Parish Development and Outreach Worker Ian McIver - PAGE 2
To Contact Ian ~ Tel: 01224 566451 ~ Mob: 07890 932677 ~ e-mail:
Ian McIver
To allow adequate space for Ian's contributions this second page contains the older material Page 1
Organisers of Celebrate Aberdeen are aiming to make it the biggest and brightest opportunity there has ever been to highlight the impact of the voluntary (Third) sector in our city.
The focus of the event will be a spectacular parade of Third Sector organisations down Union Street on Saturday, 11th June.
The City Centre Parish Grouping is taking part, complete with a flag and two banners, and we hope to have 30 to 40 fun-filled adults and children representing us on the day.
One of our banners will include a ‘short impact statement’ reading: ‘Distributors of the Big Issue – showing Christian compassion for the homeless in our city centre.’
A mass of runners will start off from Harlaw Academy at 11am, followed by the parade proper, led by Lord Provost Peter Stephen.
Thousands of spectators will be entertained by opera singers, pipers, cheer leaders, martial artists, line dancers, mascots and samba dancers.
We hope to have musical accompaniment as we make our way along Union Street. Ideas, please, to Ian McIver on 07890 932677 or e-mail.
Over 1.2 million people in Scotland are involved in some form of volunteering or voluntary action, contributing the equivalent of £52 million per annum to our economy. T here are over 800 volunteer opportunities in Aberdeen alone, with over 44,000 volunteers contributing more than 3.7 million volunteer hours every year across the city.
“Without the Third Sector, our city and our country would be very much worse off,” said a spokeswoman for Celebrate Aberdeen.
“2011, the European Year of Volunteering, is the perfect time to celebrate how volunteers give of their time and talents to help themselves and their fellow citizens.”
Ian McIver
From the Spring 2011 "St Mark's Messenger"
It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you look around at the sheer scale of need in this world.
From Third World poverty to homelessness on the streets of Aberdeen, the challenges facing Christians are enormous. I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to fill the well of human kindness is the ‘drip-drip’ approach. If we all do our little bit, the whole can be much greater than the sum of all its parts when it comes to loving our neighbours. Alpha Course leader Nicky Gumbel tells a story to illustrate how the smallest act of compassion or mercy can make a difference.
A young man is walking along a beach when he notices an old man picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the oldman, he asks, “What are you doing?” The old man replies, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. The sun is shining. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” The young man says, “Don’t you realise there are hundreds of miles of beach and thousands of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the old man bends down, picks up another starfish, and throws it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the young man, he says “I made a difference for that one.”
Mother Theresa was feted wherever she went, but she often referred to herself as "nothing" or a "pencil" in the hands of the Lord. And as she told biographer Navin Chawla, "We are called upon not to be successful, but to be faithful.”
It is a fact of life that the three churches that make up the Aberdeen City Centre Parish Grouping have ageing and gathered congregations. But if we have enough faithful people who are willing to play their part, large or small, age will be no barrier to making a difference locally, nationally and internationally.
Ian
From the Spring 2011 Grouping Supplement.
Two working groups have been set up to produce an Aberdeen City Centre Parish Grouping magazine and investigate ways of developing our homelessness outreach.
Both groups comprise one representative from each of the three churches and me in my role as Community Outreach Worker. The magazine, to be called ‘Triskeles’, after the Grouping’s logo is scheduled to appear in the fortnight preceding Easter Sunday. One thousand copies will be distributed around the three parishes in the hope of raising our profile and alerting people that we are keen to play an active role in the local community.
The homelessness working group has met with Bethany Christian Trust to explore ways in which we might be able to assist them in their valuable work. In this connection, I want to renew my appeal for volunteers to help staff Bethany’s charity shop at the Tillydrone Shopping Centre on Thursdays, perhaps from 10am to 2pm. If we can get enough volunteers, we will be able to work on a rota basis, boosting Bethany’s income and, more importantly, hearing the stories of people who use the shop.
