Content for the May 2025 edition of Word from the Cross should be sent to the editor no later than Friday 18 April 2025. Web version of the magazine www.bearsdencross.org
The Air Guitar World Championships will be held in Oulu, Finland later this year. Air guitar is where someone plays for all they are worth – striking poses, throwing shapes, their faces contorted in concentration ... with one key difference ... there is no guitar! And hence ‘air guitar’. It’s a bit like playing before the mirror as a child with a tennis racket as a guitar ... without the tennis racket! At the Air Guitar World Championships, contestants “play” before huge crowds of devoted fans and are judged on – originality, stage presence, technical merit and artistic impression
The Air Guitar World Championships are dedicated to world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar Championships, wars would end and all bad things in the world would disappear if all the people in the world played air guitar!
I would imagine that the best part about “playing” air guitar is that:
You can’t hit a wrong note.
You can’t sound bad.
You sound just like the record.
You don’t even need a guitar to play air guitar.
The best thing about playing air guitar is that you can look good without ever practicing a single note.
The bad thing about playing a real guitar – as anyone will know who has tried it – is that you have to practice very hard in order to sound good. ‘Practice makes perfect’ as the saying goes. But practice isn’t much fun. If you are a musician, practice is endless –
scales, chord repetitions, arpeggios, memorization, learning new ways to listen, to hear, to breathe, to feel. But without practice you can never get better, you can never get it right, you cannot even begin. Practice means beginning again and again.
And so, before practice makes perfect, practice makes the perfect possible.
On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most perfect event in the history of the world - the perfect enactment of divine love, the greatest expression of life ever gifted to the world — the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians around the world celebrate the ‘perfect event’ of that first Easter. At Easter, we celebrate that life has meaning. We celebrate that life is redeemed and made new. At Easter, we celebrate that it is never too late to begin again.
The world we live in feels far from ‘perfect’, far from it. But, in the Easter event of the resurrection of Jesus, God says to us, and the world, “Behold I am making all things new!” (Rev. 21:5)
A mixture of services will be offered over Lent, Holy Week and Easter, both here and at other local churches under the auspices of the Association of Bearsden Churches (ABC), and these are detailed below. Please feel free to join us for any (or all!) of these Holy Week and Easter services.
Bearsden Cross Church
Palm Sunday Service 13th April 10.30 am
Lenten Lunch Thursday 17th April 12.30pm
Time for Reflection followed by a light lunch
Maundy Thursday 17th April 7.30 pm at Bearsden Cross Church
Maundy Thursday Communion
Good Friday 18th April 7.30 pm at New Kilpatrick Church
Journey to the foot of the cross
Easter Sunday, 20th April
Dawn Service with Communion 8.00 am
followed by light Breakfast
Family Easter Celebration 10.30 am
Association of Bearsden Churches
Monday 14th April 7.30pm at St Andrews R.C. Church
Stations of the Cross
Home Communion
The Minister’s Communion ware – from the shores of the Sea of Galilee
I know that for some of you, getting to church can be difficult or even close to impossible. If that case, then the church can come to you!
The Minister is always willing to bring communion to your home if you wish. He would be accompanied by your Elder, or another, to celebrate the sacrament together with you and this is a way in which to remain connected to the church and its life, even when you are less physically able to do so.
If you would like to arrange for Home Communion to be brought to you then please contact the Minister on 0141 942 0507 or email him at gwilson@churchofscotland.org.uk, or contact your Elder.
Graeme
Bible Basics – Exploring the Old Testament
The Old Testament can be a fairly daunting subject to try to grasp (even for the Minister!) due to the wide nature of the people, places and subjects covered. The writing styles range from the poetic to apocalyptic, and from the historical to the farcical (Jonah). The Old Testament can perhaps be best understood as a ‘library’ of books ... with some quite obscure titles! What is Deuteronomy? Why Numbers? Who was Jeremiah, and why and what was he ‘lamenting’?
Unlike most books we might pick up, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of a clue as to how we might read the Old Testament. What is it, actually, all about? Why was it written? Who wrote it? Is there some key to the order of the books? In ‘Bible Basics’ this year we will try to explore some of these wider questions as well as looking at some of the books and key passages in a bit more detail.
‘Bible Basics’ is intended to be a fairly gentle and non-threatening entry into Bible Study and is aimed at those curious to find out some of the basic stories and themes of the Bible. ‘Bible Basics’ will take place on Tuesday mornings at 10.30am in the Guild Room and will last around 60 – 90 minutes. I will provide all of the relevant materials.
