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Worship
Times |
Parish
Church |
Sundays
at 10.15am |
Forge,
Balloch |
Sundays
at 11.45am |
Any
changes to these times, e.g. for special Sundays, will be intimated
on our home page |
| Minister: Rev. Catriona Ogilvie | 01236 721912 | Deacon: Valerie Cuthbertson | 01698 259001 |
| Church Magazine: The Boys' Brigade (November 2011) |
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The first Thursday in
September is the traditional first night back for the BB and as usual
we were swamped by the numbers of boys enrolling for the new session.
On the roll we now have 20 Anchor Boys. Eastfield and Cumbernauld Primary 3 classes are well represented with only a few Primary 2 boys on the list. This could pose a few problems next year should they all wish to move on to become Junior Section members. We were pleased to welcome back Neil Campbell for the first few weeks. Neil was a Queen's Badge winner a few years ago and was keen to come back as a leader; unfortunately his University commitments clashed with Thursday nights and he has bowed out for the time being. Amazingly Callum McDougall, another Queen’s Badge winner, returned to join us, having found some time to spare from his studies. Some senior boys from the Company Section, Andrew, Greig and Ryan also pitch in as helpers, so we have a good complement of leaders in place this session. I have attended every Thursday this session to help guide this young group of leaders as they begin to develop the skills that encourage the youngest of our boys to enjoy their time at BB. The Anchor programme is based around game playing, where the boys learn to listen, take turns, play together, play fairly and hopefully have tun together. A short opening and closing prayer encourages them to give thanks to God for the opportunities that they have together. In the Junior Section we have 19 boys, spread through primary classes 4, 5 and 6; most are continuing their service with the BB, but we have welcomed two new boys to the Company this year. I have chosen to take charge of the Juniors this session and so far l have survived reasonably well! Jordan Watson, a Queen's Badge winner from last session, is training to become an officer by following the 'KG6' programme. Along with Callum, they bring their youthful energy to our weekly meetings. Charlie Bryson and David Brown are two dads who also make a sizeable contribution to our programme. Again a good group of leaders allows us to offer a very varied programme of Faith, Mind and Body, including small group activities, exercise, team games, basic drill and Bible study. The Company Section this session also has 20 boys on the roll, all of whom have been with us for many years, many of whom started off as Anchor boys. Alister Gray, his son Cameron (another previous Queen's Badge winner) and Jim Sloss, who had orchestrated the Junior Section over the last few years, are the team who lead this section. The programme is supported again by Charlie Bryson (PE), David Brown (Drill) and Stuart Watson who visits regularly and brings an interesting and engaging style to Bible study. It has been possible this year to divide the Section into smaller groups and provide a more targeted set of activities. Alister is focusing on Compass Badge work with the youngest group, Jim is sharing his photography skills with the middle group and Cameron is supporting the older group towards their Presidents Badge (4 boys) and 1 towards his Queen's Badge. This is probably the first time that we have been able to call on the skills and talents of so many people to provide the guidance to the young boys of our BB company. It is very rewarding to see a few of our successful Queen's Men, return to the company to begin their service with the Boys' Brigade and act as positive role models for our younger boys. However, we are always on the lookout for adult helpers, especially former BB members and dads of our current boys. If you have some time available on a Thursday evening and maybe even have a hobby, a skill or a talent that you could share, then please get in touch. You do not need to make a commitment to every Thursday. We have found that visitors do make an impact and we would be delighted to add more variety to our programme. So, if you can offer some of your time, then please let me know. Alex Edwardson
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© Cumbernauld Old Parish Church of Scotland; Registered Scottish Charity SC000877