NoticeBoard

	NoticeBoard

Notices

Notices from the Sunday Order of Services
THE DUNDEE NATIVITY Friday 25th November at 7.15 pm Another great opportunity to present the real meaning of Christmas to the crowds in the City Centre at the Christmas Lghts Event SINGERS REQUIRE - Now's your chance to sing with an African-style Gospel Choir. ACTORS REQUIRED [No experience required] - Join a great Company of enthusiastic amateurs aged 16 to Senior. STAGE HANDS - To set up and dismantle the Scenery. REHERSALS - Interested in taking part? Cpme to Meadowside St Paul's Church Hall, on Friday 16th September, at 7.pm. Please Contact allan.webster@wpcscotland,co.uk - Dundee 458764
Steeple Fund Jack Steeple reporting Hi, Folks, As the man on the spot, in a manner of speaking,! thought you'd appreciate an update on the fund raising campaign. Well, it's been a hectic few weeks and no mistake! The good people of St Stephen's and West have rallied to the cause with great ideas and offers of help. You've flocked to support the Broughty Street Names Quiz, special raffles and the Smarties Challenge as ongoing schemes, and there's a host of special events to come, as you will see elsewhere in this magazine. Meantime, generous donations have been paid into the church account, both from trust funds and private individuals, including a whopping cheque for £25,000! We are very grateful for this welcome donation from a long-standing connection to our church. Full story in our next magazine. At the date of writing this report, the total money collected amounts to over £31,000 worth celebrating, eh? I must admit, I had a night out on the tiles myself More on this Appeal
From the Church Magazine
From the Minister Dear Friends, You will be intrigued to read of an exciting new development in the life of our church in the pages of this new issue of our magazine. After consulting with the office bearers and the congregation at a special congregational meeting, it was unanimously agreed that St Stephen's and West should enter into an informal partnership with the congregation of Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's). I must emphasise that this new partnership is an informal and voluntary arrangement, which will run for a year in the first instance. It is an initiative of our two congregations, arising from discussions between the ministers and the two sets of office-bearers. It does not involve Presbytery or any other outside body. My friend and colleague, the Rev Keith Hall - or perhaps we should call him our 'partner minister' - is already well known to many of us. He writes to introduce himself elsewhere in the magazine. He and I come out of the same stable - St Mary's College, University of St Andrews - and have known each other for a long number of years. We share a common theological background, and were born and bred in 'the Auld Kirk' tradition of the Church of Scotland, which is also shared by St Mary's and St Stephen's & West. Our partnership is barely a month old since it was first mooted. It is still very much a blank sheet to be filled in the coming months. As any minister will tell you, there are few more daunting sights than a blank sheet of paper on a Saturday evening! But that same blank sheet offers us the exciting prospect of being able to write our own future, with God's help. We stand at the beginning of this project, preparing to write a blank cheque. Already the ministers are embarked upon a monthly pulpit exchange and will attend and contribute to each other's Kirk Session meetings. We look forward as congregations to sharing in the activities and social events of our two churches. And we want to encourage all our members to come forward with your ideas and suggestions. What will happen when the year of the pilot project is up? You will tell us how you wish us to continue and extend our project. Two words of reassurance. There are no readjustment implications. Each congregation remains separate and independent. Nor are there any financial implications so far as the pilot is concerned. Each congregation will be fully consulted on any new proposals. Please give us your full support and participation in the weeks and months ahead. With all good wishes and every blessing. Your interim moderator, Jim Roy
The Information on the Link with St. Mary's Parish Church, Dundee
Not Just Sweetie Money At the Latest Count, the Total Raised for the Steeple Fund by the Smarties Challenge was an amazing £1,108.20p. Congratulations to all who filled up thier empty tubes so generously and to achieve such a sweet result
The Wednesday Club The members of Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) warmly invite members and friends from St Stephen's & West to our monthly meetings. We are a social club, ranging in age from under 60 to over 90! We meet monthly from September to March in the church hall at Nethergate on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 pm for a varied programme of talks and convivial gatherings. The next one, on Wednesday November 16, is to be a talk on Bird Ringing by renowned wildlife artist Derek Robertson. On December 14 we plan a "Bring a Dish" Christmas buffet meal with entertainment by members of the choir. Please come along - ladies AND gentlemen! You will be most welcome. NB: If you wish to attend, please contact Dorothy Forrester at 739914, so that she knows how many to cater for. Editor's Note: After over forty years of producing this magazine exclusively for members of St Stephen's & West, I am delighted (through no merit of my own) to have achieved every editor's dream - an increase in circulation! Thanks to the good people of St Mary's, this humble publication will reach new homes with news of matters concerning the two parishes. I hope members of both churches will look upon this 'partnership page' as a forum for a frank exchange of viewpoints and opinions, controversial or conciliatory, as our partnership develops. Please send your letters to me at the address printed on the back cover, by email or snail mail. Meanwhile, I'm off to negotiate the film rights for the St Stephen's & West Steeple Disaster. Norman Allan
