1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity
3. catholicism

Church Office
Janette Robertson will be in the Office – Tuesday 10.00 am – 12 noon
& Friday 9.00 am – 1.00 pm. All items for the Pew Leaflet should be
given to Janette, or posted through the office door. Please note that
articles for inclusion in the Sunday Pew Leaflet must be with Janette
no later than 11.00 am on the preceding Friday.
Contact details:
Telephone: (01465) 712672
Email: [email protected]
March 2015
EDITOR’S NOTE:
All articles for the April 2015 issue of the Church Magazine
should be given to the Editor by March 29th 2015
Girvan North Parish Church
Girvan North Parish Church Charity No. SC007347
Minister:
CHURCH OFFICIALS
Blythswood Care
Rev. Richard Moffat 38 The Avenue, Tel: 713203
SESSION CLERK:
Mr. Ron Gibson 7 Young Street, Tel: 479206
TREASURER:
Mr Jim Nicol 52 The Avenue, Tel : 714044
CLERK TO THE BOARD:
Mrs. Jennifer Ramsay 30 Golf Course Road, Tel: 712200
We are resuming our collection for Blythswood, so please bring
any of the following donations, and they will be taken up to their
shop in Prestwick.
Please mark your boxes/bags with the following appropriate label(s):
BRB = Bric-a-Brac C = Clothes D = Dishes F = Food
G = Glass items M = Medical T = Toys B = Books
ROLL KEEPER:
Mrs. June Allison 48 Glendoune Street, Tel: 712610
CHURCH OFFICER:
Mrs. Anne Johnston 9 The Avenue, Tel:713624
ORGANIST:
Mrs. Marie Mortimer Gowlands Cottage Barrhill, Tel: 821294
CHURCH SECRETARY AND MAGAZINE EDITOR:
Mrs Janette Robertson 78 Bourtreehall, Tel: 715195
HALL CONVENER:
Mrs Anne Johnston 9 The Avenue, Tel: 713624
(Keys & practical arrangements)
Mrs Janette Robertson 78 Bourtreehall, Tel: 715195 (Bookings)
GIFT AID CONVENER:
Joyce Mills 21 North Park Avenue, Tel: 712050
SAFEGUARDING CO-ORDINATOR:
Mrs Margaret Nicol, 52 The Avenue, Tel: 714044
MAGAZINE CONVENERS:
Mrs Barbara Warren 35 Sycamore Drive, Tel : 714960
Mrs Irene Tyson 3 Kirkpatrick Street, Tel : 713590
F.W.O. CONVENER:
Mrs. Agnes Gibson 7 Young Street, Tel: 479206
CHURCH Tel. 712672
Computer Inkjet Cartridges
Used computer inkjet cartridges continue to be handed in in good
numbers in response to the Kirk Session’s decision to collect used
computer inkjet cartridges and send them off to either The Leprosy
Mission (Scotland) or to CHAS. The Leprosy Mission (Scotland) can
take only four particular makes but other makes can be sent via the
Rotary Club of Girvan to CHAS.
Jim Crawford is continuing to sort out the collected cartridges into two
appropriate piles. The church will send off the ones to TLM (Scotland)
while the rest will be taken to Rotary for them to send to CHAS.
A box will be found each Sunday in the vestibule of the church building
into which you may place your used cartridges. Please keep them
coming!
Greetings Fellow Saints,
Church Calendar
Sunday
1st March
Morning Worship
Rev. Richard
Moffat
Sunday
8th March
Morning Worship
Rev. Jim Guthrie
Sunday
15th March
Morning Worship
Rev. Richard
Moffat
Sunday
22nd March
Morning Worship
Rev. Richard
Moffat
Sunday
29th March
Morning Worship
Rev. Richard
Moffat
[All services begin at 11.00 am unless indicated]
Wednesday 11th March
Kirk Session
7.00 pm
Wednesday 18th March
Annual Meeting of the
Trustees
7.00 pm
Sunday
Annual Stated
Meeting
11.00 am
22nd March
This past month I have been thinking about my general health and as one senior
citizen put it: “Now that I just turned 60, I wake up every morning to the sound of
snap, crackle and pop. Not the cereal, but the sound my body makes getting out
of bed.” Yes I am coming to realize that with aging comes the unexpected aches
and pains but, how do we view them? Do we consider aging a privilege or something else? The following reflection, from: “More real stories for the soul,” might
give you some pause to reflect.
