No.40 4th April 2025

Hi,

Hope you have had a good week.

Ruby anniversary for the magazine this week - maybe go for a Ruby to celebrate. (One for the Glasgow rhyming patter fans there...of which there are so many in the Mearns!)

As you would expect the Easter activities are dotted through the magazine - but there are other pieces of news and views in between so don't miss out.

Enjoy the mag.

MB

Sunday 6th April

Morning service - 10.30am
Martin Smith - Matthew ch6:5-13
(nb. Services will not being live streamed but will be recorded and on YouTube shortly after the service.)

PULSE PRAYER MEETING
Wednesday - 7.15pm
@M&M McNicoll's

Letter from the Manse

Dear Congregation,

We have a very full April. “The Wonder of Easter” All-Age Easter Event will be held this weekend, Saturday (5th April, 2-4pm).
Let’s pray for this gathering.

Sunday 6th April
We shall appreciate Martin Smith opening God’s word to us this Sunday for a second instalment on prayer and what Jesus says to us about praying.
I will be leading worship this Sunday morning (6th April) at Bishopbriggs Free Church.

Can I encourage us to travel together for evening worship at Covenant Free Church, Newmilns. I will be leading their Communion Service which begins at 5.30pm. Margo has kindly agreed to help us organise a “car-share”. Let’s gather at Belmont Carpark with a view to leaving at 4.45pm. It would be great to encourage Covenant Free Church with our presence and also encourage one another as we worship together. Worship will be conducted in “Morton Hall”, 123 Main Street, Newmilns, KA16 9HB.

Some other things to note which are happening through April and over the Easter period.

MFC new logo bank

New Prayer Initiative Saturday Morning 12th April…We are launching a new prayer venture on Saturday 12th April. This launch is timed to follow the two Sunday services (30th March and 6th April) where the focus shall be on what Jesus says about prayer. (See details on this below.) All are welcome even if you have not made gathering for prayer your habit in the past.

MFC easter week leaflet overvi

Palm Sunday : Morning Worship - 13th April : We shall have a usual “Palm Sunday” service on 13th. In addition, we look forward to the Christian singer song/writer Ian White being with us. Ian will extend a personal invitation to the Inspiration Orchestra Festival 2025. Several of us have been to this over the last few years (May 24th). Our Outreach Committee are planning a day out which might include a walk. We have decided it would be good to combine the two and include attending the Festival in that day out. (More details about “The MFC Away Day In May” later. However, this is also advance notice for the diary!)

Evening Worship: Sunday 13th @7pm We shall join again with NMBC for our final hearing of what the Lord would say to us presently from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians.

PASSION PLAY

Monday April 14th 7.30pm: “The Passion” We are hosting at Belmont, a dramatization of the Easter story. (See more details below.) Please do come, and forgive me for repetition, but if possible bring a friend and/or family member.
crosses

Good Friday: 7pm -18th April in NMBC: We shall have a joint service where we have been invited to share in leading the Communion part of the Service.

empty tomb

Easter Sunday Services
20th April - 3 Events:

6:30am Roukin Glen Park: Easter Walk and Breakfast
10.30amEaster Morning Worship: Belmont School.
Easter Evening 7pm “A Very Different Easter”.

Sunday 27th April

We look forward to having Rev Kenny McLeod with us, minister at Dowanvale Free Church. Kenny will lead us in our morning worship which will be a Communion service.

With Warmest Regards
Scott

We resume our prayer meetings next Wednesday (9th April)
and the April gatherings will be at the home of Murray and Margo McNicol.

And for Spare Sleeping Bag.
Because we move the lectern each week there is a danger of it getting bashed and scraped.
We are looking to protect it and hoping by adapting a sleeping bag to fit around will help this.
Speak with Jaan Martindale or Margaret Boyd if you can help.

MFC Directory

The MFC church family directory is available in PDF format for use on phone, tablet, or computer.
Meanwhile if you wish your details to be changed, added, or deleted please email the office.
See more details about the Directory (and how the information in there should be handled) in last week's magazine

Ladybird Book of Mearns Free Church

9am - Saturday 12th April

On Sunday mornings we are taking a moment to reflect on the church's, and our own personal, prayer life...but reflection without action is pointless.
In addition to Pulse, our regular weekly prayer meeting on a Wednesday evening, Session have agreed that it would be good to commence a regular monthly prayer meeting where we specifically focus on praying not only that GOD would lead us in and equip us for our life & ministry as Mearns Free Church, but that He himself would make our service fruitful by His actions.
These monthly prayer meetings will be initially be held at 9 am on the second Saturday morning of each month starting in April.
Mearns Free Church Monthly Prayer Meeting
9am - Saturday 12th April
Martin & Elizabeth Smith’s home - contact office or see church directory for address

Weekend Away

Great to have some photos from the youth weekend away last week at SU Scotland's Gowanbank.

