1 Constitution
At Linlithgow and within the Kirk Hall of St Michael's Parish Church on Tuesday 12th April 2011, which date and place Kirk Session of St Michael's Parish Church Linlithgow met and was constituted with prayer and a reading from Scripture - Luke 19 verse 37.
The Moderator advised Kirk Session that Jim Francis is currently serving as a Chaplain in Afghanistan while his wife Loraine and children are in Cyprus - our thoughts and prayers are with them.
2 Sederunt and Apologies
As detailed on the attached sheets.
3 Minutes of previous meeting (15th February 2011)
The minute was agreed subject to the following amendments:
Page numbers to be added;
The wording on item 10 under Working Party to change to "Heating is costing £1500 per month at the present time; and
Item 8 should read Report from Presbytery.
4 Matters arising
There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
5 Agreeing of any other business to form item 11
Suzi Farrant - Holiday Club
6 Minister's Item
The Moderato has been in discussion with Peter Russell about reviving the St Michael's Lecture. This was an annual public lecture in the 1980s which could be called The Kirkgate Lecture if revived. The theme is likely to be around the subject of Faith and Power - moral questions in the exercise of power; a 21st century reformulation of 'church and state', and fit for a devolved Scotland. St Michael's will be the promoter as the church in the community. The anticipated audience would include people of all faiths and none and the venue could be the Burgh Halls in keeping with the audience in a civic space. The preference for speakers would be people who hold, or have recently held power, whether political, financial, military, media related and those that have wrestled with moral questions in their decision making processes from a faith perspective. The format would be 30-40 minutes talk with 20 minutes for a question and answer session with wine and cheese after. The costs would be approximately £100 for the rental of the South Hall, now called the Baillie Hardie Hall, £300 for catering with the company Glasshouse Catering and an Honorarium of £100, a total in the region of £500. The Moderator has made a provisional booking for Thursday 13th October, which avoids school holidays and any other local events.
There are currently three ideas to reduce the costs and explore ways to meet the costs from sources outside the general budget:
Hire the Kirk Hall or the Adam Room;
Fundraise; and
Try and secure a patron
Kirk Session discussed the proposal and it was supported in principle.
The venue was discussed and it was raised that the acoustics in the South Hall in the Burgh Halls may be an issue and the Main Hall there may be better. It was also raised that the Kirk Hall has been used for public events in the past, i.e. Hustings and would also be a good venue.
The idea of charging ticket money could be considered.
It was thought it might not be a good idea to have the wine and cheese given St Michael's is in the midst of a Stewardship campaign this year - it might be better to have teas and coffee to reduce costs.
If the proposal is to go ahead a Steering Committee will be formed to progress.
7 Team Reports
i. Fellowship Team - No report.
ii. Worship Team - There was no written team report. However Elma Birrell advised that completed questionnaires with views about the screen and projector have been returned. There are 2000 pieces of data to analyse by Marshall Green. Initial results show that a minimum of 64% agree or strongly agree with the six different ways in which we use the screen and projector. A fuller picture from all the data needs to drawn however.
The team have also been monitoring the Sunday afternoon services in the Kirk Hall. Some people have since returned to morning services at the Church after attending the afternoon service. Other attendees are very appreciative as they have difficulty accessing the Church.
iii. Business Team - There was no team report and Tom Chadwick advised the team have had their monthly meeting. There has been a lot of activity taking place with the inspection of the Church properties and checking of fire extinguishers etc. The income and expenditure figures up to March 2011 have been issued. There has been an increase in freewill offerings and a reduction in expenditure on heating and lighting.
iv. Education Team - No report.
v. Evangelism Team - No report.
vi. Pastoral Care Team - No report.
vii. Safeguarding - There was no report and Rona Molloy advised that the new disclosure forms are not yet available. Rona reminded elders of the need for parental or guardian's consent for photography of children.
viii. Stewardship - Stephen Blake advised that Margaret Henderson has now recruited the total number of Visitors required for the campaign.
Originally it was planned there would only be 2 visits required by Elders to deliver the newsletters but due to timetabling the Visitors will not be able to deliver the third newsletter and these will now need to be put through letter boxes by Elders. The newsletters have been made up for each district and are ready for collection at the end of the meeting.
