunday.

We have some more volunteers to help and they are in the process of being “disclosed”, any others are very welcome to come and join us and see what Sunday School gets up to after we leave the service for our own activities.  It may not quite be Blue Peter—here’s one I made earlier, but we try and have a craft item to tie in with the story and worksheets from ON THE WAY a Christian Focus publication that we are using to teach the Message.  No-one will be thrown in at the deep end, we have a wealth of material in the Resources cupboard—come along and see what we get up to.

Coming up—It is planned to hold a Soup and Sweet on the 3rd May after Communion to raise funds for those less fortunate than ourselves.  There is also the prize giving and end of term BBQ to look forward to.

All children are very welcome to come and join us.

One night a mother overheard her daughter saying the Lord's Prayer and was amused to hear her say "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us our e-mail"
 

The Church as a Healing Community

Human beings were created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) and God pronounced what he made to be very good (Gen 1:31). The Old Testament understanding of health is wholeness, harmony and well-being in all aspects of life whether physical, spiritual or social summed up in the word Shalom. Human beings were created whole and healthy but we have not remained so, we are a good thing spoiled. God’s love for us desires our complete well-being, and to that end He sent His Son to die on the cross that we might be forgiven and restored to fellowship with Him, the original purpose of our creation. In the New Testament salvation refers to healing as well as to rescue, the restoration of relationship with God in Christ. In the public ministry of Jesus preaching and healing went hand in hand. In the gospels we read of no case of sickness brought to Jesus that was met with a refusal to help. The healing mission of Jesus is part of His whole redemptive mission which is intended to be continued by the Church, the body of Christ. Just as Jesus healed in many ways so healing in the church community happens in many ways.

Every service of worship in which prayer is offered to God, in which praise is sung, His word read and expounded and the Sacraments celebrated is a healing service in which people may experience the healing and redeeming grace of God. When people know they are forgiven and are set free from whatever is holding them back, they are free to enter into life in all its fullness where God intends us to be.
This spiritual healing can often be accompanied by physical healing – healing through forgiveness. In addition to the normal Sunday service of worship there can be specific prayer for the sick with laying on of hands or anointing with oil (James 5:13-16) – healing in the power of the Holy Spirit through laying on of hands.
What we have each experienced in the past shapes our identity, who we are. Through our new identity in Christ we can remember the past rightly, that is Christ takes the sting out of memories that threaten to poison our existence – healing of memories. An important aspect of health and well-being in both the Old and New Testaments is our relationship with God and with others. We learn about relationships in our families and sometimes within families healing of relationships is required – healing of the family tree.
Sometimes human being come under the influence of evil and it is necessary, in the power of Jesus Christ to cast out demons – healing of individuals from the influence of evil.

Healing extends to all aspects of human life and being. Understood as the restoration to wholeness, Christian healing is only part of a total approach to health and health care. All those who combat and overcome disease are agents God uses, whether gifted in the medical profession or gifted by the Holy Spirit with the power to heal as described in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. The church, the body of Christ, is God’s instrument of healing in the world. Everything we do as followers of Christ should bring healing to somebody somewhere. As Jesus sent out His disciples to preach, teach and heal, so too the function of the church is to preach the gospel of forgiveness and redemption, to teach the people of God their Christian responsibilities and to provide healing for those who are sick in mind, body or spirit.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven – healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful and to be reckoned with. (James 5:13-16)

It is a great privilege to pray for someone and a great blessing to be prayed for. If you would like prayer for any situation in your life please contact me or your elder.
Heather (01224) 730150 hmpeacock@btinternet.com

A summary of teaching on prayer for Christian healing by Rev David Lunan [Moderator of the Church of Scotland] at a conference held by the North East Christian healing group and more recently at a Health and Healing Consultation held by Rev David Lunan and Ministries Council.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight, 23^rd February to 8^th March 2009, brought together so many different people – campaigners, producers, shoppers, retailers and businesses – in so many different activities. But all had a common aim: to increase awareness and purchase of Fairtrade products and thus increase the benefits going back to marginalised producers and workers in developing countries.

Fairtrade shows that trade can be a means out of poverty if the conditions are right. Seven million disadvantaged producers, workers and their families are benefiting from Fairtrade, but they and millions more still remain at the mercy of unfair international trade rules. That’s why we need to do more than buy Fairtrade products – we also need to campaign for trade justice.

During Fairtrade fortnight this year; Our Fairtrade shop was opened regularly on a daily basis from 9am to 12 noon at Maryculter church.

