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Mission and Outreach
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| The Scottish Episcopal Church
has recognised that mission is the only reason for our existence. "As a
fire exists by burning, so the Church exists by mission." Without
mission, the Church is not the Church, it is an organisation
preoccupied with its own self preservation. As Archbishop Temple is
reputed to have said, "The Church is the only organisation which exists
primarily for its non-members."
We continue to affirm our belief that it is the
task of all baptised Christians to carry it out (not just the clergy!).
We are all ministers of the Gospel, and we all share in the "priesthood
of all believers," called by Christ to share his ministry, to proclaim
the Good News, in the way we live our lives and share our faith.
Here are some of the ways in which we at St John's
are involved in mission.
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In Dumfries
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- We distribute our monthly church magazine to 500 homes,
establishing a live person to person pastoral contact.
- We provide an Anglican Chaplaincy to
Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. There are usually
around 20-30 people in hospital each week who classify themselves as
"Anglicans" in some form or another. They receive a visit, a pastoral
card, are prayed for, and along with their families (where required)
are encouraged and supported in times of bereavement.
- We regularly visit all our members who are in
care or in nursing homes such as Charnwood
Lodge, Lochduhar, Abbeyfield etc. They are brought Communion
regularly and, at Charnwood Lodge, we hold a monthly service.
- We are one of the main supporting churches in
the Dumfries "Christian Care for the Homeless"
project which provides a drop-in centre two days per week for homeless
people. As well as providing prayer and finances, several of our
members volunteer there on a regular basis.
- We contribute to school
chaplaincy in collaboration with Church of Scotland
colleagues at various schools. This involves making a contribution to
schools' Religious Observance and Religious and Moral
Education activities under the direction of the Head
Teacher and being involved pastorally with staff and
pupils.
- We encourage groups from the community to share
our buildings, and we have all sorts of groups, bringing
hundreds through our doors each week.
- Our clergy are also an
important mission resource. They engage in pastoral visiting and give
support, prayer and encouragement where needed. They conduct many
funerals, baptisms and weddings.
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Overseas
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- In Medellin, Columbia, South America, St John's
wholly finances a "street worker" called Albeiro.
In that city there are thousands of children who are homeless and
unwanted, and are considered by the authorities to be a menace to be
exterminated. Albeiro works on the streets with those kids, getting to
know them and helping them to find a better way of living through the
project Let the Children Live.
- In Lima, Peru, also in South America, we
support a nursery school, the 27 De Julio Nursery.
This school caters for children of dispossessed parents in a slum
district of the capital. The children spend the whole day in the care
of the school and are fed there too.
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We hold many fund-raising activities to support these
missions. Many of our congregation have pledged to give and covenant
regularly. We also have "pigs" (collection boxes) which we fill with
money. These are divided between the South American projects. You can
find out more about Let The Children Live
at the Caring and Sharing website.
Many social events are held each year that raise
thousands of pounds for outside charities. We also encourage church
members to involve themselves in outreach within our local community.
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