No.152.   28th April

Hi,
Hope this finds you well.

An eclectic range of articles, news and updates in the magazine - I tried to keep mentions of the white line in the church carpark down to single figures... it's what's being talked about around the dinner table, keeping people awake at night and probably the kids are doing something on TikTok about it - I've no idea what that is, but it's almost certainly happening.

No letter from the Manse this week but we have guest columnist Cathy Renn stepping in and sharing some stories from Spring Harvest. There's a photo of some of the team and you can take a moment to see how many you can see from Maxwell (past and present).

Enjoy the mag.

MB
 

Sunday 30th April

       Rev George Johnstone
     Bible passage: Hebrews ch9:11-22

---

Praying With The Christian Institute -THIS WEDNESDAY!!

We shall unite our Wednesday night prayer meeting on 3rd May with the gathering at Newton Mearns Baptist Church.
7.30pm – 8.45pm
Where? Newton Mearns Baptist Church
2 Greenfarm Road, Newton Mearns,

---

Ladybird Book of Maxwell

---

HEBRON in concert

Saturday, 29th April, 7.30pm

starring Helen Shapiro

Queens Park Baptist Church
20 Balvicar Drive,
Free admission. A freewill offering will be taken
More details about Hebron Music here.

---

Springing into Spring Harvest

When I agreed to steward at Spring Harvest two weeks ago, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
I read through the online training and various people had told me about their experiences, but it’s one of those things you only really understand once you get there. I gathered my main duties would be moving lots of chairs and checking wristbands but had no clue about the general atmosphere.

In case you are as clueless as I was, here’s the background: SH is a sort of conference slash festival that takes over Butlins in Minehead, Summerset (where I went) and Skegness, Lincolnshire every year. There was about 6000 guests at Minehead this year, who spent the week at a variety of events including worship, seminars, workshops, bible studies, kids clubs, celebrations, and entertainment. This year’s theme was “Flipped - The Upside Down Kingdom” and all of the events focused in on it, exploring how we can live in this world as citizens of God’s Kingdom where values and status are different.

Every year a small group from Maxwell goes along to SH and joins a team of 50-odd (50 odd is also an accurate description) stewards who keep everyone safe and, I’ll say it again, move a lot of chairs. Stewards get to dress very fashionably in a bright high-vis vest that unreasonably makes you invisible to some: shouts of “wristbands please!” seem to go unheeded as they attempt to march right past you. I never imagined my 5’5” self would one day become a bouncer, but it did seem to fit the theme! You also get given a little clicker used to count the number of people entering a venue and a carefully curated timetable that shows you what events to be at when. Stewards arrive early to every event to do a venue check, making sure everything is safe and where it's supposed to be. Then the guests are counted in and shown where to sit.

I spent most mornings stewarding the youth sessions, 11-14s then 14-18s. After welcoming them all in I’d sit in the back, on hand in case of emergency but otherwise just able to watch the event. One morning I got to witness 18 teens give their lives to Jesus. It was one of many moments at SH where I was chanting to myself “you can’t cry right now, you’re on the job!” and one of the times I failed. The invisibility of the high-vis vest really was a blessing in some ways.



I stewarded various events in the afternoons, all aimed at different ages and stages in the Christian journey. In the evenings, I was at an all-age worship session, a 16+ worship session, and then a Tim Vine and John Archer comedy show that kept me laughing and awake enough to move 700 chairs at half past 11 at night. Then I went to bed and slept like a log.
My week of stewarding really was unlike anything else I’ve ever done. At one point I was literally peeling a wet bin-bag off a fire escape (eww) and somehow still joyful, knowing it was a way to serve God and the guests who were there to learn about Him. I will definitely be back at SH next year, although I may never look at a chair the same way again.
Cathy Renn

---

Carpark

 
It may have been felt that Scott spent just a little too much time on Sunday explaining the straightforward concept of how a simple white line in the car park can be used to make sure parking is not too random.
However, judging from the photo from Monday evening it seems he may have under estimated people's desire to use their freedom in Christ when it comes to ignoring any guidance at all.

---

How to make the most of the Parental Settings on your Child’s Phone

One of the most important subjects of our day, yet and ignored for a whole lot of reasons.

by Andrew Noble on the TGC website.
By now we’ve all heard stories of digital addiction, of depression precipitated by social media, or of child predators creating fake accounts. It should go without saying that it’s unsafe to give kids unrestricted and untrained access to a smartphone. Parents who love set boundaries.

Yet balance is needed. Training a child in the fear of the Lord will include giving repeated opportunities to grow in self-control, wisdom, and responsibility. For example, our culture should allow for more walking to school unaccompanied and independent play. I worry about the over-coddling of the next generation, a Big Brother-ing of their lives, and an over-responsiveness to their mistakes — alarmed over each drop of spilled milk.

Leaving all the various caveats aside (yes, parenting is more than monitoring phone use), I am writing this guide to help parents leverage parental settings well.

In what follows, I’ve created levels of Smartphone access and oversight, why you might consider each level, and how to set each up.

Read the rest of the article HERE  If this is not for you, you might want to pass on to someone it is relevant for. In it there are a couple of times where 'translating' from American into something more suited to the UK is required. Both Jacob and Daniel are willing to talk through anyone who wants to get these settings sorted on their family's phone, so just speak to them.
 

---

Plant Sale & Strawberry Tea

In Mearns Kirk Church Hall
Saturday 13th May, 10am - 12 noon
Tea ticket £5

---

DATE FOR THE DIARY

Sat 13th May  - Pitmeadow Farm, nr Dunning, Perthshire

Ian White was at Maxwell a few weeks ago promoting the Inspiration Orchestra - now he is inviting us to a FESTIVAL

The first Inspiration Orchestra One Day Festival!

Ian writes...Loads of planning going on right now. almost all 30 Orchestra members will be there with their carers and families.
In our big concert barn, there will be 4 different short concerts, each with 8 different players, AND different songs, and some very special musical guests.
In between concerts we have fantastic food tents, a Car Display paddock with some lovely sports cars to drool over, a petting Zoo with baby lambs to hold, and a face painting tent!

---

Home Groups - Spring/Summer

The new dates for our next session are now available and your Home Group Leader should have sent them to you.
We are looking at 2 Peter this time (following on from 1 Peter  - seems reasonable to me!!)
Not been involved before? Ask Scott if you can be slipped into one of the groups which meet on Sundays, Mondays or Tuesdays fortnightly.

---

---

Pray Now  is a WhatsApp group for Maxwell members

It sends out occasional requests for prayer. In particular those which might be regarding things more acute or immediate.
Speak with Margaret Boyd is you would like to be added to this important ministry at MMCC, or just to find out more.

---

Car Parking

Can you help?
If you are able, please can you to start using the school car park again as we did pre-lockdown?
Numbers attending services are encouragingly high and it would be really helpful if those that are able could leave spaces in the main car park for those who have greater need.

---

 Safeguarding at Maxwell Mearns