On another front, I have two dates I would ask you to pencil into your diaries as the Grouping seeks to play its part in community initiatives around the city centre. We will have a stall at the Aberdeen International Fun Day in Duthie Park on Sunday, 29th May from 12 noon to 5pm. This multi-cultural event is organised by Aberdeen Lions Club.
Then there is ‘Celebrate Aberdeen’ on Saturday, 11th June when we will join with scores of other voluntary organisations, churches and charities in a parade down Union Street. We want as many members, family and friends as possible to take part in the event, which aims to unite Aberdeen’s voluntary sector in a bright and energetic celebration.
If you have any ideas for community outreach, please, please contact me on 07890 932677 or
e-mail
me.
Ian McIver
From the Winter 2010 Grouping Supplement
Every six seconds someone calls the Samaritans, a service which helps and supports people who are despairing or even suicidal. It was founded in 1953 by Anglican priest Chad Varah.
Varah was the vicar of a busy London parish when he received his divine inspiration. He prayed: “Lord, it’s a great idea, but be reasonable; don't look at me! I'm possibly the busiest person in the Church of England. It would need to be a priest with one of those City churches with no parishioners and more free time.”
A few days later, out of the blue, he was invited to apply for a church exactly like that, St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. When the church patrons asked him what he’d do if appointed, he said: “I'd set up a telephone hotline.” They thought it was a great idea.
Following his appointment, Varah gave some thought to a suitable number for the hotline. Realising that it would start with M-A-N for Mansion House, he reckoned that MAN 9000 would give it a hint of the 999 emergency number.
He arrived at the church to find the vestry telephone covered in dust and, licking his thumb, he wiped the middle of the dial to reveal. . . MAN 9000.
He then addressed the Lord: "Very well, I get the message! You’ve had it waiting for me since the telephone was installed!”
Chad Varah had been praying faithfully all the while – speaking to God AND listening for His still small voice. I hope and pray that the good people of the City Centre Parish Grouping will be praying, individually and collectively, for God to reveal the plans He has in store for St. Nicholas Uniting, St. Mark’s and Queen Street in the months and years that lie ahead.
Ian McIver
From the St Mark's "Messenger" Winter 2010
Generations Working Together
The Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice
I recently attended a conference at Aberdeen University run by Generations Working Together (GWT), or to use its more cumbersome name, the Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice. GWT conducts research, provides information, commissions projects, delivers support and encourages involvement to benefit all of Scotland's generations by working, learning, volunteering and living together.
The idea developed out of a Scottish Government consultation - ‘All Our Futures’ - which explored issues faced by Scottish society in meeting the challenges of an ageing population. Four major areas for intergenerational activity were identified:
1. Public bodies, such as councils, NHS trusts and police forces, creating opportunities for older and younger people to interact positively in their communities, e.g. in schools, youth work, services for older people, sport, culture and leisure.
2. Businesses encouraging older employees to develop the skills and capacity of younger people, both within companies and in the wider community.
3. Voluntary organisations developing further opportunities for older and younger people to work together and share experiences.
4. Older and younger people looking for opportunities to contribute to the development of other generations - as grandparents or grandchildren, role models, experienced working colleagues, volunteers etc.
St. Mark’s may have an ageing congregation, but churches are still one of the few places in Aberdeen where the generations can meet together on a regular basis to worship and get involved in activities such as Sunday School, the Players and Stage Door. Furthermore, I am keen for us to forge lasting intergenerational links with Skene Square Primary School by, for example:
-
- encouraging contact between the pupils and residents of local sheltered housing/care homes;
- exploring the possibility of setting up a breakfast club run by our members for the kids;
- arranging for paired readers to go into the school to work one-on-one with children who are struggling with their reading skills;
- asking our members to talk to pupils about subjects in which they have some expertise or experience, e.g. the Second World War, local history, international links, flower arranging etc.
I’m sure that people of all ages have something to offer each other, be it wisdom, vitality, knowledge, talent or energy. However, unless we get together, we’ll never know.
