APRIL 2014

headlinesRefl ections on Lebanon

Jim Purves refl ects on his recent visit to Lebanon

Forres - A little goes a long way!Rev Jon MacKenzie shares some exciting things happening in Forres

Table Talk- how’s it going?Judy White fi nds out how people have been using the Table Talk resources

Baptists have engaged. At

the heart of their process

were three excellent,

illuminating questions:

1) What values are most

important to you for the

future of Scotland?

2) How can we make

Scotland a better place to

be?

3) How do we put aspirations into action?

These questions are a great starting place

for thinking biblically about our nation, and

will be key in our forthcoming Assembly in

October. We hope to lay before Assembly

a variety of resolutions relating to the

development of our church’s mission in

Scotland, particularly in areas of church

development, community development,

education and health. Over the coming

months, we will invite Baptist leaders in these

fi elds to develop a series of statements to

inspire our Assembly to examine the place of

Baptist churches in the future of our nation.

Meanwhile back to the current question,

“Should Scotland be an independent

country?” As a starter for what the Bible

has to say, you might want to consider the

implications of Genesis 11, Acts 2 and the

Revelation refrain, “every nation, kindred and

tongue” on our understanding of national

identity, or alternatively explore the issue

through the variety of tools that our Public

Issues group have discovered.

http://www.scottishbaptist.org.uk/content/

resources

Alan Donaldson

Published by

The Baptist Union of Scotland,

(Charity Registration SC004960)

48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH,

t: 0141 423 6169 f: 0141 424 1422

admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk

www.scottishbaptist.org.uk

Our Place in the Nation

How will you vote on Referendum Day? It’s a

question that is increasingly being asked around

our country. Some celebrities have chosen to

get involved and share their passion either for

independence or continued support of the Union.

Sports star Andy Murray has decided that he will

not comment on the question for fear of backlash,

based on the years of regret following his comment

about supporting any team apart from England in

the last World Cup!

What is the Baptist Union of Scotland position on

the issue? This is a question that I have been asked

on many occasions. I have been careful to reply

that we do not have a view, but that should not

be misinterpreted as our being passive about the

subject. Although historically many Baptist groups

have sought the separation of church and state

and have been part of the free church tradition,

it has not meant a non-engagement with politics.

Many, like Martin Luther King Jr, have been keenly

involved in shaping the political landscape.

In this edition of Connect, we focus on some of the

resources available to help church members, small

groups, ministers and churches to engage with

certain issues relating to the Referendum question.

These resources may help you to answer the

question on Referendum Day with a deeper biblical

understanding of the many interrelated issues.

The Church of Scotland has facilitated a

community-wide discussion with which some

“

“

Although historically

many Baptist groups

have sought the

separation of church

and state and have

been part of the

free church tradition,

it has not meant a

non-engagement

with politics.

Refl ections on Lebanon

It was a privilege to spend

10 days, at the beginning

of March, both teaching at

the Arab Baptist Theological

Seminary in Beirut and visiting

with churches and mission

workers in Lebanon. Whilst a personal visit, it also

served to develop further links between our Union

and the Lebanese churches, following a visit by a

team from Leven Baptist Church last year.

The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary currently has

44 men and women enrolled in training. Students

are established leaders in their own contexts, from

throughout the Arabic speaking world of the Near

East and North Africa. When a married couple

attends ABTS, they both study at ABTS, not just the

husband. This has led to a transformation in the

lives of many women who came thinking they were

to serve their husbands, but developed at ABTS a

wider vision of ministry for themselves too.

The seminary impressed

me, with its vision to

not only educate

theologically but also to

promote reconciliation

and the development

of community. ABTS has

introduced a curriculum

that integrates elements

of personal formation

and growth, and

the development of

leadership skills and practices. More recently, the

Seminary has introduced a feed-back mechanism

of assessing the relevancy of its curriculum in areas

of mission and ministry.

Lebanon, with a population of 4 million, has

received some 2 million refugees, who have

crossed the Syrian border, seeking refuge and

help. It was deeply moving to meet with refugees,

coming out of a devastating war situation, in the

Bekaa Valley. This has transformed the church

situation, with some baptist congregations nearly

doubling in size as confused and hurt people seek

www.facebook.com/scottishbaptist

after God in a new way: recognising the message

of peace, forgiveness and reconcilation that

the Gospel offers. This has challenged churches,

pulling them away from any temptation towards

inwardness into outwardly expressing Christian

integrity, in seeking to bring help and hope to

strangers come among them. There has been a

huge mutiplication of Bible Study groups and many

are being converted to become disciples of Jesus

Christ.

