ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY 4th March 2015
ACTIVITIES REPORTS
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Contents
Pastors Report – Don Palmer
Trustees – Laura Worku
Deacons- John Betram
Mission & Discipleship
Discipleship - Colin Macleod
Missionary Committee - Rosalind Smith
Community Outreach
Alpha – Christine McKerracher
Community Kitchen – Colin McKerracher
Lighthouse Coffee Shop - Rena McLellan
Foodbank - Jeanette Cleary
Messy Church – Kathryn Wilson
Worship
Worship – Adrian Smith
Banner Group - Rena McLellan
Children’s Ministry
Crèche – Kirstin Palmer
Thursday morning Toddlers – Heather Griffiths
Breakout - Paul Wilson
Sunday School - Kathryn Wilson
Youth Ministry – Marc Williamson
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Pastors Report by Don Palmer
As I write this report in the middle of February, I can see the signs of new
shoots emerging from the ground. The crocuses are starting to appear.
Soon our gardens and fields will be littered with daffodils and newborn
lambs skipping. I’m reminded of the words of one of my favourite
prophets, Habakkuk at the very end of his book when he says,
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights. (Hab. 3:17-19)
In recent years we have known what could be described as lean and
challenging times as a church. Maybe we often prayed like Habakkuk did
at the beginning of this same section, “We’ve heard all about you, Lord. We
are filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need,
help us again as you did in years gone by…and remember your mercy.”
And let’s not forget, that Habakkuk had already spent time earlier asking
God some tough questions like “God where are you? Can’t you see what’s
happening? Why are you allowing this to happen?”
Self-analysis is always a difficult thing to do, but especially for us Brits or
Scots. We’d rather remind one another of what we’re not good at, what
we’ve failed to live up to and how grey the weather is! In this regard I think
we can learn a lot from our North American “cousins”. Sure they go over
the top once in a while, and can be extravagant in their celebrations, but
that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them does it? I think we could do
with a good healthy dose of self-esteem once in a while, and remember
that we’re loved unconditionally by our Father, redeemed, made right and
accepted in the beloved one, Jesus. And we’ve received the greatest gift this
world could ever wish for, the Holy Spirit of God himself, and so much
more with this precious gift if you think about it.
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Earlier in 2014 I was flying home from Belfast having visited my parents,
and I picked up the flight magazine. My eyes were immediately drawn to
an article by Robert Kelsey entitled “Seven steps to navigating fear of
failure”. It was all about the value of strategic planning, for the next year, 3
years and 5 years. I shared this with the Leadership Team back at the start
of the new ministry year and we agreed to set aside a day in early October
to dream, vision, brainstorm, discuss and pray – which we did. Out of that
day we collated our diverse thoughts into three general areas (what we are
calling our “big rocks”) which we want to focus on over the next three years
in our church, and plan strategically for growth in each of these areas.
We want to growth firstly in our
understanding and experience of God (the
upward direction of our vision). This will
involve thinking, praying and planning to make
some changes if necessary in our services and
the structure of what we do, as well in all of our
personal lives around the areas of worship,
teaching and prayer. We have some ideas of
what that could look like, but we want to hear
back from each of you as well. We want to see
more involvement from members on our worship teams, leading services
and on supporting sound teams. Our Sunday evenings have become very
poorly attended, so we are looking into why that is and what changes we
should be making. We want to spend more time in prayer, in our services,
in our small groups, as a church on Wednesdays and on special occasions,
and we are investigating how to best structure that so that it flows freely
among us. And we want to enable you as our members to both be inspired
by relevant preaching and instructed by systematic teaching. One
possibility is offering a monthly Bible school, with a few other churches
here on the Southside, which takes people through the Bible, Theology and
Christian Living. More to follow very soon, we promise.
Secondly we want to grow within ourselves and in our interpersonal
relationships as a church (the inward direction of our vision). This
involves participation in our small group and discipleship ministry. There
really never has been any shortcuts to growth in one’s faith. It takes time,
effort, discipline and others to help us grow. God placed us in a “body” (his
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church) not a club or an island! I went through an inventory I keep on file
recently and counted 55 adults or youth currently involved in either a small
group or a discipleship group within our church - that’s about 45% which
may be better than other churches but is still not where we want to be. Our
goal over the next year is to see that grow to closer to 60%. Our small
group leaders work very diligently to ensure we offer a healthy
environment where we can learn together, build stronger relationships and
practically care for one another. If you are not yet involved in a small group
or discipleship group you really need to consider doing so in 2015. Without
this you won’t feel as connected to ACC, you are actually hindering us from
caring better for you and praying with you over your concerns and you will
not be growing as you should within the body of Christ. Oh, and by the
way, we are always happy to look at starting up new groups tailored to your
needs, which is the right size, meeting with the right people and at the
right time for your schedule.
Thirdly we clearly want to continue to grow by reaching out to others in
our wider community, in word and deed (the outward direction of our
vision). This has been one of the key areas of how we have developed and
grown in the past two years, and there are several factors and reasons for
that – the successes of our Foodbank, Messy Church, Breakout Club, Alpha
Courses and our general community involvement. We believe we are a
welcoming church which genuinely seeks to embrace others and help them
to find a place to belong and serve here at ACC. We hope you agree? But
that is all of our responsibility – if you see someone new or someone you
have not spoken to before, it’s your responsibility to do so, not only the
pastor’s or leadership team. So in this area we actually don’t have too much
new in the way of plans and strategy. We want to develop and expand what
we have already started. One area we are seeking to develop better is our
awareness of what is going on in our world and to be more strategic in
what we do to help. We are seeking to do this through our intercessory
prayers on Sundays, narrowing down the number of mission organisations
we support, and partnering with specific projects like the Leprosy Mission
Purulia Hospital in West Bengal.
