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The Manse
January 2010
Dear All,
As we begin the New Year I wonder if you have made any New Year resolutions.
May I suggest that a good New Year`s resolution would be to choose to be a part of our Church`s outreach into Dundee’s
communities?
In 2008/09, I began to release a vision
for exploring Church Outreach firstly with the Forward Planning Committee and then with yourselves as God’s Church.
I shared proposals in the belief that inspired by the Holy Spirit we would unite as DCC, A City Church with a Community
Heart. What would this mean for Dundee Congregational Church? It would mean the maximizing
of every person, gift, talent, hobby, profession, resource, influence, and network with the common goal to build the Kingdom
of God.
As the plan is activated, I believe
the infrastructure of Heaven will invade peoples’ lives and in this case touch specific communities through love, servant
hood, and ministry to meet the needs of that community. The work is easy because many are involved; the impact is tremendous
because of the many opportunities to serve, love, and minister in that community; and the fruit is plenty because we are establishing
Heaven on earth. As believers we have the opportunity to join together and move the church out into the communities of Dundee
in order to reach into the population who happen to be either unbelievers or wounded believers.
How is this achieved? Through prayer and faith in God and by acknowledging
Him as Lord of our lives and partnering with Our Lord to move forward in His will. We may be a City Church
but in actively investing in our communities through charities and community needs we are living a life that reflects our
Lord and our names as Christian, we begin to introduce the true meaning of Church to a City in desperate need.
Today is about you being a part of the Church, a part of DCC’s future.
You can make a difference and in putting your faith into action you will be a part of the transformation of our Church
and our communities. In our unity and continued commitment we will be fulfilling our commission as the
‘Church of today, A City Church with a Community Heart’ and ensure not only our future but
the future of those people in our communities that God touches through us.
Your Minister
Andria Benzie
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T H E G U I L D Tuesday, 8th December
2009 : Christmas Lunch
The hall was looking very festive with the Christmas Tree and decorations all set
for our annual Christmas Lunch. There were 46 of us gathered together for the occasion and once again our
caterer, Jenny’s Kitchen from Montrose, supplied an excellent meal. After the
meal we had our quiz – 20 questions with clues to places in Scotland. Eleanor Bennett won the first
prize and Andria won the booby. We then had Santa (Bob Fawns) distributing all the parcels
and we finished off the day singing Christmas Carols.
A happy time enjoyed by all.
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Sadly
we have lost a very dear friend to the Guild. Mary McIrvine died on Tuesday 8th December
2009 in Roxburghe House. Mary had been a member for the past three years and she came to the Guild
with her friend Margaret Dewar. Although she was not a member of the Church she loved the Guild and
attended our meetings regularly.
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Our New Year session starts off with the following and we look forward to seeing everyone back at the
Guild again.
Tuesday 16th February 2010 – President Ella Clark
Guest Speaker: Forever – Aloe Vera Products – Margaret
Eddie
Tuesday 2nd March GIFT DAY President
Phyllis Crooks
Guest
Speaker: Bill Graham of Wiltshire Farm Foods
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Tuesday,
2nd February 2010 – Burns’ Lunch : President May Gahagan
May Gahagan was our President for today and welcomed a large
turnout – 45 people - to our Burns’ Lunch. She then handed over
the reins to David Miller who had arranged the programme for the afternoon which began
with May Gahagan giving the the Selkirk Grace followed by the piping in of the
Haggis carried by Irene Cox. Evelyn Cox then gave the Address to the Haggis.
Next came the grand feast of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, followed by Trifle and Coffee/Tea with Shortbread
and Cheddar Cheese. To accompany our meal May supplied a special treat of her own home made Ginger
Wine – delicious. A feast indeed which I’m sure Rabbie himself would have enjoyed.
After
the meal, David, Phyllis, Evelyn, Irene,
Marie and Margaret gave us some readings highlighting the life of Robert Burns interspersed with
some favourite songs from Sinclair, Errol, Shirley and of course myself.
We finished off the afternoon ‘s entertainment with some community singing. May
thanked David and the Drama club for an excellent afternoon’s entertainment. She also expressed
thanks to the Committee and all who helped to make the day such a success.
My thanks to all those who helped
to clear up at the end. With so many willng hands we managed to have everything tidied very quickly.
It’s a true saying “Many hands make light work”.
Nancy Jack
It was a tremendous afternoon of beautifully cooked and presented food all prepared by our own ladies after what must have
been hours and hours of work. With the glorious Burns` entertainment by members of our
splendid Drama Club as well we had a splendid afternoon and without exception we felt that we would have willingly paid at
least twice as much for such a treat. Nancy herself was totally involved at every level of our enjoyment
and had to write this report the minute she returned home when I`m sure she must have been exhausted! Well
done Nancy!
EMC
A LITTLE SMILE
(Taken from the Congregationalist January 2010)
A little girl walked into the
hall of a world-known company and asked to see the managing director. An amused secretary had a word
with that great and hidden personality and eventually the child was shown into his office. There
she explained that her class at school was raising money for homeless children and would he please contribute?
The busy man, tickled pink by the sheer audacity of his visitor,
put a ten pound note and a 5p piece on his desk.
“Take which you like,” he said. Without hesitation the little
girl picked up the coin saying “Mummy`s told me always to take the smaller of two gifts.” Then
with a ravishing smile she added “and so`s I don`t lose it I`ll wrap it up in this bit of paper.”
It made the big man`s day!
Originally from Topsham
Newsletter, Devon.
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