Our interim minister is Gordon McCracken. You can call him on 01387 253877.Church news
Meeting space results
Background
Over the summer months members of the congregation were invited to take part in a survey about creating a meeting space at the back of the church. 88 people submitted their views and here are some of the main issues: Capacity: The vast majority recognise that we don’t need all the pews in the church even for future growth.
Purpose of the church building: Opinion was very evenly balanced about whether the church should be used solely as a place of worship or if it should also be a place to encourage informal discussions before and after worship.
Making changes: There were about equal numbers of people who thought that there
should be no changes to the church because it is an historic building and those who thought it was okay to change the building to suit our need for a place for fellowship after a church
service.
Other options: There were a number of different suggestions for the layout of the back of the church or removing the front pews for a meeting space Board discussion and decision
The board discussed the survey results in detail at its meeting in October. It was recognised that the church halls are across a busy road and attempts to encourage fellowship in the hall before and after services have not been successful. So if we want to support fellowship it would need to be in the same building as the worship service - the success of the services held in the hall on the last Thursday of the month, and which are followed by a light lunch, were seen to be a good model. The Board also recognised that, while there was support for creating a meeting space in the church, there were very strong feelings against removing the pews at the rear of the church to do so. It was therefore agreed not to create a meeting space in the church building but to increase other opportunities for worship, eg making greater use of the halls so people could come together for fellowship and discussion before/after the service/event. The Kirk Session will therefore consider this decision in due course. A copy of the full report considered by the Board is available on request – please contact the clerk on 07796 044903 or by e-mail at elisabeth.manson@btinternet.com.
Over the summer months members of the congregation were invited to take part in a survey about creating a meeting space at the back of the church. 88 people submitted their views and here are some of the main issues: Capacity: The vast majority recognise that we don’t need all the pews in the church even for future growth.
Purpose of the church building: Opinion was very evenly balanced about whether the church should be used solely as a place of worship or if it should also be a place to encourage informal discussions before and after worship.
Making changes: There were about equal numbers of people who thought that there
should be no changes to the church because it is an historic building and those who thought it was okay to change the building to suit our need for a place for fellowship after a church
service.
Other options: There were a number of different suggestions for the layout of the back of the church or removing the front pews for a meeting space Board discussion and decision
The board discussed the survey results in detail at its meeting in October. It was recognised that the church halls are across a busy road and attempts to encourage fellowship in the hall before and after services have not been successful. So if we want to support fellowship it would need to be in the same building as the worship service - the success of the services held in the hall on the last Thursday of the month, and which are followed by a light lunch, were seen to be a good model. The Board also recognised that, while there was support for creating a meeting space in the church, there were very strong feelings against removing the pews at the rear of the church to do so. It was therefore agreed not to create a meeting space in the church building but to increase other opportunities for worship, eg making greater use of the halls so people could come together for fellowship and discussion before/after the service/event. The Kirk Session will therefore consider this decision in due course. A copy of the full report considered by the Board is available on request – please contact the clerk on 07796 044903 or by e-mail at elisabeth.manson@btinternet.com.
Posted on Dec 2 2008 at 03:13
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