So how are we doing? Do you remember what Paul Davie (from Alpha
Scotland) said last time he visited us? His friend from Aberdeen once told
him that the sign of a healthy church is where new births were taking
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placed. Where people were being born and nurtured spiritually. I think we
can look around and see that happening, don’t you? We’ve seen up to 80
people come to our Messy Church event, which is now fixed in our annual
calendar. Over 30 attended our youth weekend away earlier in the year.
Two amazing baptism services this past year (with a few surprises!) Two
Alpha courses with another one currently running for our Iranian friends.
Several new discipleship groups started up. Consistent numbers attending
our Tuesday clubs and relationships building with the parents. Two longterm rentals of our building (Adult Literacy and Martial Arts/ Fitness class)
which brings a steady stream of new faces (and income) into our facility.
£4000 grant awarded by the City Council to our Foodbank and £10,000
from the Laing Trust towards our building renovations. Much healthier
financial position in 2014 taking in £10,000 more than our outgoings.
We are excited at the prospect of appointing a new part-time Community
Development Worker (pending as I write), which will be funded mainly by
the Pollokshaws Community Project. We trust that this project will enable
us to develop our community projects such as our Foodbank, community
kitchen, Lighthouse and build stronger ties with other local organisations
and work closely with them in seeing our wider community transformed,
and witness God’s kingdom coming in tangible ways.
At the last count, we now have officially 125 adults, youth and children
attending ACC on a regular basis, and we pray that will continue
throughout 2015.
So relax friends. Travel more lightly. Celebrate more what God is doing
among us. Laugh, sing, play, eat, exercise, rest, spend more time with your
friends & family in 2015 – so that we’re fit for God’s work that he has called
us to participate in. And when we are tempted to doubt, which we will, just
like our friend Habakkuk, take a look around at the new life springing up
before our eyes.
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Trustees Report by Laura Worku
Charitable Objectives and Aims
The charitable objectives of the church are to worship God together, to
build each other up in the Christian faith and to demonstrate the love of
God and the good news of Jesus Christ in both word and action. The aim of
the church is that we see ‘changing lives and changing communities’ as
people hear God’s word and see the practical outworking of our faith as we
serve our local communities and support Christian missions to
communities in Glasgow, Scotland and beyond.
The Trustees who served during the year and to the date of this report were
as follows:
Trustees
Peter Marriott*
Colin McKerracher*
Adrian Smith*
Chris Stewart (chair)
Paul Wilson*
Laura Worku
(* indicates those who also serve on the Leadership Team)
Appointment of Trustees
Trustees can be nominated for appointment by members, the Leadership
Team or the existing Trustees, subject to the approval of (and annual
confirmation by) the membership. There is no fixed term for Trusteeship
but Trustees are encouraged to serve for a period of 5 years. Prior to their
appointment, Trustees will have served the church for some time in various
roles and will be familiar with the church's vision, values, aims and
objectives as well as its day-to-day operations.
During the fourth quarter of 2013 there were only two Trustees and steps
were taken to commence the process of identifying and appointing further
new Trustees. As part of their induction programme, new Trustees are
required to understand their statutory responsibilities. Four new Trustees
were duly appointed to serve from the AGM on 30 April 2014 bringing the
total to six.
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Activity Report
The Trustees met on 16 June 2014, 25 August 2014, 20 October 2014 and 19
January 2015 and plan to meet 4 times a year in future. The Trustees
continued in their role as employers of our full time staff and discussions at
Trustee meetings covered how to best fulfil this through discussion of
performance management processes. The Trustees discussed issues relating
to the finances of the church, such as giving, budget management and
accounting. They also discussed the renaming of the church, funding
applications to the Laing Trust and other grant making trusts.
Significant highlights, events and developments of note at ACC during the
year include the following:
 Encouragement to prayer was achieved through regular prayer events
as well as special events.
 Sunday School as well as Crèche facilities each Sunday morning cater
for younger and pre-school age children as well as facilitating access
to church services for families.
 As well as the church’s weekly services, special events were convened
for young people. Attendance at Sunday morning services averaged 60
to 70 individuals.
 Interest in worldwide missionary work was continued through the
support of six Christian mission organisations.
The church established a Foodbank in October 2013 in association with
Glasgow Elim Church and Trussell Trust and continues to operate the
facility to the benefit of local families in need. Work is in hand to expand
the support of those in need through a weekly community kitchen which
started in 2015
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Deacons Report by John Bertram
The Deacons team met monthly during 2014 to discuss and manage various
aspects of the church’s affairs. The team comprises of Graeme Muir, Marc
Williamson, Rosalind Smith, Rena McLellan & John Bertram. Don Palmer &
Sue Clist also met with the team and provided regular input into the
monthly meetings.
ACC is a frequently used building with a growing number of ministries
taking place each week. In addition we have another long term let with a
martial arts group which meet twice per week in the main hall. The Adult
Literacy group continue to use the building 5 days per week.
In the last few years a lot of hard work has gone into getting the lowest cost
from suppliers and contractors and now we are in a position of being able
to understand the running costs for the church building. If you have any
suggestions that would help make further savings then please speak to one
of the team:
John Bertram – Contacts
Graeme Muir – Building repairs
Rena – Housekeeping
Ros – Church Lets
Marc – AV & IT
 Church Cleaning – We are currently reviewing our cleaning contract
and would be keen in speaking to anyone who would be interested in
taking on this role. Currently the requirements are 4 hours per week.
 Serving on welcome duties -We are looking for volunteers to join
the team to welcome people to church on Sunday mornings and
evenings. If you can help please let us know.
 Major items update
a. Replacement of Boiler – Funded by future grants 2015/16
b. Steps repaired – Work due to commence in April 2015
c. LED lighting for energy efficiency - Funded by future grants
2015/16
d. Disable Ramp brought into line with legislation – dependant on
cost this could be completed at the same time as steps repairs.
e. Rear shutter replacement – Completed December 2014
The deacons would also like to express our thanks to Ian Weaver who has
helped with countless odd jobs and repairs around the church each week.