In October, 1999, in a letter to his “elderly brothers and sisters,” Pope
John Paul II spoke candidly of his own “twilight years,” and of his desire to
remain zealous to the end. He wrote, “These are years to be lived with a
sense of trusting abandonment into the hands of God, our provident and
merciful Father. It is a time to be used creatively for deepening our spiritual life through more fervent prayer and commitment.”
“Despite the limitation brought on by age,” he continued, “I continue to
enjoy life. It is wonderful to be able to give oneself to the very end for the
sake of the Kingdom of God. At the same time, I find great peace in thinking of the time when the Lord will call me: from life to life!”
Also meditating on her age, Pearl Buck wrote at age eighty: I have
reached an honorable position in life because I am old and no longer
young. I am a far more useful person than I was fifty years ago, or forty
years ago, or thirty, twenty, or even ten. I have learned so much since I
was seventy.
Mischa Elman was a Russian-born violinist whose career spanned his
entire life. He began performing when unusually young and continued into
old age. Someone once asked him if he could tell any difference in audience reaction through the encircling years. “Not really,” he replied. “When
I was a boy, audiences would exclaim, ‘Imagine playing the violin like that
at his age!’ Now, they’re beginning to say the same thing again!”
“It’s attitude, not arteries, that determines the vitality of our maturing year,”
said J. Oswald Sanders.
We are in the season of Lent and as we go through that to the climax of Easter
consider this: no matter what age you are, no matter what lies in front of us God
in Jesus Christ has already been there. Nothing that happens ever takes God
by surprise and old age is nothing more than a journey which will bring us home
where Jesus awaits our arrival with anticipation. Of course some of us get to go
home early and avoid the aging process!
Shalom, Pastor Richard
Kirk Session
The Kirk Session will meet on Wednesday 11 March at 7.00 pm in the Lesser Hall.
LIAISON REPORTS RECEIVED BY THE KIRK SESSION:
th
Annual Meeting of the Trustees
The Annual Meeting of the Trustees of Girvan North Parish Church will be held on
Wednesday 18th March 2015 at 7.00 pm in the Lesser Hall. The trustees of the
Church are ALL Elders and Board members and a good attendance is requested.
This will be followd by a meeting of the Congregational Board.
Annual Stated Meeting
The Annual Stated meeting of the Congregation will be held on Sunday 22nd March
2015 and will form part of Morning Worship starting at 11.00am in the Church.
During the past few months, the Liaison Elders have been out visiting our organizations. Reports back to the Kirk Session tell us that they are all in good order and
fulfilling the various activities in which they are all involved.
Worthy of special mention are our Youth Organizations. Their Liaison Elders have
been coming back to the Kirk Session telling us of the great work all the leaders have
been achieving and how happy the members are in all the varied activities that they
do. Being a leader in a youth organization is not easy - it involves time, commitment,
knowledge & dedication and this Church is fortunate that we have the leaders that
willingly do this week in and week out. The Kirk Session appreciates all our youth
leaders and we thank them all most sincerely for all they do.
Ron Gibson – Session Clerk
PS
Boys’ Brigade
1 Girvan Boys’ Brigade will be hosting the Battalion Figure Marching Competition
on Tuesday 24th March 2015.
st
At our Asda bag packing the wonderful sum of £535 was raised for our Company
Funds. This is used to pay for mini buses, etc. when we have our outings. Our
sincere thanks go to parents and friends who helped us throughout the day.
Holy Week Services
Easter Day is Sunday 5th April 2015. As usual there will be an Evening Service
every day during Holy Week which starts on Monday 30th March and full details
will be given in next month’s North Star Magazine.
• Old bankers never die; they just lose their balance.
• Old mailmen never die. They just lose their zip.
• Old superintendents never die, they just lose their
principles.
• Old photographers never die, they just stop developing.
• Old accountants never die, they just lose their balance.
Old lawyers never die, they just lose their appeal.
• Old preachers never die, they just go on and on and on and
on....
Wednesday Break Service
Come and join us as we celebrate fellowship on a Wednesday morning in the small
hall at 10.30 am 11.00 am.
