|
The Kirk Session met on Wednesday 13th. November for a regular
meeting. Everyone except Jamie was present and after opening
devotions the minutes of previous meetings were approved.
The first discussion centred round the proposed parish grouping of
churches around the lochside. Since our last meeting the central
committee in Edinburgh had indicated its support for the proposal.
However, while Arrochar, Luss and Kilmaronock-Gartocharn were still
in favour of the grouping, the Kirk Session at Alexandria had
unanimously opposed the proposed boundary changes and, as a result,
the presbytery had departed from the matter for the time being.
members expressed surprise at the decision of the Arrochar Session
partly because of the enthusiasm they had experienced at the joint
meeting there in August and partly because the original idea for the
parish grouping had come from the minister of Alexandria. However the
moderator suggested that it was best not to discuss the matter
further at this stage and just to wait an see what transpired. We had
more than enough to keep ourselves busy with and new opportunities
were opening up all the time.
Discussion then moved on to the autumn programme. The Wednesday
evenings at Arrochar provoked considerable debate. It was felt that
there was a problem about getting food from the hotel at the time we
wanted it it. Maybe, if the experiment were repeated, the meal should
be earlier in the evening, perhaps around 6 p.m. Similarly when it
came to content of the evening the majority favoured more teaching
in-put from the minister rather than discussion among members. It was
also reported that rehearsals were now underway for the musical
'Joseph' and it was hoped that this would lead to more of the younger
mums getting involved in the life of the Church.
The matter of the War Memorial was discussed. Naturally this is a
matter for the whole community, not just for the Church, but it was
reaffirmed that should the community wish to move the war memorial to
a situation within the Church grounds the Kirk Session would be
delighted were it to be sited just below the gate at the end of the
path which goes down to the lochside. It was also noted that two
trees in memory of Mr. Carson were to be planted in this area. These
were the gift of Elizabeth Findlay, Mr. Carson's daughter.
The completion of the Church restoration programme was noted. What a
lot had been achieved! So much, in fact, that it was hard to remember
how things used to be just three short years ago. But the entire
Church had been reconstructed both inside and out, only the walls
remained as they were and even these had been restored both inside
and out! Now we have a beautiful church, with a totally overhauled
roof, a building which has been re-harled on the outside and
refurbished inside. The windows have all been restored to their
original state and new heating and lighting systems installed.
Everything is so beautiful and tribute was paid to Jimmy Kelly who
has led the restoration team and to Marion Anderson who has led the
team of fund-raisers. In all some £91,000 has been raised and
spent on the project which would have cost many times that amount had
we had to pay tradesmen's wages. There are, of course, a number of
items which are on-going. The insurance repair to the tower will be
completed at the end of five weeks of good weather! A new window has
been commissioned to replace the Colquhoun window which is now
situated in the tower. A disabled access ramp will be fitted to the
church hall. And maintenance work to upgrade the church hall
(particularly its windows) will be part of next year's programme. For
now what is important is saying thank you to everyone who has helped
and one way of doing this is to produce a Christmas card and deliver
it to every household in the parish with out message of thanks on it.
It was agreed that we would do this. It was also noted that the
annual congregational meal in the Loch Long Hotel had been a marking
of the completion of the restoration project.
The Christmas programme was discussed and agreed:
Sunday 1st. December at 10.15 a.m. Service for the First Sunday in Advent.
Sunday 8th. December at 10.15 a.m. Service for the Second Sunday in
Advent with Holy Communion.
Sunday 15th. December at 10.15 a.m. Service for the Third Sunday in Advent.
Sunday 15th. December at 6.30 p.m. Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Sunday 22nd. December at 10.15 a.m. Service for the Fourth Sunday in Advent.
Sunday 22nd. December at 6.30 p.m. Christingle Service followed by
Congregational Christmas reception: Christmas Cake, sherry and shortbread.
Tuesday 24th. December at 5 p.m. Carol singing through the streets.
Tuesday 24th. December at 6.30 p.m. Short Christmas Eve service to
end the Carol singing and provide a service for those who will not
venture out late at night.
Tuesday 24th. December at 11.30 p.m. Christmas Eve Candle-light Service.
Wednesday 25th. December at 10 a.m. Christmas Day Service.
Sunday 29th. December at 10.15 a.m. Service of Music and Readings for Christmas.
Sunday 29th. December at 6.30 p.m. Memory Star Service.
Sunday 5th. January at 10.15 a.m. Epiphany Service.
Because it was, of necessity, affecting his parish work, the minister
outlined the tasks which he had been asked to undertake by the
presbytery both locally and on the central committees of the church.
It was agreed that it was good that our church is now playing a
fuller part in the life of the presbytery than it has done for some
considerable time.
Looking forward to next spring, the Kirk Session outlined plans for a
Lent Course which will run on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m to 8 p.m.
(with a meal at the new time of six). These will examine the Story of
our Church form Jesus' time until our own. These meetings will then
lead into a series of Holy Week Services which will run each evening
in the Church at 6 p.m.
The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday 12th. February at 7.30
p.m. but as the presbytery is sending out visiting teams to meet with
every Kirk Session as part of the presbytery planning process it may
well be necessary for us to arrange a special meeting to meet with
the visiting team appointed to us.
Further discussions of a more domestic nature kept the Session busy
until the hour of nine o'clock at which time the Session came to an
end with prayer.
|