Elders were asked to count the number of children or young people they have in their District, up to the age of 18, and let Stephen Blake or Suzi Farrant know. Suzi is preparing a letter for children and young people regarding the Stewardship campaign and this information would be useful for print runs etc.
Church pews on the south side of the Church will be moved to accommodate display boards prior to the services on Sunday 15th May. Members of the congregation who normally sit there will be told of the impending change.
8 Report from Presbytery
There was no written report. The Moderator advised Kirk Session that Derek Henderson is still recovering from illness. Jim Michie gave a full report from Presbytery which included an update on the newsletter being issued on the panel on Review and Reform, new Presbyterial systems on governance, planning and finance and the possibility of a national Stewardship programme in Autumn 2011.
9 Draft Twinning Agreement
The Moderator spoke to the Draft Twinning Agreement between ourselves and Holy Family Church. There will be 2 Arabic and 2 English Agreements signed on Sunday 22nd May whilst Father Samuel Barhoum is here at St Michael's.
Discussion took place on the wording of the agreement and suggested structure and wording amendments were made to The Moderator.
Kirk Session was in agreement with the Draft along with the agreed amendments. Rory Cameron proposed the Draft Twinning Agreement and Alison Murray seconded it. Kirk Session agreed.
It was agreed that the Twinning Agreement will be signed at the 9.30am service on the 22nd May and also at the 11.00am service.
The Clerk will make the suggested changes and send a copy to Samuel Barhoum and to Kirk Session which will be Draft 4.
Concern was expressed about costs of twinning - there will be no costs attaching to the twinning agreement. There will be a stand during the Stewardship campaign about our Twinning agreement and this can be explained on the display boards. There could also be an article in Crosswind to celebrate the signing which will reach the entire congregation.
Chris Collen asked if Kirk Session had formally agreed the Twinning, the initial decision was only to explore and pursue the possibility. The Moderator asked Kirk Session if they agree to the partnership and Twinning with the Holy Family Episcopal (Anglican) Church, Raineh, Galilee and St Michael's Parish Church of Scotland, Linlithgow. Kirk Session agreed unanimously.
10 Session Clerk's Report
- New Members
The Kirk Session admitted by resolution Mrs Catherine Paton of Cross House Flat. Mrs Paton is the wife of St Michael's Associate Minister Rev. John Paton.
- Correspondence
The Clerk confirmed receipt of thank you letters from the following:
Alison Wilkinson from Friends of Chogoria Hospital for the donation of £2095.10;
Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow of Mary's Meals for the donation of £404.76 from the retiring collection on the 30th January 2011;
Session Clerk, Muriel McKenzie, of Alistair Bennett's Church who was installed as the new Queen's chaplain at St Michael's on 31st March 2011; and
The Very Rev. John Cairns, The Dean of Chapel Royal in Scotland, for the use of St Michael's for the service on 31st March and to the Fellowship Team for the food and also the Choir.
Alan Miller who is currently taking a sabbatical due to work commitments will be based in Glasgow by the autumn and hopes to resume his elder's duties at that time.
The Ministry Team have received intimation from Rev. Gordon Currie, who has been a pastoral visitor for many years at St Michael's, to confirm he wishes to step back from visiting. The Clerk will write to Rev Currie to thank him for all his work.
The Clerk asked that elders remember in prayer our colleagues who are unwell at this time.
11 Any other items as agreed at item 5
Holiday Club - Suzi Farrant wanted to update Kirk Session on this year's Holiday Club. It will take place between 1st and 5th August in Linlithgow Academy. It will be in a different location within the Academy due to the building work taking place. The Holiday Club website is now officially open, if you are interested or know anyone that would be interested in volunteering please visit the website for all the information and to sign up at www.linlithgowchurchesholidayclub.org.uk. Last year over 200 children attended so a lot of volunteers will be needed.
The Moderator also mentioned at this time that Maureen Blake has stepped down from organising Fusion, the activities for Junior Church age children during holiday time. The Moderator thanked Maureen for all her work and asked members of Session to consider volunteering to take over the role.
12 Date of next meeting - Tuesday 17th May 2011.
There being no further business Kirk Session closed with the saying together of the Grace.
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