April 2020 Gazette

Please note, this is not the entire contents of the Gazette which contains several sections concerning day-to-day church business which are not appropriate for the website. Some other items not always included on this page appear in their respective pages on the site, e.g. The Coffee Shop, The Church Shop, First Monday and The Guild.

A VIEW FROM THE MANSE

Dear Friends,

It is said that an elephant never forgets! I'm not sure of the exact science behind this statement but there must be some truth in it. But one thing we can be assured of is that God doesn't forget us!

Often in the bible, we encounter passages where it seems that God has forgotten his people and they cry out in isolation to him but it usually finishes with the Lord coming to the rescue of his people and proving that God doesn't forget his own people.

Even Jesus on the cross, felt total isolation, when he cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!" But the reality was that God was with him and on the cross, God suffers in Christ!

It's important for us to remember and hold onto this great truth and in Isaiah where it says "Is there any way that a mother could forget the baby at her breast and fail to show compassion to the child she has borne? Even if she could possibly forget, I will not forget you! Look and see, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Isaiah 49.

As I write this, the world seems to be in a bit of a mess. The coronavirus is causing mayhem around the world. Fear has gripped many people and Italy has gone into isolation - The Republic of Ireland has closed schools and colleges and even the stock markets have felt the effects. If anything, it shows, just how vulnerable and fragile our planet earth really is!

By the time you read this, I'm not sure what effects the coronavirus will have here in Scotland - Hopefully, as you read this, everything has returned to normal, but this particular nasty virus has the effect of isolating people and making them feel lonely and afraid.

How good it is to have hope in a God who is with us even in isolation. He doesn't forget us and He is closer to us that we can ever imagine.

How do we know this?

Well, we are preparing to enter again into the Easter season. On 12th of April after the darkness of Holy Week, and the passion and death of Jesus on Good Friday, we enter into the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. The cross and the resurrection are at the centre of our faith as Christians. They are visual reminders that God has not forgotten us!

We worship an invisible God who has given us symbols of his presence with us. He is indeed the crucified Christ, who has entered into our pain and isolation. He is the crucified Christ who has taken our sin on himself on the cross. There on the cross, the hymn writer tells us that mercy and wrath meets and we are set free and forgiven. He is there in your isolation and in your loneliness and He is there to hold you, whatever you may be going through.

But the cross is only one side of a great truth. For the other side is the risen Christ and Jesus is now not on the cross but he is resurrected to eternal life. "Hallelujah! What a Saviour!" writes the hymn writer.

Have you ever felt really abandoned - deserted - rejected? Well Christ has also felt like this? In his life, he was constantly reaching out to the abandoned and the isolated. He healed lepers by holding their hands. Nobody else went near a leper but Christ healed them and brought them back into community.

Can I encourage you today, to remember that Christ has suffered and died for you; that He is a God of love and that he went to the cross because He loves you.

Before entering the ministry, I was in business and part of my business was engraving and every engraver will know that when you make a mark in metal, how permanent this can be.

So, when God says, "I have engraved you in the palm of my hand", what a beautiful metaphor; your name is permanently before him; your name will never be forgotten because as he looks at those crucified hands, next to the nail marks, engraved is your name.

I'm sure that you will remember Ralph McTell's excellent song,

Let me take you by the hand and show you the cross of Jesus and show you the empty tomb and you will see something that will tell you that you are not forgotten but loved for all eternity.

Moses tells his people, "The Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath."

