May-June Mag

A Y - J U N E 2 0 1 9
M
H O T O T A K E N B Y B R I A N L A U R I E
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P A G E 2 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H
C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E
FROM THE
MANSE
“The Spring has sprung, the grass is riz,
I wonder where the boidie is”
This is the start of a short folk poem that came
out of New York in the 1940’s, if not earlier. The
image of the season of Spirng springing forth is
one that fills me with joy and it fills me with
hope.
There are points in life we all need hope. At the
moment of writing my back is in a fairly
hopeless place but hopefully this is just part of
the up and downs I was told to expect in the
long journey of healing.
As we look into the world we see places where
hope is lacking and where hope is needed. In
the painful mess that is Brexit we must hold out
hope. Hope that, whatever the solution to
Brexit is, the divisions it has manifest can be
healed and the political mess and financial
insecurity it has caused can be used to build a
more inclusive and collaborative form of
government rather than the adversarial
situation we currently have.
In the upsurge of right wing politics that seeks
to marginalise and dehumanise those who are
different we must hold out hope. Hope that
people will be seen as valued and love for who
they are, no matter the colour of their skin, who
they love or where they come from. We must
hope that the good people who oppose neofascist
movements stand up and say that it is
not acceptable.
In all of this and far more we need hope. In all
of this we must remember that “spring has
sprung” but more than that we must remember
that Easter is here and hope rises with Christ
from the grave. In the face of personal
hopelessness, or in the face of events on a
national or global scale that can leave us
feeling hopeless, we need to engage in an
active form of Hope. Hope that is manifest in
the glory of Easter morning.
Hope is an action, and this is seen in the new life
that actively returns in the spring, in Christ actively
returning from the dead as celebrated on Easter
Sunday and we all have to actively hope for a
better world.
In personal difficulty, we need to take active steps
to improve our situation.
In situations where others are disenfranchised or
demonised for the colour of their skin, where they
come from or what accent they speak with we
need to stand up and say that all are welcome
whilst embodying that welcome.
In situations of genuine religious persecution and
hate, we need to actively say and show that
whatever the religious belief, or not, that someone
might hold they are free to engage with their faith
whenever and however they wish.
Easter is a sign of hope.
Spring is a sign of hope.
We have to be signs of hope.

P A G E 3 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E
GUILD
For our last meeting in February we were
delighted to welcome Margaret Clark, who gave
us an interesting insight into the support
given from all Guild Members to one of our new
Project Partners – Malawi Fruits.
Malawi Fruits is a young Scottish Christian
Charity committed to working with their partners
in Malawi to support young farmers in the north
of the country through several projects. Two of
the projects are providing ‘Futurepumps’ to
enable young people to grow crops using
irrigation and the other is providing access to a
tractor and plough as part of the ‘Green
Revolution’ for these young farmers.
What is even more exciting this year is that the
United Nations Development Programme will
match-fund all money Guilds raise for our
Project Partners over the next 3 years.
At the beginning of March we welcomed Brian
and Sandra Laurie from our own Boy’s Brigade
Company. Although small in number there exists
an obvious commitment, dedication and
enthusiasm from Brian and Sandra, which is to
be highly commended. The Boy’s Brigade
provides a safe space for young people where
they learn, grow and discover. Did you know
that the Boy’s Brigade is the oldest and largest
uniformed organisation in the world with
approx. 3500 volunteer leaders in Scotland?
As Guild members we share similar challenges as
the Boy’s Brigade and look forward to working in
partnership with them, becoming ‘companions
on the journey’ “One journey – many roads”.
For our final meeting before our ABM, we welcomed
John Johnston from Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance
service based at Perth Airport, Scone. As the country’s
only charity funded air ambulance, SCAA receives no
government funding and relies entirely on public
donations to deliver expert paramedic care to the scene
of time-critical emergencies in every corner of Scotland,
365 days a year. In thanking us for our donation, John
informed us that, along with many other donations, this
has enabled the service to increase their hours of
operation from 10 to 12 per day.
Last, but by no means least, 42 members attended our
ABM on Tuesday 2nd April. During the main business
section, Dorothy thanked those members stepping
down – Margaret, Jane and June - for their commitment
and hard work over the years. Gifts of appreciation
were then presented. On behalf of all Guild members,
Edna then presented a gift to Dorothy, thanking her, for
not only her 18 years as a Guild member, but also for
her contribution as Guild co-ordinator, a role which she
carried out with commitment and dedication.
Following nominations for the vacant posts of
Treasurer and Co-ordinator, Fiona McColl and Sheena
Malcolm will jointly take on the role of Co-ordinator
with Christine Paterson becoming our new Treasurer.
We are grateful to these members for taking on such
responsible roles and look forward to supporting them
in the new session.
Hopefully the ‘Daffodil Tea’ will be a resounding
success, the sun shines and the daffodils ‘flutter and
dance in the breeze’
All that remains is to remind members of the following
dates:
Guild Rally at Bridge of Allan Parish Church,
Thursday 30th May at 7pm.
Guild Summer ‘Mystery Outing’ on Saturday 1st June
10.30am for 11.00am.
Guild Annual Gathering, Caird Hall, Dundee on
Saturday 7th Sept 10.30am