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Mission & Discipleship
Discipleship by Colin Macleod
‘Go and make disciples of all nations’
Matthew 28v19
I am encouraged that this past year we have
had 40-50 people involved in one of our Discipleship Groups. Each group is
unique and so meets in a way that best suits their needs. The variety in
terms of size, material, time of day and frequency
means it can be tailored to individual requirements.
What they usually have in common is prayer,
bible/study and fellowship to support one another.
A few new groups have formed in 2015 so if you are
interested in being part of one then please let me
know.
Missionary Committee Report by Rosalind Smith
Members of this group are: Ros, Rena and Don
As a church we are committed to tithing and to supporting the work of the
Kingdom of God in our church, community, city, country and the world
and the Mission Group has been responsible for organising the raising and
distribution of funds to enable this to take place. We arrange financial
support for a number of groups and also strive to educate members
regarding the work that each of these groups is involved in.
This year the decision was made to fulfil this commitment through 6
mission organisations here and abroad enabling us to allocate £500 from
church funds to each group. It also gives us time to inform the members of
the church about each group and so stimulate more enthusiastic support
and understanding of how God is working through these groups. This
year we are concentrating on: TLMS - Linda, New Hope for ChildrenMarc and Suz, TEAR Fund, Scripture Union- Colin Macleod, Glasgow
City Mission, Street Pastors- Christina.
Bookmarks are available to help you remember who is “this month’s
mission” and there is always information on the website. Please pray
regularly for each group and feel free to give extra to any group you are
moved by. Anyone wishing to do this can give additional monies in an
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envelope through the collection bag or directly to the representative of
each mission. Envelopes to enable reclamation of tax should be available
from the representative.
Further information may be obtained from the nominated person.
This year through TLMS we have started a relationship with the people in
the Leprosy Mission H which is led by Joydeepa (Doctor) and Famkeema
Darlonga (Opthalmologist). Linda and Ros met them on their recent trip
and as a church we intend to keep you up to date with information on the
board in the coffee area but you can get more on line or on Facebook.
Joy and Fam at work
Outpatients waiting at
Purulia Hospital.
Same numbers inside!!
Christine, Ros, Joy, Linda, Fam
Anniversary banner in Purulia
Hospital
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Community Outreach
Alpha by Christine McKerracher
Alpha continues to play an important role in the church's purpose of
“Changing Lives, Changing Communities".
During 2014 we completed the course we commenced in February with 8
guests and ran another course from October to December with 7 guests
going the distance in their journey for answers to their faith questions.
Those involved in presenting Alpha continue to be encouraged by the
enthusiasm and determination of everyone who courageously walks into
our church to better understand the real meaning of life.
The prayerful support of the church and the faithful service of all who help
with Alpha is gratefully acknowledged.
P.S.
2015 has begun with a Sunday afternoon Alpha requested by members of
the Iranian Community that attend Auldhouse Community Church and
have become our valued friends.
Community Kitchen by Colin McKerracher
At the end of November 2014 The Leadership Team agreed with the
proposal to commence a Thursday lunchtime drop-in at the Church. The
vision was for a safe space, a bowl of soup and a filled roll and some real
friendship to help those attending to face the world they live in.
Every week at least one and sometimes 3 or 4 people have joined us each
with their own unique stories to share and be supported in.
We are grateful for those who are praying for this initiative and for the
people it attracts, for our 'soup and roll makers' and for those who have
volunteered to be there to befriend everyone who drops in to our
'Community Kitchen'.
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We pray that we will open our doors to many more people during 2015
through word of mouth endorsement, a local leaflet drop and by having
key service providers throughout the community pointing people in our
direction. Please continue to pray for opportunities to show people in need
the love of Jesus.
Lighthouse Coffee Shop by Rena McLellan
On Friday 16th January we celebrated
Lighthouse’s 10th Birthday! It was a cold,
snowy day, but lots of people braved the
elements to support us! We had balloons,
including a helium one, banners, a card
for everyone to sign and a “Lighthouse”
cake! There were also photograph albums on display showing
many of our customers from over the years and pictures of our first day,
Friday 14th January 2005. If you would like to see any of these please ask.
For most of the year Lighthouse has been run
on a weekly basis by Irene,
Doreen and Rena with Jeanette
and Sheila helping every other
week. We have been pleased to
welcome Pat as a new volunteer.
After Jeanette’s eye operation,
Sheila joined us on a weekly basis
until her health no longer allowed. It is still hard to believe
that she is no longer with us but we will never forget the good times we
had together, as well as her hard work and tasty baking.
At Christmas the Tinto choir, which has grown to over 30, excelled itself
and we all enjoyed both listening and joining in!
Numbers have again been high this year and we
continue to see links
with other church
activities as well as
members
bringing
friends along, and
hope to build on this. As a result,
donations have also been high and so we
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have been able to help in the following ways –
Leprosy Mission Scotland £450
Tear Fund £200
Messy Church £300
Syrian refugees in Lebanon £250
New Destiny (Mexico) £250
Macmillan £200
Sunday School £140
8 new chairs for Lighthouse to replace broken ones £240
Total £1890
Huge thanks to our faithful bakers without whom we couldn’t manage! If
anyone else would like to volunteer we would be delighted – the more
bakers we have the less they each have to bake! There are occasions when
we are struggling for helpers on Friday mornings so if anyone feels they
could help out in this way, even occasionally, we would be very grateful.
Praise
Prayer
Good numbers develop
For the above to continue and develop
Links with the community
More bakers and helpers
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Foodbank by Jeanette Cleary
We have had a busy first year at Foodbank
and have been supported by so many people
from our own church, and from other local
churches with donations of food, prayers
and willing volunteers.
We have fed over 500 people since we
opened and have signposted some of them
to organisations that can help them (CAP, Citizens Advice etc). We have
made endless cups of tea and had lots of very interesting conversations
with our clients and many of them only live a stone’s throw away!!
