Newsletter Items

                         

                                               GUILD

 

Wednesday 6th December 2023 – Christmas Lunch

       

        There were 24 members and friends attending our church lunch this year, slightly down on last year.   A very tasty meal was served and was enjoyed by everyone.   This year we had `pass the parcel` but with a difference.   Instead of passing the parcel right or left each time the music stopped the person holding it had to unwrap one layer of wrapping paper before the music started again.   Of course the person finally  unwrapping the last layer of paper won the prize.   This was a lot of fun and was won by Irene Stephen who so deserved to win the lovely tin of fudge depicting a stately "Heeland Coo".

        Paul Fitzpatrick was our entertainer for the afternoon and he played his accordion for our game.   He also played some Scottish songs which we were able to sing along to,  and his mother-on-law  (our friend Shirley)  gave us a solo in the Doric dialect which was very funny.   Paul changed to the guitar and brought us more up-to-date songs with which Brian and others were able to join.   All very enjoyable and we finished up in our usual way by singing Christmas Carols with Brian conducting to keep us all together.

        Thanks to everyone for joining in and making our afternoon together so special.   Heartfelt thanks also to Jessie and Irene Stephen for setting up the tables and decorating the hall to make it look so splendidly `Christmassy`.

 

Nancy Jack

                                     

(This was a marvellouly successful afternoon to bring to a close the many decades of Guild organising by Nancy as Guild Secretary for more years than it is possible to imagine.  She has been at our helm with smiles and encouragement and scrupulous attention to the booking of our guest speakers year in year out.  She now deserves to attend our Tuesday meetings without doing ANYTHING  other than sitting down, listening to others and enjoying afternoon tea with friends.  We were delighted to welcome Marguerite Ruffle as our new secretary and look forward to our first meeting of 2024.)    EMC

 

2024

The first Guild meeting of the New Year will be on Tuesday 13th February at the usual time of 2p.m.

Marguerite will be in charge and we will have an enjoyable afternoon with her guidance for a session of sitting exercises which previously we have enjoyed enormously  so we will  benefit from this fun to start our new sessions.

 

 

                    

Vacancy Report

 

After a year of much sorrow our prayers were finally answered when the members of our church voted unanimously to invite Rev Alan Gibbon to become our new minister.

        Rev Gibbon is a Dundee `lad` who graduated from the University of St. Andrews with a Master of Theology.   After graduating Alan took up the role as minister of Perth Congregational Church and followed this with a 9-year period as minister at Knightswood Congregational Church in Glasgow.   Currently Alan is Head of Spiritual Care and Bereavement with NHS Tayside, a post that he is due to retire from in July this year.

        Alan will be taking a number of services between now and July when he will become our minister on a permanent basis and after May month will be in a position to commence pastoral visitations.

        I know that everyone will give Rev Alan a warm welcome and that this will be the start of much happier times for our church family.

 

WINTER  WEATHER  SAINTS

 

        Throughout the severe wintry weather recently there descended dangerous ice and snow on  roads and pavements for quite a little while limiting our ability to move around freely.   However, within our own city are wonderful drivers who take charge of special gritters which spread accident saving grit to every street, pavement and main road regardless of the difficulties for themselves.  We are blessed to have one of these drivers in our midst and that is our own Brian Flynn and I asked if he named his powerful machine and he said that entirely unofficially he called his “Heaven`s Angel”.   Indeed these chaps are saints and we have every reason to be appreciative of their efforts on our behalf.  Unsung heroes one and all.

 

EMC

The Dundee Tapestry

 

A five year plan to tell the story of Dundee and its history and people has finally been presented at an exhibition being displayed in the V&A.  35 stitched tapestry panels have been produced by over 140 volunteer folks from Dundee and district.  The panels all tell the story of Dundee from way back in history up to the present day.

Irene Stephen and Jessie Tarbet along with their friend Catherine Boland have been involved with the project since October 2022 when they received a panel about the twinned cities with Dundee.  Many, many hours were spent doing this work, practicing and learning new skills and embroidery techniques. There is a photo of their panel on the inside cover of your Newsletter.

The exhibition is open to the public free of charge until the end of April.    For further information go to the website ‘The Dundee Tapestry’ where you can view all 35 panels and a section below each, telling the story within the panel.

JT

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