St George's-Tillydrone Church of Scotland

From the Minister

Dear Friends,

When I was asked to preach at Rev. Lesley Risby’s Induction to Denburn in July, I chose Paul’s experience in Athens, recorded in Acts 17. Paul based his address to the people of Athens on a statue to an “Unknown God” situated in Athens at the time. This passage is of great relevance to the church at the end of the 20^th century, facing a society which is “clueless” about the content of the Christian message. Finding the natural point of contact is so vital, but it may not always be all that obvious. People in Aberdeen don’t usually build and worship at altars to an “Unknown God”!

Last month, some of us were privileged to hear the very well known writer, Os Guinness speaking on “Reading the Signs of the Times”. He prompted us to review the past century and present day factors in society which we have to consider and understand as we continue the task of presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Os highlighted three great cultural shifts in the modern world:

1. The graphics revolution: the shift from words to pictures. Notice how news items on TV are determined by the availability of pictures. Notice how watching videos can displace reading books. That shift makes the Christian’s word-dominated approach seem outdated.
2. The shift from wisdom to information. Of course there is much that is valuable in the superabundance of information to which we can have access today (e.g. through the internet), but where is the wisdom by which we can give it a framework of meaning and ethical appraisal? It is pretty obvious that wisdom is in short supply, because people don’t know the Bible’s secret to it (Proverbs 1:7).
3. The marketing revolution: the shift from substance to style. Think how people often vote on the basis of a candidate’s appearance, regardless of his or her message. We like the preacher who smiles a lot and is good at telling jokes, even if the teaching is shallow.

There was so much in Os’s tightly packed talk, but it left us with a very clear conclusion: today the Church faces its greatest opportunity because the entire world is within our reach, but at the same time, we face our greatest challenge: relating to the modern world.

There are only 3 months till January 1^st 2000. The Millennium hype is building up steadily. It may be that through it, someone in our circle of family, friends and colleagues will be a little more open to talk about what really matters in life. Are we able to “read the signs of the times” and so find points of contact by which to commend the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, today or forever” (Heb 13:8)?

With loving prayer,

Shirley

Diary
Dates

Willie and Rebecca Philip will shortly be moving to London. Willie has been offered a job with the Proclamation Trust. Willie writes “I will be working with David Jackman (who heads up the Cornhill Training Course for students going into the ministry) and Dick Lucas, recently retired from St Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate. Few men of such stature are around today in the church and it will be a great personal privilege for me to work alongside them”.

Choosing a Gate

Karel Matejka in Prague

The Spirituality of
Star Wars

Alan Duncan

Points for
Prayer

• Give thanks for the success of Mary Mumo, Erastus Lufungulo and Atef Gendy in gaining University degrees. Pray for Erastus and Atef as they return home to their families in Tanzania and Egypt.
  
• Give thanks for the safe arrival of Ezzy, our Careforce worker. Pray that he will settle well in our church and in a different culture.
  
• Pray for our church and all the activities reconvening: Junior Church, Girl’s Brigade, Friendship Hour and Guild.
  
• Pray for all those in mission overseas, some living in dangerous places to bring the Good News of Jesus. Pray especially for Cathie Aberdour.

Ray Hepburn

Fair Trade Shop

Oxfam in Scotland is about to offer a whole new shopping experience to the people of Aberdeen – a Fair Trade Oxfam Shop. The new shop will trade from a site in Union Street and will open at the beginning of September. Most of you will be familiar with the concept of Fair Trade products such as Cafe Direct. The new shop will stock a vast range of Fairly Traded goods from foods, to stationery, to household items and gifts. So people will be able to buy ethically sound products and support the work of Oxfam at the same time. Donated goods will not be offered for sale in this shop.

Volunteers are needed to help in the shop. Volunteers work a four hour shift and shifts are available to suit volunteers. Out of pocket expenses are covered and support and training provided. If you think this might be for you, contact Laura Baird for further information.

Snippets

Brief news of people and events

Helen Farr has been in touch recently. She is busy with exams to become a lay preacher. She is also involved in leading worship regularly in her church in Truro.

In Cathie Aberdour’s most recent letter she writes “ Remember Mauricio? He was the one who threw the harpoon at the plane a few years ago and narrowly missed hitting Judy. Well he has come to the Lord and regularly attends the church services. Thanks to all of you who prayed for him”. Cathie’s Dutch brother-in-law died recently and Cathie was able to spend some time with her sister Margaret in Holland.

Mike and Jane Fucella. Shirley was able to see them in Edinburgh in August, and take a photo of all four (which is on the prayer board in the Session Room). They were extremely busy organising a very significant consultation on world mission, held by the Church of Scotland.

Jane Howitt in Latvia is very involved in the tour of the Bible Bus, promoting the work of Scripture Union. She is thrilled at the prospect of having a Latvian colleague working for SU too.

Congratulations to Douglas and Alison Robertson (Appin Manse, Argyll) on the birth of their son.

Jeremy and Laurel Sanderson left Aberdeen at the end of August, after giving us much encouragement. They also shared their experiences of being on mission in St Petersburg, with a number in the congregation. Jeremy is already hard at work on his final year of study. Laurel is looking for a new teaching position.

It has a privilege to have had Atef Gendy and his family (from Egypt) worshipping with us over the past five years. Atef has now obtained his PhD and returns to Cairo to lecture in New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Ken Donald and family also keeps in touch from Wemyss, in Fife, and we are glad to see some of them from time to time.

Rev. John Talloch and his wife, Isobel, who have been in St George’s when John preached at some of our Holy Week services, have left the APC here and are now serving in Cromarty Church of Scotland, Shirley was glad to be able to attend John’s induction on Aug 27^th.

St George’s folk were sad to say farewell to Norman and Mary Craik, with Peter and Simon, as they have been so much part of the life of the congregation for many years. Norman served as an elder and Mary shared the music leading rota. They will be very much missed.

Life in 2c Alexander Terrace must have new quality now that it has been redecorated and generally spruced up. The new tenants are Ezra Okoti and Robert Reader, a PhD student from Canada. We wish Erastus Lufungulo God’s blessings as he moves back to Tanzania after obtaining his MSc.

Congratulations to one of our elders, Mrs Mary Mumo, on her success in obtaining her M.Th. in Church History, despite caring full time for baby Malia.

On Sunday August 22^nd, Jamie and Julie Cooper’s firstborn son, Duncan George was baptised in St George’s.

We welcome Tommy McNeil to St George’s as he begins his attachment as part of his training for the ministry.

St Stephen’s Church (Powis Place) plan a series of “Beta Evenings” as a follow up to their recent Alpha Courses. The meetings take place on the first Thursday of every month starting Oct 7^th. The themes of the evenings will focus on growing as a Christian and among the speakers are John Swinton and our very own Shirley Fraser. The evenings will include a pot-luck supper. For further details contact John Abel.

Life and Work. For those of you who take Life and Work please let Kathleen Fraser know if you wish to cancel your subscription for 2000. New subscribers should also speak to Kathleen.

The Scots Night in August was a big success again, thanks to Don McLellan’s band. An offering taken up spontaneously went to help with earthquake relief in Turkey.

Church of Scotland News

“I suppose there's nothing more relevant today than South Africa,” the Moderator said before leaving the United Kingdom. “It's the place where we have seen the Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Desmond Tutu bring a Christian perspective of forgiveness and reconciliation to a country that was war-torn in the apartheid era. I'm going out to mark the union of the two Presbyterian churches - the old white and the old black Presbyterian churches at a very significant time for the churches there. I hope it's symbolic, too, of our commitment to them and to the new era”.

The Guild