From the Autumn 2010 Grouping Supplement
I have visited most of the churches in the city centre (of many denominations) and made contact with the Regional Ecumenical Group, Aberdeen Street Pastors, Bethany Christian Trust, The Way Trust, Alpha, Siloam Trust, Youth With a Mission, the Oil and Gas Chaplaincy, the City Centre Chaplaincy and the local Inter-faith Group.
In line with the aims and aspirations of the Parish Grouping, I have listened to people’s experiences, questions and stories by visiting community groups such as the Hanover Forum and Growing Rosemount, charities like Aberdeen Foyer and Drugs Action, and the primary schools at Skene Square and Hanover Street (where I helped to set up a link with a South African school in the lead up to the World Cup). I have had discussions with the police inspectors responsible for the city centre, Hanover/Seaton and Rosemount, as well as local councillors and Aberdeen City Council officials, leading to membership of the Homelessness Strategy Operations Group.
Courses attended have included Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training at Woodend Hospital, “Building Home, Building Hope” (the theology of home) at New College, Edinburgh, and Dugs Awareness and Mental Health seminars at The Credo, Aberdeen.
Throughout it all have been struck by the kindness and Christian compassion manifested by members of St. Nicholas Uniting, Queen Street and St. Mark’s, many of whom demonstrate the love of Christ in unheralded ways on a daily basis.
The next step is to present a report of my findings to the Parish Grouping Development Committee so that we can begin to map out the way ahead for the three congregations. Exciting times indeed!
From the St Mark's Messenger Autumn 2010
Amercian author William Feather once remarked that something that had puzzled him all his life was why, when he was in special need of help, the good deed was usually done by someone on whom he had no claim.
One of the things I am keen to develop within the Parish Grouping is the proud tradition of volunteering epitomised but such projects as the OAK Cafe, the Winter Night Shelters and the Big Issue.
Opportunities for volunteering are all around us:-
-
Bethany Christian Trust’s ‘Passing the Baton’ community project, which helps formerly homeless or vulnerable people to resettle into communities.
-
Friends International, which links families and individuals from Aberdeen churches with international students, inviting them for a meal or an outing about once a term.
-
Healing on the Streets, which demonstrates God’s love and power to heal in Aberdeen.
-
Aberdeen Street Pastors, who help vulnerable people in the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights.
-
Paired reading, in which an adult volunteer sits with a child in the classroom to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills.
Arbroath minister, the Rev Martin Fair told a meeting of parish workers earlier this year: “We serve a bit when the Church genuinely starts to serve. People start to ask, ‘What is it that’s making you do this?’
“At no point do we say to people, ‘By the way, you have to come to church.’ However, spirit-filled people expand the Church. When grace and transformation get to work, all sorts of other stuff happens.”
“Changing lives – that’s the business the Church should be in. We need to learn to serve. We need to be in the business that Jesus was in. The best evangelism is being Jesus to people.”
Volunteer hosts are being sought for the International Students Friendship Link run by Friends International and Aberdeen Churches. The scheme aims to encourage families and individuals to show friendship to visitors studying in our city. Those who offer to be hosts are put in touch with usually two students, who are contacted at least three times (once or twice a term) and invited for a meal, taken on an outing or whatever seems appropriate. Part of the charity’s vision is that every international student in the UK should have a Christian friend. Host forms are available from Ian. (Details
above
)
Global Xchange is a cross-cultural volunteer exchange programme run by Voluntary Service Overseas in partnership with the British Council. In Aberdeen, Global Xchange is managed by Aberdeen Foyer and funded by the Wood Family Trust. In September 2010 18 volunteers (aged 18-25) from Tanzania and the UK will be arriving in the city for 12 weeks to undertake voluntary work with local community projects four days a week. The volunteers live in counterpart pairs (one UK and one Tanzanian). Global Xchange are appealing for local people to host volunteers (for one to 12 weeks). Volunteers can share a room (even a bed) if necessary, and host homes are provided with an allowance of £100 a week to cover food and utilities. Please contact Jenny Oelman of Aberdeen Foyer on 01224 212924 ext. 274 if you think you can help.