Posted Tuesday 02 September 2008
September 5th - 7th
From Friday afternoon until Monday morning, 11 visitors from Norway, Wales and England will be spending time learning about LCM in Scotland. The idea for this weekend was gifted to us from the Diocese of North Michigan, USA, which has run such events very successfully for several years.
Our visitors will spend time meeting with the Organising Team of Graham Taylor, Lisa Eunson and Anne Tomlinson on Friday, sharing food, discussion and worship, before heading off to receive hospitality from members of St Mary’s Carden Place. On Saturday they will gather between 10am and 3pm at Kemnay Church Centre, Inverurie, where provincial and diocesan personnel will outline the ethos and practice of LCM and other aspects of the SEC’s mission and ministry policy. The day will be attended by the Bishops of the three dioceses to be visited, Revd Lewis Smith, Convenor of the Home Mission Committee, plus the Dean and Provost of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney.
The visitors will then be collected by representatives from three congregations - St John the Evangelist Rothiemurchus (Moray, Ross and Caithness), St Ternan, Banchory (Aberdeen amd Orkney) and St Ternan Muchalls (Brechin) - and will spend 24 hours with their chosen congregation learning something about its culture, mission and context and sharing something of their own context in turn. Each congregation has also planned some entertainment for their guests - a Ceilidh, Scottish dancing and stovies are among the treats apparently in store!
The guests will worship with their host congregation on Sunday and engage in a congregational discussion thereafter, before returning to Aberdeen for a debriefing and sharing session chaired by Rt Revd Dr Bob Gillies. The weekend will end with us all praying the service of Compline together from The Scottish Prayer Book and sharing a meal at Graham Taylor’s Rectory.
Please hold this weekend in your prayers: for safe travel for our guests and that it might be a time of mutual learning and the building up of firm friendships.
