DMMC News

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Welcome to May's Newsletter!

Information on courses, awareness dates, etc, are available via our Adventures in Faith pages (see menu below).

The BIG Day: Saturday 10 May

This year's BIG Day is about Blessings. We are asking congregations to do some work ahead of time, ready to bring with them. Here are the instructions:

▶ Reflect on how your congregation has been blessed, perhaps unexpectedly or surprisingly, and without falling into the mindset that blessing = success!

▶ Reflect also on the ways your congregation has blessed others, perhaps in your immediate community, the wider Diocese, or further afield.

▶ When thinking through these questions, consider the whole range of people, places, contexts, sites, communities, faith-based or not…Diocesan, ecumenical, inter-faith, local, national, individual, collective, etc.

▶ Create a poster, no larger than A2 in size. What it looks like, and how it is produced, is entirely up to you: the only stipulation is its maximum size!

▶ Nominate the person/s who will bring the poster to the BIG Day itself.

▶ Nominate the person who will talk about the congregation’s poster to others in small groups. This is not a long lecture but a contextualising of the poster and a sharing of the congregation’s story in the midst of others sharing likewise.

Please also send us numbers attending by Monday 5 May at the latest to ensure sufficient catering for everyone. If you don't manage to hit the deadline, you'd still be very welcome to come – just bring your own lunch!

Also in May...

Livestream of Revd Canon Dr Nick Bundock's Consecration, 3 May 2025

The Consecration of the Revd Canon Dr Nick Bundock as the next Bishop of the United Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway will take place at 4pm on Saturday, 3 May 2025, at St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow. The service will be livestreamed, with a recording available afterwards. See the Diocesan website and the St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow website for details.

Christian Aid Week,

11–17 May

During this Christian Aid Week, why not visit a Christian Aid book sale to stock up on your reading for a great cause?

From 10–12 May, the Holy Corner Book Sales run at Morningside United Church
From 10–16 May, the Edinburgh New Town Church Book Sales run at Edinburgh New Town Church, 13 George Street

Don't forget to donate as well as buy!

On 17 May Christian Aid will hold an 80th Anniversary Service at St Giles' Cathedral. Christian Aid will be joined by the Right Honourable John Swinney, and Temwa Kasakula, Christian Aid’s Global Thematic Advisor for Sexual Reproductive Health & Gender, visiting from Malawi. The service will start at 7pm with doors open from 6.15pm.

Next CMD Day: Mental Health and Illness

12–18 May is Mental Health Awareness Week. We are delighted that, for our next CMD Day on Tuesday 27 May, we are going to be joined by Edinburgh-based psychiatrist and lecturer, Dr Rob Waller. Dr Waller will lead us in thinking through the nature of mental health and the ways we can support people who are unwell, particularly with more challenging symptoms. As well as being a medical professional, Rob is a Christian who is passionate about the interplay of mental health and spirituality, and is well-placed to guide us in this area of our ministry.

Our training will be at St James the Less in Leith, with coffee from 9:45am, and a finish time of 3:30pm. Lunch will be provided. Register now for what promises to be a very informative day.

Further Learning & Development Opportunities

Learning Lunches start at 12:30pm/

▶ Thu 15 May: +John reflecting on his trip to Jordan with +Kaisamari. This will be IN PERSON in the Diocesan Office (please bring lunch: tea, coffee, biscuits, will be provided)

▶ Thu 28 Aug: Children and Church with Claire Benton-Evans (rescheduled from February) on Zoom.

Pensions & Retirement Housing Information Session with Neil Wright On Tuesday 17 June, we are holding an information session for all clergy who are interested in finding out more about pension arrangements in the SEC and the provision of retirement housing. Neil is the SEC's Pensions and Retirement Officer, and he will provide an overview of pensions and retirement housing before answering general questions (very specific, personal questions should be directed to Neil at another time). There will then be some tea/coffee and cake, with a chance for more informal conversation. Register here!!
▶ Start at 2:30pm; refreshments at 4pm(ish).

▶ Location tbc, depending on numbers.