 We had a great night of entertainment and fellowship with singer/song writer Gareth Davies-Jones, as well as being encouraged to think about the whole issue of Trade Justice .Gareth Davies-Jones performed acoustic numbers from his new album, Water and Light, to an audience of around 50 people in the intimate venue of Maryculter Church hall. Gareth, who set up his own recording company Heading West Music in 2004 after being made redundant, was undertaking a national tour during Fair Trade Fortnight. Performing songs of sometimes stark and brutal frankness, described by one critic as punching the listener "right in the solar plexus", the tall, lean, Irishman did not mince his words. Songs such as Money Goes Round and Greed For Gain echoed his involvement and passion for the Fair Trade movement. There were also moments of tenderness and spiritual introspection with songs such as Reflections and Older. His song Infinity, inspired by Gareth spotting an orbiting satellite while stargazing on a cold winter's night with his young son, examined the smallness of man's achievements when set against the backdrop of infinity and God's creation. During the evening the songs were interspersed with Gareth talking about his beliefs and thoughts, laced with examples of his laconic wit. Explaining his Fair Trade minded lyrics Gareth says., “It's basically a less dry way of introducing people to the whole issue - people can think it has nothing to do with them."

Find out more about Gareth and his music at www.headingwestmusic.com

And more about trade justice at www.tjm.org.uk and

Fairtrade at www.TraidcraftShop.co.uk

Our Fairtrade shop is now open.

You can purchase fairly traded goods Monday to Friday mornings from 9am to 12noon, when the church office is open, and on Sunday mornings when the service is at Maryculter Church.

At this moment we are concentrating on food items in the shop but we have some catalogues which show the complete range of Traidcraft goods which you can order.  If you see something you would like please contact Ailsa in the office.

Re-energise 4 Conference:  Church without Walls

 Kathleen Downie and Joan Thorne had the privilege of accompanying our new minister Rev Dr Heather Peacock to the 4^th annual Church without Walls Conference in Aviemore in January this year.  The conference was entitled “Coming Home” which was inspired by Scottish Government’s Celebration of Homecoming.

The year of Homecoming primarily celebrates the 250^th birthday of Robert Burns but will surely encompass many more of Scotland’s great contributions to the world.  We as the Church of Scotland are an integral part of Scottish history and so are invited to become part of this celebration.  We are the inhabitants from our forbearers of what we have and now we are challenged with keeping it alive and vibrant for future generations.

The conference provided a wide and varied programme over two days as well as opportunities to engage with fellow delegates from the length and breadth of Scotland and gain information from a variety of exhibitors who were present throughout the conference.

The activities offered were divided into three main categories:

worship and prayer

main presentations

workshop activities

The experience of worshipping in a group of several hundred people from very diverse church backgrounds was uplifting, encouraging and inspiring.  We were lead in worship by various worship leaders and accompanied by a small enthusiastic praise band.  We engaged in some energetic new forms of worship and were introduced to inspiring new songs.

The three main presentations were all based on different aspects of the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Each speaker presented the story from the viewpoint of the three characters.  This was followed by an opportunity for the delegates to participate in small “buzz” prayer groups which we found to be extremely powerful experiences. 

Each delegate could opt for the individual workshop activities of their choice.  We agreed between us to attend different workshops in order to acquire as wide a range of information as possible.  We each attended three different sessions out of the twenty one on offer.  The workshops topics included:

· Spirituality and Prayer, a practical session which focussed on how to slow down from our busy lives to listen to God’s still small voice.

· World Mission which demonstrated how congregations have benefited from developing mission partnerships with churches in other parts of the world.

· Entertaining Angels explored ways to ensure that our church was welcoming to new visitors beyond a friendly “hello”.

· Reaching Home was a presentation by CrossReach on what “home” means for those in need.

· Strategies and Surprises explored how local congregations can develop and missional identity.

Going Home to Play addressed youth issues and demonstrated how some congregations had developed strategies of support for their communities.

We found the whole experience reassuring, challenging and informative.  It was comforting to realise that regardless of the denomination, size or location of a church we all face similar challenges and are working towards the same ultimate goal of bringing Gods Kingdom to our communities.

The conference certainly fulfilled its aim of “Re-energising.”

We returned full of ideas and enthusiasm and would thoroughly recommend others to attend similar events in the future. 

Kathleen, Heather and Joan

Banchory-Devenick House Group Update

 The Banchory-Devenick House Group finished its study of Mark in January 2009.  The study had taken over 40 individual sessions and over 2 years!

During that time however, we had studied the stories in Mark and compared them with those in the other three Gospels, so in a way we covered all four Gospels together.  This helped to give us accounts of the stories from different viewpoints and challenged us to think of what life was like for the people in Jesus’ day.

We are following Mark with the study of the development of the early church as recorded by St. Luke in the book of Acts.  So far we have considered the Ascension and discussed the reasons why Jesus left the disciples to carry on His work.  We have also recently discussed the wonderful story of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and considered what it means for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit to enable effective ministry in Banchory-Devenick and Maryculter/Cookney.  Jesus told the disciples to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit as they couldn’t build His church without it.  This teaches us that we too have to pray to be continually filled with the Spirit so that we can discern and carry out God’s will for us.

The House Group is meeting meantime in Joan Johnston’s home at 85 Mosside Drive Portlethen.  We wish to extend our sincere thanks to Richard and Margaret Britten for their hospitality since the House Group started.

It is a joy to study together and explore Jesus’ ministry and the Great Commission.  It helps us to get to know our Lord better and clarify what our mission should be in the church today.

