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Each of us can struggle at times. As a Christian church, we believe that God – The God of the Bible – greatly cares for those who are facing hard times. We believe that God wants us to support one another, including those who are struggling in our communities.

This fund provides small grants for practical support for individuals and families where there is no other support available. The help provided will often have a short term focus to support those who are in crisis. It is aimed at supporting those who are living in the immediate community of the church including Smithton, Culloden, Balloch and Westhill. All referrals come through Health, Social or Education Services. For further enquiries please e-mail: compassionincrisis@outlook.com

We recently had a short talk from Stephen Hutchison at Smithton. Dr Hutchison is a palliative care consultant at Highland Hospice and Raigmore Hospital. Read his briefing paper here on the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill which is currently being considered by the Health and Sport Committee who are holding a public consultation on the Bill.

In his paper, Stephen outlines the background to the Bill, describes proposed legislation, presents the arguments against Assisted Suicide, and provides information on how everyone can take part in the public consultation, which is open until 6th June 2014.

Says Stephen ‘You must feel free to respond in whatever way captures your views on this. You may or may not share my views. We must think for ourselves,’ but he adds ‘I hope you will take the time to respond to this as a very significant issue for our society.’

We’re very grateful to Stephen for giving us such a detailed and thoughtful analysis of the proposed measure based on his vast experience of working with people at the close of their lives. Stephen is correct, we need to be informed about this issue we need also to reflect on it in the light of our Biblical convictions and respond appropriately.

http://hiltonchurch.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Stephen-Hutchison-on-the-Assisted-Suicide-Bill.pdf

Smithton-Culloden are offering a programme called Prepare Enrich to help prepare couples for marriage but also, as the name suggests, to enrich existing marriages, a kind of MOT for couples.

Research from Seddons the solicitors, in their Separation Regrets Survey, shows that those experiencing separation (either from marriage or a cohabiting relationship) primarily wished they had known:
– The kinds of difficulties couples experience (28%)
– How relationships grow and develop over time (28%)
– More about each other’s characters, values, or interests (35%)
– More effective communication (24%)
– More constructive handling of disagreements (20%)

84% of respondents did not have relationship education – for two main reasons – they never thought about it (44%), and/or they didn’t know there were such courses (37%).

These are just the sort of things that are dealt with in the discussion sessions.
Couples are first invited to meet the counsellors for a coffee and a chat to explain how it works and to see if it is for them. If they think it is, then they will fill in the questionnaire (online or as a paper copy) and they will have the next meeting over a meal where we will start the discussion process based on the results of their questionnaire. There will then be a further three or four meetings as the couple work through any issues that arise.

There is a £25 fee to cover administration costs which the couple pay but they get a few good meals out of it!

The programme website can be found at www.prepare-enrich.co.uk which fills in more of the basics.

Please contact Laurie and Tina Chancellor or Ali MacDonald for further information.

Ministry Opportunity: Smithton-Culloden and Nairn Free Church of Scotland, Inverness, Scotland

Ministry Assistant

Smithton Culloden Free Church is an active congregation in Christian ministry in a community on the eastern periphery of Inverness. The church is also a focal point in the communities of Smithton, Culloden, Cradelhall and Balloch. It comprises a gathered congregation of over four hundred people with a high ratio of young families and a membership roll of two hundred sixty.

The Session is looking to appoint a Ministry Assistant to support the existing work of discipleship and evangelistic mission for youth and emerging adults in the congregation and out in the local communities.

This is a fixed term appointment for two years from a mutually agreed date in the first quarter of 2014. An annual salary of £18,000 is offered for this post and some assistance may be available for housing support. Applications are invited from graduates in a relevant discipline who are aspiring to undertake further training and development in Christian ministry.

To receive your application pack please contact Mr Charlie Anderson, Church Manager, Smithton Church, Murray Road, Smithton, Inverness, IV2 7YU

Closing date for applications 28 February 2014

Tel: 01463 793191

Job is a tough book to read, the beginning and the end are the simplest to understand. It’s difficulty is compounded by the fact that the friends of Job talk such nonsense at times, their advice is not reliable and is often insulting and counter-productive hence we get the phrase ‘Job’s comforters’ widely used in English.
Overview – the purpose is to look at the nature and purpose of suffering in the individual’s experience.
Key truths
• God has a purpose behind all suffering, but the purposes of God are usually hidden from us and so we are baffled and often hurt by our providence.
• Conventional proverbial wisdom applies to many situations but falls down when we look at the suffering of Christians – God is supposed to be ‘for us’.
• Righteous sufferers must humbly link affirmation of God’s goodness and justice to their complaints and laments.
• As human beings our grasp of wisdom is limited and always begins with fear and respect of God and obedience to his commands.

Purpose and distinctives
• Conventional wisdom does not work where God is concerned.
• People say that God can be evil e.g. Dawkins – book of Job rejects this totally and defends the absolute goodness of God at all times, whatever appearances may suggest.
• We are human and we must face the fact that humans cannot ever fully understand God.
• It’s tough for Job, he gets the dubious honour of proving that the believer remains true to God, even when they suffer.
• All suffering is not a direct result of human sin, e.g. we don’t always suffer because of a specific sin in our lives. Job’s counsellors do not get this and so they constantly accuse him of specific sin.
• At times Job was sucked into this and conceded that his friends might be right. (42: 5-6)
• Job was always complaining to God in the fashion of a legal suit – not always a bad thing.
• Job always held to the fact that God was just and that one day he would provide a redeemer.

The RBT community group question sheet and also a full copy of the outline for Job can be found on the downloads page.