The Scottish Episcopal Institute offers courses that SEC clergy and readers can audit for free, or study for credit at minimal cost. Here are some upcoming options, which may be of interest:

▶ Reading the Passion Narratives in Greek, with Dr Patrick McMurray. Thursdays, 7–8pm, 15 May–17 Jul.

▶ Elementary Biblical Hebrew, with Dr Amber Shadle. Thursdays, 7–8pm, 11 Sep–20 Nov.

▶ Elementary NT Greek, with Dr Patrick McMurray. Thursdays, 7–8pm, 27 Nov 2025–12 Feb 2026.

▶ Theology of the Eucharist, with the Revd Prof Bryan Spinks. Wednesdays, 7–9pm, 7 Jan–18 Mar 2026.

Interested? Email: [email protected].

The following College of Preachers Zoom seminars take place from 10:30–1pm, and cost £12.

▶ Sat 10 May: Interpreting Texts for Preaching; The Revd Martin Little.

▶ Mon 7 Jul: Sermon Crafting; The Revd Dr Jennifer Brown.

▶ Sat 12 Jul: Preaching the Jesus of John's Gospel; Dr Rebecca Dean (this takes place 2–4:30pm).

▶ Sat 20 Sep: Preaching the Psalms; The Revd Dr Philip Jenson.

The Social Media for Parishes and Clergy course from Sarum College, delivered online from 1–4pm on 15 May, will explore the social media scene in 2025, how to use Facebook effectively, and the strengths and weaknesses of the other social media platforms. The course's cost is £40. More information here.

A Royal College of Church Music 'Study and Sing' day will take place at the Laidlaw Music Centre, St Andrews, on 17 May. The day's focus will be on hymns. The session is open to anyone who likes singing in church – congregations as well as choristers. There will be an end-of-the-day service at St Andrew's Episcopal Church to share what has been learned during the day. More details.

Place for Hope are offering two online courses in June. Both take place from 9:30am–1pm and cost £45.

▶ Journeying and Leading through Change and Transition: 4 & 11 June.

▶ Nonviolence: Jesus' Radical Invitation: 5 & 12 June.
More information in Place for Hope's 2025 Training Booklet.

Bishop Search

Area Council Meetings

All members of Diocesan and General Synod are to attend an Area Council meeting to take part in a Bishop Search Conversation before 4 June. If yo cannot make your own meeting, please attend another. Details of remaining meetings:

▶ Edinburgh Forth – Wednesday 7 May, at St David’s, Pilton (7pm).

▶ Edinburgh East – Tuesday 20 May, at Old Saint Paul’s (7.30pm).

▶ Edinburgh South & Edinburgh South West – Wednesday 28 May, at St John’s, Princes St (7.30pm).

▶ Borders – Sunday 1 June, at St Andrew’s, Kelso (2pm).

▶ West Forth – Monday 2 June, at St Mary’s, Grangemouth (7.30pm).

For Vestries

A Reminder About Safeguarding Changes from 1 April 2025

There are a range of changes that are now in force under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020: you can read about them, in detail, online here. Most importantly:

(a) It is a legal requirement for anyone doing regulated work to have PVG membership with the employing organisation before they start doing any work with a vulnerable group, including a trial period. It is therefore a criminal offence to do regulated work, or permit someone to do regulated work, without a PVG. Please make sure that everyone doing regulated work is a member of the PVG scheme with the SEC before they do anything!

(b) Those line managing people doing regulated work are required to be a member of the PVG Scheme. Please make sure all Line Managers of those doing regulated work are members of the PVG scheme with the SEC.

OSCR Changes

From summer 2025, all charges will need to provide OSCR with these details about each trustee:

Name
Home address
Email address
Telephone number
Date of birth

These details will be kept securely, whilst the first and last name of each charity trustee will be published on the Scottish Charity Register from the end of 2025.

More details here.

Questionnaire from Province

The Standing Committee, College of Bishops, and the General Secretary are working together to develop a multi-year strategy for the Province. To ensure the strategy is focused on the right things, we require input from local charges. Please work with your Vestry to populate this survey which will feed into the development of the strategy:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XMTMKB7

Please submit only one response per charge and before 20 June.

