No.47 23rd May 2025
Letter from Manse
Dear Congregation,
I attended the General Assembly with Sandy McDougall last week. You can view the proceedings online at Free Church
Website
I must say, I was deeply impressed. It was a truly delightful time of worship and fellowship. From the efficient handling of the business by the Moderator to the clear technical directions from the Principal Clerk, the Christian unity and love among the gather was palpable. It was extraordinary!
The Moderator has chosen "The Uniqueness of Christ" as the theme for his year. His sermon on this theme was excellent, and you can listen to it
here. (The sermon begins at the 55-minute mark).
I would like to say a few words about the Moderator, Rev. Alasdair Macleod. He is the minister of Smithton Free Church near Inverness, where David Meredith previously served. Remarkably, he is one of the youngest Moderator’s ever. Rev. Macleod demonstrated not only a firm grasp of procedure and the matters at hand but also led us in worship and prayer with a humility I have rarely witnessed in a Moderator.
A typically formal part of the General Assembly is the reception of the King’s representative, the Lord High Commissioner. However, this year, it was a highlight. The King’s representative, Lady Elish Frances Angiolini, is a distinguished Scottish lawyer and the first woman to hold the role of Lord Clerk Register since its creation in the 13th century. She previously served as Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland and currently chairs the Angiolini Enquiry, which is investigating the circumstances around the death of Sarah Everard.
What made her presence particularly compelling was that Lady Angiolini centred her speech on her Roman Catholic faith. She discussed the legal complexities she had to navigate to assume this present role given her background and shared her experiences as a Roman Catholic in Scotland as a Procurator Fiscal dealing with sectarianism. However, drawing on her experience from court and Chapel she spoke of a deep understanding and appreciation of The Free Church of Scotland.
The Moderator's warm and gracious response to Lady Angiolini was a standout moment for me. He represented not only The Free Church of Scotland with utmost grace I believe, but also the Lord Jesus himself. I encourage you to watch this exchange
here. (It begins at the 2-hour mark).
All the assembly reports and decisions can be found on the Free Church website.
With Warmest Regards,
Scott
Sunday 25th May
Morning service - 10.30am
Rev David Meredith
2 Corinthians ch4
Evening - Joint Service with NMBC
7pm (refreshments from 6.30pm)
Wednesday - 7.15pm - 8.15pm
@ John and Sandra's
The Keswick Convention has 3 weeks of ministry in the Lake District in the Summer with thousands attending. However, it also has a Scottish mini convention which will be worth getting along to - there are 3 evening events. Details below or on the website here.
We are very much looking forward to Keswick Ayrshire 2025 at the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock!
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30th May – 7.30pm
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31st May – 7.30pm
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1st June – 7.30pm
Each evening begins at 7.30pm with doors opening at 6.30pm. There is no need to book and each evening is free to attend (though an offering will be taken each evening which will be split between Keswick Ayrshire and 3 partner organisations – Asialink, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Hope for Addiction).
Canon J. John will be with us as our speaker at our three evening meetings. J.John was appointed evangelist at St. Nicholas’ Church in Nottingham in 1979 and then honorary Canon of Coventry Cathedral in 2003. he is a well-known speaker, evangelist and author of over 60 books.
We are delighted to have worship led by the Keswick Ayrshire Band which is comprised of musicians and singers from local congregations.
As usual, we have a bookstall from ’10 of Those’ with a wonderful selection of Christian books.
We also have a number of Christian organisations who will be exhibiting with us over the weekend. Please do take time to have a look at some of the amazing work that they are doing in Ayrshire, Scotland and beyond!
We look forward to welcoming you to The Park Hotel!
CONVERSATION ABOUT PROPERTY
8th June- Over Coffee
There will be a short conversation over coffee after the service on 8 June.
Members of the Finance Committee will share thoughts on the potential funding and acquisition of property for Mearns Free Church. Please note, this is an informal conversation and no property purchase is under any active consideration at the moment.
Murray McNicol
Lectern Levites?
It's been pointed out that Jaan's splendid new covering for the lectern, to stop it getting marked when being transported, resembles something that might have been in the temple in Jerusalem... so we have added two golden cherubim and poles for carrying it.
