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Drug and Alcohol Awareness Day
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
PRESBYTERY OF INVERNESS
CHURCH & COMMUNITY COMMITTEE
We have all seen the worrying press reports that appear regularly in the local papers.
Statistically, church visitors are almost certainly bound to visit homes where there is concern about some relative or family member who is involved with drink or drugs.
Would you like to understand these problems better, and find out more about the help and advice available?
We are inviting Ministers, Elders, Pastoral Care Team Members, Church Visitors, friends from neighbouring Presbyteries and other denominations - and anyone else who is interested in, or concerned about these issues, to come along to our:
Drug and Alcohol Awareness Day
from 9.30 am - 1 pm
on Saturday 19th April 2008
in Inshes Church, Inverness
You will be able to hear first hand from the drug and alcohol agencies operating in the Highlands. Apart from the Presentations and the Question and Answer Session there will also be an opportunity during the Coffee Break to browse "The Market Place" where you can obtain information from a variety of agencies including the Highland Drug & Alcohol Action Team, Highland Child Protection Committee, NCH Gael Og, Apex (DELTA Project), Alcohol Counselling Inverness, Health Promoting Schools and the Highland Carers Project.
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Drug & Alcohol Awareness Day Programme
9.30 am Coffee and Registration.
10.00 am Opening Worship.
10.15 am "Setting the Scene" - Suzy Calder, Highland Drug
and Alcohol Action Team.
10.30 am Session 1: "Help and Support Available for
Users and Families" - Pene Rowe,
Development Officer; and Donna Munro,
Training Officer; both with the Highland Child
Protection Committee (both of whom have a
background of substance misuse in the field).
11.15 am Coffee and the chance to browse "The Marketplace"
(stalls set up by local agencies dealing with drugs, alcohol, child protection, education, carers, etc.)
11.45 am Session 2: Open Question and Answer Session
with a Panel made up of people
working in the Church and in the
Community in this field - including
Chaplaincy, Street Pastors, Police, Education and Social Work.
12.45 pm Closing Worship led by Mr William Weatherspoon,
Moderator of Inverness Presbytery.
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To book a place on the Drug and Alcohol Awareness Day, please contact:
Vivian Roden, 15 Old Mill Road, Tomatin IV13 7YW or
E-mail favr@roden15.fsnet.co.uk by 12th April 2008.
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Some pictures from the event
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Vivian Roden, 21/04/2008
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Editor |
22/04/2008 12:37 |
The Drug and Alcohol day conference had a very good display of resources and a good range of interesting and informative speakers.
Much of the question and answer session was taken up with the issue of what to do with those who are found to be on the streets and under the influence of drink or drugs in the early hours of the morning.
There was no discussion on the "values" aspect of the problem, but it was very useful to hear from the statutory and voluntary agencies speakers to understand how they see the issues.
Much of the problems discussed manifest particularly at the weekends. And in an 'out of hours' context the only statutory agencies operating on a 24 hour basis are the police and the hospital.
In terms of a response from the churches it would have been helpful to have discussed the Street Pastors experience; and also help programmes like Care for the Family's 'How to Drug Proof Your Kids'.
The conference also (hopefully) indicated to the agencies present that the Christian community wanted to look seriously at and understand better the scale and nature of the problems relating to alcohol and drugs.
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Chris Riches (Guest) |
06/05/2008 20:48 |
I had a recent conversation with a Christian Paramedic who on his volition happened to attend the Conference, and was slightly amazed that a representative of the Ambulance Service had not been invited. Also he wondered why none of the local Churches seemed prepared to open their doors during the night as a place of Rest,Shelter and Succour for those who are disabled by drink and cant get home.
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Donna Munro (Guest) |
23/05/2008 21:22 |
This was a great opportunity to communicate with a local community. It is, however, hopefully only the beginning of the communication process. The Churches of Inverness have huge human resources to offer people affected by drug and alcohol issues. Whilst I accept the ambulance service should have been invited, there are alot of others who also may have something to offer and weren't there on the day. I am just delighted that the church took this opportunity to highlight the issues for people within the community and I hope that this is a starting point which will be continued in the future. Thank you.
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Editor |
27/05/2008 23:56 |
Elsewhere on this site Sonia said:
>>>
I praise God for using Todd Bentley to share God's message in this revival in Lakeland.
Prior to this, I was so unhappy in my life and was seriously thinking of ending it. Through watching the revival on God Tv (a channel i never thought of watching) I believe I have received spiritual healing and the demons that were making me so unhappy have now left my body. I was also into drugs smoking pot everyday for about ten years - I can claim that I haven't touched or craved any drugs since the last week of April- when I started watching the revival on God TV. Praise the Lord!
Because of this revival, I have begun to read the bible and have found that God is showing me on a daily basis what he means by the things I don't understand and I have finally accepted Jesus Christ as my saviour and believe I am now forgiven for all my sins and have opened my heart to God.
If this is is a message from Satan, how can it touch my heart away from how destructive it previously was? Now all I want to do is praise Jesus and follow God's will.
Peace & Love to you all!
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