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Welcome to Connections April 2018

The Minister’s Letter: Peter speaks about the anti-climax that can often be felt once Easter Sunday passes but urges us to listen for the roar of the Lion of Judah! Easter in GDS Church: With a packed week of events taking place during Holy Week in GDS Church we outline when and where each service is taking place. And much, much more: Our Children & Families and Community Outreach workers have been making their mark and find out how many modes of transport it takes Clare to get around Senegal. Read on to find out more.

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Message from the Minister Rev Peter Barber t: 0131 337 2284 e: peter.ian.barber@gmail.com Dear Friends,

‘The shout of a King’

When Easter has passed, and the amazing message of the death and resurrection of Jesus securing our salvation, has been considered, responded to and celebrated - there can be a real sense of ‘flatness’. We see that was the case, even among the disciples, when Peter remarked to his friends, ‘I’m going out to fish’, as if he were going through a deep sense of anti-climax following the drama of Easter: what happens next? What follows now? Often the Church skips from observing Easter right to Pentecost, the sending of the Holy Spirit-but there was something really crucial which happened in between - do you know what that was? The Ascension of Jesus. The event is spoken of in very understated terms in the scriptures: ‘After the Lord had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.’ (Mark 16:19-20) ‘When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven’ (Luke 24:50-51) ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.’ (Acts 1:8-9)

In one respect, it was a physical departing, yet in another it was a preparation for the empowering of the disciples by the Holy Spirit; and of the presence and power of the risen, victorious Christ going global: ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’ (John 14:12) The Ascension was not the message of Jesus ending with a whimper, but culminating in a roar of triumph! Many of the Psalms capture this note of power, predicting the Lord ascended: ‘Oh clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with a voice of triumph! For the Lord most high is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth...God is the King of all the earth, sing praises with understanding...He is greatly exalted!..(Psalm 47)

‘Oh come let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation...For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.’ (Psalm 95) Do you listen to the news headlines and fear that things are out of control? Do you look at the events of your life and the lives of those you love and fret that there are powers too strong at work - even for the Lord? Remember, the King is ascended! ‘The Lord their God is with them, the shout of a King is among them’ (Numbers 23:21) This is true for you, me and all God’s people! Happy Ascension tide! Listen for the roar of the Lion of Judah!

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Easter in GDS Church

We have an exciting programme of services and events taking place in GDS Church throughout Holy Week. We hope that you can attend as many as possible in what is considered the most important week in the Christian calendar. Here is just a small flavour of what to expect. Maundy Thursday It has become something of a tradition over the past few years at GDS Church for us to host a Passover meal at Saltyard on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. A Passover Seder, which is the name for the ritualised Passover meal is of course, a Jewish custom. It marks and celebrates the night that God set his people, the Israelites, free from Egyptian captivity and ultimately brought them to the Promised Land. But Passover is just as relevant, if not more so, for the Christian church. The Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples also took place on Passover and this lends additional aspects to our Christian Passover Seder, such as the washing of each other’s hands in remembrance of the way Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. The story of the first Passover is steeped in imagery that points towards the sacrifice not just of the Passover lamb, but of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. We remember not only the faithful fulfilment of God’s word in delivering his people from Egypt as those of a Jewish faith do, but also the ultimate fulfilment of all God’s promises in Christ’s death and resurrection. So, why not join us at Saltyard, 158 Dalry Road, on Thursday 29th March at 7pm for this very special evening which offers a worship experience that truly engages all the senses. Come for a family atmosphere, the sense of being part of something ancient and timeless, your annual opportunity to belt out Jubilate Everybody and, of course, your portion of slow-cooked shredded lamb and pitta bread. Please note that we can only fit 40 people into Saltyard for this free event so please get in touch with the church office before the event in order to ensure we save you a space! Good Friday Tenebrae, otherwise known as ‘The Service of Shadows’ is an ancient way to mark Good Friday within the Christian church and has become an indispensable part of our Easter observations. Taking place on the evening of Good Friday, Tenebrae invites worshippers through hymns and readings to follow Jesus through the events of the last hours of his earthly ministry, from the Last Supper, through Gethsemane and the Temple Courts to Calvary and the grave. As we share in this journey the lights and candles are gradually extinguished until the church reflects the darkness of the Tomb. But before the congregation disperse silently into the night, the Christ-candle is re-ignited to remind us that death could not hold Him. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Join us in the sanctuary at Gorgie, 190-192 Gorgie Road, on Friday 30th March at 7.30pm for this moving and powerful evening of worship and reflection that really brings the events of Good Friday to life. Easter Sunday services Another tradition in GDS Church during Holy Week is the Early Morning Family Service. Those with the energy and enthusiasm to attend this service at 8.30am on Sunday 1st April will be treated to a service of rejoicing aimed at families but certainly not exclusively so. Children are encouraged to design and paint eggs with prizes going to the best designs. The good work is undone when the children roll their eggs at White Park after the service before everyone ventures inside to enjoy a lovely breakfast ahead of the Easter Sunday Celebration service which takes place at 11am. This service is one of the highlights in the church calendar and it is amazing seeing people uplifted as we celebrate the risen Jesus.