Crèche Rota
1 March
Lorraine Reid, Leslie Forbes
8 March
Margaret Nicol, Rhona MacKinnon
15 March
Lauren Gibson, Diane Irvine
22 March
Tanya Milroy, Mandy Walker
29 March
Wilma Armstrong, Elsie Howieson
How uplifting it is to see some new faces in our small gathering. If you have been
unable to attend a Sunday service this is an ideal way of praising the Lord.
The half hour service is taken by either Richard, Eric, Stuart or Anne with Kathleen
accompanying on piano and selecting our hymns. This time of worship is less formal
than on a Sunday. Tea and coffee is served after.
This month we begin Chapter 3 of Philippians.
If anyone is interested in helping out on a Sunday morning, Diane, would be
delighted to hear from you – contact details are given below.
We are grateful to those members of our fellowship who voluntarily give of
their time to staff our Crèche on Sunday mornings. Please remember that if
you cannot do your duty one Sunday it is vital that you arrange a replacement
with somebody else who is already on the Crèche rota.
We wish to take this opportunity to remind members that the Crèche is
available every Sunday for children under 3 years of age.
Diane Irvine is the Crèche co-coordinator, her contact details are:
5 Trowier Road, Girvan
Tel: 710524 [email protected]
Stamps
Please bring along used stamps and place them in the box in the
vestibule at the church building.
They are sent to World Mission at ‘121’ who benefit in the region of
£2,000 + per annum.
Please leave about one quarter of an inch around the stamp when
you cut it off the envelope.
Prayer Topics March 2015
1. The Leprosy Mission - China
Pray for the work of Bless China International in villages in Xishuangbanna
Prefecture. Pray for the trainings and awareness raising activities among
minority people groups that they will improve knowledge and reduce stigma
towards people affected by leprosy. B.C.I. also reaches out to leprosy patients
in the mountains of Diqing Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Pray for a deep
transformation in their lives through education, stigma reduction, medical
and economic interventions.
2. Mission Aviation Fellowship – Papua New Guinea
Praise God for the dedication of a new Bible translation at Yimnalem, the
result of 30 years’ dedicated work by Pioneer Bible Translators. Give thanks
that, by supporting missionaries in remote communities, our planes make
projects like this possible.
Siobhain Dales, from the U.K. has been serving as P.N.G. Ground Operations
Manager for almost a year. She asks us to pray for energy and the ability to
prioritise her workload effectively.
MAF supporters in Germany and Norway have provided a generator for
our base at Wewak. Give thanks that, because of their help, we can now
power laptops, cool houses and continue working when the unreliable local
electricity supply cuts out.
3. Open Doors - Kenya
A church in Kenya has been forced to close after 11 of its members were
executed by militants. St. Andrew’s Anglican Church is in Mandera on Kenya’s
border with Somalia. On December 2nd militants killed 36 quarry workers,
9 of whom were members of the church. A week earlier 2 church members
were among 28 people killed during an attack on a bus. Both attacks were
the work of Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based terrorist group and in both cases,
the attackers separated Muslims from non-Muslims. Those who could not
recite a Muslim prayer were executed. Pray for courage and protection for
Christians in the Manders area and for wisdom for Kenya’s leaders in dealing
with Al-Shabaab
4. World Day of Prayer services will be held on March 6th. Pray that they will
be meaningful and encourage people to pray earnestly for God’s love to be
lived out in every day life to counter the devastating bitterness, hatred and
violence in our modern society. Pray for our young people with the pressures
and temptations they face, especially those who cannot find work and feel
frustrated and vulnerable.
As another A.G.G. approaches, ask God to show us clearly where His path
for the North Church is leading and what He would have us do in the year
ahead to fulfil His purposes.
Thank God for all we are learning through Pastor Richard’s ministry. Pray
for added strength and wisdom for the extra work involved in being Interim
Moderator. Pray for Margie’s health and her leading of the Ladies’ Meetings.
Give thanks for increased numbers.
Remember Marie as she leads the praise Sunday by Sunday. Ask for strength,
for safety in travel and the Lord’s blessing upon her. May we all “worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
WOMEN’S STUDY GROUP
February 17th is Shrove Tuesday and we began a six week Lenten Study that
night. Even if you have never thought about attending a study before, please
pray and consider whether this might be just what you need to prepare your
heart for the miracle of Easter.
You would have a little homework to do each week, but not a lot! Come and
join us for a time of fellowship and learning more about our amazing God.
Thanks!