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St Columba's Parish Profile
United in Christ’s
love and open to renewal by His Spirit, we welcome all to share the joy of worship and proclaim the Gospel through our words
and actions’
Mission Statement
Our Vision
Our Kirk Session has agreed that we should work to:
† Strengthen our faith and develop a closer relationship with God
† Be more confident to talk about our faith† Continue to get to know better our fellow members and our extended family
† Find ways to reach out in faith to the community and to try to increase their awareness of and their belief in God
† Strive to work more closely with the other Churches in the area
† Have a greater involvement in the community We look forward to welcoming a new Minister to work with us in shaping our plans that will achieve our Vision
Mission Statement
Our Vision
Our Kirk Session has agreed that we should work to:
† Strengthen our faith and develop a closer relationship with God
† Be more confident to talk about our faith† Continue to get to know better our fellow members and our extended family
† Find ways to reach out in faith to the community and to try to increase their awareness of and their belief in God
† Strive to work more closely with the other Churches in the area
† Have a greater involvement in the community We look forward to welcoming a new Minister to work with us in shaping our plans that will achieve our Vision
MINISTRY TEAM
Under
the current Presbytery Plan there is provision for a Minister and full time Parish Assistance.
Our Worship
† Our worship begins at 11.00am. We celebrate communion on the last Sunday of every month apart from July. The Common Cup containing Sherry is used. Praise is mainly from CH4 with occasional hymns from other books.
† We have a Choir with 14 regular members who lead praise every Sunday but periodically have extras. A choral introit starts each service and an occasional anthem or instrumental piece forms the basis of its musical contribution to worship.
† Our congregation averages 130 each week and we record the service to enable those members unable to attend to receive an audio tape and so share in worship.
† We are fortunate in having a good nucleus of young people and also enthusiastic leaders and are very proud of our Junior Church. It meets every Sunday during school terms. The first 15 minutes of Sunday morning worship is a family period, including a children’s address. Thereafter, the young people meet in the Church halls for the remainder of the service. We cater for all age groups with a crèche for the under threes. Each Junior Church stage follows a programme suited to its needs and development of the young people therein. Members of the Junior Church regularly participate in family worship with contributions of prayers, readings, music and drama.
† Outwith school terms we run a Holiday Sunday School, providing different activities for all ages during morning worship.
† Once a month our Ministry team shares in conducting a Service in the local sheltered housing complex.
Kirk Session and Congregational
Board
Our Kirk Session currently has 33 elders (10 men and 23 women). We have three Session Clerks who work as a team alongside the Minister. Our forward thinking Kirk Session have recently redeveloped our Pastoral Care System, moving away from the traditional based Elders Districts to a more focused approach. A Home Visiting Team and Telephone Contact Team, who call members twice a year, help to support the work of the Minister.
Our Congregational Board has 10 elected members, 13 Elders and our Minister. Significant improvements have been carried out to the buildings in recent years, which have been made possible through considerable fundraising events on behalf of the Congregation, together with substantial grants received from Historic Scotland and the Lottery Fund.
Our People
Our congregation has a mixture of ages who work well together reaching out to members through the Flower Ministry and Hospital Visiting Teams.
Our Junior Church has been able to regularly partner with Boys Brigade and Brownies to host Christmas parties and outings, an annual day trip away and many youth weekends including regular visits to Crossover and Frenzy.
Having also run a monthly youth night for several years youth leaders from all these organisations are currently reviewing our children and young peoples’ provision and seeking the views of families in our community in order to serve their needs and share the gospel.
Historically, the Ministry team has had a good relationship with local schools sharing in assemblies, class work and some social evenings. They also provide pastoral care for staff and pupils.
We have run a Summer Mission for the past 14 years following Scripture Union holiday material. These have attracted children from the feeder primary schools who don’t normally attend morning worship. This has been a great source of outreach and provided support, development and fellowship among the leaders.