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Youth, Children and Families Update! Rachel Cooney I felt it might be helpful to give you an update on the work I have been doing over the last few months as I realise if you are not able to make it along to the Kirk Session you may not be aware of what is going on with our Youth, Children and Families work! Back in December I was delighted to host a Christmas Social for all the Youth Group Leaders and Volunteers, which was held at Saltyard, to thank them for all their hard work and support with our young people. I hope to organise these more often!

In terms of work in the local schools, I run a weekly Scripture Union Group at Dalry Primary on Mondays where we watch a ‘God’s Story’ video clip followed by discussion questions and a time of prayer then we do some crafts or baking. I will be taking over from Norda at Balgreen’s Scripture Union Group on Thursdays when she

starts working in Saltyard after the Easter holidays. I help on a weekly basis at the Breakfast Clubs at both Dalry and Balgreen. Michael and I run the Chaplain’s Lunch Club at Balgreen once a week on Wednesdays and I will be leading the ‘Moving On’ Assembly at Balgreen Primary in May. I have really enjoyed building relationships with the Head Teachers and all the other staff at both schools, as well as getting to know the children and their parents. I have been fortunate to take little Isaac in to meet the staff and some of the pupils – he was a big hit!

For those of you that do not know, Isaac Thomas was born on Sunday 26th November 2017 and spends a great deal of his time in the church office! GDS will, I reckon, very much become his second home! I support Norda each week at Gorgie Youth Choir on Thursday evenings and at Mums’ Moments on Fridays. It has been such a blessing, particularly as I am now a mother myself, to share the Reflections, to receive such helpful advice and to build friendships with other mums in our church. I am so grateful to Norda for her willingness to host this each week, and it has been lovely to

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have had new mums from outside the church join us on occasion.

And finally here at GDS I enjoy sharing the Children’s Address each fortnight, running JAM Club and CIA, and our new Youth Club on Sunday evenings. After the success of our Youth Alpha course, we were keen to provide something for our young people. We meet at the church on Sundays from 6-8pm for pizza, a video clip and time of discussion and prayer then we play a range of games and activities.

I will be hosting a Holiday Activity Club in the Easter holidays at Saltyard from 2-4pm where we will do baking, crafts and face painting. We will be running a Summer Holiday Club week commencing 30th July, and are looking for volunteers to attend any future planning meetings. I had the privilege of speaking at the Woman’s Fellowship on Monday 19th March, where I shared a little bit about my journey through faith and how God brought me into this role here at GDS Church.

Remember you can keep up to date with all our events on Facebook and Twitter: Facebook: @RachelCooneyGDSYouth Twitter: @Rachel_GDSYouth Many thanks for your continued prayers and support!

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Community Outreach Michael McMullin The major thing that hit me when I became part of the ministry team here at Gorgie Dalry Stenhouse Church, late last summer, was not that I was joining a sinking ship, indeed far from it, or that I was going to have to choose, very carefully, my moment when I could safely reveal to the congregation that I was actually a Glasgow Rangers man. No the major thing that hit me was the size of the parish.

Travelling from Haymarket Station, coming down Dalry Road then into Gorgie Road and travelling west until we pass HMP Prison Edinburgh, still better known as Saughton, and with a fairly broad spread, north and south, along that line, you can now begin to see the size of the challenge, but also the opportunities, that face effective community outreach in our parish. The parish has expanded through unions, in what in the whole scheme of things, is a relatively short period of time. So we now cover an area with an estimated population of close to twenty thousand with the union with Stenhouse St Aidan’s, in 2016, almost doubling the actual geographical area of the parish. So although the size of the parish does throw up opportunities as well as challenges, I have to be honest and say that at times the sheer scale of the task can be quiet intimidating and a little daunting. If we try and be everything to everybody then we are preparing for failure. We have to be honest with ourselves and recognise purely and simply that we don’t have the resources, in people or finance, to be able to partake of every initiative that could be attempted, or is offered up to us. Instead we have to be as smart and efficient as we can be, with the resources we have been blessed with. And boy oh boy do I believe that we have been

