Earthblog

                                                             Page no 421

At Houston and within Houston and Killellan Kirk, the Kirk Session, along with elected members of the Congregational Board, met on 10^th January 2012 at 1930 hrs.

Rev Donald Campbell, Moderator, constituted the meeting in prayer and extended a warm welcome to Rev Alan Sorensen, Minister, Wellpark Mid Kirk, Greenock.

1. 1.The Moderator invited Mr Sorensen to address the meeting on his congregation’s experiences on the implementation of the Unitary form of Constitution, which Alan said was an integral part of the Church without Walls project. Changing from one form of Constitution to another can lead to initial difficulties but as far as his congregation was concerned these had been overcome quite quickly. He had found that it had given his congregation an opportunity to critically re-examine itself and an opportunity to consider the best way forward. Indeed some Elders saw the change of Constitution as an opportunity to revaluate their own commitment to theAfter answering a number of related questions, Mr Sorensen left the meeting having been thanked by the Moderator and the Kirk Session for giving of his time and for his interesting address. Following on from a number of questions from those present, the meeting proceeded to vote on whether or not we should now move towards the adoption of the Unitary form of Constitution. At this stage, the Moderator acknowledged the invaluable contribution made by the elected members of the Board to the life and work of our Church and beyond. He said that, on this occasion however, only members of the Kirk Session would be able to vote on this matter. Those in favour – 31, not in favour - 4. As a result of this vote, the Moderator said that the congregation, at the Stated Annual Meeting, would be asked to approve the change of Constitution. Thereafter, if approved, approval would be sought from Presbytery and the Church of Scotland.
2. 2.MINUTES.. Pages 416 – 420 were unanimously agreed, with any matters arising being dealt with on the agenda.
3. 3.CORRESPONDENCE. All correspondence from Presbytery and the Church of Scotland has been distributed to those involved and was being dealt with as necessary. Elders reports had been received from Allan Dawson (GB Junior section) and Kay Crawford (Sunday club, beginners section) which is dealt with at item 6.
4. 4.SAFEGUARDING/YOUTH Sandra Griffiths reported as follows:- a) On Sunday 6^th November a Safeguarding training/update session was held in the Church Hall. 23 people representing the Sunday Club, Behind the Scenes and Creche, Starzone, GB and all sections of theattended. b) On Sunday 27^th November the Presbytery Safeguarding trainers ran a session to advise and support the Kirk Session. This was to comply with a Deliverance of the 2010 General Assembly. The Minister and 30 Elders attended the session which was informative and helpful. Training will continue to be provided within Presbytery to cover those Elders who did not manage to attend our own session. Details can be found by checking the Presbytery Safeguarding website c) 3 more volunteers have been successfully recruited to the PVG Scheme and have been already approved by the Kirk Session. STARZONE. Due to work commitments Gill Gilmour is no longer able to lead Starzone but has offered to help  plan the activity days if this would be helpful. We have started to look for a replacement by intimating the vacancy in Church, in the February issue of the Kirk Record and by handing out flyers to our youth organisations. If you know of anyone who might be suitable please let us know.
5. 5.ELDER TRAINING. David McLay. Training has now been arranged for 5^th and 19^th February at 1330 hrs in the Church Hall. It is recommended that those who are participating should attend on both dates as the whole training package covers both days.
6. 6.SUNDAY CLUB. In Kay’s report on the beginners section of the Sunday club, she praised the dedication and high calibre staff who teach our children. She considers that greater publicity should be given to the teaching and facilities offered by our Sunday club through the various publicity mediums available to us. In order to further discuss the above matter it was proposed that the Sunday Club Elders , the Minister and the Kirk Record Editor should also attend a future meeting with Sunday Club teachers. The Session Clerk said that Caroline Morrison would be happy to help the Sunday club if required.
7. 7.PRESBYTERY REPORT – Roy Anderson reported on the Presbytery meeting held on 13^th December 2011. a) It was agreed to terminate the tenure at Lochwinnoch Parish Church and to encourage the linkage with Howwood whilst developing ecumenical links with Calder United Free Church .b) Very Rev Bill Hewitt will be demitting his charge at Greenock Westburn to join the interim Ministry team. c) Assessor Elders will be appointed to Paisley Abbey to assist in financial matters. d) Approval was granted to Houston and Killellan Kirk to redecorate the sanctuary at a cost of £24K, subject to Church of Scotland approval, and also for the installation of a visual system, the cost of which is to be agreed by the Congregational Board.
8. 8.AOCB a) Update on Church extension, Graveyard and Woodland car park. Iain Cameron talked of ongoing work and progress. After discussion, it was unanimously agreed that 1) the outline plans for the Woodland car park should be submitted to the Council Planning Dept for approval, 2) the outline of the proposed car park should be delineated with pegs to indicate the exact area and 3) all plans should now be displayed to the congregation. All costs involved in 1 and 2 above are within the limits of the Church of Scotland grant. b) OSCAR. It is hoped that approval will be granted before the next meeting. c) It was agreed that the musical instruments, funded by the Girl’s Brigade, should be retained for future use. d) It was agreed that Collections at the Communion services on 4^th March should be dedicated to the Blind school in Bethlehem and the Church of Scotland school in Jaffa. e) Elders were asked to consider whether only serving Elders should be seated on the chancel area at the two main Communion services and feedback to Moderator and S. Clerk. f) The Moderator said that he was to attend a meeting with Ministers from Linwood, St Machars/Ranfurly and Freeland to consider setting up a Parish grouping and would report back to the Kirk Session.
9. 9.Date of next meeting – 28th February- Joint meeting to ratify                                The Moderator closed the meeting with the benediction at 2130 hrs.

Rev Donald Campbell, Moderator                                              James McBeath, Session Clerk      Date