Resources

Resources for Mental Health Awareness Week

The theme of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) is 'community', and how being in community benefits mental health. Resources, including posters and tip sheets, are available on the MHAW website.

We are offering congregations subsidised access to ROOTS on the Web, an ecumenical resource for Lectionary-based worship and learning. For £20, you can gain digital access to the resources, which include sermon prep ideas, prayers, music, etc, as well as resources for children and young people.

Register here to secure access for your congregation.

For Children and Young People

Provincial Youth Week (Yeek) 2025 registration is open. Join young people from across the country for a summer of deep conversations, new friendships, and plenty of fun – no deep-sea diving required! Find out more and register at yeek.scot.

New WhatsApp group for young adults

The Provincial Youth Coordinator is leading a new PYC initiative to help Yeek graduates and other 18–25s keep in touch with each other and with Provincial Youth leaders: the Pisky 18+ WhatsApp Community.

There will be announcements of opportunities such as pilgrimages, and the chance to join different groups in the Community (e.g. your Diocese, Yeek 24 leavers).

Claire Benton-Evans is the Community's Admin. She will add people once they have filled in this short form.

Church Bagging 2025

The next Church Bagging for young people will be at St James the Less, Penicuik, at 5pm on 18 May.

The final Church Bagging for this term will be:

St Peter's, Lutton Place, at 6:30pm on 8 June.

The next session of Safeguarding Training, delivered by Rachel Cooney, Children's Director at Ps&Gs, will be on Zoom on Thursday 5 June from 8-9pm. This is for those who work with children and young people. Register with this link.

The next Safeguarding Training event will be in September.

Adventures in Faith

There are various Awareness Days that might be of interest to you / your congregation in May and June.

Go to the Awareness Days page on the diocesan website, then click on 'May' and 'June'. There are dates to the end of 2025, for those who like to plan ahead!

Spring 2025 edition of the SEI Journal

The Spring 2025 edition of the SEI Journal, a quarterly publication from the Scottish Episcopal Institute, is now available.

The edition is a special issue entitled ‘En/gendering God and Church? What does it look like? How does it feel? What does it mean?’ It has been curated by Dr Alison Jasper, former Senior Lecturer in Religion and Gender (University of Stirling), who charged this issue’s seven contributors with a broad remit to engage with gender in the context of the Church or the churches.

You can download the edition from the SEI website here.

Net Zero Events

The Net Zero team will undertake a ‘Roadshow’ across the Province in 2025, visiting each Diocese. For Edinburgh, this will be on 19 July. The day will provide an opportunity for Charges across the Diocese to engage with the NZ team and many other organisations that will be able to assist them in their Net Zero journey and more.

As well as all the Net Zero team being there will be stalls for grant funders, Historic Environment Scotland, suppliers and other organisations such as Christian Aid and wildlife organisations. There will, of course, be refreshments.

Future Dates

10 May - BIG Day.

15 May - Learning Lunch with +John (in person).

18 May - Church Bagging (St James, Penicuik @ 5pm).

27 May - CMD: Mental Health (Dr Rob Waller).

5–7 Jun - General Synod.

8 Jun - Church Bagging (St Peter's, Lutton Place @ 6:30pm).

17 Jun - An Afternoon on Pensions & Retirement Housing (Neil Wright, GSO).

28 Jun–7 Jul - Pilgrimage to Taize.

19 Jul - Diocese of Edinburgh's Net Zero Roadshow at St Mary's Cathedral.

27 Jul–2 Aug - YEEK.

7 Aug - National Play Day.

28 Aug - Learning Lunch (Children and Church, with Claire Benton-Evans).

30 Aug - PizzaBowl.

18 Sep - CMD Day (Revd Dr AKM Adam).

4–5 Oct - PYC Sleepover Weekend in Aberdeen.

23 Oct - Diocesan Synod (evening).

3–6 Nov - Clergy Conference.

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