blessed with some pretty unique resources and a pretty unique set of opportunities to make a prayerfully guided, Spirit led, attempt to utilise them for the glory of God and to benefit those sections in our community who are often neglected and ignored. Now we have all heard Peter talk in his sermons about God-incidences, rather than co-incidences. Well as regards opportunities that are starting to reveal themselves to us, along in the western end of the parish, I refuse to believe that His Spirit is not at work. I’m talking here about the buildings along at Stenhouse; facilities which after much discussion and prayer, we have now taken the decision to call Diadem.

Exploring the opportunities available to us there has been a major part of my job so far, and that is going to continue into the future as I hope and pray that we are about to embark on a transformation that will see the creation of what will be a community hub, that will evolve and form, over the next few years. And you notice here I say years. Not weeks or months, but years.

It cannot be anything other than a God-incidence, that when there is a need to reach out to those in our society who are on the edges such as the homeless, those in prison and those fighting various addictions, that we have been blessed as a church, to have facilities which could viably be used to effectively reach out to these groups. Now it is a slow process to build relationships up with the groups that we hope to work with in the future. In time I would like to explore having a group of volunteers from the congregation who

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wish to not only be visitors to those incarcerated, but also train as mentors for prisoners on their release. We are in the beginnings of building up working relationships with Christian organisations such as Junction 42 and Teen Challenge, as well as working with other denominations such as the Baptists, the Salvation Army and the Roman Catholic Church, in offering support, and also aiming at building connect worship that will be focused at prisoners and their families on release.

Also we have in our city, unfortunately like all cities in our land, the blight of homelessness. We in our church family here should be proud that we had two ladies who had the compassion and humility to take part in the big sleep out in Princes Street Gardens last year, which as well as raising funds, also drew much needed attention to the fight to eradicate homelessness in our modern society. We have at Diadem, the once in a life time opportunity to be making not just a small, almost token, effect against homelessness. No, we have the chance to have a positive effect on countless people - those who but for His Grace, could be you or I, or our own bairns or granbairns and to leave a legacy for GDS Church that we should all be proud of being a part of bringing to fruition. I’m talking here about exploring using the sanctuary along at Diadem as a permanent night shelter for the homeless, with facilities that will offer safe and dignified comfort. Now we, at GDS Church, won’t have the resources to sustain such an initiative but what we will be bringing to the

table is primarily the buildings and facilities themselves. The staffing and experience in running such a scheme will be provided by partners. Talks have begun and so far His Spirit is working in creating a can-do mentality which I pray will continue. The Kirk Session has agreed to engage a firm of architects, NGP Architecture, who are in the throes of producing a feasibility study that will in time be presented to the congregation and session. This study will be a phased approach to turn Diadem into a facility that is fit for purpose. Not only turning the sanctuary into a night shelter, but also having a drop in cafe facility, which we see being operated in conjunction with the Solace Recovery cafe with whom GDS Church has built up a strong relationship with over the past two years.

This will be cafe that is open to all in our community five days a week, and will be staffed and run by those, travelling down their own personal journey, in recovery from addictions, and who will do so in a safe and loving Christian Church family environment. Diadem will also have the use of the New Hall, and other breakout rooms, to use in a whole range of outreach opportunities.

So it is an exciting time, and I pray that on the journey, when we face challenges and hiccups, His Spirit will continue to guide us, and give us the strength to persevere.

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Getting around in Senegal Clare Orr Over the four years I’ve spent in Senegal, I’ve depended on a wide range of forms of transport! So how do I get around? I live in Ziguinchor, a town in the south of Senegal. Because of the geography of the region, to get from Ziguinchor to Dakar by road, you either need to cross into and back out of Gambia, or else take a major detour to go round it.

These options take 10+ hours depending on the vehicle, the border crossing etc; and many of the roads leave much to be desired. Instead, I prefer to take the ferry directly from Ziguinchor to Dakar.

This takes around 16 hours, but is a pleasant journey. From Ziguinchor the first few hours are spent on the river, where there are often dolphins as well as pretty views of mangroves.