Today in prayer you might like to pray, Almighty God, I praise you for your amazing love and your great faithfulness, in the name of Christ, Amen. So, as we go forward as a Christian family, let us hold onto those loving hands of God, which will never fail and whatever dark valley we go through, He is with us leading and guiding us,

Every blessing,

Rev John

OFFER OF SUPPORT DURING COMING WEEKS

Over the coming weeks we want to offer help to all those members or people associated with our Church who may need support during these uncertain times. You will have read elsewhere in the Gazette about the Coffee Shop plans to deliver food. If you have to self-isolate or are anxious about going out, we can also provide the following support:

• Shopping pick up / drop off
• Prescription pick up / drop off
• Posting mail

These services will be available throughout the week, Monday to Sunday. If you would like to request any of these support services, please contact:

• Gillian Crompton, one of our Church Elders, on 07715 427611 or email: sgb.cro@btinternet.com

We will be able to shop for you in Asda or M&S in Bishopbriggs. We would ask that you focus on a bag of essentials to keep you going, for example:

• Foodstuffs such as tea, coffee, sugar, milk, bread, butter, cheese, soup, tinned meats, tinned fish, tinned vegetables, beans, tinned pasta, microwave meals, tinned fruit, custard, biscuits, jams and marmalade.
• Toiletries such as soap, toothpaste, toilet roll and shampoo.

We will do our best to source what you want and deliver it to you within 24 hours of receipt of your list. We will not take money from you at the door. The person delivering your shopping will phone you to let you know when they will be dropping it off. We will leave your shopping on the doorstep and make sure you have heard the knock at the door to take it in. Delivery and payment arrangements will be fully explained when you place your order.

In addition to practical support, as a Church we are also offering pastoral care support. We know that the planned period of self-isolation will not be easy for any of us. To add to your own support network, if you would like to receive a phone call or text from a member of the church or to be put on the list to receive cards weekly to keep you in touch with others, please contact:

• John MacGregor, our Minister, on 07387 851020 or email: JMacGregor@churchofscotland.org.uk
• Your Church Elder, or
• Janet Johnstone, leader of our Adult Education and Care Team, email: jimjanetj@aol.co.uk

PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT WE WILL DO OUR BEST FOR YOU AND WILL DELIVER OUR SERVICES IN A WAY WHICH ENSURES BOTH YOUR SAFETY AND THE SAFETY OF THOSE HELPING YOU

THE SHOP

As I write this Easter will be four weeks away, less by the time you get the Gazette, and already the knitted Easter Chicks are flying out of the basket almost as soon as we put them in!

We have introduced a few more Fair Trade products - Pasta, Peanut Butter Spread and oil. The cleaning products have been going well; with the present crisis hygiene is essential.

I hope to receive the new Bulletin from Fairtrade soon to update us on the progress being made on the plastic free Tea Bag situation - sounds very interesting.

Sweets are out stock. When I telephoned again I was advised that it is the plastic content of the packaging which is causing the delay - change takes time.

THE SHOP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

COFFEE SHOP

THE COFFEE SHOP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Jaqueline Burns
Coffee Shop Manager
jaq.burns@ntlworld.com
(07960 178403)

THE 92nd GLASGOW COMPANY THE GIRLS' BRIGADE

Well we had a lot planned for the coming months, activities, display preparation, outings and camp, but that has now all been cancelled sadly due to coronavirus.

Thankfully though our annual coffee morning was able to slip in just under the wire on Saturday morning and we raised £620 which is an amazing amount and we are so grateful to all who contributed.

We are planning on donating some of the amount raised to CHASS and the tuck money we have raised to Motor Neurone Disease.

That will be pretty much it for GB for the rest of the term so I will update everyone in time for enrolment in August.

www.92ndgirlsbrigade.co.uk

Join us on Facebook

RAMBLERS

Our first walk along the canal from Kirkintilloch was very enjoyable and we had a good turnout of walkers.

The weather has not been kind to us and the next walk to Loch Thom had to be cancelled due to heavy rain and Loch Thom being very exposed.

The snowdrop Walk at Fenwick was relocated owing to the very muddy conditions in Crawfordland Estate. The new location - Rouken Glen was a good choice as many of the paths are surfaced and it was dry for a change.

GARDENING TIPS

With the days getting longer and the clocks changing at the end of the Month, March is where time is most urgent in the garden with finishing the winter jobs and making plans for spring sowing.