Ladies Circle We are well into our new session and have enjoyed a varied programme including an entertaining afternoon with the Wighton Singers and Sheena Wellington, Dundee's own traditional singer. Our Special Christmas Tea will be on Tuesday 6th December and we will welcome Beatrice's Senior Citizens who will join us to be entertained by Grove pupils from the music department. Our Spring programme is as follows:- Tuesday 7th February On-screen Music and Mirth with Prof Jeremiah K Potsworthy! Tuesday 6th March Bring and Buy Sale Tuesday 3rd April Local Wildlife with Kathy Longmuir, Countryside Ranger Tuesday 1st May Guide Dogs - An update with Alistair Taylor Our outing to see 'My Fair Lady' at Pitlochry Theatre followed by High Tea at Perthshire Visitor's Centre in June, was the highlight of the year and enjoyed by us all. Some of our friends from Our Lady of Good Counsel joined us for the trip. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month at 2pm in the church hall and always welcome new members so do come along. We especially extend a warm welcome to any members of St Mary's Church, Dundee. As we embark on our new venture together it would give us another opportunity to get to know one another better. Jill Oakley 736278
Toddlers Group We enjoyed a very successful year with the full complement of ten children with Mums and Grannies (plus a Granddad and one Dad as well). On a lovely day in June, we had a sponsored toddle, culminating in a picnic at the Grassy Beach. Everyone completed the course, and the little people raised the large sum of £300 for the Steeple Fund. The term ended with a party and, although a few of the children have now graduated to nursery school, their places have been filled, so once again we have our full quota plus a waiting list. The youngsters enjoyed a lively Hallowe'en party in fancy dress, and are looking forward to a visit from Santa at Christmas time, while the Mums and Grannies are busy filling boxes for the Blythswood Shoebox Appeal. Many thanks to our members who provide invaluable help at the group during the year. Hazel and Jill
Sixty Years of Badminton! Members of St Stephen's & West Badminton Club, past and present, are cordially invited to join us in celebrating the club's 60th anniversary in the church hall on November 17. Come any time after 8 pm. Refreshments will be served and if you have any memorabilia, please bring it along. Shirley Thomson
Ministries and Mission Contributions 2011 (Where your money goes...) The Head of Stewardship for the Church of Scotland, Gordon Jamieson, has sent a letter to each congregation explaining how the money from our weekly offerings is allocated, and underlining just how vital it is to enable the sharing of the gospel to continue in all parts of Scotland and beyond. Our church's contribution for 2011 is £22,326, which breaks down as follows:- Parish Ministries (86%) £19,200 Partly reduced by Vacancy Allowance of £6,960 per annum. Mission and Renewal (6%) £1,340 For Christian education and outreach in some of the world's poorest countries. Support and Services for Councils and Congregations (8%) £1,786 Provides, amongst other items, the cost of the General Assembly and the Moderator.
*Deja Vu?* This month's cover may look familiar; it was used for the Christmas 1999 magazine. There is, however, a big difference between the printing method then and now. The 1999 version was produced by offset litho, whereas this one is a so-called laser copy - although no lasers are involved! Unlike the inkjet printers most people use at home, toner powder is used in place of ink, but the same colours are required -magenta, yellow, cyan (blue) and black. The finished, full-colour sheet is easily reproduced in one pass. With litho printing, a full-colour print would require at least four separate passes, with a rather messy and toxic wash-up between each colour. This was very time-consuming and expensive, as four negatives and aluminium plates were needed - a lot of work for a fairly small number of copies. The 1999 cover was, however, printed in only TWO passes! At one end of the ink duct was yellow, with fireball red at the other and a dollop of orange in between. The inks merged together to present a multi-colour effect, a bit dodgy for long runs as the colours sometimes turned to mud, but fine for just a few hundred copies. Black ink was used for the second pass. It's what I have been doing for decades, even in the 1950s on a Gestetner stencil duplicator. I call it 'trick printing'. Quite a few of your magazine covers have been produced by this method over the years - at no extra cost! Jimmy Smith
Scout Post This useful service will be in operation again in the run-up to Christmas, commencing in early December. It offers a cost-effective way of sending greetings cards to local addresses, while helping Scout funds. Look out for further details at the usual participating shops.
Another Enjoyable (and Profitable) Evening Our Annual Church Lunch and Bridge Drive on 19th September raised £980.00 towards Church funds. Our thanks go to all the ladies, applying the "Wilma Formula" who gave of their time to make it such a success once again. Ron McPherson
Ross MacKenzie We would like to thank you all for the tremendous support and kindness shown to us throughout Ross's illness. We have been overwhelmed by the telephone calls, e-mails, hospital visits, cards and words of comfort. It has been the worst time of our lives but knowing so many people cared, helped us to keep believing that Ross would get better. As you know, Ross had his surgery on 24th August and is making excellent progress and enjoying being able to lead a normal life again. Ross dealt with his illness with great courage and dignity, and firmly believed that he would get well again. His exact words were, "I'll beat this" - and he has. Thank you all for your love and prayers. Lynda, Alastair and Ross. • We are delighted to see Ross back at church with the Young Explorers once again!
Toddlers Group We enjoyed a very successful year with the full complement of ten children with Mums and Grannies (plus a Granddad and one Dad as well). On a lovely day in June, we had a sponsored toddle, culminating in a picnic at the Grassy Beach. Everyone completed the course, and the little people raised the large sum of £300 for the Steeple Fund. The term ended with a party and, although a few of the children have now graduated to nursery school, their places have been filled, so once again we have our full quota plus a waiting list. The youngsters enjoyed a lively Hallowe'en party in fancy dress, and are looking forward to a visit from Santa at Christmas time, while the Mums and Grannies are busy filling boxes for the Blythswood Shoebox Appeal. Many thanks to our members who provide invaluable help at the group during the year. Hazel and Jill

