Connect October 16

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Connect October 2016

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Join with us at our Evening Celebrations at this years Assembly

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Team BUS

It has been an amazing few weeks with great success for GB and Northern Ireland at the Olympics and Paralympics. Together we can celebrate 214 Medals – 91 Gold – 62 Silvers – 61 Bronze.

We witnessed great individual success, Hannah Cockroft and Mo Farra for example, and great team success like women’s hockey or men’s wheelchair basketball. But it was the success of Team GB as a whole that surprised me.

People whose sports keep them away from one another most of the time combined to form one team at the Olympics. Swimmers inspiring cyclists who had never met, cyclists inspiring sailors who they would walk past in the street as strangers ordinarily, all of them inspiring a hockey team. It has been amazing to hear how these strangers were brought together into one team, inspiring one another to succeed.

For me it spoke of what we dream of for our Union of churches. Most of the time we are rightly pursuing the tasks that God has given to us in our own geographical locations. With diligence, commitment, hard work and sacrifice we devote ourselves to loving the Lord, loving one another within the local church and loving the communities we serve in. Our paths rarely cross and we are not always aware of what God is doing 5, 50 or 500 miles away.

And yet if we were, it may encourage our faith, hope and love because God is at work in Baptist churches across the nation. We, like team GB, can celebrate the success, achievement, growth and development that others are experiencing.

Currently Scottish Baptist Churches have attendance figures way above membership figures and these figures are growing. Our churches are also increasing their service in the local community: food banks, social work partnerships, Street Pastors, teaching English, money courses, parenting support, youth work, toddlers groups, refugee and immigrant worker support, elderly care… you name it, we have people

Rev Alan Donaldson

General Director Baptist Union of Scotland

across the nation growing these compassion ministries.

In the last year there have been 5 major building projects completed by Baptist churches. These regular multimillion pound investments in infrastructure are a continued sign of confidence in the gospel for our time.

Currently we have 5 new church plants, campuses or congregations on the go. We have 36 ministers in their first 3 years of ministry, with over half of our ministers having started in the last 10 years. We are excited about these sorts

of figures as they speak of hope and a future.

In the last year one of our smallest churches almost doubled its membership up to 27. A middle sized church of 86 members has an attendance of 200 and is now looking to church plant. Some of our larger churches are seeking to multiply through releasing missional communities and new campuses.

Like Team GB, when we begin to gather together the stories from around the country and add them to our own, our faith and expectations of what God can do are refreshed, renewed, enlarged.

In 1 Cor 12:24 – 27 Paul writes: But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

The passage talks about honouring one another but it also talks about suffering together. Within our family of churches there are those who success will be measured in terms of numerical growth but we pray that we will all be known for the faithful way we walk with one another, especially those wounded by changes in our society. The way we serve, hold, carry and support churches that others have left behind may demonstrate our Union’s desire to be intentionally relational more fully.

Next month we have the opportunity to come together as Team Baptist Union of Scotland at our annual Assembly. It is a time to listen to one another, to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice, to build one another up and to encourage one another to step out in faith again, believing that the living Saviour is still at work in our nation.

Glenrothes Baptist Church Thanks to the generosity of our sister churches in the Baptist Union of Scotland, Glenrothes Baptist Church (GBC) was able to induct Rev. Matthew Marshall as our Assistant Pastor of Mission this past year. After 10 years on mission in Romania, Matthew and family have returned to their hometown to join our Baptist family. The Lord has been adding to the numbers of GBC in recent years and is also bringing new opportunities for witness within Glenrothes and further afield.

1. At home — We have held a couple of ‘Christianity Explored’ courses recently with a number of people seeking to know who Jesus is. This ministry is bearing much spiritual fruit and we continue to pray for those who have heard the gospel as well as those who have responded. Matthew also helped to start a new men’s group in the church, which encourages relationships, spiritual growth, and mission together among Christian men.

2. Ministry to Refugees — In March the Lord allowed us access into a camp on the Serbian/ Macedonian border holding 700 refugees. This was an incredible time that saw the Lord use us to feed and clothe refugees, and overtly share the gospel with them.

3. Toddler Group — Since starting in February, the toddlers group have already built relationships with 5-10 community toddlers & families, as well as our own church family.

4. Romania — July saw us take a group of 8 from our church to ‘Friendship Camp’ in Romania.

Matthew led a team to re-roof a main building after severe hail damage. This was a great time of being on mission and a great picture of seeing the church achieving something together for the Glory of God. 5. Missions Partnerships — We are partnering with Baptist Churches in Texas and South Carolina with the purpose of supporting community engagement in the Glenrothes area, with the future potential for church planting within Fife. One of our young members, Kali Lockhart, will soon be commissioned to Asia to serve for 9 months on a BMS Action team.

None of this would be possible without your faithful support and partnership. It is our delight to host you this year in Glenrothes.

Your brothers & sisters at Glenrothes Baptist Church

New Convenor for Baptist Union of Scotland The Council of the Baptist Union of Scotland is delighted to announce the appointment of the 3rd Convenor of the Baptist Union of Scotland, Rev Frances Bloomfield. Frances will be commissioned to the post at our annual Assembly on Friday 28 October 2016.