Please consider coming along to our small group which meets every 2^nd and 4^th Monday in a month.  The next meeting is on Monday 27 April from 7.30 – 9.30 pm. 

For further information please contact Joan Johnston (784334) or Joan Thorne (783834).

We look forward to seeing you then.                    

                                                                     Joan Thorne

Dear Lord,

Every single evening

As I'm lying here in bed,

This tiny little Prayer

Keeps running through my head:

God bless all my family

Wherever they may be,

Keep them warm and safe from harm

For they're so close to me.

And God, there is one more thing

I wish that you could do;

Hope you don't mind me asking,

Please bless my computer too.

           Now I know that it's unusual

To Bless a motherboard,

But listen just a second

While I explain it to you, Lord.

You see, that little metal box

Holds more than odds and ends;

Inside those small compartments

Rest so many of my friends.

I know so much about them

By the kindness that they give,

And this little scrap of metal

Takes me in to where they live.

By faith is how I know them

Much the same as you.

We share in what life brings us

And from that our friendships grew.

Please take an extra minute

From your duties up above,

To bless those in my address book

That's filled with so much love.

Wherever else this prayer may reach

To each and every friend,

Bless each e-mail inbox

And each person who hits "send".

When you update your Heavenly list

On your own Great CD-ROM,

Bless everyone who says this prayer

Sent up to GOD.com

Friendship Club

We have just finished our winter meetings in the Church Hall with a soup and sweet lunch.  All our meetings were well attended.  Unfortunately we had to cancel two meetings because of bad weather conditions.

We are looking forward to our summer outings which began on the first Thursday in May when we are going to visit Ballater Station.  We sill also be having outings to Boyndie Museum, Pitlochry, Culloden, Touched by Scotland at Oyne and Deans of Huntly.

We are having a whist drive at Corbie Hall on 17th April to raise funds for our outings.

For more information contact Anne Massie       Tele: 01224 732071                       

Peggy Paterson             Tele: 01224 734888

Reminder

The Guild Rally will take place in Ardoe House hotel on

Wednesday 6th May 6pm for 6.30pm.

Weekly Bible Study

The Bible study group meet every Wednesday in the Happy Lounge in Maryculter at 7.30 pm.

We finished our session last week and resume on Wednesday 22^nd April at 7.30pm.

We have been led by Joan Thorne since Bruce left and we are very grateful to Joan for leading us through the wonderful story of Abraham.  If only we all had Abraham’s faith we would be getting ever closer to Our Lord.

We start with two or three songs of praise, and ask a Blessing from our Lord.  We then read from the scriptures and open a discussion on our understanding of the Word.  And we end with a short prayer session for anyone who is in need of help.

We welcome our New Minister, Heather, and are so looking forward to whatever she decides we should do next session.  It would be wonderful if we could add to our number and all of you are very welcome to join our happy band.  If you need any further information just ask any of us in the group.

Joan Johnston

Night Shelter Pilot Project

In January this year members of Banchory-Devenick, Maryculter/Cookney Parish Church took part in a pilot project run by Bethany Christian Trust to provide food and night shelter  for homeless and vulnerable people in Aberdeen City. Bethany Christian Trust was founded in 1982 by Alan Berry MBE, the minister of South Leith Baptist Church, Edinburgh, in response to the needs round about the church. Today Bethany helps well over 3,000 vulnerable people get their lives back on track. In October last year Bethany linked with Aberdeen City Mission and other organisations to try and address some of the needs in Aberdeen.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this pilot project a success. It is likely that we will be involved with Bethany Christian Trust in the future in similar kind of work. If you would like to be involved next time watch out for more information to come.

Heather

Higher Rate Taxpayers and Gift Aid.

Any givings to the Church can benefit from Gift Aid which assumes that givings are made from after tax income. This allows the Church to reclaim the basic rate tax on such givings. For the moment that means that the 22% tax rate remains and that £1 becomes £1.28 ( £1 ÷ 0.78 = £1.28)

However higher rate taxpayers also get back, personally, the higher rate tax (ie the 18% between the 22% level and the 40% level.) either by a tax refund or an adjustment of their allowances.

Most people regard their givings as “real money” and probably do not expect to get the higher rate relief.   An increase in givings by a higher rate taxpayer would allow the Church to benefit from the higher rate tax as well.

£10 per week giving equals £520 per annum.   With Gift Aid this becomes £666.67 per annum ( an uplift of 28%). Higher rate tax relief on this £666.67 provides a further tax relief to the person of £120 so the net cost of the giving is only £400 – probably not what the giver intended.

£13 per week giving equals £676 per annum. With Gift Aid this becomes £866.67 an increase to the Church of £200.  Higher rate tax relief will be £156 ( 18% x £866.67 = £156 ) so the “real cost” is £520.

For the same “net cost” that a member thinks they are giving the Church could gain an additional 30%.

This will not apply to everyone but if you are a higher rate taxpayer – think about it………..

W.John McCafferty – Finance and Stewardship Convenor..

Banchory Devenick and Maryculter-Cookney Parish

Church of Scotland

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