Parish News Round-up

Thursday March 23 2017

Our regular round-up of news received from churches.

Please send items of parish news to magazine@lifeandwork.org or Life and Work, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN. Digital photographs should not be reduced. Please check the quality of your pictures: images which are blurry or too dark cannot be used. If there are children in any picture please confirm that their parents or guardians have given permission for publication.

The wonders of mobile phone technology recently allowed the congregation at Kinross Parish Church to see photographs of their food aid to the village of Cape Maclear, Malawi being distributed only days before – and to receive messages of thanks from residents.

The church has a connection with Cape Maclear as it is the original home of Billy Samanyika, a member with his wife Sarah at Kinross for some years. They now live again in Malawi and on a visit back to Kinross last year they spoke about the failure of the 2016 harvest because of severe drought.

The church decided to help by sending £1,000 to be spent on buying food when this was required. By February food had run out for many, so Billy, Sarah and their children went to Cape Maclear to help the Village Organisation Committee distribute this food to those most in need.

Sending photographs of the day from the beautiful village, which lies on the shores of Lake Malawi, Sarah Samanyika said to Kinross Parish Church: “ Heart-felt thanks for the generous donation. Over 200 families will now have food until they harvest their crops. Really, I cannot describe how moving this was. Aid being handed directly to those in need. Truly amazing.”

 Auchterderran Parish Church in Fife is to host an open day next month to celebrate the completion of major repairs.

The 2013 quinquennial survey identified the church roof, stonework and eight stained glass windows as being in urgent need of repair; while a crypt in the churchyard was in such dangerous condition that it had to be restored or demolished.

The church, part of the united Auchterderran Kinglassie Parish, successfully applied for £96,000 each from the Heritage Lottery Fund Places of Worship Grants and Historic Environment Scotland, along with £5000 each from The Baird Trust, The Ferguson Bequest and Scotland’s Churches Trust; and a further £48,000 from a separate Heritage Lottery Fund pot for the crypt. Infinis Wind Turbine fund granted £1,000 to cover the cost of an information plaque and plinth for the churchyard.

The completion of the project was delayed when woodworm was discovered; however the treatment for that is now almost complete and the congregation, led by locum minister the Rev Tilly Wilson, can now plan their return to the building.

During the project, links have been formed to the local history group and a youth group, and the congregation intends to build on those links.

A 56-page booklet on the history and heritage of the parish and church has been produced and will be launched at the open day on Saturday April 8. The church will also be open to the public every Sunday after morning service and on Thursday afternoons over the summer.

Scone Boys’ Brigade raised £278 for Giraffe, a Perth-based not-for-profit company which offers employment activities to people with mental ill-health, disabilities and other disadvantages in the workplace.

The senior boys had worked with Giraffe as part of their work towards the Queen’s Badge, and organised a quiz evening to raise the money. The cheque was handed over at a special service in Scone New Church on Sunday March 19.

A communicants’ course at Stair Church in Ayrshire, organised by the locum minister Ian Jamieson, had a happy outcome when on February 19 six new members were admitted to the roll. 

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