World Concern Group & Fund
St Thomas’ has always had world mission at its heart. In order to reflect the importance of this vision, many years ago a sub-group of the Vestry was established to oversee our church’s involvement with mission, and to encourage church members to give a proportion of their offering to this wider mission field. This is what we now call the World Concern Group.
The World Concern Group has two aims:
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to mobilise the congregation to enjoy participating in God's mission to His world in all its variety, challenge and need;
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to maintain a fund (separate from the church's main account) to support Christian people around the world as they work to build God's Kingdom.
Every member of St Thomas’ is encouraged to be involved with World Concern. Participation includes:
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PRAYING Our first commitment is to pray for our mission partners - privately, in small groups and home groups, and in public worship.
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READING If you have a particular interest in one or more of our Mission Partners, you are encouraged to sign up to receive their news.
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GIVING World Concern is funded by members who make donations directly to the World Concern Fund. The Fund receives no money from the Church’s general funds. So, if you would like to give to St Thomas’ wider work, you should specifically donate to the World Concern Fund.
At present, our Mission Partners are
Paul and Isolde James-Griffiths (Christian Heritage Edinburgh),
Thorsten and Kerstin Prill (Crosslinks, preparing to return to Namibia), the
James Family (InnerCHANGE, London), the
Funky Frog Clubs Ministry, previously the Vive Foundation (Colombia) and
Salaam, the refugee team of Edinburgh City Mission.
The World Concern Group also encourages the congregation to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering because of their faith. We use the
Open Doors World Watch List to shape our prayers, month by month.
The current membership of the World Concern Group is:
Liz Fairley (Chair), Miller Bogie (Treasurer), Morag Bryce, Fiona Christie and Peter Aslet.