These will be the final dates for this season of ‘Bible Basics’.
Date
Topic
Tuesday 15th April ‘The Books of Poetry’ – Job Tuesday 29th April ‘The Books of Prophecy’ – Isaiah
Graeme
Funday Friday (and Sunday!)
Funday Friday has had a good term up to the Easter break with various activities including assisting the Guild with baking for their coffee morning (see pictures) as well as having a talk from the ladies at East Dunbarton Women's aid.
With the schools being off from the 4th April we will finish that day with our usual Easter activities, including Easter eggs of course. We will then be off in line with the school holidays returning on the 25th April when it is hoped we will venture into the garden and start our tidy up.
All ages up to P7 are welcome and further information can be obtained from Anne in the office.
Happy Easter to you all from all of us at Funday Friday.
Anne and Lesley
The Guild
The Guild meetings have finished for this year but we wanted to thank everyone who supported and attended the Guild Coffee morning on March 8th and to tell you that we raised £1000 at it. We will resume meetings again in September 2025.
June Macdonald
TMC
TMC meets on the last Monday of the month for food and friendship. Just turn up on the night, you will be made very welcome.
Each month we collect for a different charity and we were pleased to send £30 to DEBRA after our February meeting.
We also have a WhatsApp group whose members are in daily contact. If you would like to be part of this please send your mobile number to either Gwen or me.
Anne E Henderson
The Kirk Session has been looking to establish a free ‘Taxi Service’ to enable people to come to church who might not otherwise be able to do so due to a lack of transport.
The ‘Taxi Service’ is now ‘live’ and will operate as follows: -
1. Those interested in using the taxi service should contact the Church Office on 0141 942 0507 to register with Church. Leave a message on the answerphone if there is no reply.
2. You will then be given a Password, which is unique for the church account, which is ‘Bearsden Cross Church’.
3. Once registered you can then phone Station Taxis on 0141 942 4555 for a taxi to church, giving the account name ‘Bearsden Cross Church’ and the unique password. This can be pre-booked the previous day, or up until 10am on the Sunday.
4. Return taxis can also be booked for after the service.
5. If there are a couple of folk nearby each other then perhaps taxi sharing might be considered when booking.
6. There will be no charge for this service. The cost will be borne by the Session Fund, which exists for purposes such as this.
I hope that this service will enable people to get to church who might not otherwise be able to do so, and I look forward to seeing people back in church on a Sunday morning where they belong!
Graeme
Following the success of our first gatherings, it has been decided to keep meeting as a Men’s Group for conversation and company.
We have decided that our next gathering will be at Massimo’s restaurant, New Kirk Road on Thursday 24th April at 7pm. We will continue to rotate venues going forward.
Please let me know if you are interested in coming along so that we can book one of the rooms – email gwilson@churchofscotland.org.uk – or, please just turn up on the night.
Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday 24th April at 7pm
Graeme
WHY I AM A CHRISTIAN?
I wonder if any member of your family, a friend or, even better, a neighbour has asked you the question, ‘why are you a Christian?’ Maybe in response to the fact that each Sunday they see you dress in your best and trek or drive to Bearsden Cross Church. Of course, the easier question is - ‘why do you go to church?’ which can sometimes lead to that initial question. We attend church, when or if we are able, because as Christian folk we love worshipping God along with others. Notice the answer is not ‘we are Christians because we go to church’ (that is churchgoing) but ‘we go to church because we are Christian people’.
Not infrequently in my travels in communist eastern Europe in the 1970s onwards I was asked the question - ‘Jim, how is it that you are not only a scientist and the head of university department but also a Christian?’. That question was asked because during the communist period the leader of any department, university or otherwise, had to be party member. Certainly not a Christian; believers, including some of my friends, were indeed persecuted in ways difficult for us to imagine.
How then would I answer that question ‘why am I Christian?’. Here is a short answer: a fuller one is being written but that is far too long for any church magazine.
My first answer is derived from personal experience; it is experiential. Something happened to me that is impossible for me, or anyone else, to deny. I can both place and date it. As a second-year university student at the age of twenty, the good news of the Gospel was explained to me for the first time. I heard that God’s Son Jesus came as a Saviour (not a popular word in the church today!). ‘Unto you is born this day a Saviour who is Christ the Lord’: ‘He shall save his people from their sins.’ When confronted by a God who is perfect, sinless and holy I knew I was a sinner. I also realised that this same Jesus died on the Cross as sin bearer for the whole world and that included me. There was then a decision to follow this Jesus and, like CS Lewis, I was ‘surprised by joy.’ So began a relationship with Jesus as Saviour, Lord and Friend which has lasted now for over seventy years. No one can take away, or argue against, a personal experience like that. So many others, including Saint Paul, have had a similar experience.