Easter film!

The King of Kings is a film animation of the Easter story which is in cinemas over the Easter holidays. Click the link HERE to find out more about the film, get a list of dates, times and cinema locations and book!
Great opportunity to take the kids or grandkids for an outing over the holidays.
Watch the Trailer HERE

Some Ministry Opportunities

We have some opportunities you may want to consider serving in.
i. We transport sound equipment from a local garage to Belmont (usually pick up on Fridays at 5.15, deliver at 5.30). You may have help to load and unload the car.
We currently transport 11 items which fit in a Octavia estate or a Karoq when both have their back seats down. The idea might be to create a rota. The planning of that we can work out with you.
ii. We have joint services with Newton Mearns Baptist Church fortnightly. We will continue these from 27th April – end of June. We could do with extra assistance in ministering to one another.

a. Would you like to assist with the AV? (Simply moving slides forward on the computer or on the sound desk.)
b. Help make and serve teas and coffees?
c. Welcoming people at the door and general stewarding (especially if the need of emergency exit arose)?

"Very Early on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb……."
We meet together at 6.30am at the garden centre carpark at Roukenglen. Please wear sturdy shoes as our route is a muddy track that a has a slight incline.
We will walk together for about 15 to 20minutes ( 1 km) until we reach a clearing in the woods where we will have a short act of worship celebrating the resurrection and Jesus victory over death.
After returning by the same route to the carpark everyone is welcome back to Sandra and John's house for a tasty Easter breakfast 🐣 ( address given at event).
Hope to see everyone bright and early ☀️ If you wish to attend the sunrise service but not able to take part in the walk please speak to Margo.

This new MFC magazine feature doesn't necessarily need to involve holding a tea in your hand but it does involve stopping for a few moments to consider a short video which will encourage, challenge, inform and help deepen faith.

This week, Ray Ortland and Sam Alberry discuss if we can say we believe all the right doctrines and yet when it comes to how we treat one another...
Take a look here. He starts off with thinking about the verse which tells us to 'Love one another as Christ as loved us'. He takes the 'big thinking' of be willing to die for one another...and then in case we use that as an excuse to think 'Well, is that really a likely scenario we would be called to go through', he then gets down to the day to day.

We have invited “LAMPS” a Christian organisation, to perform a version of the Easter Story at Belmont.
They will be in Scotland touring with this production.
They say: The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are recreated in this moving, memorable and ultimately joyful retelling of the Easter story. Told from the perspectives of Peter, Mary Magdalene and a Roman centurion named Marcus, this powerful contemporary drama leads us up to and through the events of Holy Week, to the cross and beyond.

This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family to an Easter event at Mearns Free Church and to hear the Gospel message as dramatized by these actors.
So often, Easter provides an easy way to invite friends and family to a church event. Please do make use of this opportunity.

There will be an opportunity to make a donation on the day to defray costs incurred by MFC. This link here takes you to the page to do that.

Here are some reviews:

"The Passion by LAMPS is an utterly compelling retelling of the Easter story with actors whose talent is beyond words". Rev Nathan Ward St Margaret’s, Rainham
"We watched and listened in complete silence for over an hour as the Easter story was told… The audience responded with a lengthy standing ovation – it was a great evening". Eleanor Jenkins Bury Green Chapel
"A life-changing experience for me and my understanding of the scriptures… Like many others no doubt I shed a tear or two". Roger Dennett St James the Great, Radley

LARGE PRINT -

SONG WORDS

If you find viewing the song-words on the screen in Sunday worship a problem, we currently print a limited number of large-print song sheets for specific people.
We don't want to print unnecessary copies so please speak with the door team and we will begin to make these available for you each week.