P A G E 4 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E
HE STILLED THE
STORM TO A
WHISPER; THE
WAVES OF THE
SEA WERE
HUSHED. THEY
WERE GLAD
WHEN IT GREW
CALM AND HE
GUIDED THEM
TO THEIR
DESIRED
HAVEN.
PSALM 107:29-30

SUMMER
COFFEE
MORNINGS
Coffee mornings start on Saturday 6th
July until 31st August. We have nine
this year, so plenty of dates to choose
from.
Come along and enjoy a cuppa, a chat
and delicious home baking.
AUTUMN
FUND
RAISER
Saturday 29th September - A Musical
Afternoon Tea. Afternoon tea and
musical entertainment provided by
Scene 2, an amateur singing group,
who are excellent. Tickets, priced £5,
will be on sale at the last Coffee
Morning on 31st August and at Coffee
Fellowship for the following few
Sundays.
Our Charity for this year is The
Salvation Army, to enable them to
continue the excellent work they do
at home and abroad. We have also
purchased new planters for the front
of the Church.
Thank you all for your continued
support.
The Social Team
P A G E 5 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H
C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E

P A G E 6 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E
BOOK GROUP
The Book Group will be reading The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne.
All are welcome to come along to the next meeting which is at the home of Christina on Monday,
27 May at 7.30 pm.
If you would like more information please contact the church office.
REMINDER
If you are on holiday or away at when the magazine is published please make sure that you
organise for someone to pick up your mangazines as we don't want anyone missing out.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Prize Giving and Communion - 9th June
Last Sunday School of the session is 16th June and we will be having a beach party. Please come
wearing your shorts and t-shirt.
Sunday School resumes 25th August.

WORLD
MISSION
STAMP
APPEAL
Thanks to all who have been contributing to this by
donating their used postage stamps via the church.
Please continue to support the new project, described
below. If you have not done so before and would like to
start, just bring your used postage stamps, trimmed if
possible to about five or six millimetres border from the
envelope or packaging, in a spare bag or envelope, to
the church on any Sunday morning and hand them in to
the box in the vestibule. Alternatively you can hand
them in to the church office during its open hours on
weekdays.
The following is taken from the current poster. It and
further information can be found on the Church of
Scotland website, under World Mission Stamp Appeal.
The Stamp Appeal of 2019 will support the Chigodi
Women Centre in Blantyre Malawi who are also
celebrating their 50th anniversary.
The Chigodi Women Centre is delivering a broad range
of skills training to address the challenges faced by
women in Malawi.
Through providing training in tailoring, fashion
design and chicken farming the Centre will
improve the women’s skills in marketing and
entrepreneurship. The aim is that the women’s
socio-economic status is improved and their
chances of future employment increase. By
selling the produce made at the Centre the plan
is that when the funding finishes the project will
be self-sustainable – able to continue to improve
the lives of women in Malawi.
P A G E 7 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E