Secondly, my many varied and exciting experiences of life - far too many to be simply chance events – convince me that I am ‘being looked after.’ That I have a guide and helper, one who has a purpose and plan for my life – even now in my nineties.
Thirdly, my faith in Christ is a reasonable one, as Peter writes in his first letter (1 Peter 3:15). It is based on Christ’s resurrection, the evidence for which for me, as one used to examining evidence, is overpowering.
Fourthly, my experience is not unique. So many others have had a similar personal experience. I am not alone! The history and presence of the church today, under pressure though it is, is further evidence for Christian faith.
Now, I am not saying experiences such as my own are how everyone comes to have faith in Jesus. My dear wife came through a family history, Christian parents and grandparents, of church membership. But, even so she, like me, had to make a definite decision to follow Christ and to trust life and all things to Jesus and take him as master, guide and Saviour. This decision happened as a child at a Scripture Union beach mission when she was just fourteen. Still following!
So, back to the original question! Why are you a Christian? Is it personal; is it reasonable? And, are you able to ‘give a reason for the hope that is within you’, as Peter says?
At a farewell party with a ‘party member’! Is it possible do you think for a Christian to have a friendship with a communist party member?
Milngavie and Bearsden Herald
Each week our Church has an article in the local paper under the heading ‘District News' detailing forthcoming events. Due to changes in the Rota the following 3 dates are vacant 16th,23rd and 30th June.
Local publication is an excellent way of informing our members and the wider community of all weekly, monthly and specific events within our Church and buildings.
I would appreciate if you would consider volunteering as a writer. Please contact me for further information either in person or by phone /email or to sign up as a volunteer.
Thank you
Diane Walker.
Glasgow City Mission
If you are free any evening from 22nd to 26th April or afternoon on Sunday 27th, you may care to go to the Pavilion Theatre in Renfield Street, to see Myra’s Story, a play by Brian Foster first shown in Dublin and then in the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019. It is about the disintegration of a fresh-faced young newlywed Dublin girl and her love for her baby to a homeless alcoholic, and is by turns poignant, funny, and finally heart-breaking. Audiences can recognise in the character of Myra people they know themselves and are horrified at what can happen to them. Charities including Glasgow City Mission have been invited by the playwright to have volunteers stand outside the various theatres where it has played, with buckets for donations from audiences as they come out, and large sums of money have been raised, for the homeless. GCM will have a team on duty each night and the Sunday afternoon, as they have had on two previous occasions, and are hoping to raise a 4- or even 5-figure sum, for Glaswegian generosity is well known. It would certainly help the Mission in dealing with its homeless guests.
In fact, however, it has received a substantial donation from an unknown source which has enabled it to keep the Winter Project (as it now calls the Overnight Welcome Centre) going for an extra 2 months, to the end of May. Both in Holyrood and in Westminster, there were plans for building a lot of new affordable and social housing, but in the present economic climate these plans are very much on the back burner and more people keep arriving with nowhere to stay. The Mission’s 6 housing officers have done a superb job helping those who have come to the Mission but they cannot possibly solve all the problems.
The money (£870) raised in our church in February by the Gwen Stokes’s terrific Quiz Night has helped in this. Typical examples of what it could do were sent to Gwen in the Mission’s “thank you” letter:-
Your support would make such a difference to people such as Lindsay who was dropped off by the police after escaping a violent situation, understandably shaken. One of our project team came alongside her to support her in making an official report. She was then housed in temporary accommodation and continued to come to The Mission for meals and support. Lindsay engaged well and has been determined to turn her life around. Seeing this the project team referred her to Urban our move-on space on our 2nd floor. This is an informal café style area for people who are ready to move on and are focused on changing their lives. Susan our Urban Employability Project Worker helped Lindsay create a CV and she has now secured a
job at a local restaurant. Our Housing Support Officers are now working with Lindsay to help her navigate the housing system with a view to finding her a permanent home.