The ferry reaches the ocean at night time, and I normally get a bed in an 8-berth cabin, so by the time I wake up we have arrived in Dakar! To get around within Ziguinchor or Dakar, there are taxis and buses. Ziguinchor also has a huge number of motorbike taxis, but I avoid those for safety reasons. Taxis in both towns are yellow and black; in Ziguinchor there is a fixed price of 500F (around 75p) whereas in Dakar haggling is required and you won’t get anywhere for less than 1000F (around £1.50). The Ziguinchor buses have only been around for a couple of years; there are a limited number of routes but if where you want to go is on their route, they’re great value at 100F (8p). To get from one town to another, seven seat bush taxis are most common. These are old Peugeot station wagons with three rows of seats.

They’re a bit cramped in the back, but have fixed prices depending on the distance. Luggage usually costs extra, which requires haggling! Minibuses are another option, serving all the routes bush taxis serve plus more. For example, to get to Thionck-Essyl, I take a bush taxi to a town 45 minutes away from Ziguinchor, then change and take a minibus the rest of the way, another two hours or so. Minibuses can also be rather cramped, and often don’t leave the garage until they’re full, which can take a while! Some of my colleagues have cars, so getting to travel with them is always a treat, but I have never dared to try and drive here never mind the thought of getting my own car – there are too many potholes, goats running across the road, overloaded bicycles, etc. So I’ll happily stick to public transport for now!

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Memories of Stenhouse St Aidan's Mary Morrison In recent years I have worked with a number of congregations who were involved in a union. Sometimes this can be a difficult time. I have found it helps those who may have lost their familiar place of worship to write down memories of a congregation's life together. No, I'm not asking you to become authors! What I am asking is for you as individuals to think back and tell me any particular events you recall. What is precious to you about your time in Stenhouse? It may be funny or serious, a single happening or a settled pattern, it may be special festival times or an experience that helped you grow in faith. The main thing is that it's yours, your memory. Don't worry about spelling or expression: I will correct that and make it readable. Of course Stenhouse St Aidan's was made up of two congregations; Stenhouse Saughton and St Aidan's. Go back as far as memory will take you.

I produced a booklet for St Colm's Dalry, the Old Kirk in Pilton and St Christopher's Craigentinny and now Stenhouse St Aidan's. It's your recollection, not mine and it's not a history. If anyone wants to e-mail a contribution, I am enclosing my address but it's equally acceptable to write it down and put it in an envelope and hand it in at church. I'm looking forward to great memories! We have decided to reprint the item from Mary Morrison asking for Memories of Stenhouse St Aidan’s with a closing date of 30th April for submissions. Mary Morrison’s e-mail: houseohill7@outlook.com

New Diadem Signage We are pleased to announce that the new signage for Diadem has been installed at our Stenhouse suite of buildings.

Many thanks go to Andy and David for their efforts putting this in place.

GDS Church Fellowship Lunch Norma Steedman The congregation and friends are all invited to share lunch with us after the morning service on Sunday 22nd April. Laura Kinnaird and George Kay have kindly offered to provide a soup and sweet lunch on behalf of the Fellowship - it’s sure to be delicious! We do hope that you will join us to share lunch and fellowship. Any donations received will go towards payment for the coach for our annual spring outing to Dundee. Looking forward to seeing you in the 22nd!!!

Thank You Norma Steedman Norma and family would like to thank the church family for all their love and support at the sad time of Rodger’s passing. Your prayers, cards, flowers and words of support have sustained and blessed us and we are so thankful.

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We Remember...John Hepburn Ann McNee The funeral service for Jean Callaghan’s brother John (Jackie) Hepburn was held at Warriston Crematorium on Wednesday 14th March. Jackie had been a patient in a nursing home in Linlithgow where he had been ill for some time and where he peacefully passed away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our friend Jean at this sad time.

We Remember...Alex Roberts Niall Sherriffs It is only a couple of years since Alex and Barbara Roberts came to worship here at GDS Church. I remember early conversations with them where they were saying they wanted to take some time to enjoy fellowship and seeing where God would have them serve. It seemed such a short time before we saw Alex involved in the men's prayer breakfast, supporting the work of the night shelter and care van, and the pair of them being seen in Saltyard chatting to all and sundry. It was in early December last year when they were out in front of the church on a Saturday morning stopping people in the street and giving them a cup of tea or coffee, and asking if they wanted prayer, when Alex started to say he was feeling a little under the weather. Who would have thought this would have turned so quickly into a diagnosis of lung cancer which took Alex away from us too soon. I will always remember his cheery, upbeat approach to life, and the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his best friend, Barbara. We will miss him, but that sadness is offset by the richness he brought into our fellowship, and we are delighted that though we only knew him for a short while, his presence lives on and we will remember these words from Paul “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