P A G E 8 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E

P A G E 9 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E

P A G E 1 0 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H
M A G A Z I N E
THURSDAY NIGHT
GROUP
Due to unforeseen circumstances we had
a change to our programme on the 14th
February when we were delighted to
welcome Lynne Bowser from Argaty
Estate near Doune who shared the family
story of how they became involved with
Red Kites. The RSPB were seeking a
suitable place in this area to introduce a
breeding programme of this rare breed of
birds, thus starting the interest of the
Bowser family. With a lot of work and
dedication the flock numbers have greatly
increased and the farm is now set up for
the visiting public, so much so, they now
have a meeting room and hold events for
school children as well as adults.
On 28th March Mhairi Dawson, who
manages the Stirling Office for Leprosy
Mission, explained a lot about this
disease of which we knew very little.
There is much that can be done now to
help sufferers both medically and
surgically and it is hoped to eradicate the
problem by also teaching basic hygiene
and thus end the stigma which is
attached to those who suffer.
With Spring in mind, Jamie Stevenson,
from Torwood Garden Centre, was our
guest on the 14th March. Jamie is the 3rd
generation of the Stevenson family who
have run the business since it was started
by his Grandparents 75 years ago. The
Garden Centre has grown in both size and
expertise making it a joy to visit the shop,
plant areas and wonderful restaurant.
Our session ended on the 28th March when
we had a lovely, relaxed evening and most
enjoyable meal at the Vecchia Bologna.
We have had a wonderful year with great
attendances at our meetings and have
been fortunate to have had such
interesting speakers.
The charities we have donated to are Let’s
Make it Better (The Cafe at the Cowane
Centre), Chas and the Leprosy Mission. We
are very proud of being able to do this
without having to increase our fee of
£1.50 per evening, so thank you everyone
for being so loyal.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable break, with
lots of sunshine to look forward to.
Meetings will commence in September, so
please look for details in the magazine
nearer the time.

P A G E 1 1 | B R I D G E O F A L L A N P A R I S H C H U R C H M A G A Z I N E
DATES FOR THE DIARY
MONDAY 27 MAY
7:30PM
BOARD AND SESSION MEETING -
HONEYMAN HALL
MONDAY 27 MAY 7:30PM BOOK GROUP
THURSDAY 30 MAY
7:00PM
GUILD RALLY
SATURDAY 1 JUNE
SUNDAY 9 JUNE
MONDAY 24 JUNE
10:30AM
11:00AM
6:30PM
7:30PM
GUILD MYSTERY OUTING
COMMUNION
BOARD AND SESSION MEETING -
HONEYMAN HALL
FRIDAY 7 JUNE -
JULY - AUGUST MAGAZINE
DEADLINE
SUNDAY 30 JUNE
WEEKLY EVENTS
-
JULY - AUGUST MAGAZINE
AVAILABLE
SUNDAYS
THURSDAYS
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY,
FRIDAY
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP
STREETS AHEAD COFFEE MORNING -
HONEYMAN HALL
CHURCH OFFICE OPENING HOURS
12:00PM
10:00-12:00PM
9:00AM-4:00PM

Minister - Rev. Dan Harper
dharper@churchofscotland.org.uk
01786 832753
Church Office - Jenny Jump
office@bridgeofallanparishchurch.org.uk
01786 834155
Youth Worker - Lynda Young
lynda@bridgeofallanparishchurch.org.uk
BRIDGE OF ALLAN PARISH CHURCH - SCO15171
www.bridgeofallanparishchurch.org.uk
Bridge of Allan Parish Church