We asked, “What is the Church here for?”

Worship and mission...to make disciples...to love God and our neighbours!

Worship at the heart...

Meaningful and diverse worship...continue to develop worship, involve others, for all-ages, new ideas and approaches together with tradition.

Old Parish service at 11.15am – survey (?) of regular attenders to see what time would suit best (10.30am, 11am, 11.15am), given that afterwards we intend to use full length of St. Modan’s Hall or the sanctuary for tea/coffee for fellowship, getting to know one another better in order to support one another and to cement the relationships that will take our Church forward. Elders need to lead the way and encourage this.

Hallglen Team

A new initiative (FAITH WORKS), monthly, early evening 6-7.30pm, last Saturday of month beginning in August, “Church in a new way”. Trial period to Christmas.

In Hallglen there is the opportunity to work with the Ettrick Dochart Community Hall committee to use the centre for Church-aided projects that make connections with folk in the community, including young people. Funding may be available from central church funds. We need people ready and willing to run with these ideas. We still operate Tuesday Drop-in – how can we build on this and in what other ways could we make connections in the Hallglen community?

Local Outreach Team

All Churches need to look at their particular situations/positions and connect with the surrounding community.

In the town centre we are surrounded by shops though there are a number of houses too within easy distance. The main thing we do in the centre is the M’eating Place cafe which is used often and regularly by many people. This is, in a very real sense, informal outreach – whilst we offer no formal services, people enjoy the personal touch they find here. People enter our building for lunches and for other clubs/meetings with all sorts of needs – we need to develop the building to make sure that people can have access to the help they need – a rich and full resource collection of where to find help through posters, leaflets, etc., easily available and in full view. (If we cannot be the resource then we can at least point towards the resource.)

We seek to have our building, including sanctuary, used for the good of the community around us in all its diversity. We could use the Church and grounds to highlight special events that will attract people from the streets – for example, red nose day event, Bicentenary fete, etc.

We have had some outreach to the shops and business community with cards at Christmas/Easter – we need to patiently build on this and find ways of connecting more with these people.

With the new-look grounds we need to make the best use of our historic setting, offering guided tours to the public and to schools. We need regular volunteers to be available to make the “Faw Kirk” more open for people to visit. Could we ask members to commit to a day at the Church each week or month? Much of the activity of a town centre Church happens during the day so we need to recruit the help of those who do not regularly work or work shifts or have retired. 

We need to consider and act on new ideas where there is willing...a chat on the sofa or the offer of a hug in the high street...the carrying of a cross down the street to plant in the grounds!

Christian Growth Team

We offer worship but we also need to encourage people to worship. Regular attendance of members is a first step, with elders leading the way – how can we encourage our members to attend regularly?

We then need to have regular initiatives to help our congregation attract people to the Church to join our fellowship and come to faith. (leaflets, invitations, special Sundays and events, etc)

At present we do not organise a regular prayer or Bible study group and often there are low numbers at “education” evenings...we need to find new ways to encourage people in prayer, new ways of connecting with the Bible, and new platforms in which we can discuss matters that are important to us all.

Church library – use or sell? Bookstall?  

Pastoral Care Team

Within the Church we care for one another and we need to bolster our Pastoral Visitor scheme – a meeting of all visitors at least once per year, perhaps more – the offer of more training/discussion evenings? We need to ask more of our PVs when they have housebound members in their PG. We need a better system of communication when people are in need and a better system to care for the bereaved. The more PVs we have then the less numbers we need to have in a PG – how do we recruit?

Youth Team

We have relatively small numbers of children and young people in our congregation but how can we support and encourage them?

BB; GB; Youth Station; S-Kidz; Creche; Family services, etc.

Primary Schools chaplaincy.

Christian Aid Team

As a Church we need to show real concern for those outwith our congregation, near and far, and be able to be a voice speaking out from a Christian perspective. How many of us, for example, are concerned about climate change and how this is affecting the planet and especially the effect it is having on the poor in the world? How many of us look at the Middle East and despair of peace coming between Israel and Palestine? How many of us see the plight of the poor on our television screens or at occasional campaigns and it touches our hearts? How many of us look at the big multinational companies earning millions and wondering if they should be paying more to help the poor? How many of us are concerned about these things but either do little about them or wonder how to do something meaningful about them? Christian Aid supports all of these things and more...we aim to be a “Christian Aid Church”, highlighting issues through posters and leaflets and information in our Church for all to see; seeking people within the Church who will actively help and campaign throughout the year; raising money may have its place but raising awareness is vital.

Al Sharooq Team

This is now our specific project overseas...some were able to visit Al Sharooq School for the Blind in Bethlehem, a place in constant need to help the children who attend the small school. Having met people there and seen the place, set in the heart of the Bethlehem area, surrounded by a very high security wall, then perhaps in some small way we can support this very real need. We need to contact the school, get regular updates, raise funds for specific projects (liaise with FSE Team below), encourage others ways to support the school. We need to make this a project the whole congregation know about and continue to know about. 

Finance Team

Continue to have overview of finances and encourage good stewardship; financial campaigns when necessary, including Gift Aid, Standing Orders, Giving by Will, etc.

Resource Co-ordination Team

Continue to take an overview and make recommendations for the Kirk Session to consider.

Buildings Management Team

Continue to care for all our buildings - maintenance and future projects.

Fundraising and Social Events Team

This will be needed as we look to fund buildings work, co-ordinate fundraising events and organise social events. (liaise with Al Sharooq Team above) We have had a number of events during the Bicentenary Year and it would be good to keep a programme of varied events going into the future.

Tea/coffee rota after morning worship? Celebration lunch on Sun 4^th Sept? Christmas Fayre.

Target certain Sundays for a lunch after worship – different styles – seek volunteers?