The challenges? A need to train

more leaders. To fi nd resources

to help meet the need of people

and use this window of opportunity to serve others

and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Should

your church be interested in forming links and

partnerships in Lebanon, please get back to me in

order to fi nd out more on:

advisor@scottishbaptist.org.uk

Jim Purves

Catalyst

Calling all leaders! The next Catalyst day is coming

soon. Wednesday 28th May at Newton Mearns

Baptist Church.

We are delighted to announce that we will be

exploring “Nationhood and Identity.” Stuart Blythe

and Malcolm Duncan will be our keynote speakers

introducing this vital topic as we lead up to the

Independence Referendum in September, helping

us to think theologically beyond the political

debates. We are lining up some other special

guests too - so look forward to a stimulating and

informative day!

As usual we will have an open evening the night

before at Queens Park Baptist Church on the same

theme and aimed at a wider audience. Please

invite folks along to this too.

Please book now for the day conference on NMBC

website - newtonmearnsbaptist.org.uk

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Brian More and Iain Macaulay

Students at ABTS

Find us at www.scottishbaptist.org.uk

Sports Day 2014 – Registration Deadline!

Spring has sprung and the clocks

have gone forward, signalling that

we are that bit closer to another

exciting Sports Day at Stirling

University on Saturday 31st May!

Registration emails have been sent

to all of our churches.

The deadline for registration is 12 noon on Thursday

1st May. So get your skates on and don’t leave it to

the last minute to get your form in!

Table Talk - how’s it going?

Ten of our churches have been piloting Tabletalk

for us… here are their comments so far:

• We love it!!

• We tried it and it didn’t go down well - felt too

contrived. Perhaps

somewhere else

would work better,

we were in a busy

pub!

• We have used

Table Talk twice for

our Big Questions

group and it worked

very well and will continue using it. The problem is that we

have very few non-church people come along but the

church blokes fi nd it a useful way of triggering important

discussions.

• I really used it at Step Out last year, but haven’t had

opportunity since. It’s not that I don’t want to....just not had

chance…

• Still trying to get more non-church people involved.

• We have used this game a few times with our older

teenagers at our late session of the youth club. It is a good

tool to get people talking about issues that would not

usually come up in our conversations.

Forres - A little goes a long way!

It's been a busy time since our new minister (Rev.

Dr. Jon Mackenzie) started in May last year. Four

new members have

been added to the

congregation, three new

babies have been born

and a new youth group

has just been initiated in

the last few weeks with

the fi rst session starting in

March. We had a great

response to our carol

service with a guest ratio

that outnumbered our

own members! God is

good.

Jon has also managed to get into the local

Academy, somewhere that has been closed to any

chaplaincy or Christian input for the last 20 years.

However, thanks to new Head and Deputy Head

teachers who are both keen to have a team of

chaplains in the school to take assemblies and be

involved in other ways, the ministers from the local

churches in Forres have been asked to be involved.

As a church we have been going through The

Freedom in Christ course which has been a

tremendous blessing so far and has already begun

to bear fruit in the lives of the fellowship. It is a DVD

based course and comes highly recommended.

Coming to grasps with the freedom we actually

do have in Christ has been nothing short of an

absolute blessing.

We also have an evangelist booked to come

to town in June who is speaking in the Town Hall

(holding 250 people) and twice in the Academy

all on the one day, as well as a Christian band

planned to come and play in autumn.

So we have a busy year ahead and are expecting

great things from our great God, and this is all

aided by the grant we are getting from the BUS,

which just goes to show that a little generous giving

can go a long way.

Rev Dr Jon MacKenzie

BUS 2014

April Prayer Link

Sunday 6th

Collydean, Glenrothes: Rev John MacSporran.

Please continue to pray for our search group as I'm

on the 'home straight' towards retirement. Thank

you for your prayers for our recently established

Youth Group and for answered prayer that we

now have two girls coming along. (Before it was all

boys). Continue to pray too for the effectiveness of

our on-line ministry where our services are watched

by many worldwide. Give thanks too for the

committed leaders in Collydean Church. As many

know, the smaller the church, the more jobs a few

leaders have to attend to!

Colonsay. At this time Colonsay Baptist Church

needs lots of prayer. We are trying to carry on with

the work that our late Church Secretary, Eleanor

McNeill, did and keep things going so the Church

can move forward. We could do with some new

members.

Cornton, Stirling. Pray for us as we continue to serve

the community around us, building bridges and

seeking to demonstrate God's love in action in the

community of Cornton. We give thanks to God

for a number of new ministries that have recently

begun as the family continues to grow and thrive.

Sunday 13th

Cowdenbeath: Rev Graham Kinloch. Give thanks

for the growing numbers we are seeing in our

congregation at this time, especially among

younger couples which is really encouraging.

Please pray for us as we strive to develop a stronger

focus on discipleship in the life of the fellowship as

we seek to encourage and build one another up.

