You will be glad to know that we are well settled in at our new house, and it really feels like we are in the country. (see picture)  

We are having to get used to so many sights and sounds, not to forgetting the odd, rather horrendous smells, that sometime waft our way as muck is spread on the numerous fields in our locality.   

There are moments of unpredictability too.  We can be out walking one day, and the fields are fine, then the next, there will be hundreds of sheep appear in the field, seemingly out of nowhere and overnight.  Therefore, Dexy will have to be on a lead the whole time.  Don’t even get me started about the signs that appear saying danger bull in field! That sign can make you feel very alert. 

This seems to be a time of year of being prepared, will lots of spreading, ploughing, and I assume, soon enough planting. And it never seems to stop, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, there were farmers and workers out and about tending to animals, they all need fed.   

It seems that there is an order to all of this, and each step needs to be undertaken to ensure the success of the next.   

As we move forward in faith, both personally and as a church, we should maybe take a leaf out of the farmer’s books.  

Are we doing the necessary groundwork as we make our plans for personal and church growth?  Are we doing the hard work before we plant something new? 

For all the new things that we want to achieve, we must ensure that they have the best chance to take root, to grow into something healthy and strong. 

Yes, that might take some hard work, maybe to sacrifice some things, and even put up with a few things that challenge us and make us feel a bit uncomfortable (back to the smells above).  But the results will be worth it. 

I am hoping that 2026 will be a year of further growth for our church, but we also need to ensure that we are doing the groundwork to ensure that everything we do has the best possible chance to grow. 

God bless 

Your friend and minister 

Alan  

So, as most of you will know, we have recently move house and are now living a bit outside Dundee in the country.  It’s quiet and Dexy is loving the walks. 

As friends have been coming to visit, we have been giving directions, often finishing with the phrase ‘you can’t miss it’.  Turns out, that’s not true as a few have already and we have had to be on the phone to them to give them further directions.   

Question is, it’s that time of year and, will Santa know where I am?  Well, that got me thinking about directions…so 

It seems like hardly anytime at all since I started here, but here we are, 2^nd Christmas, and it’s got me reflecting about how far we have come as a church in such a short space of time.   

When I arrived, people were quick to tell me that we were a small, aging congregation and that we couldn’t do much….. 

Well, I beg to differ…..2025, to me, is a year to look back and celebrate a whole string of successes. We have hosted and achieved so much as a church, from weekly openings, to concerts, lunches, and choirs. 

We have opened our doors and let the community in, and it is making a difference.   

So…..back to the question, Will Santa know where I am! 

Thing is, if you believe you are on the good list, then he’s sure to find you.  But for good things to come your way, you must believe that they are possible first. 

As we enter a new year, and the calendar turns to 2026, do we believe that we have set a new direction for our church?  Are we going somewhere new. 

I believe we have and have the potential to do more, lets encourage each other, let us involve the new faces that at are coming.   

Let’s break new ground and give people the directions that they need to find us.   

God bless you all as we enter 2026 

Your friend and minister 

Alan  

Nowadays when walking through town, or on a bus, or a train you see so many people staring at their phones, looking through Facebook or whatever and the world trundles past them and they don’t even notice 

Do you ever take a minute to take in your surroundings? I mean, when we are looking at something famous, a landmark, or scenery, we can all step back and give it the full attention it deserves. But how many times do we do that on a daily basis, with the every day steps we take.   

Now, I am not advocating that we don’t watch where we put our feet, we need to be careful out there……but….. 

The reason for saying this is that Dundee has a whole selection of wonderful building dotted throughout the city centre and beyond, that we are in danger of passing by without seeing the full beauty of it. 

bove is a picture that I took of a church roof in Cologne when we were there in June.  It was a nice building tucked away behind some houses, but the real beauty was found in the roof as you will see from the picture.  This got me to be thinking about how often we stop to take a moment just to take it all in. 

Just take a moment….pause……have a look at your surroundings…..look up…. 

You may just be inspired 

God bless 

Your friend and minister 

Alan  

What a summer we are having.  Seems day after day of blue skies and hot houses. Our house is a new build only a few years old and by jings it is well insulated.  In weather like this we are always trying to think of ways to create a draught without letting the cat out the house.  That’s a whole other story as why he is confined to barracks!! 

And the garden, and the grass….I think I could easily apply for a job as a greenkeeper I am out watering grass that often. 

But, as hot and bothered I can get with the weather, I know this is just a season, and like others it was pass into autumn and the cooler days will come. 

We live in very close reach of the countryside here and at this time of year, when the roads are quiet, we can hear the drone of the combine harvesters out in the fields bringing in the harvest.  We can see the lights as they work the fields, often late at night, making sure they make use of every available dry hour of the day.  They knuckle down, because I suppose they never know when the rain will come.  There is a window of opportunity, and they take it.   

