Kirk Session Reports

14 March 2005 (16 May 2005)

The Moderator, Rev Mike Frew, constituted the meeting and welcomed Rev David Currie, our Mission Consultant, and Ken Newton who had been invited to attend to contribute to a report on the "Large Church" conference, to the meeting.

Presbytery Visitors

Two members of the Presbytery of Lanark's Parish Mission Committee, Rev Ian Watson and Mrs Anna Aitken, were welcomed to the meeting. Their visit was part of a consultation exercise being conducted with all the congregations of the presbytery to gain data to inform planning decisions. Session was questioned on its knowledge of the history and parish of St John's.

Church Officer

Following Andrew Ruthven's resignation, Sandy Middleton had been approached and had accepted the post. Andrew's last day as church officer would be Easter Sunday, 27 March. It was agreed that a gift from the congregation would be presented and that the Session clerk, Graham Jackson, should write to Andrew expressing thanks for his service on behalf of the session and congregation.

Large Church Conference Report

This had been held on 22 January 2005. Ken Newton was invited to make a report.

The main speaker had been Robert Warren who talked about the "Seven Marks of a Healthy Church". (See pages 8-10). St John's had already started to move towards consideration of the state of congregational health. Since October last year, there have been Elders' meetings to discuss concerns (see below); the Learning, Living Prayer programme; investment of legacy fund, including the appointment of a Mission consultant.

Report from Elders' Meetings

The main concern Elders had was over visiting. They felt dispirited and disheartened, and had a sense of failure. Many felt that much time was wasted in attempting to visit uninterested, nominal members. Some elders were prioritising visits to those where a "purpose" to the visit was perceived. Some made suggestions that "specialised" visiting teams, not necessarily exclusively formed of Elders, could be developed. There was also a feeling that an Elder should not be his or her own family's Elder.

No formal proposals were made regarding visiting, although several suggestions for future consideration were made.

Moderator's Report

Street Level: Chris Shanks and Rae Warnock were retiring from the Management Committee. Although these are not Session appointments, it was felt that Session should express its gratitude for the sterling service of both.

Amendment Lists: Difficulties in the timely distribution of these to Elders prior to the publication and delivery of the church magazine were raised. The minister and Session Clerk would pursue the matter.

Recording of Service/Sound: The team that had been set up to operate the sound system and make recordings for housebound members had been reduced to virttually one person (John Stratton) over time. Volunteers were to be sought to re-instate the team.

Parish Grouping: Liz Barthram (who was already secretary to the Steering Group) would be St John's fourth member of the Steering Group, along with Mike Frew, Graham Jackson and Ken Newton.

16 May 2005 (14 March 2005)

Session met in the church as the large hall had been set out for the Christian Aid cafe.

Session were advised that South Lanarkshire Council had approved a freeze on the rent for CHOICES premises until May 2006.

Session was asked by another church session to write to the Moderator of the General Assembly to encourage him to broker a meeting between PM Tony Blair and US President George Bush to consider ways to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.

Report from Elders' Meetings (part 2)

Session Clerk, Graham Jackson, provide further feedback from meetings held at the beginning of the year. In response to the criticism that Session meetings tended to go on too long, it was proposed that a guillotine be introduced, bringing an end to meetings normally at 9:30 pm, although Session could agree to suspend this rule at any time where it deemed it necessary. To further speed up meetings, it was proposed that reports and other discussion papers be issued to Elders in advance of meeting so as to free time from listening to verbal reports. It was also suggested that the Moderator be more strict on what was allowed under "Other Business".

Being an Elder in Today's Church

Graham Jackson reported on this meeting, held in Kirkton Church.

Discussion of the spiritual role of the elder identified such aspects as: praying, loving concern, being called/led to eldership, serving, leadership, visiting. Concerns appeared to parallel findings from our own Elders' meetings. The same issues of concern re visiting and use of time were raised. Solutions included considering purpose visiting and team visiting - both of which had been proposed by our own elders.

Moderator's Report

New members - Nine new members were being prepared for full membership on Sunday 29 May. It was noted that this was the largest group for some time.

Mission consultancy - David Currie had provided much helpful input in the time he has been with us. This will continue, although there still remains an uncertainty caused by changes in the organisation of Church of Scotland management structures. Assuming he is still with us, David will address a plenary conference of elders on Saturday 12 November at which findings of his consultancy period will be presented and proposals made as to way forward for St John's.

General Assembly - As Lanark Presbytery Clerk, Mike Frew reported that he was to be a commissioner to the Assembly this year.

Christian Counselling

Alan Grant gave a report (read the report here). After discussion, Session agreed to support the formation of a Management Committee.

Presbytery Report

Reorganisation within the Church of Scotland - Council of World Mission budget had been cut. This would reduce the number of overseas missionary partners who could be supported. Lanark Presbytery asked Sessions to express views.

National Archive of Scotland - are collecting historic documents, which includes the older Minutes books of Session meetings. The text would be digitised and available on request.