Just checking through church member's genealogies to see who is in the right tribe to carry it.
Concert times:
Saturday 3pm, Sunday 7pm
There are still plenty of tickets available.
Use the QR code above or look at the webpage to book.
Performance or Grace
Scott was reminding us last Sunday about how Jesus calls us to follow Him. He has come to us, it's all grace and nothing to do with what we can offer God, or have achieved or will ever achieve. It's LOVE freely given to the unlovely. That is Good News. The alternative is standing before God (or trying to please God) under our own steam - our own efforts, which is really what Religion can only offer.
Christopher Watkin (in his book 'Biblical Critical Theory) uses the u shape and the n shape to describe what is essentially the Gospel versus Religion. It's a great picture to see God coming down to us and raising us up ie u shape.
And what a relief to avoid the n shape of 'performance' and trying to be good enough for God which will ultimately fail because we are sinful and unable to reach God's holy standards.
And that U shape diagram includes the outcome of responding to this grace with a life of Gratitude, ie faith can’t leave our lives untouched because we have a new Lord in our lives. Karl Barth says 'grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth' and that 'grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightening'. The Heidelberg Catechism so esteems the centrality of thankfulness to God in Christian ethics that is classifies the entire Christian life under the heading 'our thankfulness'.
Human nature makes this difficult to accept - we think we should 'do something to deserve God's goodness'. We think. 'there's always a catch', 'or 'too good to be true', or 'no such thing as a free lunch'... But it IS true and God has reached down to us wonderfully.
George Herbert wrote this poem, picking up on the idea of how we struggle to accept this super abundant love, and that we are too cynical to believe that God would reach out to us this way:
“Love (III)”
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked anything.
A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?
Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat.
So I did sit and eat.
Keith Sigrist
Keith Sigrist's funeral will be at 1.30pm on the 9th June at Newton Mearns Baptist Church
(and afterwards at Loks in Shawlands.)
Angela requests bright colours please, and no flowers. Donations to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice please, if appropriate.
Ladybird Book of Maxwell
What Do We Mean When We Confess Jesus to be the Son of God?
It is 1700 years since the church leaders met at Nicaea in order to make clear what the church believed was true about Jesus' identity - this is a great 'lecture' to help understand the importance of this truth - listen HERE.
This is maybe 4 tea breaks of 15mins each
Who do we believe Jesus to be, and why is it both important and encouraging to us that we believe these things?
The summer holidays are going to be upon us in the blink of an eye.
We are looking for some people to lead one (or more) of our summer sessions to give our regular Kids leaders a break. You will need to have a PVG with Mearns Free Church (this can be arranged through Alastair MacLellan or Sue Anderson and is a relatively painless procedure) and there will need to be two adults aged 18+ at each session. We will be focusing on Nehemiah this summer and full teaching materials and resources will be provided for each week.
Speak to Pauline if you can help on any of the following dates:
29th June, 6th July, 13th July, 20th July, 27th July, 4th August.
LARGE PRINT -
SONG WORDS
If you find viewing the song-words on the screen in Sunday worship a problem, we currently print a limited number of large-print song sheets for specific people.
We don't want to print unnecessary copies so please speak with the door team and we will begin to make these available for you each week.
Mearns Free Church has a What's App Group for Prayer -The "PRAY NOW" Group
Purpose: A platform to share information regarding a sudden and crucial need for prayer.
How to connect: Speak to Margaret Boyd if you would like to be added to this group or email Margaret at: mandmboyd@hotmail.co.uk
What tech do I need?: You need to have a Smart Phone with WhatsApp to get set up.
Emailing The Minister
Please be careful when emailing Scott that you are using the correct current email address minister@mearnsfree.org. A number of emails continue to be sent to accounts no longer in use. Please be doubly careful when sending from a device that is not your normal communication device (like a phone) or if you use “reply to all”.
Email Addresses For Mearns Free Church
Please make sure you change your email address list now we are part of the Free Church.
Tom Brown (Office): office@mearnsfree.org
Scott Kirkland (Minister): minister@mearnsfree.org
Sandy McDougall (Treasurer): finance@mearnsfree.org
Pauline Forster (Children and families worker): children@mearnsfree.org