Our volunteers come from various churches and none and are a great help
and work very hard. A full team is 4 volunteers with 2 working in the
Foodbank making up the bags of food from the list laid down by Trussell
Trust depending on whether they are a single person or a family of 2, 3 4 or
more. The two working at front of house get the voucher that client got
from Jobcentre, Housing Department or other organisation that holds our
vouchers , checks it and asks any necessary questions and finds out if they
are vegetarian or have any dietary needs. We then pass voucher to food
packing team to fill it out. A cup of tea and a biscuit is offered and a chat if
they want. Most people are happy to chat and although they might at first
be embarrassed to be at Foodbank they quickly relax and leave with a 3 day
supply of food.
We have been very blessed with not only food donations but cash
donations too and this helps us carry on our ministry. We have established
good links with local churches, Hillpark Secondary School and Hutchesons’
Grammar School who regularly give large donations of food and this helps
us greatly. At this moment in time we have a few gaps in our volunteer
rotas so if you know anyone who has 90 minutes every 2 weeks, or perhaps
to be on reserve list then contact us.
I would like to express a huge thank you to
Dalbir and Irene who ran Foodbank when I
had to take a few months off after my eye
surgery. They did a great job.
Prayer points: We will have enough
volunteers especially over the summer months
and we will have enough food to give out. We
continue to feed the hungry as Jesus told us to.
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Messy Church by Kathryn Wilson
Messy Church is a form of church for children and
adults that involves creativity, celebration &
hospitality. It’s a church for people at all stages of
their faith journey and of any age.
For those of you who don’t know the core values of Messy Church are:
Creativity – reflecting who God is as creator of new things and re-creator
of people & communities who are broken.
Celebration – the joy of being a child of God and a part of this marvellous
body we call church.
Hospitality – Christ welcomes people on the edges of society, he makes
them his priority and his joy & that’s what we try to do. It’s all about
welcome & food and grace & giving.
Christ-centred – we want to bring people closer to Jesus .
All age – it’s not just for children but has something for everyone and
helps us recognise that it is a gift from God to be family across the
generations.
A small group of interested people went to a local Messy Fiesta in February
2014 and were challenged and enthused to explore the possibility of Messy
Church @ACC. From this day a core group was established which
comprised of Jonny Bell, Yvonne Pragnell and Paul & Kathryn Wilson. This
group met on numerous occasions to work out a strategy and vision for
Messy Church @ACC.
After much planning and preparation our first Messy Church was held on
Sunday 11th May 2014 at 3pm.
We were excited as families from our local community joined us to explore
the theme of Messy Families: The story of Abraham & Sarah. We started
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the afternoon with a family quiz, leading into our table time. This was
followed by our celebration then we enjoyed a meal together.
For those who have not been able to get along to Messy Church we start
our afternoon with an all age activity (quiz or games). This then leads into
our table time. This table time gives an hour for leisurely unhurried
experimentation and enjoyment of the various crafts or activities on offer.
They are all themed around the Bible theme of the day and are varied to
appeal to both genders and all ages and learning styles. We then progress
into our celebration. This takes the bible theme for the day and reinforces
some of the learning from the tables and places it in the context of
worship. It is a celebration of God and Jesus, their part in our community
life as well as in our individual life. This celebration time takes the format
of singing, storytelling and creative prayers. After our time of celebration
we lead into our meal. As a community we eat together sharing food and
experiences allowing us opportunities to build relationships and show who
God is in words and actions.
We went on to have subsequent Messy Church on Sunday 7th September
(Creation), Sunday 30th November (Messy Christmas), Sunday 11th January
2015 (A New Start – Noah) & Sunday 15th February (What About Lent?) As
you can see from the photos we have had a great time at all of these……
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As a core team we really want to express our thanks for everyone who has
been involved in Messy Church @ACC. For those who welcomed, helped
with registration, made and prepared the food, led the introductory activity
or game, facilitated one of the messy tables, led the worship, helped with
AV, did the story or prayer during the celebration - God has really blessed
us so far and we could not have done this without each one of you.
As we look ahead to our already planned dates for 2015 we would ask you
to pray for all our planning and preparation and that our local community
would be blessed by Messy Church. If you have not already been .... come
along and experience Messy Church with us.
If you feel you would like to know more about or get involved with Messy
Church please come and speak to one of the Messy Church core group
(Jonny, Yvonne, Paul or myself)
We believe that God is doing something exciting in our community
through Messy Church – come along and be part of it!
2015 Dates
Sunday 29th March
Sunday 31st May
Summer Event TBC
Sunday 6th September
Sunday 29th Novemer
Tuesday 16th December (Carol Singing) @ 6.30pm
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Worship by Adrian Smith
“This world is full of fragile loves – love that abandons, love that fades, love
that divorces, love that is self-seeking. But the unquenchable worshipper is
different. From a heart so amazed by God and His wonders, burns a love that
will not be extinguished. It survives any situation and lives through any
circumstance. It will not allow itself to be quenched, for that would heap
insult on the love to which it responds.”
So begins Matt Redman’s great little book entitled “The Unquenchable
Worshipper”. He expresses similar sentiments in “Blessed be your name”, a
song we often use at ACC. But is that our own experience or is the reality
that too often the circumstances of life drag us down and we struggle to
keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? That’s why our times of corporate worship are
so important. We need space to focus on our Lord and encouragement to
lift our voices in praise, even in the dark times.
As we note every year, those involved in organising and leading our times
of corporate praise and worship at ACC are acutely aware of the privilege
and the responsibility that this entails. We know that music is a means to
an end, not the end in itself, but we feel passionately that music does have
a key role to play in helping us all to focus on God. As a result we think
carefully about the material we use, how we compile song sets and how our
times of praise might help us all to be truly unquenchable in our worship.
It’s time to say ‘thank you’ again to all those who regularly give of their
time and talents to lead us in times of corporate worship. The worship
team are usually the first to arrive at church and are sometimes among the
last to leave – we really do appreciate the commitment shown by everyone
involved. Ian Watson has done a great job again as our Worship Coordinator and he continues to encourage us all to give of our best. He also
regularly circulates interesting articles or blogs on the subject and
challenges us to be worship ‘enablers’, not ‘performers’.
