‘Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life‘
A very warm welcome to all
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Readings: Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a
Gospel: Luke 4: 14-21
In today’s Gospel
Imagine what it might be like to fix our eyes on Jesus! Because when we focus our attention completely on Him, we can also see our place in the world more clearly. Instead of letting our gaze settle on those things that irritate us, anger us, or cause us pain when we ponder them, we would see only Jesus, and the disagreements that divide us would lose their importance. We would see the ways our lives impact others with greater clarity. When our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we can recognise our part in systems sending out false messages that some people have more value than others, that some people deserve more than others – and we can start to do something to change those systems.
Fr Roger Dyer
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Fr Roger Dyer was commissioned as Assistant Priest to St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral by Bishop Anne at our 8 am service last Sunday. This will mean that Fr Roger will become a pivotal member of our ministry team and when he is not assisting Bishop Anne, he will be involved in the ministry both pastoral and liturgical with us here at St Mary’s. Fr Roger will share the Clergy ministry with me, both presiding and preaching, when he is free and available to do so. Fr Roger is very keen to get to know you so when he is ‘on duty’, please make sure you have a chat with him. We are extremely lucky to have someone of Fr Roger’s experience and calibre working with us and his evangelical tradition and background gives us another way of ‘doing church’, from which we can only benefit from. It is also important to know that Fr Jason still remains an Assistant Priest here at St Mary’s, however, as most of you will know, he is extremely busy ministering to the Congregation at St Clement’s in Mastrick and we pray for his continued ministry to those her cares for.
Christian Unity
During this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I ask you to try and observe it in some way when you turn to pray, or have a quiet moment during your day. You will note that on Tuesday the 25th Jan our Morning Prayer will now be a Said Eucharist to remember the conversion of St Paul. There will also be a service of Compline commencing at 6 pm on Friday the 28th Jan.
Covid Restrictions
It is understood that the Scottish Government has effectively announced the end of all Covid restriction measures from next week apart from a few which involve mask wearing. Clearly how this is implemented will require a subjective viewpoint in that you will ned to continue to assess your own personal risk. In view of this, however, the pews at St Mary’s will be returned to their normal positions. We shall also resume our fellowship after our worship, both on Sunday’s and Wednesdays. For those of you who have been considering returning to Church after this extended break, why not make it next week. We have missed you and would be delighted to see you back. In the meantime, I have emailed, under separate cover, the most recent update from the Province Advisory Group.
AGM
I hope to be able to email out the AGM documentation to everyone later in the week. This documentation will consist of relevant reports from the key Vestry Officers together with my own report. It will also contain the official agenda for the meeting itself which will commence directly after the 10 am service on Sunday the 6th of February.
We see the departure of Ms Elizabeth Smyth as our Vestry Secretary. Elizabeth will also relinquish her role as Alternate Lay Representative for General Synod which which we already have one name already to be considered. This therefore creates a vacancy for a Vestry Secretary and I appeal to anyone who might consider taking on this important post to contact me at your earliest opportunity.
Several Weeks ago, Mr Iain Stewart was co-opted onto our Vestry Committee and we are fortunate to have Iain contributing to the welfare of this Church. Iain has also offered to be our People’s Warden, a role that has been vacant for several months. The process for this position is open to anyone who wishes to be considered. Should there be more than one name submitted, it will be put to a ballot on the day of the AGM. If no-one else comes forward then it will be proposed that Iain becomes the new People’s Warden. (See attached sheet)
The position of Lay representative at General Synod, which is currently held by Dr Nicola Mills, will also be put to a ballot should there be more than one name submitted. Dr Mills has agreed to continue in the role and will abide by a ballot should that be necessary. (See attached sheet)
We have two vacancies on St Mary’s Vestry for Ordinary Members, and I would strongly urge those who feel that they could offer something to assist in the management of our Church to speak to me before our AGM. Vestry membership is a rewarding role and provides an insight in to how we reach the decisions we do in our work here at Carden Place.
Readers / Intercessions
Iain Stewart has asked me to put out a call for more people to consider volunteering to read scripture and intercede at our worship. Should you feel so inclined, I encourage anyone who is considering this valuable ministry to approach Ian in the first instance.
Peace/Therapy Garden
I continue to draw you attention to our proposals for the Peace/Therapy Garden at the front of the Church. We have obtained some samples of ideas re what the garden could look like, and we (The Vestry) would value your opinion on what your preference might be. Please take some time to click on the following link where all will be revealed.https://stmaryscardenplace.org.uk/notices/west-end-garden-project/
Forthcoming Events
You will find a calendar of events on our website at: https://stmaryscardenplace.org.uk/notices/st-marys-pro-cathedral-fundraising-and-social-events/ covering the next several months. We will also place a few of these event calendars around the church for your perusal and diaries.
St Mary’s AGM and Constitution Change
St Mary’s AGM will take place on Sunday the 6th of February 2022 and we are proposing to make a change to our Constitution. St Mary’s Constitution states that we must hold our AGM within three months of our financial year end, which is the 30th of September. We would like to extend this period to six months which effectively brings the Constitution line with what we have been doing for a number of years. The result of this is that we would be required to hold our AGM by 31st March as opposed to 31st December.
Services/Events at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral w/c Sunday the 23rd January 2022
Sunday 23rd January 2022 at 8am – Holy Communion (Cn Terry – 1970)
Sunday 23rd January at 10 am 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany Sung Eucharist (Cn Terry – 1982)
Monday 24th January – Cn Terry – Day off
Tuesday 25th January at 10 am – Said Eucharist – Conversion of St Paul (1982 – Cn Terry)
Wednesday 26th January at 10 am – Said Eucharist (1970- Cn Terry)
Friday 28th January at 6 pm – Compline (Cn Terry)
Sunday 30th January at 8 am – Holy Communion (1970 – Cn Terry)
Sunday 30th January at 10 am – 4th Sunday after Epiphany – Sung Eucharist (1982 – Cn Terry)
“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”
(John Milton)
Blessings Always
Rev Canon Terry Taggart
01224588776/07768219984