We are also eager to support the other Churches in the town in their youth work and encourage our young people to mix with other young Christians. We are also involved in supporting G.R.O.W. (Glenrothes Regional Outreach Worker), - a project employing a youth worker for schools and churches which was set up and is administered by the towns’ churches (all denominations). We support, both by leaders, children and young people events run by GROW and this has led to links between churches youth leaders and young people. As a result we have partnered with one of the churches in our parish grouping to run a Youth Christianity Explored Course, which will be repeated again this year.
Our quarterly newsletter provides vital information on developments in the life of the Church and family news and is distributed to every member of the congregation.
Our Kirk Session currently has 33 elders (10 men and 23 women). We have three Session Clerks who work as a team alongside the Minister. Our forward thinking Kirk Session have recently redeveloped our Pastoral Care System, moving away from the traditional based Elders Districts to a more focused approach. A Home Visiting Team and Telephone Contact Team, who call members twice a year, help to support the work of the Minister.
Our Congregational Board has 10 elected members, 13 Elders and our Minister. Significant improvements have been carried out to the buildings in recent years, which have been made possible through considerable fundraising events on behalf of the Congregation, together with substantial grants received from Historic Scotland and the Lottery Fund.
Our People
Our congregation has a mixture of ages who work well together reaching out to members through the Flower Ministry and Hospital Visiting Teams.
Our Junior Church has been able to regularly partner with Boys Brigade and Brownies to host Christmas parties and outings, an annual day trip away and many youth weekends including regular visits to Crossover and Frenzy.
Having also run a monthly youth night for several years youth leaders from all these organisations are currently reviewing our children and young peoples’ provision and seeking the views of families in our community in order to serve their needs and share the gospel.
Historically, the Ministry team has had a good relationship with local schools sharing in assemblies, class work and some social evenings. They also provide pastoral care for staff and pupils.
We have run a Summer Mission for the past 14 years following Scripture Union holiday material. These have attracted children from the feeder primary schools who don’t normally attend morning worship. This has been a great source of outreach and provided support, development and fellowship among the leaders.
We are also eager to support the other Churches in the town in their youth work and encourage our young people to mix with other young Christians. We are also involved in supporting G.R.O.W. (Glenrothes Regional Outreach Worker), - a project employing a youth worker for schools and churches which was set up and is administered by the towns’ churches (all denominations). We support, both by leaders, children and young people events run by GROW and this has led to links between churches youth leaders and young people. As a result we have partnered with one of the churches in our parish grouping to run a Youth Christianity Explored Course, which will be repeated again this year.
Our quarterly newsletter provides vital information on developments in the life of the Church and family news and is distributed to every member of the congregation.
Our
Organisations
We have a number of highly valued and active Church organisations/groups including:
Guild Boys Brigade Scottish Country Dancing
Little Fishes Prayer Group Grapevine Café
In addition, a couple of our members organise ‘Sunshine Tours’, coach excursions for Parishioners and friends to see places of interest across Scotland and visits to the theatre. This is very popular and provides outreach and fellowship both within and outwith the congregation on a social basis.
A number of our men play football every Sunday morning before the service with ages ranging from 16 to over 50.
In addition, our Church provides a venue for the senior Guides.
We have a number of highly valued and active Church organisations/groups including:
Guild Boys Brigade Scottish Country Dancing
Little Fishes Prayer Group Grapevine Café
In addition, a couple of our members organise ‘Sunshine Tours’, coach excursions for Parishioners and friends to see places of interest across Scotland and visits to the theatre. This is very popular and provides outreach and fellowship both within and outwith the congregation on a social basis.
A number of our men play football every Sunday morning before the service with ages ranging from 16 to over 50.
In addition, our Church provides a venue for the senior Guides.
Our Finances
Over the past five years we have met all our financial commitments and Ministry, Mission and Presbytery contributions have been met in full. We make regular and generous donations to special appeals and charitable organisations. The income of the Church has increased satisfactorily over this period, which has allowed us to complete Phases 1 and 2 of our building improvement programme. Our general income for the last year, £65,600, together with a designated fabric maintenance fund income of £8,400, allowed us to meet all commitments and increase our reserves to currently around six months expenditure. Our ability to meet these commitments has been helped by strict budgetary and procurement controls and by determined efforts of members and fundraisers.