Throughout 2014 we continued the mixed format for our Sunday evening
services which included Praise Nights roughly once a month. We had an
inspiring evening of praise with David and Yvonne Lyons in October and
Project Worship (Marc’s band) led us in November. Callum and Nicole
continued to lead ‘This is Church’ events once a month with input from
Marc on what it means to live in community. Attendance at all these events
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has varied greatly but we have enjoyed some special times of worship
together and we would like to see more people coming to join us on these
evenings.
At this time last year we set out to complement the existing team in some
areas including the operation of the AV. This remains a work in progress
but we have really benefitted from the involvement of some new band
members. On the AV front we have unfortunately seen a reduction in
available operators due to a variety of circumstances. Much of the burden
currently falls on Marc so we are actively looking for volunteers to help
with set up operation and tidy up each week. If you can help at all please
get in touch with Marc or Ian.
We continue to thank God for all that he is doing in and through our
church family. As we look forward to another year our prayer is that as his
Spirit moves he will inhabit the praises of his people and inspire us
unquenchable worship.
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Banner group by Rena McLellan
It is with great sadness that we think of our little group who so faithfully
met at Sheila’s each Tuesday evening after Breakout, and yet it is also with
great joy that we recall so many happy times together!
The group has served as a haven for a
good blether, whether to share good
news, seek advice or vent frustrations,
we have had lots of laughs and always
tea and biscuits!
After these important things were
accomplished we got down to talking
about and planning banners! We
probably did more of this than usual
this year as some of our banners were challenging.
We wanted to involve the young people, so Sheila joined them one Sunday
morning to ask for ideas, and returned to us with some very good ones! We
worked on these and she then held a Sunday morning session with them,
returning again with drawings which we translated into the banner you can
now see at the top of the stairs down to the basement.
We haven’t met as a group since Christmas but will have by the time you
read this! We hope to be able carry on the work and it is our hope and
prayer that we will be able to continue Sheila’s desire to enhance worship
in the church by providing more banners. I’m sure we would all like to
express our gratitude for the lovely memories we have of her and for all she
taught us.
At the moment we are Doreen, Rena, Sue & Yvonne but hope to be joined
by others who have not been able to come over the past year and by new
members. Please let us know if you are interested – no skills required!
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Children’s Ministry
Crèche by Kirstin Palmer
We are thankful for a great team of volunteers who care for our youngest
members at Auldhouse Community Church as they are such a vital part of
our ministry in welcoming families and ensuring that their little ones are
valued.
We currently have seven 0-2 ½ year olds who use the crèche on a regular
basis.
Please pray that we would see new families in the year ahead. One very
practical prayer point is the challenge that we have with our lack of space
at times.
If you have any fresh ideas, would like to be involved in volunteering as
part of our team, or in the running of our crèche we’d love to hear from
you!
Thursday Morning Toddlers’ Group by Heather Griffiths
Heather Griffiths, Louise St. Clair and Anna Wakely have been supporting
the Parent and Toddlers group at ACC this year.
A core group of about six kids had been attending regularly throughout the
last half of 2014 with their parents, grandparents or carers. Since January,
we have had an increase to about 10 regular attendees with a few new
children joining. Most of these kids are 2-4 years old – it’s been fun to see
relationships forming as they play together. Although we don’t have a
formal rota, the adults help out with setting/clearing up each week.
We meet every Thursday during the school term, from 10 - 11:30am.
Children enjoy free play and a snack of fruit, crisps, a biscuit and
juice/water. Hot drinks and biscuits are on offer for the adults. We ask
each adult to pay £1.50 per session to cover the cost of snack and a
donation to ACC for use of the facilities. We usually also fund a trip to soft
play before the summer and Christmas holidays and a small gift for each
child at Easter and Christmas.
We really appreciate when the toy cupboard doors and chair-storage area
are kept tidy and clear. This makes our set up so much easier and we also
use this area for snack time. Please pray for our kids and their grown-ups.
We hope to be an open, inclusive, welcoming group. We’re grateful for our
regular attendees and several newcomers over the past year.
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Breakout by Paul Wilson
Breakout is our kids club for all children of primary school age. We meet
every Tuesday night in the church for an hour from 6.45pm. We enjoy a
varied programme of activities each evening. We have been extremely
encouraged by the willingness of the kids to talk to us on a more personal
level and their excitement and happiness at being at Breakout often amazes
us. Parents have to drag their kids away on some evenings, which is a really
good thing to see.
Our scorecard scheme is still proving very successful with a star being
awarded to each child who attends and extra stars for bringing a friend or
doing well in activities and good behaviour. After ten stars are collected the
child is given the choice of a gift which they look forward to receiving.
At the end of our session in June 2014 we had a special event called
“Breakouts Got Talent”. This was a great event where lots of parents came
to see the children perform and we had a great time together. There were
many wide and varied acts from jokes & impersonations to beautiful
singing & dancing. I think this will become a regular feature in the
Breakout calendar.
Since we started up again in September for the 2014/15 session we have
averaged about 20 children each week. We have a mix of games, fun
activities and crafts trying where possible to build them around the theme
for each evening. We have been looking at theme of Jesus & ….. We looked
at the nature of Jesus, his interactions with various people and his love for
each one of us. We always try and think of imaginative ways of grabbing
the children’s attention when sharing the bible with them.
Throughout November, with the help of Ian Watson we formed the
Breakout Kids Community Choir. We had fun practising some new and
more familiar Christmas songs. We held our first performance on Tuesday
16th December 2014 when lots of parents and friends came along to hear
the choir. The children were amazing and put on a great performance. We
enjoyed refreshments after this event.
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On Sunday 21st December 2014 some of the children from breakout came
along and joined the children in Sunday school and presented a nativity
play called DIY Nativity. The children enjoyed this and it was a great
opportunity for us to have them involved in our nativity and also for their
parents to come along and enjoy the service.