Frances Bloomfield came to faith in 1974 and was baptised in Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh.

Frances has served in leadership roles in several churches and today is a member of Cathcart Baptist Church, where she is part of the ministry team and the Church Secretary. Frances is a non-practicing member of The Law Society of Scotland having practised law for 31 years, including the provision of legal services to charitable organisations. She is an accredited Baptist minister, having graduated with a BD (Hons) from the Scottish Baptist College and thereafter receiving BUS Accreditation in October 2015. Frances has recently worked for the Church of Scotland in a Ministries Development Staff role and served our own Union as the Lanarkshire Baptist Ministers’ Fellowship Secretary.

As Convenor of our Union, Frances will chair our National Team, Trustees, Council and Assembly.

She will take on representative roles within the wider Baptist family and among other church groupings in Scotland. Using her experience from the legal profession she will guide us through a period of development in our understanding of charitable status and the growing compliance issues faced by churches.

As a Council, we discerned that Frances was a competent, careful and compassionate person, who loves the Lord and our family of churches deeply. We believe that her blend of pastoral gifting and legal insight will serve us well as a Union at this time. We are convinced of the Lord’s hand and timing in this appointment and look forward to her service among us.

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Join with us at our Evening Celebrations at this years Assembly For more information and to register online visit our website: baptistassemblyinscotland.org The next Scottish Baptist History Project day conference takes place at Lochgilphead Baptist Church on Saturday 12 November 10am-4pm Speakers are as followers: Prof Donald Meek ‘Dugald Sinclair and early 19th C Baptist witness in the Highlands’ Rev. Dr Roddy Macleod ‘ A time of change: The Church in the Highlands 1800-1850’ Rev. Angus MacNeill ‘Lochgilphead Baptist Church 1815-2015’ All are welcome For further details contact Brian Talbot on briantalbot2008@gmail.com

BMS World Mission West of Scotland Women’s Link The Autumn programme is as follows: 5th October Visit to Tanzania - speaker Morag Stewart 2nd November Sarah MacArthur speaks about her work in Peru with BMS Lunch Tickets £2.50 (Lunch at 12pm) 7th December Christmas Celebration plus news from Scottish BMS Mission Workers All meetings are held at Adelaide Place Baptist Church at 10.15am

October Prayer Link Sunday 2nd BMS World Mission Pray for BMS World Mission as they seek to transform one million lives by 2020 through seven ministries: church, education, justice, development, health, leadership and relief.

BMS is seeking to work in ten of the world’s 20 most fragile states. Pray for creativity and wisdom for BMS leadership as they seek ways to access and serve in hard places.

Motherwell Baptist Church Mull Baptist Church We are a very small Church supplemented by some very regular adherents and visitors.. We are in a very beautiful location and are totally dependent on visiting preachers. The Church has a residential caravan which is leased out at a very nominal rate to ministers and lay preachers who are willing to conduct the service on the Sunday. We would greatly appreciate your prayers, practical support and specially a visit..

Nairn Baptist Church We give thanks to God for our continuing link with 5 local schools. The visit earlier this year by a BMS Action Team to 4 of the schools was very well received and went well from our perspective as a church. Please pray for our continuing work in these schools during the coming year... for strengthening of links and opportunities with staff and students.

Also pray for one of our young people, who on successful completion of his month of training with the BMS will join an action team going out to serve in Italy.

Sunday 16th Oban Baptist Church Paisley Central Baptist Church Peebles Baptist Church

Sunday 9th European Baptist Federation • for the churches who are involved with refugees, especially those fleeing the conflict in Syria; • for the EBF younger leaders programme

TRANSFORM beginning in March 2017; • for the newly formed Turkish Baptist Alliance and their seven churches that are experiencing growth but also face many challenges and sometimes active opposition; • for the 36 church planters in 20 countries supported by the EBF Mission Partnerships, that these new communities of faith may attract many to Jesus Christ and make a real impact on their wider societies.

New Prestwick Baptist Church At New Prestwick, we praise God for the many new opportunities that have opened up for us within both our local schools, and a new midweek youth outreach to local teenagers. Much of this work is led by our Youth Worker Craig Morris, who has now been with us just over a year.

We would very much appreciate your prayers for the community around our church. We have built bridges via our toddlers group and our children and youth activities, and ask you to pray with us that we would see the Lord use these bridges to bring many of our neighbours to saving faith in Christ.

Newton Mearns Baptist Church

Sunday 23rd Perth Baptist Church Peterhead Baptist Church Pitlochry Baptist Church Pollok Baptist Church We continue to thank God for established ministries within the church that continue to engage and support the Pollok community. We pray for all the leaders that the will be refreshed after the summer break and give them all grace & peace as they continue serve God in the local Pollok area.

Please pray for healing as a few of our congregation are unwell at this time and need a healing touch from the Lord Jesus.

Sunday 30th Portobello Baptist Church Queen’s Park Baptist Church Renfrew Baptist Church Rosyth Baptist Church