• It is time for you to give your fruit trees a winter wash - this kills fungus and disease on their bark.
• Start off your sunflowers in plugs indoors and plant main crop potatoes when the soil warms up.
• It is also time to sow sweet peas - put them into toilet roll tubs; stand them in a tray, tie several together so that they stay upright in in the tray. Use a multi- purpose compost to fill each tube - sow two seeds into the surface of each and soak well - the cardboard will rot away when you plant out.
• Continue sowing summer bedding flowers such as cosmos, verbena, lupins, marigolds.
• Keep on top of watering as the days warm up and add some winter liquid feed for established plants.
• On sunny days hoe out annual weeds from the soil. This is the fasted way to tackle them.
• Apply granular feeds to fruit trees and potted shrubs after removing any weeds.
• Cut out dead stems from shrubs after the buds have broken as you can see them clearly.
• Try fixing a water barrel to a down pipe of the garage or house as this water is much better for the plants.
• Remember to keep feeding the birds as the will now be feeding their young.

MONDAYS IN THE NORTH HALL

Easy Exercise and Line Dancing are suspended until further notice.

WEBSITE

The website has pages for each organisation. Unlike the Gazette, which is produced monthly, the website is always there and the information won't change unless you send things to Ian using this link.

The site looks much better if the content is current! This relies on someone in each organisation knowing it's their job to keep the site up to date.

All that's needed is text (just in an email, not an attachment) and pictures as attachments. Please put any picture captions in the email.

There is also a Calendar which looks much better if it's full - it should be, there's lots going on!

FACEBOOK PAGE

The Facebook page is administered by Gillian Melvin. Stories, photos and details of forthcoming events should be sent to Gillian at gillianhmelvin@aol.com

THE CADDER GAZETTE

As you are all aware the situation with the Coronavirus is ongoing and ever changing.

In light of this, it MAY mean that the April Gazette is the last paper edition for a few months.

The Gazette and other information about Church activities can be found on the website - cadderchurch.org. While I realise this is not accessible to all members, consideration has to be given to the health and well-being of the team who print, assemble and distribute the Gazette.

We will continue to monitor the situation and strive to keep all members as well informed as possible.

Please check the Church website for future copy dates.

Thank you, Isabel

My e-mail address is: hepburn5733@yahoo.co.uk

CLIMATE CHANGE GROUP

At our Last Meeting, we thought about some of the ways in which Carbon Dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere. We heard about a magic machine which sucks carbon out of the air, costs very little and builds itself.

Forests, Mangroves, Peat Bogs, Marshes, Jungles, Coral Reefs, Sea Beds, Swamps and Kelp Forests also help perform the same task. Worldwide, one thousand times more is still spent on fossil fuel subsidies than on natural based solutions.Tropical Forests are still being cut down at a rate of 30 Football Pitches per minute.

We also looked at Carbon Capture and Storage.

This system collects carbon dioxide emitted from burning fossil fuels in Power Plants, compresses it under extreme pressure to change the carbon dioxide to a liquid.

The liquid carbon dioxide is sent deep underground in to porous rock which has an impermeable layer of rock on top to stop it escaping. The site and surrounding area is then constantly monitored.

This system is already in use in various parts of the world both as a part of new power plants, and as an add-on to some existing power plants. The very high cost of this system is limiting wholesale adoption throughout the World. As most will be aware, the Climate Change Conference in March was postponed, hopefully to be rearranged for some time in the autumn, and it looks likely that Climate Change Group Meetings will not be going ahead in the near future.

Meantime, through the Gazette, we will continue to bring you Climate Change and Eco Congregation information as well as suggestions and thoughts to keep you informed and help you to do even more to protect our planet now and for future generations.

CADDER SINGERS

Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus outbreak, our Easter Sing-a-long scheduled for Wednesday 1st April, has had to be cancelled.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of the group. It is lovely to see so many people at our concerts. Please remember you are more than welcome to come and join us on Wednesday evenings to get the full benefits of singing together.