Since January we continue to have a regular group of 20 children who have
come along. We have had to adapt some of what we do to include all the
children’s needs. This has been a challenge for us as leaders but we have
been able to adapt to the changing dynamic of some of our new children.
Breakout would not be possible without our team of volunteers who are
Sara Craig, Rena McLellan, Morag McNeill, Yvonne Pragnell & Kathryn
Wilson. I want to thank them for all the time and effort that they all have
put in each week … Breakout would not happen without their
commitment.
On Tuesday evening we also provide a space for parents to come and have
coffee & cake during the club if they wish to. Many parents have taken this
opportunity to relax and chat with others. This has become a very
important part of Breakout for us all as we have really started to get to
know this group of parents on a personal level. I would like to thank our
team of ladies who help with this – Rosalind Smith, Linda Watson &
Doreen Wilson. Again without this group of people this would not be
possible.
It has been very encouraging in the last year to be able to build stronger
relationships with the children and their parents.
Please pray for us that the children will continue to come along each
evening and that we will be able to respond to them all in appropriate
ways. We can always do with extra help (especially more men!) for holiday
cover & just to give some of us a night off! If you are interested in working
with us in this exciting ministry even on an occasional basis please come
and have a chat with me about it.
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Sunday School Report by Kathryn Wilson
Sunday school happens each Sunday during the service for children aged 310 years old. We currently have two classes which seems to work really well
for us. As Sunday school continues to grow we will adjust the classes
depending on the ages of the children attending. We want to thank God for
the privilege of being able to teach all the children in Sunday school
throughout the past year. In addition to the teachers we have a number of
helpers who help us on a regular basis. I am grateful to all those involved
in Sunday school and want to say a huge “thank you” for your willingness to
give up your time and energy on a weekly basis.
Pre School – P2 Class
Teachers: Morag McNeill & Kirsten McNeill
Helpers: Sara Craig & Rachel Clist
P3-P6 Class
Teachers: Rena McLellan, Kathryn Wilson
Helpers: Aaron Bertram, David Russell
We continue to use Scripture Union Material for both classes. This
material covers a wide and varied range of bible stories and biblical
principles in an age appropriate way. We would ask for your prayers as we
prepare our lessons and that we would be able to deliver our message in an
interesting and relevant way. Our prayer would be that all these children
will come to put their trust in Jesus & start on their journey with Him.
We had our Christmas party on Monday 22nd December 2014 where we
enjoyed a game of ten-pin bowling followed by tea at The Quay.
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Throughout some of the Sundays in December we learned new songs and
practiced for our nativity play “DIY Nativity” which we then presented to
the church on Sunday 21st December 2014. Sunday school did this along
with other children from Breakout Kids club & the help of a few adults on
the day … we hope everyone enjoyed it.
We still collect the children’s offering each week in our special “lion box”.
We continue to support Silivia in Uganda ((£21 per month). We write
letters & draw pictures to send to Silivia on a regular basis, as well as
praying for her.
As you can see we have a really exciting time in Sunday school. Please pray
for us that we will all enjoy Sunday school, learn more about Jesus and that
all the children will be keen to bring their friends along too.
Youth Ministry by Marc Williamson
I’ve often heard it said in jest that youth workers and pastors have it easy,
because they only have to work one day a week… In fact, I’ve occasionally
been known to say it myself! The reality is that there is a little bit more to
working for a church than initially meets the eye, but we’ll start with the
obvious…
Sundays
Every Sunday morning I disappear into the basement with our young
people to have a look at the same topic as the wider church are studying
upstairs, but in a more interactive way, and with the added competition of
points being awarded every time a young person brings their bible. If the
whole group are there at the same time (miracles have been known to
happen when sporting schedules, holidays and state of awaken-ness all
coincide in our favour!) there are 12 of us exploring the Bible together.
As we journey through the Bible together as a church we are looking at the
themes and passages each week and looking at them using our
imaginations and asking important questions. As we read we’re imagining
what it was like to be there, how the people in the stories might have
changed as a result of their situations or encounters or what God does for
them and through them, whether God would do it in the same way today,
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or what sort of people would be in the story if it took place in our schools
and what part we would play. Every week our intention is to imagine how
our lives should be impacted by the story, and what we should be learning.
Sunday evening youth activities have changed over the past year due to the
nature and consistency of our Sunday evenings as a wider church. Over
time it might be that we can re-instate something regular and build
something again (though there are plans to try something new alongside
Messy Church – Read on…) but for now, this is an inconsistent part of our
youth work programme.
Discipleship
A large amount of my time is filled with discipleship, both one-to-one and
in small groups.
The discipleship looks different depending on who I am meeting with, but
there are two consistent factors that make up every session: The Social and
The Spiritual.
Socially we’re all different. Some of us drink coffee and chat, others want to
play games, be they on a computer or on a board. Sometimes we eat
together as part of our discipleship, sometimes we’re just stealing time
before one of us has to get to our next appointment. But the social side is
always there. We need to catch up, to chat, to know what makes each other
tick, to build relationship and trust, to remind ourselves that this is a safe
place, and this is somewhere I can be myself… And I say we, because our
discipleship sessions are always two-way, even if it is more intentional from
my part. It’s through the social that we learn what we need to be praying
for, what we need to be talking about, how we need to look for help.
Spiritually we’re all in different places. The God that each of our young
people knows is the same as the God that we know, but naturally they
know him differently to each other, let alone to how we know him. In our
sessions we seek to know him better, to take what we know and to explore
it, to own it, and to see how it should impact our lives. With several of the
groups I’m working through the Nooma material, a DVD series looking at
various themes from love, through grief, greed and the character of God.
With others I am using material from Krish Kandiah called “Back to the
Source” – 30 challenges to live like Jesus – where we’re journeying through
short chapters and case studies, reflecting on them, and working out what
it means for us to live like Jesus.
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Each of our young people has their own character, their own problems, and
their own way of facing each day. They are all searching, all asking big
questions, but all seeking to do life the way God intended it to be done.
