Bulletins

Wonderfully made

Wonderfully Made I am…I know in trust and faith, but it’s not always so easy to believe. You inspire confidence in me, but always rooted in your wisdom. Wonderful – are you sure? But it’s a sign of maturity to accept a complement…. someone told me that long ago! Help me, in knowing the love …

Benefits of Personality Tests

There is a whole raft of personality profiles available these days. Can engaging with their help our emotional intelligence to grow?   We can be helped to identify our likes and dislikes, strengths & weaknesses. Learning more about why we prefer certain things and dislike others can be so helpful when making important life decisions. …

John Finch – EQI testimony

Curiosity killed the cat they say – but we keep being curious. We are constantly asking questions about our practices, successes and failures, and the trends we see all around us. Often our curiosity brings us to a place of discovering a new tool, a new book, a new practise.   Our curiosity is often …

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence Just over three years ago, the Pastoral Team of the then Ministries Council suggested that two of the Ascend coaching team be trained to use a personal development inventory that would help people understand and think through the implications for themselves of emotional intelligence.  The inventory is called EQ-I 2.0 and is produced …

Royal Army Chaplains’ Department Theological Students’ and Potential Chaplains’ Course 2021.

Royal Army Chaplains’ Department Theological Students’ and Potential Chaplains’ Course 2021. This is an annual residential course offered to theological students and junior clergy by the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department to stimulate awareness of the unique opportunities and challenges of Army chaplaincy.   The 2021 course will take place from Monday 6 September to Friday …

Violence Against Women Resources

A full and comprehensive theological unpacking of all of the main issues related to violence against women Living-a-theology. This short document gives a helpful understanding of what violence against women is and the scale of the problem within our society –Violence against women. In 2020 the number of charges for domestic abuse crimes in Scotland …

Becoming anti-racist

As a church we want to take seriously the calls to examine our structures and practices to ensure they are both not racist and enable all to feel welcome. This requires those who lead to develop our own understanding of the issues involved and be prepared to go on a journey we perhaps didn’t realise …

Difference -The power of faith in a conflicted world

Approaching some of the most important subjects of our time can provoke strong emotions. It is easy to become entrenched in our way of thinking and only listen for as long as it takes to form our next sentence. As Christians we wish to encourage real dialogue, where we listen not just to the words …

Growing in Discernment Together

We’ve all been there. The meeting baptised with a quick prayer at the start, followed by ‘let battle commence’ as opposing views are passionately voiced and common ground fades into the distance. The business-like efficiency that completes the agenda but leaves us wondering, “What does God think?” The group discussion where those saying the most …

Choosing Peace through Dialogue

Place for Hope will soon launch its new 5-year strategy, entitled: Choosing Peace in times of fear and division. It is a title that sets our work distinctly within the times in which we live, in the wake of a pandemic that has not only affected all our lives but has highlighted and exacerbated deep …

The Black Box Approach – Mental Health Training with Christo Hudson

Ascend spoke with Christo Hudson of The Black Box Approach about his work; “Until March 2020, I was a regional commercial pilot and part of my role as a training captain was as an aircraft incident investigator. My job was to look at events and trends from data received from the aircraft’s “black boxes”. I …

Online Relationship/Couples Coaching

Vital Connexions offer training in Integrative Counselling from a Christian perspective. Their new Relationship Coaching programme aims to revitalise, restore and renew your relationships. The online course is prerecorded so you can approach it in your own time. Module 1 – Attachment and the Couple Relationship – in this module we will look at Interventions …

Book Reviews

Some of our friends have recommend a few titles to keep us engaged through lockdown and we wanted to share these with you. Have a look – if any appeal to you, it’s not too late to add them to your list… We’re trying hard to shop local and independent. That might not always be …

Edinburgh Interfaith Association Lunchtime Live Show

INTERFAITH: Live every Tuesday @ 1 Join us every Tuesday at 1pm, and share your lunch with us, on Edinburgh Interfaith Association’s Facebook Live show. Streamed from Zoom, with hosts and guests from a variety of faiths and cultures, we bring you friendship and inspiration: breaking down the division between race and religion by comparing …

Research into COVID19 and Ministers

The Scottish Churches Leaders’ Forum, with funding from ACTS (Action of Churches Together in Scotland), have commissioned research into how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting church leaders, and how churches are responding. The Church of Scotland will get the data from this study pertaining to its own clergy, as well as the general report. While …

Hope: A Poem

Sometimes it’s one thing. And then it’s something more. And just a moment later it’s another. And its huge stuff like Climate and Asylum seekers and Pandemic and Elections and systematic injustice and privilege. And its small stuff like lack of inspiration and lethargy and tax and body and what does it look like to …

EU Settlement Scheme

Support for Ministers Assisting EU Nationals in their Congregations and Communities There are over 3.5 million EU nationals who call the UK their home. In order for EU citizens to stay in the UK they have to apply for Settled Status by 30 June 2021. There has been some concern from campaigners that it may …

MDS Staffing Approval Process

MDS Staffing Approval Process information documents and forms for completing and returning. A summary of the process is as follows: A Staffing Request Approval Panel has been scheduled to meet every two months if MDS funding is available. (Appendix 2 – Key Dates). All applications must be sent from the Presbytery email address with the …

Bereavement Care Awareness

The Bereavement Care Awareness course is part of Care for the Family’s bereavement training for churches. It is useful for clergy, church leaders, pastoral care leaders or any volunteer interested in supporting bereaved people – whether they are already engaged in bereavement support or are considering the possibility of developing it. Care for the Family …

Wellbeing and Resilience: an online opportunity

A short series to help lift our heads and bring some wisdom & practical tools to increase resilience & wellbeing for the months ahead. As we lead our church through these strange and challenging times, our ability to sustain health of body, mind and soul is vital. The resources which have got us this far, …