Mearns Free Church has a What's App Group for Prayer -The "PRAY NOW" Group
Purpose: A platform to share information regarding a sudden and crucial need for prayer.
How to connect: Speak to Margaret Boyd if you would like to be added to this group or email Margaret at: mandmboyd@hotmail.co.uk
What tech do I need?: You need to have a Smart Phone with WhatsApp to get set up.

Emailing The Minister
Please be careful when emailing Scott that you are using the correct current email address minister@mearnsfree.org. A number of emails continue to be sent to accounts no longer in use. Please be doubly careful when sending from a device that is not your normal communication device (like a phone) or if you use “reply to all”.

Email Addresses For Mearns Free Church
Please make sure you change your email address list now we are part of the Free Church.
Tom Brown (Office): office@mearnsfree.org
Scott Kirkland (Minister): minister@mearnsfree.org
Sandy McDougall (Treasurer): finance@mearnsfree.org
Pauline Forster (Children and families worker): children@mearnsfree.org

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello!

Smiling welcome

Where and When we meet

We rent space at Belmont House School for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am (local map here). Belmont House School, Sandringham Avenue, Newton Mearns, Glasgow G77 5DU Cars...We use the playground as a car park and there is plenty of space. Please park on the premises.

In the interests of good neighbourly relations please do not park on Sandringham Avenue. In the unlikely event that the car park is full, or you prefer not to park on the premises, please use one of the side roads nearby but not Sandringham Avenue. (We don't want to hinder the flow of traffic or block pavements on Sandringham.) Entering the building...As you enter the premises, you will be greeted by one of our regular worshippers who will direct you to the auditorium where we meet. Songs and bible readings will be displayed on a screen at the front. Don't worry about knowing when to stand or sit. The Minister will lead us through worship. Our time together is structured and appropriately "reverent", but it is a "relaxed reverence"!

We serve tea & coffee after the service, and this is a great way to meet people or simply take time to find your bearings.

Is there a dress code?	Not at all - come casual, come smart, but just come!
Will I have to join in?	You're welcome to simply observe or to participate actively
Accessibility	There is wheelchair access, and a disabled toilet

Our Worship

Just before we are called to worship by the Minister, we usually have an item of "gathering praise". This is a good opportunity to settle ourselves in anticipation of being called to enter God's presence together. Some find it helpful to use this time to pray quietly. Others prefer to reflect on the words being sung and some like to simply become quiet.

The service of worship begins formally at 10:30 am with a call to worship and lasts around 70 minutes.

Preaching, praise and prayer are central to our worship.
We share in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the last Sunday of each month. Some Sundays will include the sacrament of Baptism.

Our service of worship will include traditional and contemporary praise. We also include songs from the bible called "Psalms".

Though our worship has an informal "feel" to it, we do follow an order which the Minister determines. It will usually look something like this;

Welcome with notices
Call to worship with a Bible Scripture
Praise (this may be one or more items of praise)
Prayer of adoration & confession (we acknowledge the greatness of God and our need for forgiveness)
Talk to children (& sometimes a children's song)
The children leave for age-appropriate groups
Prayer of thanksgiving & intercession (we pray with thanksgiving and for the world)
Reading from the Bible
The sermon (the aim is to explain the passage of the bible read and apply it to life)
Praise
Benediction ( a blessing spoken over the congregation)

Our singing is led by our musicians, and the words of the praise are projected onto a large screen so that everyone can join in freely or just read & listen.

Don't worry if you're not a great singer - just making a joyful noise to the Lord is fine!

What about my kids?
	We welcome children of all ages Creche (0 - 3 years) HizKidz Nursery - P7 Prime Time S1 - S3 Older youth remain in worship For more information about what happens in the children's work please click here

As well as our Sunday morning service we have gatherings in church and in our homes. These include prayer meetings, Bible study groups, youth group meetings, all-age outreach activities, special events, and more.

We have more information for you specifically if you…

Are a student or young adult
Have children that will come with you to church
Have a young person interested in the Youth Group

Click here to contact us for further information - we'd love to hear from you

If you'd like to know about some of our staff, please check out our Staff and Leadership page.

Getting Connected

Small Groups
While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet during the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Would you like additional assistance to visit?

We'd be happy to help - just give us a few days' notice and we will aim to help make suitable arrangements with you. However, even without advance notice our door team is always happy to help on the day!

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

It is our prayer that you might come to feel at home in Mearns Free Church!

Scott Kirkland, Minister
minister@mearnsfree.org