Keep praying for them as we meet together, that they get to know more of
God. Pray for me, that I continue to learn from them. And pray for more of
God’s Spirit as they seek to live as Christian young people.
Youth Club
Tuesday nights in the last year have been particularly exciting.
Last May my dream team and I went to Manchester to Audacious Church
for the YouthWork Summit for a day’s youth work training alongside
hundreds of other youth leaders and volunteers from across the UK. The
day helped us to grow together as a team, excited us about what we could
do in our service of our young people and our community, educated us
about some of the current good practices, successes and problems faced by
those working with young people across the country, and empowered us
through worship and the random guy who prayed for us and our work in
the car park as we debriefed and caught some sun!
Our programme and structure and even opening hours have changed,
allowing for more space for young people to interact with each other and
with leaders. As a team we have seen relationships deepen with young
people, with them sharing their struggles and stories with us, with a
number of new young people coming to join us, and others returning. This
depth of relationship has meant that we are trusted by the young people,
they value our time and input, and both young people and leaders are
excited to be at the club each week.
Many of these 15-20 young people have been involved in our Saturday
activities, are interested in coming to our weekend away, and I think will
be excited about other potential future developments (see in a couple of
pages time!). As well as this we’ve also seen a greater number of our regular
Sunday young people coming on a Tuesday night and engaging with their
peers from our community.
Aside from Sundays at church and
all the mid-week activities, there is
often something for our young
people to get involved in on a
Saturday too.
Sometimes a Saturday is about going
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out and just doing something together. Our activities have varied from
swimming, to Combat City, from ice-skating and Christmas shopping to
going to watch Glasgow Rocks play basketball. This is an important part of
our programme as it provides an opportunity for young people involved in
all areas of our work to come together and invite their friends to.
So far this year we have taken up to 25 young people out on each trip, a
mixture of young people who come to church on a Sunday, their friends,
and young people from the community and who are associated with our
friends in Cathcart.
Purposefully these weeks compliment other Saturday activities that happen
locally.
For example there is also the Youth Café in Cathcart that happens once a
month that we’ve been going along to. Again this is another safe
environment to bring friends along to, with space for relaxing, playing
sport, computer games and watching films, a tuck shop and a short
reflection on an area of Christianity. At quite a few of the Youth Cafés over
the past year representation from those associated with ACC has been
higher than the representation of young people from anywhere else. For a
couple of weeks over the summer, and for a week over Easter we also work
closely with our friends in Cathcart to provide space in the afternoons for
young people to come in and use our facilities.
And then every now and then on
a Saturday there’s PowerPoint.
PowerPoint is midway through its
second full year of being back in
Glasgow, and is currently growing
its own team, feel and flavour to
cater for the difference in zeal
between the young people of the east and west coast. PowerPoint exists to
bring young people together to worship God. It has three main aims: To
teach the Bible, to worship God, and to serve the local church.
TO TEACH THE BIBLE: Every PowerPoint event has a guest speaker, who
is invited to come and share the word of God with the young people who
attend. This year the theme is “Live Free”, taken from John 8:36 – “So if the
Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Guest speakers have included Gav
Calver from Youth for Christ, Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor, and
Rachel Gardner from Romance Academy. Every speaker shares a message
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and then invites a response from the young people either to STEP IN to a
relationship with God, STEP OUT of any unhelpful patterns and be seen
living out their Christian faith, or to STEP UP and start thinking about
what they can do to lead their peers in their faith journey.
TO WORSHIP GOD: The other integral part of every event is the worship.
On a bigger scale than most young people will experience in the West of
Scotland, the worship comes with a band, with volume, with lights and
smoke, and with new songs that are led in a worshipful manner that
encourages young people to engage with God. Whilst some of that is
surplus to requirements, it creates an atmosphere that this is something
big, something important, and someone deserving of the best that we come
to worship.
TO SERVE THE LOCAL CHURCH: We couldn’t do as a church what
PowerPoint manages to do. We don’t have the space to accommodate
upwards of 500 young people, the budget to cover the production costs, or
the inclination to put a smoke machine into the church. What PowerPoint
helps us to do is to provide a safe place for our young people to encounter
God and meet other Christians, whilst hearing sound, age appropriate
teaching and worshipping with songs they can relate to and understand.
PowerPoint isn’t about replacing church, or making church seem
something less, but about exciting our young people in their worship in a
way that develops them as Christians and encourages them to live out their
faith in their churches and schools.
It has been a privilege to serve at PowerPoint and help them achieve their
aims, but it has also been a privilege to see a number of our young people
attend and find freedom in worship and hear from God.
Moving Forwards, and ways you can help…
Exciting things are in the pipeline, and
coming up:
 PopUK – see later…
 Youth Weekend Away – see more later…
 Messy Youth – We’re planning on
starting some Messy Youth activities
alongside Messy Church, with the intention of trying to engage with
more of our midweek young people on a Sunday, and to create a
space where those young people who join us for our social events can
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join us to explore what church could be. The idea is to follow the
same themes as the wider Messy Church group, but deliver a more
age tailored programme of activities in the basement after the initial
games, and re-joining the wider church for dinner at the end of the
session.
And there are a number of ways you can continue to support the
youth work at ACC:
 Volunteer – We currently have a core group of volunteers who are
faithful and hard-working, and passionate about what they do, but
they are in danger of being overworked! In order to help us continue
to develop the work that we are doing and to introduce new ventures,
we are going to need more people to join our team. If anything you’ve
read about so far has excited you, and you think you would like to be
involved in some way, whether regularly or occasionally, please speak
to me! In particular I’m always keen to hear from people who’d be
interested in driving and accompanying us on trips, or people who
have a desire to feed young people and me…
 Prayer support network – Prayer has been crucial to us achieving
what we have in the last year, but we have no formal network. The
idea is to build one to support us better this year. This would entail a
monthly email from me to keep you up to date with what’s going on
and specific prayer requests.