Other Information
Technology in the Kirk If you have access to a computer, there are two ways in which you can obtain information about our Church. First, we have our own website, which can be accessed by visiting http://www.ststephensandwest.org.uk/ The website is updated regularly, and contains a mine of information, including pages on the history of the Church, photographs, minutes from Board meetings, a calendar of upcoming events and a list of social groups that you might be interested in joining. I definitely recommend a visit! The second source of information is the St Stephen's and West page on Facebook (which I run). Facebook (www.facebook.com) is defined as a 'social networking site': it's a way to connect online with your friends, family and social groups, no matter where they live in the world. Signing up is quick, easy and free (just visit the address above). All you need is an email address. If you don't have one already, you can get one quickly and for free at http://mail.live.com. Once you have a Facebook account, simply search for St Stephen's and West in the search bar at the top of the page, and select to join our group. What are the advantages of Facebook? In terms of our Church, Facebook will provide you with up-to-date information about events occurring at St Stephen's and West, and will give you invitations to upcoming events, such as Coffee Mornings and group outings. More importantly, you can add comments, ideas, photographs or video clips to the Church's page, and you can connect with other members of the Church through Facebook (just like you can connect with your personal friends). This makes Facebook a truly interactive way to get involved in our Church and to keep up-to-date with events. For many, using computers and exploring the Internet can seem rather daunting and confusing activities. However, they don't have to be, and they can be hugely worthwhile: websites and social networking sites let us connect with people and events across the world. Additionally, public libraries provide free Internet access, so even people who do not own computers can visit these sites. I am keen to encourage people to use technology to engage with our Church and its congregation in new and exciting ways, and am more than happy to help give advice to anyone who would like to get involved with the Church in this way. You can speak to me in Church, or email me (j.r.h.wakefield@dundee.ac.uk) and I'll do my best to help you out. Happy surfing! Juliet Wakefield
Prayer Group We continue to meet regularly on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10am in the vestry for an informal short time of reflection and prayer. Our small friendly group would love to welcome any new members. See Beatrice or Jill. Collects good, unwanted household goods from the congregations of all the Dundee churches. Please remember to include the little essentials: light bulbs, washing-up materials, toothpaste. All are in great demand. This year our representative, Liz Mussen, is making a special plea for sheets and children's bedding. Liz wishes to thank all members for their generosity in past years, and would welcome articles of the type required. Donations can be placed in the church vestibule collection basket, or you may contact her direct at 779923.
New Cradle Roll Scarcely noticed, at about the same time as the lightening strike, another event of a more positive nature took place with the installation of a new Cradle Roll. It hangs on the South Wall of the West Transept, and can be seen to the right of the Pulpit as you sit in the Church. It has been back dated to 2007, and the names of all the Children baptised in our Church will be included from that year on.
Christain Aid Week This year, Christian Aid Week will be held from 15th to 21st May. Your help is urgently requested for this vital Christian charity, which benefits the poorest of the poor across the globe. There are still several areas in our district without collectors. Your support could make all the difference! To find out more, please contact Ron McPherson
Church Penny (+) Box Update Spring 2011 Despite all the distractions concerning our church it is a pleasure to report your continued support for our Penny (+) Box -assorted coins tumbling in has not been a problem Bundles of assorted coins have been pouring into our collecting box and we are confident that a record year lies ahead. You can check our progress on the notice board at the front door of the church. Many thanks for £313 to Date Many thanks from John Symington
The Flower Rota for 2011 is - April, Shirley Grinyer; May, Jean Milne; June, Shirley Grinyer; August, Helen Symington; September, Christine Campbell; October, Moira Allison; November, Eeilin Dougherty; December, Christine Campbell.