Crieff: Rev Jim Newell. We give thanks and praise

that much prayer has been made in Crieff recently.

A number of Christians from different churches got

together to pray for a whole week, 24/7. We are

praying with the emphasis for spiritual needs of the

town. Pray with us, as we believe God is listening.

Pray for us too, as a fellowship, as we seek to take

the Gospel to the community using the course

“Christianity Explored” and for an upcoming

Baptismal Service. Thank God, who is forever faithful.

Sunday 20th

Rev Stuart Murdoch, Chaplain, Strathcarron

Hospice. With the complexity and diversity of the

workload pray for wisdom to know how to develop

the Chaplaincy Service at Strathcarron Hospice.

Give thanks for the development of strong working

relationships between Staff and myself as Chaplain.

Pray that this development would continue and

have a positive impact on the life of the hospice.

Crookston, Glasgow. We would ask for prayer for

wisdom in our search for a pastor to lead CBC.

We thank God for His blessings to us over the past

four years as He builds His church with the addition

of another six new members in 2013.

Crown Terrace, Aberdeen: Rev Gary Smith. We

would value prayer for our building which is feeling its

age and requires some remedial work, especially at

the stained glass windows. We give thanks for three

new babies (and the families they belong to) and

opportunities to develop new ministries in this area.

Culloden: Rev Kenny Ross. We have been through

a diffi cult few months as a church, with the death

of several friends. Yet we praise God that the

gospel has shone so brightly through lives well lived,

and through it’s power to grant hope and peace

even in the face of the death of loved ones. So we

praise God for the power of the gospel.

Pray with us as we begin looking to the future with

regard to building our own church building. God

has supplied much already, yes we still have a ways

to go, but God is good.

Culduthel: We pray for the on-going ministry

at Culduthel Christian Centre in Inverness. We

give thanks that the Rev Alasdair MacLeod has

accepted the call to be our new pastor. We pray

for Alasdair in the practicalities of moving back up

to Scotland and settling into a new area.

BUS 2014

Pray too for ...

Alan Donaldson: April fools day marks the 4th

Anniversary of my service with the BUS. Pray

that God would continue to grant fresh vision,

enthusiasm and health for this unique responsibility.

I am looking forward to spending a day with

many leadership teams from some of our smaller

churches this month and to visiting Colonsay and

Drumchapel.

Yvonne Faddes: Please give thanks for the number

of young people signed up for Step Out this

summer. Pray for them and for the churches in all

their preparations. Its an exciting time and we are

anticipating good things as we share the love of Jesus

with children and young people across Scotland.

Please continue to pray too for the preparations

for Sports Day. We still need volunteers, so pray

that we might soon have all the people required to

help the day run smoothly and that this might also

be an opportunity for us to deepen the relationship

between churches as we come together.

Sunday 27th

Cupar: Rev Tim Power. We deeply appreciate

the prayers of our extended church family of our

Baptist Union, specifi cally: That our Lord will bless

new upcoming local mission initiatives, CAP Money

Management Programme, pre marriage Alpha,

and Cupar joint churches Messy Church.

Give thanks for meaningful befriending links and

the opening of the gospel message with Chinese

Students at our local college, and Student Alpha

started in February.

Dalbeattie. Give thanks for the faithful expositional

preaching of the Gospel each Sunday, and at the

mid-week Bible studies. Pray that we will, with Paul,

never be “ashamed of the Gospel” nor water down

its message that salvation is free to those who fear

God and are obedient to His commands.

... and for the Queen’s Baton Relay

British Virgin Islands 02.04.2014

Jamaica 05.04.2014

Cayman Islands 11.04.2014

Turks & Caicos 15.04.2014

The Bahamas 18.04.2014

Belize 21.04.2014

Bermuda 25.04.2014

Canada 27.04.2014

John Greenshields: After two very good

conferences in March (Chaplains and Next Stage

of Ministry) for which we thank God, April brings

the opportunity for a pre-Easter holiday break.

Beyond that will be lots of preparation for the Board

of Ministry in May, when four candidates come

for initial interview and six ministers come for fi nal

accreditation interviews.

At the Easter weekend, a visit to the Aberdeen

Passion (many of our family are involved) will be

followed by leading a service for seniors in Pitlochry

on Easter Sunday.

Jacqueline Primrose: Please pray that we would

get good percentage returns on the BUS statistics

this year, to allow us to get an accurate picture of

how we are all doing. Pray that I will have a good

time with the family and a rest when I take some

time off over the Easter celebrations.

Jim Purves: For the ongoing work of visiting,

teaching, preaching and giving support and

advising in mission and ministry across the country;

and giving thanks and interceding for the work of

the Peaceful Transformation Team, supporting local

churches in fi nding God’s peace, where this needs

to be re-established in local situations.