Joanne, from the Monday outreach team, said what she loves about going out is the ability to engage with people they meet in the streets and offer practical help and support. One such is Nicola a 49-year-old lady with many of her life essentials with her. She had been sleeping rough for 30 days and had not engaged with Glasgow City Mission for some time. Joanne had a conversation with her, gave her specific instructions on how to reach the Project Centre, and then left her in peace at that time, at her request. We later learned the next morning she had turned up at The Mission to use the services available to her.
And, of course, some of the money goes to the Child and Family Centre which does important work with people in Govan in all kinds of ways. For more information about that work especially, do have a look at the current edition of the GCM magazine Connect (on the table in the Assembly Area) and take a copy home if you like – I’ve been encouraged to take as many copies as I like, instead of secretly nicking them! Read it through and be glad that you are helping God’s work in Glasgow in such a wonderful way. And thank you for everything!
Katie Thomson
Christian Aid
11 – 17 May is drawing closer, and that, of course, is Christian Aid Week. The focal point this year is the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala, where Amelia, her husband and two children live. She has a farm but extreme weather is ravaging her crops and those of the other farmers in the area. In fact, Guatemala is a hunger hotspot where half the children are chronically malnourished. A river runs through her farm, but it is running very low, while nearby industrial plantations are using up all the region’s natural resources to feed the world’s richest countries! Where’s the justice in that?
However, Amelia is fighting back against the climate problem. She is planting resilient crops, conserving water and making fertiliser, with the support of Congcoop, Christian Aid’s partner. With its specialist training, she is helping her neighbours to do likewise and hopes that one day no children will have to go without food.
Christian Aid is asking us to help Amelia and her fellow- farmers in Guatemala. As usual, flyers will be posted through letter-boxes in our parish, with details on how to give to the Bearsden Churches’ Christian Aid fund online, the quickest and most efficient method to use. The details will also be on our church’s website. But if you don’t like going online, Christian Aid envelopes will be available at church for donations and Gift Aid slips for those who wish to use them. NB You will have to bring back the envelopes to church as neither they nor the flyers will be collected from your home. Please give if you can, however little you can afford. We do have penny boxes too for people who prefer to give small coins – it all adds up!
Before Christian Aid Week itself, the Kiltwalk takes place on 26th and 27th April and as usual, Jim Stewart and Diane Walker will be taking part. You can sponsor them by giving online (see the Church website for details) or putting money in the cans at church. Or you could enter for the Kiltwalk yourself......?
As well as that, the Christian Aid Quiz will be on sale (£2 each) in church during late April and early May and – many thanks to Nairn Young for this - the last Coffee Concert of this session, to be given by students of the Royal Scottish Conservatoire in May, will be held in aid of Christian Aid. It’s all happening!
All this needs volunteers to walk, deliver flyers round houses, buy a quiz, bake, attend a concert (which you’ll love) and/or make a donation online or in an envelope. If you can help in any of these ways, please let us know. And thank you very much in advance.
Katie Thomson
Church Flowers
“ The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad , the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus ; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.”
Isaiah 35:1-2.
March 2025
Provided by : Arranged by :
2nd. Mrs.Wallace.
H. Hutchison 9th. Mrs. M. Paterson. M. Paterson 16th. From funds.
E. Sinclair 23rd. From funds.
G. Stokes 30th. Anon.
C. Taggart
As always, thank you to all and the above for their support.
Christine Taggart.
Baljffray Church are welcoming a visit from 4Front Theatre with their production
The Parable Keeper
An hour-long musical extravaganza exploring the Parables of Jesus, suitable for all ages.
Thursday 3rd April 2025 7pm in Baljaffray Church. Tickets are £8 and this includes a light supper after the performance.
Tickets are available from Baljaffray church office (open TuesFri mornings, office@baljaffraychurch.org.uk 0141 942 5304)
Recordings of the Services
An audio recording of each morning service is made, and circulated weekly to those who have expressed an interest in listening, To be added to the distribution, please email secretary@bearsdencross.org.
If you do not have email, we can let you have the recording in any way which suits you, please speak to the Minister or Session Clerk.
Anne Reid
Submissions to the Magazine
Contributions to the May 2025 edition of the magazine should be with the editor no later than Friday 18 April 2025. Contributions reflecting all aspects of the life of the Church and congregation are welcome, including photographs! It would assist editing if contributions could be prepared in Calibri font, size 14.
Also, please only send photographs that are of sufficient resolution to print clearly. Do not send multiple photographs asking the editor to choose (select those you would like included and send only those).
All contributions should be sent to: MagazineEditor@bearsdencross.org