Christian Aid Lunches - St Stephen's and West shares this duty with other Broughty Ferry Churches, so our turn comes round approximately four times each year. If you can help with this very worthy cause, please give your name to John Grieve. Christain Aid Lunches - every friday between 12 and 1.30 pm in the YMCA, Brook Street Broughty Ferry. Please support these Please can all Intimations for the Order of Service be given to Jill Oakley in written format (paper or email by Thursday if possible or latest Friday morning). Thank you. Email invergarth@googlemail.com
DVD on the History of St Stephen's and West Church By Daphne E. Barbieri L.A.C.I. St Stephen's & West - The Movie (U) Now on sale - Price £10.00, Proceeds will go towards the Church Funds.


Starter Packs Dundee ARE YOU .... Moving house?, Clearing a house?, Installing a new kitchen? Giving your home a face lift? WE NEED .... Crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, kitchen knives, utensils, jugs, buckets, basins, glassware, cleaning materials, light bulbs, dustpans and brushes, soap, toiletries, towels, toilet rolls, clocks, mirrors, curtains, blankets, sheets, duvet covers, pillowslips etc. WE AIM .... To help families on low incomes who have been given the tenancy of a house or flat but are unable to provide themselves with basic household goods. YOU......... Can help us by contributing goods of the type required to assist in keeping up with the exceptionally high demand for Starter Packs. In 2007 volunteers made up 595 packs, 1004 bedding packs and 976 pairs of curtains. A container is situated in the vestibule of the church for your donations. Should you have bulky items requiring collection, or wish to volunteer as a helper. Starter Packs Dundee please contact Liz Mussen, 779923.
Gift Aid Appeal To make clear exactly how this works for St Stephen's, can I explain the procedure. As a Registered Charity we are allowed to reclaim tax at 28% of Members' Contributions, provided that They have signed a declaration allowing us to do so. They actually pay tax. We keep a proper record of payments either by cheque after a notice to pay, by Yellow FWO Envelopes or by Standing Order from your Bank Quarterly I send a Claim to the Revenue at Bootle, Lanes which amounts to around £5300 per annum In all the years that I have dealt with this I have only had one problem when a lovely old lady had to repay tax that I had claimed in error not knowing that none was available. It all ended happily as I gave her back what she was asked to pay. Since this is a very valuable source of finance, from time to time it requires some promotion so please consider it. Here is what to do. For existing Scheme Members, depending on your method of payment -FWO: simply make the change. Bank Transfers: please go to your bank and alter the payment. Direct cheque: please contact me when request received. New Members: please ask me for a Form. Please understand that we are simply claiming tax that you have already suffered so there is no extra cost to you by joining the scheme. Ian Cowan, Treasurer
Facebook Facebook You need to go to www.facebook.com and create an account for yourself. This is very quick and easy and simply requires a valid email address. Your page will be private, so the only people who will be able to see your page are people whom you allow to see it. In the search bar at the top right of the page, type in 'St. Stephen's and West' and you will find our group page. You can either join this group, or just look at the page. Everyone is welcome to add comments, discuss topics and view photographs. If anyone has any photographs that they wish to include on the page, please email them to Juliet Wakefield or Peter Wakefield: you'll find our details on the St.Stephen's and West page.

http://ststephensandwest.org.uk. Iain D. McIntosh.