General Synod 2021 to take place over two days

General Synod will again take place online this year, as it did in 2020. However, the schedule will cover two days on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 June, instead of the single day event that was held last December.

Business will start at 9am each day and is expected to run until approximately mid to late afternoon.

There will be breaks during the course of each day including a substantial lunchtime break, and Synod members will participate in a number of breakout groups for discussion and debate.

The General Synod agenda and papers will be issued in mid-May. The agenda is expected to include matters such as future vision and strategy for the church as we emerge from the pandemic, the approval of liturgies which have been subject to experimental use in recent years, ecumenical relations, a report on the triennial valuation of the Pension Fund, consideration of resources to assist the church in working towards carbon neutrality by 2030, debate about the church’s process for electing bishops (Canon 4), a range of clergy personnel matters including stipend, and ethical investment.

Further information about the meeting will be issued to Synod members in the coming weeks, including instructions about how the virtual aspects of the meeting will be handled but they will be broadly similar to last year. Feedback from the first virtual hosting has been considered carefully, to find ways to improve the event.

Those who are not Synod members will be able to watch a live stream of the meeting.

On Sunday 9th May, Bishop Ian  presided at the 10.30 am Eucharist and also licenced Stuart Gray as Assistant Priest for St Peter’s Episcopal Church, Kirkcaldy with St Mary & St Leonard’s, Kinghorn. We welcome and send our blessings to Stuart and the congregations of St Peter’s and St Mary and St Leonard’s.

CHURCH OF THE FUTURE

During Lent 2021 the Diocesan Youth Committee ran a competition entitled “Church of the Future” and judged by an independent panel of Judges:

• The Right Revd Ian Paton, Bishop of The Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane;
• The Revd Elaine Garman, Rector of St John’s Forfar and a member of the Provincial Church in Society Committee;
• Mr Neil Gaunt, member of the Diocesan Buildings Committee;
• The Revd David Colman, Chaplain to Eco-Congregation Scotland.

The competition remit was for the entrants to share their ideas for a Carbon Neutral Church and these could be submitted in any medium.

The Judges met in early May and after considerable deliberation, the following places were awarded:

1^st Place and a £50 voucher – Hannah Buxel, St Mary’s Dunblane

2^nd Place and a £25 voucher – Esther Holsteen, St Andrews, St Andrews.

3^rd Place and a £15 – Georgie Reid, St Saviours, Bridge of Allan; Jude Holsteen, St Andrews, St Andrews, and Penelope Lang, St Andrews, St Andrews.

Vouchers and congratulations will soon be winging their way to the recipients.

Whilst the number of entries were low, the judges were impressed by the variety and innovative ideas submitted by the entries which were by telling a story; comic strip, art, video and presentation.

These are some of the comments which the judges gave;

• “very picturesque piece of prose”

• “beautifully drawn”

• “lovely way of integrating movement and speech”

• “novel idea of using a comic strip”

• “liked prayers; the point of Church is people.”

Well done to all our entrants and a huge thank you to the judges for giving of their time. Individual entries will be featured in the Diocesan e-News in the coming months.

To view the winning entry please click the link below:

Church of The Future – Winning entry

For further information please click on the link below:

Calcutta_Diocesan_News_Subhavna_May_2021_Issue

Dear friends

A Briefing for Faith Communities and Actions for COP26

This year is Interfaith Scotland’s Year of Climate Action. We have created a document about ways that you can be involved with COP26 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021) including resources, activities and campaign actions which is attached to this email. We also have a comprehensive list of resources and videos on our Interfaith Scotland website at the link below:

www.interfaithscotland.org/climate-action-resources

We are also excited to bring you news about Scottish Interfaith Week 2021. Scottish Interfaith Week will coincide with COP26 this year, launching on Sunday 31 October and running until Sunday 7 November. The theme for 2021 is Together for Our Planet, and individuals, faith communities and organisations across Scotland will be encouraged to host climate-related events for the week. You will be able to submit an event on the Scottish Interfaith Week website from May onwards at:

www.scottishinterfaithweek.org/submit-an-event

Best wishes

Frances Hume

National Development Officer

Interfaith Scotland

Flemington House

110 Flemington Street

Glasgow G21 4BF

www.interfaithscotland.org

During May we are invited to pray for the work of Mary’s Meals.  There is more information about their work on their website:https://www.marysmeals.org.uk

Please click the links below for  some material which may be helpful;

Prayer card

Prayers for Marys Meals for other Christian churches

For further information please click the link below:

SEI Newsletter April 2021

On 25^th March, the Feast of the Annunciation, Bishop Ian licensed Heather Cardwell as a Lay Reader in this diocese. Before moving to Scotland, Heather served for many years as a Lay Reader in the Church in Wales. Her ministry here will be within the congregation of All Saints, St Andrews, where she has been a member for some time.

The licensing took place on Zoom, attended by Heather’s friends and family as well as by members of All Saints church and representatives from the Lay Reader community in this diocese.

“Lay Readers are called to serve the Church of God and to work together with the clergy and other ministers. They are to lead public worship, to preach and teach the word of God, to assist at the eucharist and to share in pastoral and evangelistic work. As authorised lay ministers, they are to encourage the ministries of God’s people, as the Spirit distributes gifts among us all, and to help the whole Church to participate in God’s mission to the world.”

We welcome Heather into this ministry among us.

For further information please click the link below:

Bishop Ian’s Synod Charge 2021

Karen McClain Kiefer resides in St Andrews and has been an active member of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church there for over four years, having most recently served as the office administrator, PA and digital media specialist.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts at the University of St Andrews, after careers in corporate management, IT and consulting followed by service in pastoral, social and theatre ministry. Originally from Ohio, Karen has lived in several regions throughout the US, including Maryland, Northern Arizona and Minnesota where she earned a Master’s degree in Theology and a Spiritual Direction certificate at Saint John’s School of Theology, a thriving Benedictine university with a strong spirit of ecumenism.

With a rich background in both creative and technical communications in a variety of contexts, Karen felt particularly called to digital mission as lockdown restrictions fell upon us in early 2020. She drew inspiration from Esther in the Hebrew scriptures who was told by her uncle Mordecai that she was made ‘for such a time as this’.  Amid the chaos and confinement of the initial phase of the pandemic, God worked in unique ways to help her respond in this time. Her inner strategic planner sprung into action identifying areas of impact in the church community and mobilising swift initial responses with consideration for longer term impacts.  She believes the most significant impact was to our sense of community itself:

What seemed to be common across congregations in 2020 was desire and creativity – desire to stay connected and creativity to adapt to make it happen. I believe in 2021 we are called to further engage our creativity as we reassess the past year, and reimagine our communities based on how God is calling and equipping us to encourage and accompany others.  I look forward to helping our diocesan community reassess and reimagine in 2021.  

    – Karen, February 2021

 

In her PhD research, Karen is exploring theological and theatrical contexts of ‘empty space’ with emphasis on improvisation and Holy Saturday. Karen is a community theatre co-founder, director, improvisor, and a certified Advanced Practitioner of Playback Theatre. Some of her practical work emphasises collaborative and improvisational storytelling (and producing/directing unconventional performances in unconventional spaces – including Zoom!).  She also avidly enjoys hiking, skiing, and taking in the breathtaking beauty of this rugged and wonderful country.