School’s Work
They say that time is a healer, but prayer, patience and persistence also
play their part. After a quieter year working with Tinto previously, the last
six months has seen an increased involvement in school life again!
Both chaplaincy teams have undergone a change this year with the
retirement of Rev Graham Cartlidge from Eastwood Parish Church.
Graham played the key role of starting the chaplaincy work within both
Tinto Primary and Hillpark Secondary schools shortly before I started at
ACC. He worked hard to build relationships with the schools and
personally pulled together the teams that are active within the schools at
the moment. I believe it right to acknowledge how his vision and work
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provided us as a church with so many more opportunities to be part of our
community and to work alongside the schools as we have done.
We’re not exactly where we were two years ago with regards to our
relationship with Tinto, in that we are not in a position yet to deliver any
Religious and Moral Education (RME) lessons, but alongside our
ongoing opportunity to work with P6 and 7 pupils through the CU group
on a Thursday lunchtime (regularly seeing about 12), and the Christian
services at Harvest, Christmas and Easter which we have been involved
with throughout, the chaplaincy team has been invited to lead the school
in 3 of their Religious Observance (RO) assemblies this year, to the
same level we have been involved in in Hillpark Secondary for several
years.
The Scottish government require all schools to provide a number of RO
events for their school community. These events are “community acts
which aim to promote the spiritual development of all members of the
school’s community and express and celebrate the shared values of the
school community” and should “present opportunities for the school
community to reflect upon and develop a deeper understanding of the dignity
and worth of each individual and their contribution to the school and wider
communities.”
Whilst not allowed to be overtly Christian, we are able to communicate
what we believe by tying it into themes suggested by Tinto (themes like
“Love and Nurture” and “Respect for Others”) and based around
school’s values at Hillpark (i.e. “Positive Partnerships” and “Realising
Potential”).
Also in Hillpark we were afforded the opportunity to lead services with a
more Christian input at Christmas and at Easter, and were invited to lead
a reflective space with the senior end of the school over a two day period
in December, encouraging them to think about Christmas and some of the
issues and emotions associated with Christmas in small groups as they
undertook various activities. This latter model is one which we are looking
to develop alongside the RME department in the school and the Iona
Community to try and help the school fulfil its obligations to the young
people at the top end of the school to provide spaces for them to reflect on
the beliefs held by themselves and by others.
At the SU group at Hillpark we are currently making our way through the
Youth Alpha course which has been conveniently broken down into bitesize chunks which mean we can fit it in to a school lunch period without
Page 32
scrimping on the games or the social aspect. Within that group we have 6 –
10 boys who have a varying amount of church background, who are faithful
in turning up each week and engage in everything we do.
The chaplaincy presence at Hillpark also reaches out to the staff and seeks
to support them. In order to build relationships with them, which have led
to further engagement with pupils, we put on regular coffee mornings,
giving us a chance to chat with them, and them a chance to chat with each
other.
On top of all this, because of our persistence in
relationship and in prayer, the parent council
have agreed to us bringing PopUK back to Tinto
this coming September. Last time this was a
brilliant project to have introduced to the school
and really was a launchpad into a lot of the
relationships and ministry opportunities that we
have had in the church lately.
Complimenting the curriculum with community involvement and
engagement is high on the list of priorities of both the school and us as a
church, and I am looking forward to seeing how God will bless this work
this time around.
Other potential future projects in the schools include a possible “Cosy
Café” for students one lunchtime a week in Hillpark, the aforementioned
reflective space for senior school students, and I’m still hopeful for RME
involvement in both schools…
…Watch this space!
And Finally…
May Weekend Away
Within days of last year’s AGM we
had our first May Youth Weekend
Away. Around 45 of us descended
on the Bible Centre in Inchinnan,
just round the corner from
Glasgow Airport. The programme
included plenty of fun, games,
sports, activities, late nights, early starts, and discussions around some big
topics, with young people competing in teams across the whole weekend to
see which Commonwealth country would come out on top. We had a mix
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of young people from P6-S3 joining us for the weekend, including young
people from the youth group, the church and their friends who had been
coming along on our monthly Saturday activities.
It was a great weekend, with young people and leaders alike having a good
time, getting to know each other better while exploring more about who
God is.
Straight out the back of that weekend the booking went into the diary for
this coming May, Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd. And this time, instead of just
booking out half of the centre, we have taken a leap of faith and booked
out the whole place, meaning there will be up to 80 of us going this year!
What this means is… WE NEED YOU!
 To Pray:
o Booking a bigger space means we need more young people…
Pray that our young people get excited about the weekend and
invite their friends
o More young people means a bigger team is needed… Pray that
we can build the right team to serve the young people who come
o More young people means a bigger operation is needed… Pray
that all the logistics work out
o More young people means a wider audience for the Gospel….
Pray that we are able to share God and his love effectively over
the weekend in our relationships, in our actions, and in our
words, and that our guest speaker Matt Levett is able to share
God’s message
o More young people means more fun… Pray for safety and
enjoyment amid the chaos
 To Step up:
(If you think you would like to help us with the
weekend away, please speak to me.)
o We have mouths to feed… We have a catering team being built,
but if you would like to help in some way by supplying baking or
traybakes or snacks or contribute to the menu that is being
developed that would be brilliant
o We have parents to meet… On the Friday night we will be having
a BBQ for all the young people coming for the weekend, and for
anyone who comes with them to drop them off. We will need
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people to help direct parking, and meet and greet and socialise
over a burger
o We have games to play and crafts to create… Over the weekend
we will be doing all sorts of activities. Even if you weren’t able to
come for the whole weekend, you’d be more than welcome to
come and join us or help us lead and co-ordinate these activities
over the course of the weekend
o We have bodies to transport… To try and keep costs down for
the weekend we will be travelling to Inchinnan by cars. Extra
vehicles for people and belongings would be appreciated
o We have invoices to pay… We are hoping to be able to support
those young people from the community who may not be able to
afford to join us by subsidising their costs. If you felt able to help
us help them, please do
Thank you to each one of you for all you do!
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