april 07b

Interim Ministry Monitoring Group

As you will know from a previous article in our magazine, when a congregation agrees to have an Interim Minister, a Monitoring Group is appointed comprising three members of Presbytery, three members of the Council of Ministries: Interim Ministry Task Group and one Interim Minister. The function of this Group is to monitor our progress as congregations through the task of Interim Ministry, to support us and offer help as appropriate.

The first meeting of the group was held last November in Holytown Church to discuss the Aims and Objectives of Interim Ministry. A second meeting has now been organised and it will take place on Thursday 26th April at 7.45 pm in Wrangholm Kirk. This is an important meeting when the congregation has the opportunity of talking with the Monitoring Group about how we feel things are going during this time of Interim Ministry. It would be very important for as many people as possible to be present on that evening. You are all very warmly invited.

New communicants

It was a pleasure on Sunday 18th March that three new communicants joined the congregation by Profession of Faith. They are:

We welcome them all most sincerely and trust that they will enjoy the fellowship of the congregation.

For the tots

Probably you all have at least one chocolate Easter egg, which you desperately want to eat but have been told you must wait. Do you know why we have Easter eggs?

A very long time ago Jesus was put into a tomb, which was like a hole in a rock. To make sure that it was secure a big stone was put in front of it. The Romans and the other people in Jerusalem thought that it would be completely impossible for anyone to move the stone. Soldiers were placed beside the tomb to prevent anyone tampering with it. Did this work? No, it did not!

Jesus came back to life and is still alive today. That is why we have Easter eggs.

For the teens

Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem riding on top of a donkey with all the people shouting "Hosanna" is one of the most striking and most wonderful pictures in the Bible. How spectacular that would have been and how memorable for those taking part. The road from Bethphage to Jerusalem was downhill and that would have made the scene even more memorable.

Sad to say, as you know, these shouts of joy turned in a few short days to shouts of "Crucify him". This just shows how easy it is for us to be influenced by what is going on around us.

The authorities thought that by crucifying Jesus they would get rid of him. How wrong they were! They had not realised that Jesus' death was going to turn to happiness when he rose from the dead. The minds of the Romans and the people of the country had not come to grips with who they were dealing with. They had no power over Jesus. Jesus had permitted himself to be crucified to fulfil his mission on earth and the completion of this mission was his resurrection after three days.

Jesus lives on and he lives in us, guiding us, caring for us and helping us throughout our lives.