Short-Term Workers

Goodbye to Trinity!

At the end of April, we said goodbye to Trinity after her 7 months’ Short-Term Service in Stranraer. Trinity had been with us since the end of September, during which time she has been involved in all aspects of congregational life, teaching Sunday School, helping us get the drop-in restarted, doing one-on-one Bible studies, getting involved in local schools and helping different folk in the church in lots of ways behind the scenes.

We are grateful for her time with us and will miss her! Would you join us in praying that God will send us people to take over some of the roles she’s left behind?

Everyone's a Theologian

Book review by Trinity McConnell

Everyone’s a Theologian
R. C. Sproul
Ligonier Ministries, 2014

Is theology a dying art?

So often as a young person in this day and age I hear the phrase: “As long as you have a relationship with Jesus, nothing else matters." Although I commend the prioritisation of a relationship with Christ, it's disheartening to think of my generation in the church growing up with no desire to inspect the Scriptures to have a broader understanding of their faith and how they practise it. Everyone's a Theologian, by R.C. Sproul, seeks to make theology more accessible by encouraging all Christians to take an interest in, and giving a simple introduction to, big Biblical concepts.

As a novice myself I found that the book lived up perfectly to its subtitle: ‘An introduction to Systematic Theology.’

The book is in eight parts. An introduction informs the reader of important concepts to consider before studying theology at any level, eg the infallibility of scripture, the purpose of theology and the three theological disciplines: biblical, historical and systematic.

This is followed by sections on; Theology proper (the study of God), Anthropology (the study of human beings) and Creation, Christology (The study of the nature and work of Jesus Christ), Pneumatology (the person and work of the Holy Spirit), Soteriology (salvation), Ecclesiology (The study of the church) and finally Eschatology (death, judgement, heaven and hell). The book is laid out in simple format and uses easy to understand language.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to study theology (young or old), who thought they hadn't the ability or didn't know where to start. I'd also recommend it to anyone who thinks that theology is unnecessary or leads to traditionalism or legalism - in the hope that it will give them the positive outlook and joy that studying the word of God should bring. I would even suggest that those looking to revise an old topic, begin a new one or even just get a refresher of the overall picture of the main branches of Systematic Theology pick up a copy of this informative and to the point piece of literature.

Introducing Charis!

We’re delighted that Charis Wilson, who was part of our GO Team last month, is staying on for the year as she finishes up her Open University course. She will also be helping out with a number of church activities. You can find out more about her in the following video:

Charis is the daughter of Dr Norris Wilson, Professor of Old Testament at the Reformed Theological College in Belfast. You can watch his public Opening Lecture to the current year of studies here.

Gracie welcomed to Scotland!

IMG_0474 2.jpeg
IMG_0475 2.jpeg

Last Lord’s Day we welcomed Gracie to Scotland as she worshipped with us for the first time. Over the past week she has been settling into life in Stranraer, taken part in our first ever ladies’ prayer time, helped run a Scripture Union group in Rephad Primary School, served as an extra pair of hands as we restarted our Toddlers group in its new lunch time format and also helped out at Belvilla Youth, run by our friends at the Baptist Church. She has also spent time in various homes, getting to know the congregation here and offering some practical help. We are glad to have her and are looking forward to the next 7 weeks!

IMG_0477.jpeg
IMG_0479.jpeg