When: Saturday 7 November 2020
Where: Online
Time: 10:00-15:00
Hosted by CMF
We live and work in an age of confusion about who we are, why we are, and what gives us value. Many of the patients we care for struggle with these questions and the hollow answers given them by the world. Even as believers, we too can be weighed down by the many cares and anxieties of life, and lose sight of who, why and what we are. Psalm 139 shares with us the incredible truth that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" in God's image; intimately known, pursued and loved by Him; and that every day of our lives is mapped out in His divine purpose. Let's explore this scripture together and consider how it can be medicine to our own souls, as well as how we can apply it to our medical ethics, our practice, and care for our patients.
10:00 Welcome, Pray & Worship Session 1
10:15 Interview with Sam Orr
10:25 Bible teaching psalm 139 (Sam Orr)
11:00 CMF Updates (Mark Pickering)
11:20 Tea/coffee break (online book store available)
11:30 Seminar 1
12:15/30 – 13:00 Lunch break (During lunch break grab a bite to eat, stretch your legs, get a breath of fresh air and have a wee browse of our online bookstore. We will also be showing a short video from our friends at EMMS about a charity project in Nepal called the ‘Sunita project’ at 12.55 – make sure you tune in for this!)
13:00 Vision for Catalyst Groups in Scotland
13:20 Seminar 2
14:10 Stories from around Scotland – hear from some fellow CMF’rs around the country sharing their experiences in the last challenging year and find out briefly about the Saline Solution Course
14:20 Breakout rooms into small groups for prayer / discussion
14:50 Worship session 2 and closing remarks
15:00 The end!
Seminars:
Choose only two seminars
1. “One, Other, Either or Neither? Gender and the Christian Worldview" – Prof David Galloway
We’ll consider identity and sexuality from a Christian angle and discuss how best to view transgender ideology. A review of the relevant biblical passages will be summarised. A strategic approach to patients with gender dysphoria will be presented together with some tactics to confront the claims of transgender activism.
Professor David Galloway is a former president of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons in Glasgow and is actively engaged in the Christian public apologetics sphere particularly in his role as president of the Centre for Intelligent Design and chair of Logos Scotland.
2. A life worth of living? Disability and the ‘assisted dying’ debate – Dr Mark Pickering
Assisted dying’ remains a hot topic, with strong pushes to legalise it in the UK. Disability strongly intersects with these debates. Would it be a ‘merciful option’ or even empowering, for those with difficult, life limiting disabilities? Would legalising it make them feel more vulnerable and burdensome, creating a ‘duty to die’? How can legislation aimed initially only at the terminally ill avoid spreading to encompass the chronically ill and disabled? And if it did, would that be progress or a disastrous unintended consequence? How about ‘compassionate killing’ of those born with severe disabilities, as is becoming establishing in some countries? This seminar will examine all these challenging and current issues.
Dr Mark Pickering is the Chief Executive of CMF, and is based in London where he works as a prison GP.
3. “Testing and Knowing our Anxious Thoughts” – Dr Rob Waller
The penultimate verse of Psalm 139 sounds quite scary - what does it mean to have anxious thoughts and for God to know all about them? This session will give a psychological and theological overview of worry, guilt and perfectionism - of help in today’s stressful and uncertain times.
Dr Rob Waller is a consultant psychiatrist with NHS Lothian and a director of 'The Mind and Soul Foundation.’ He has written three books on these topics with IVP.
4. "What is ‘success’ as a Christian in the workplace?” – Drs Nagy & Nashwa Iskander (aka Dr Nashwa Matta)
We live and work in an environment saturated by striving for success and chasing targets. It’s not hard to see how that either leads to inflated (and yet fragile) egos, or a constant sense of burnout and disappointment. What does success mean, and how can we shift our perspective to see success as honouring God rather than ourselves? Psalm 139 tells us we have been fearfully and wonderfully made, acknowledges that all the days ordained for us have been written in God’s book, and asks Him to lead us in the way everlasting. We’ll look at how we can find fulfillment and satisfaction… and genuine success… amidst the constant challenges through seeking and submitting to God’s plan for our lives.
Drs Nagy & Nashwa Iskander were born in Egypt, studied medicine in Cairo, and moved to Scotland in 1989 for their higher medical training. Nagy practiced surgery for 25 years, and at present he is in full-time Christian ministry with a focus on community and children’s work, and apologetics. Nashwa is an associate specialist in Neonatology & Neurodisability at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. She serves with Nagy in their children’s ministry and sees her work as an important part of her ministry as she tries to help vulnerable infants and families in Scotland and Egypt.
5. “Christian Mentoring - Helping Us Thrive" – Dr Di Whitworth
This seminar will explore Christian mentoring and what its role might be in helping us to thrive and to ‘live life well’ at work, at home, in the wider world, and in our relationship with God.
Dr Di Whitworth (aka Di Hollow) is a GP partner at Sighthill Health Centre in Edinburgh as well as being a GP trainer. She also works as a spiritual director and teaches on spiritual direction courses through The Epiphany Group. In addition to this, Di helps to facilitate a mentoring scheme in her church, which currently has about 50 mentor and mentees.