So, this is a season for making the most of things.  Whether it is the weather, the gardens or the harvest. We want to make the most of the season, because one day it will be gone.   

Last newsletter I spoke about accepting the challenge, being up for a challenge.  I believe that in the church we are in a season of opportunity.   

Opportunity for growth, opportunity to reach out, opportunity to be involved in the community to build on our legacy, or history and our future. 

We are changing, things are happening people are coming to use our church, from the Bingo Tea, The Cadets, the Tuesday openings we have new people who have been in and had fellowship, and some have been on a Sunday too. Opportunities!! 

We have different events lined between now and the end of the year, some will help raise some funds for the church, but more importantly, we can invite people along to be part of things here.  Who are you inviting? Opportunities!! 

A few weeks ago in a sermon, I talked about a quote from a film. “The church is not the past.  It is what we do next” 

We are in a good season, lets us embrace opportunities and make our church live the question of what we do next!  

Your friend and minister 

Alan  

I’m sitting writing this (5^th of May) ahead of time as I am about to go on my holidays.   

Holidays in our house are prepared with military precision, we are researched and itinerated well in advance, there is never the opportunity for us to pitch up on a holiday and not know what we are doing the next day! So, as part of that planning, here I am writing the newsletter article in advance. 

When we are away, it will be over the time of my first anniversary here in the church.  As I was saying at the May communion, it’s been a quick, or long year…depending on how you look at it.   

For me, it seems a very quick year, and a great year at that.  I have loved being part of the church and getting to know everyone.  I have loved the challenge that being part of the church is about as we find our way into the community around us.  In a short space of time, I think we have done well in reestablishing ourselves. 

People are beginning to know we are here, and we are beginning to be more visible in the community.  

So, I suppose I am sitting here contemplating the next steps.  We have had a lot of visitors over the last year, a few coming along more than once, we are making connections, but as I said in the last newsletter, and although we remain in hope, how do we get them to stay a little longer. 

So, tough questions for a church, as we seek to move forward, what are the important things to take with us, and what might be some of the things that hold us back.  

Sometimes, we feel that these conversations are difficult, and I think that every generation of church goers have the same dilemmas about change and how to do it.  

But the biggest obstacle to church growth is when we stop having these conversations and just accept things as they are. We are part of a movement, and the challenge of any move is apparent for us all. But we need to have this discussion over the next few months, and ongoing over the next few years too. 

When I was in the Boys Brigade the motto had ‘the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom in it’ for my Queens Badge Essay, I asked the question of what happens when we don’t advance at the same pace as Christ’s Kingdom, then we will be left behind. 

Let’s accept the challenge to catch up 

Your friend and minster 

Alan  

I suppose we can never be sure if it is actually spring or not, as I write this (18^th March), it felt like spring was coming a few weeks ago, and now we are back with a cold spell. 

Spring is a time, I feel for getting ready, the garden, a spring clean, whatever it is, it’s all about getting ready. 

I was nearly tempted to go out in the garden and start there, but the cold spell has sent me in backdoors again to watch and wait. 

As I am watching the garden from the comfort of the office, I can see my bird house (see front cover). 

I got it a few years ago as a gift and have set it up on the fence, and I watch the garden for birds (again, see the picture on the front cover), I quite enjoy them coming and going. But the bird house, well, that remains empty.  Plenty of visitors round about, but nobody has set up residence…… yet…. 

But, for the first time this year, we have had visitors, a pair of birds have been in and out a few times.  Not sure if they have officially set up shop, but it’s the first time it’s been this close.  We watch and we wait… 

It’s a mixture of patience and perseverance, there is nothing I can do to entice them,  

I hope, and I wait. 

I have faith you see, faith that with patience and perseverance, that change will come, and that someone will come and visit, and stay! 

We are going through Lent at this time, and that takes patience, and perseverance as we journey our way to Easter.  Some days might seem hard, some days we want to give up, but we must look on each small step hopefully because we know we are going in the right direction. 

Over the last few weeks, we have had a few different visitors to the church, some have come back, we don’t know if any of them will stay for the long term, but we must hope they do.  

At the end of the day, plenty birds can ignore the bird house and fly by, but if any show an interest, that lifts my heart, give me hope, and I know that someday some will take residence, because the shelter is provided. 

We are a shelter for so many, when people come to visit, let us look on in hope, a hope that with the right welcome and the right encouragement, some will stay. 

Spring is in the air.  Remain in hope! 

Your Friend and Minister 

Alan 

When I open the curtains in the morning, I am always hoping for some sign that the short days are coming to an end. I am not a fan of the long winter nights, maybe I am just not a fan of darkness?

