Pastorial Letter
Dear friends,
 The Mission week (25-31 November) was a busy one with fifteen separate events both on church premises and outside church premises. The Alpha Taster night scheduled for the Monday night was postponed until Monday 15 November when we had a larger number than would have been the case on the Monday of the Mission week. Three of the five home groups were particularly well attended but all were worthwhile. The best attended event apart from the Sunday service was the Ladies Dinner with sixty four ladies. Paula gave a very full report on this in the last newsletter. The Men’s Curry Night had around thirty present. The speaker at this, Alex Bedford, an evangelist connected with St. George’s Tron Parish Church Glasgow, had been British Motorcycle Racing champion in 1988 for 125cc machines.
Although I did not set out to find a speaker with a connection with motorbikes such a connection served to interest members of the Lanarkshire Vintage Motorcycle Club who meet monthly in Hamilton Hall. We were delighted that seven of the members attended the Curry Night. As well as speaking about how he became a Christian Alex showed a DVD clip of the race which won him the title. His interesting talk included an account of his friendship with the mother of Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and of how he once borrowed Johnny’s stage outfit for a fancy dress party! The poorest attended event was the Youth Night Rendezvous on the Friday when only six or seven young folk came along. Fortunately some adults also came which made the attendance look a bit more respectable. Garry Brotherston who with his band led the Youth Night Rendezvous was given the opportunity to speak to two classes at Larkhall Academy earlier on the Friday. I was with him in each class. Garry related to the pupils how when he was nineteen years of age he had been in a gang fight during which he stabbed and killed a man and spent eleven years in prison for the offence. During his time in prison however he became a Christian and also studied for and gained a degree in music.
Garry offered some very strong warnings to the pupils regarding the dangers of drink and drugs and carrying offensive weapons and spoke to them in down to earth language of the way he foolishly allowed himself to be talked into believing that things which were highly destructive were "cool". Since leaving prison he has written Christian songs and music and spent his time sharing the Christian faith with others. He has recently been appointed as an assistant minister (curate?) at a Church of England congregation in the Lake District. Garry spoke and sang at an evening service in Dalserf a few years ago not long after his release from prison. The Girls’ Brigade Open Night with Brian Lowrie and the Boys’ Brigade Reunion Night were both well attended and enjoyed by those present. The speaker at the Boys’ Brigade Reunion Night was Ryan Morton from the Bristol area - another interesting character. Ryan along with an older man John Hodge who came with him speak in prisons in the South West of England. Ryan has won several awards for weight lifting and conducted a weight lifting competition with the boys and young men on the Thursday night. He concluded the evening with an epilogue. He spoke to pupils at Netherburn Primary school on Friday morning involving some volunteers in skipping and demonstrating his weight lifting. He also spoke at the Sunday service as did another Ryan - actor Ryan Smith who plays the character "Charlie" in the scottish TV soap opera "River City". We are grateful to the Hamilton Advertiser who printed our article on the mission adding a photograph of Ryan Smith with suitable eye catching headline and suitable additional material about previous visits to Dalserf church from celebrities.We were gratified too that the leaflet distribution throughout the parish brought some parishioners to events. As far as the benefits of the Mission are concerned we will never really know these until we get to heaven.
Even if we are never able to point to one new member of Dalserf Church as a direct result of the Mission however we can be sure that many lives have been touched and changed for the better as a result in accordance with God’s promise in Isaiah "my word...will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire" (Is.55:11).
What we call "The Festive Season" which is imminent provides in itself opportunities for outreach inasmuch as people tend to be more favourably disposed towards the Christian message at Christmas time than at any other time. I would encourage you all to utilise this open-ness in bringing people into contact with the church and the Christian Faith.
Have a good Christmas
Yours faithfully
Cameron McPherson
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