We Remember...Dorothy Porteous Tricia Kingston The faithful witness of Dorothy Porteous, who died in February following a long period of ill health. Being a country girl, Dorothy loved the outdoors and enjoyed being out and about as much as circumstances allowed; she bore the restrictions of her poor health with patience and cheerfulness. Until she was admitted to hospital, Dorothy was still able to attend Sunday services regularly thanks to the loving care of her husband Jim. Although in recent years Dorothy’s mode of transport was her wheelchair, she continued to attend the Monday afternoon meetings of the Fellowship where she enjoyed not only the variety of guests and speakers, but also the company and laughter she shared with friends. Dorothy could be seen too, at the Coffee Mornings where she kept a watchful eye on all the comings and goings. Many of us will miss seeing Dorothy in her usual place at the front of the church, but we remember her husband and family in our prayers, who will miss her most.

We Remember...Glenn Simpson Tricia Kingston We extend our sympathy to Bob Simpson at the recent unexpected loss of his son, Glenn. More than once during the ‘Returning Thanks’ section of our morning worship, Bob spoke fondly and lovingly of his son, and we remember the family in our prayers at this sad time.

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The Edinburgh Easter Play The Edinburgh Easter Play will take place at 2.00pm on Saturday 31st March in Princes Street Gardens West, in the centre of Edinburgh. It's an imaginative retelling of the timeless story of Jesus. It's free and open to all.

The Edinburgh Easter Play is created by a team of community performers drawn from all walks of life, working with a professional director and stage manager, and led by a professional actor, Duncan Rennie, playing Jesus. For practical information about the production click please visit http://www.easterplay.org/en/audience-info/ If you'd like to get involved, you can find out more by visiting http://www.easterplay.org/en/get-involved/ We hope to see you there!

Resurrection 2018 Origin Scotland’s largest event of the year, Resurrection is returning to the Usher Hall on Easter Sunday 1st April at 7.30pm.

The Origin choir, band and orchestra will lead an evening of praise and worship celebrating the greatest event in history - the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Admission is free with an offering towards costs and tickets are now available through www.originscotland.org and office (0131 208 0095). Group bookings are possible only by phone.

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Regular Events Sunday

10.15am Early Prayer Meeting 11.00am Morning Worship 11.00am Youth Groups 6.30pm Evening Worship in Saltyard

Monday 7.30pm Small Group (Colinton)

Tuesday - Friday 12.15pm Prayer and Worship in Saltyard Tuesday

2-4pm Singing Group for those with Dementia & their carers (Edgar Hall 1st & 3rd Tuesdays)

Wednesday 7.30pm Small Groups (various)

Thursday 10.30am Small Group (Church) 6.15pm Gorgie Youth Choir in GDS Church 7.30pm Small Group at Blackhall (7.45pm) & Saltyard (7.30pm)

Friday 9.30am Mums’ Moments. The first, third and fifth Friday of the month is held in the church. The second and fourth Friday is held in Saltyard.

Dates to remember

Sunday 25th March 11am: Palm Sunday Service in GDS Church All Week: Easter Egg Hunt Ask at Saltyard for details Monday 26th March 1.30pm: Fellowship Holy Week Service in GDS Church Thursday 29th March 7pm: Passover Meal in Saltyard Friday 30th March 7.30pm: Good Friday Tenebrae Service in GDS Church Saturday 31st March 10am-12noon: Daffodil Tea Coffee Morning in GDS Church Saturday 31st March 2pm: The Edinburgh Easter Play Princes Street Gardens West Sunday 1st April 8.30am: Easter Morning Family Service Sunday 1st April 11am: Easter Sunday Celebration Sunday 1st April 7.30pm: Resurrection 2018 Saturday 7th April 8.30am: Men’s Prayer Breakfast in Saltyard Tuesday 10th April 8.30am: Kirk Session meeting in GDS Church

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Gorgie Dalry Stenhouse Church, 190 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2NX t: 0131 337 7936 www.gdschurch.org.uk, e: contactus@gdschurch.org.uk

Saltyard, 158 Dalry Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2HB t: 0131 313 4757 Edgar Hall, Chesser Avenue, Edinburgh, EH14 1TA Edinburgh: Gorgie Dalry Stenhouse Church of Scotland Reg'd Charity No: SC009146

Articles for the next magazine should be emailed to Colin Ramsay (colinramsay2000@gmail.com) The next edition will be available for distribution on Sunday 29th April 2018. Items for the church website and the large screen in the church should be sent to the general church email address which is news@gdschurch.org.uk Thank you to all who helped produce this issue.