When I first started work, one of the older guys (probably younger than I am now!) used to say, ‘wait until winter comes, we’re like pit ponies’ I had no idea what he meant, so I had to ask my dad what it meant. Basically, he was saying that during the winter we wouldn’t really see daylight during the week, and boy he was right.

Anyhow, I am waiting for change to come, for the mornings to start to be a bit brighter, the light breaking through, till eventually the sunrise welcomes us to the new day. Then it feels like summer is on the way. Change is coming.

Then, the signs of spring, where the bulbs push through the earth the birds chatter and the year is on the turn. The thing is, there is nothing we can do to hurry things along.

We must be patient, we must watch and wait, there is no short cut, and there may even be a false dawn or two on the way, where the days feel warmer, only to be dashed with further cold weather. But the thing is, we know that spring will come.

I wonder if sometimes we feel that we are living in dark times in the church? There are stories all round our town of churches closing their doors, congregations moving, amalgamating. Some sense the opportunity of this, some are in despair as their church closes. These are the dark nights.

It’s so easy to get caught focussing on the darkness, but let’s be patient, spring will come, new days will come.

The light will break through, and it will be a new day.

Let’s be looking for signs of spring, of hope

Change will come

God bless

Your friend and minister

Alan

Is it me, or do the years start to roll by quicker than they have before. My induction into the church feels like yesterday, but here we are in December already. As I am writing this (on the 12th of November) I have already seen Christmas Decorations up in houses. It feels like the Christmas Season starts earlier and earlier each year.

But I am never fully prepared, doesn’t matter how early the preparations have started, I can’t see this year being any different. But it is different in another way. This year I am spending it in this Church, with you. It’s a place I never expected to be at this time in my life, but I am thankful of the opportunity.

Christmas is a differing time of year for everyone. So much on out TV screens and all the adverts are about happiness and meals and presents.

For so many people Christmas is a confusing time as we navigate loss in our lives and reflect on those empty spaces at the table. It’s right to remember, it’s right to feel the love that we have for others. They should never be forgotten.

But at its essence, Christmas time is a time for everyone, the lost, the hungry, the hurting, the bereaved and yes, the happy. To be able to see past the hype of Christmas at the shops, to the Christmas at the crib.

Which is about hope and togetherness. Where the outsiders are being asked into the warmth of the stable to witness the babe in arms, where hope, love, and acceptance live, and everybody is welcome.

That to me is the true meaning of Christmas.

With Christmas comes New Year, and all the change that brings. And, the New Year’s Resolutions. How many have been broken over the years!

As a church what will our 2025 be? What is in store for us?

I believe that the church has a powerful witness in its history and its future. I believe we have something to offer our city, our community.

There will be no resolutions from me, because the same hope of the Christmas story is with me into the new year. We don’t need to make promises to do something different. We need to have hope in Jesus to make us something different.

I believe 2025 will be a year of change for the better.

God bless.

Your friend and minister,

Alan

As I sit writing this, it is a day after my birthday.  This always leads me to be a bit reflective, even more so as the years roll on. 

It is funny how perspectives change over the years.  I remember being at school in the 1980’s and hearing about two things that stick in my mind.  One was Hong Kong, being handed back to China, which was to be in 1997, and then the Millenium, in 2000 of course.  That was going to be 20 years away!  I remember thinking, ‘when that happens, I will be ancient!!  I will be in my 30’s’.

As a teenager, my 30’s seemed light years away, I imagined myself to be an old man at 33.  But here we are nearly 25 years after these events, and I am still not an old man, well I do not think so (although young people may disagree!).  Time moves quickly, and the years go back quicker than you imagine.  Anniversaries and remembrance become important, perhaps more so, with the passage of time. 

We are coming up for two notable events in our churches calendar. The 40th Anniversary of Dundee Congregational Church (Ward Chapel and Panmure Trinity joining), the church, which has stood since 1833, so it’s 191st anniversary, and of course the church roots go back even further to the church being founded in 1809, some 215 years ago.  I wonder back in 1809 they could imagine people worshiping here hundreds of years later?

Then, Remembrance Sunday in November, a poignant day as we remember those who have been lost in conflicts since the Great War.  When I wander round our church, I am not only reminded of those from our church who paid the ultimate sacrifice, but that we are the custodians of memorials from many churches that are no longer there.  Charged with remembering them.  We are also custodians of many standards from our ex-services.

It is so important that with both services we are remembering the service of others.  In October, for our church, and in November for freedom and peace.

Time passes quickly.  To pause and remember is the right thing to do.  Remembering those who have gone before.  To remember those who have served, so that we might be here today.  Without their service, for the church, and especially those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, who knows where we would be today.

On Remembrance Sunday, I will say the words ‘When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us and Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.’

Because of those who have gone before, we have a tomorrow.  Let us look forward to it, remembering, not forgetting, but seeing it as the gift that it is.

Your friend and minister.

Alan