Our Parish
St Columba’s Church and Parish are situated within Glenrothes. This town is a thriving community of 56,000 inhabitants and is located 8 miles north of Kirkcaldy. There are over 10,000 people living in the Parish but a number of our 520 members live outwith the Parish boundaries.
Within the Parish there are three primary schools, a nursery school, a special needs school, a high school and a College of Further Education. There are also Residential and Nursing homes, sheltered Housing complexes, along with a Health Centre. Glenrothes is also home to a small local hospital for the elderly and chronically ill.
Over the past five years we have met all our financial commitments and Ministry, Mission and Presbytery contributions have been met in full. We make regular and generous donations to special appeals and charitable organisations. The income of the Church has increased satisfactorily over this period, which has allowed us to complete Phases 1 and 2 of our building improvement programme. Our general income for the last year, £65,600, together with a designated fabric maintenance fund income of £8,400, allowed us to meet all commitments and increase our reserves to currently around six months expenditure. Our ability to meet these commitments has been helped by strict budgetary and procurement controls and by determined efforts of members and fundraisers.
Our Parish
St Columba’s Church and Parish are situated within Glenrothes. This town is a thriving community of 56,000 inhabitants and is located 8 miles north of Kirkcaldy. There are over 10,000 people living in the Parish but a number of our 520 members live outwith the Parish boundaries.
Within the Parish there are three primary schools, a nursery school, a special needs school, a high school and a College of Further Education. There are also Residential and Nursing homes, sheltered Housing complexes, along with a Health Centre. Glenrothes is also home to a small local hospital for the elderly and chronically ill.
Our Buildings
Our Church is situated in the centre of the town and is a focal point for the community. The Church was built in 1960 and is of a modern design and boasts a very fine mural by Alberto Morocco and a single manual Walker pipe organ.
Our Church can seat up to 600 people and the generally pleasant surroundings make for a relaxed atmosphere during worship. In October 2004 Historic Scotland made the Church a Category A listed building.
In addition to the sanctuary we have a halls complex which is extensively used and comprises a room used as a small Chapel, a vestry, an office, small hall, large hall, kitchen and toilets.
We have modern facilities, which allow a wide variety of uses for the Church and community. This has attracted increased use by outside organisations, ranging from Guide Dog Puppy Training, Slimming Classes and various fitness groups catering for young and old.
Our Church is situated in the centre of the town and is a focal point for the community. The Church was built in 1960 and is of a modern design and boasts a very fine mural by Alberto Morocco and a single manual Walker pipe organ.
Our Church can seat up to 600 people and the generally pleasant surroundings make for a relaxed atmosphere during worship. In October 2004 Historic Scotland made the Church a Category A listed building.
In addition to the sanctuary we have a halls complex which is extensively used and comprises a room used as a small Chapel, a vestry, an office, small hall, large hall, kitchen and toilets.
We have modern facilities, which allow a wide variety of uses for the Church and community. This has attracted increased use by outside organisations, ranging from Guide Dog Puppy Training, Slimming Classes and various fitness groups catering for young and old.
Our Manse
Our Church manse is a modern detached villa situated in a quiet cul-de-sac on a private housing estate one mile from the Church and the other churches in our parish grouping.
The house comprises an entrance hall, 2 public rooms, dining area, 4 bedrooms (master en-suite), bathroom, cloakroom and double garage. It has a security system and gas central heating. Manageable gardens are situated to the front and rear of the house. The house is in good condition but an ongoing maintenance plan is in place.
Our Church manse is a modern detached villa situated in a quiet cul-de-sac on a private housing estate one mile from the Church and the other churches in our parish grouping.
The house comprises an entrance hall, 2 public rooms, dining area, 4 bedrooms (master en-suite), bathroom, cloakroom and double garage. It has a security system and gas central heating. Manageable gardens are situated to the front and rear of the house. The house is in good condition but an ongoing maintenance plan is in place.
Parish Grouping
In 2009 St Columba’s, St Ninian’s and Leslie Trinity Churches were asked to form a Parish Grouping.
At that time there were three ministers, one deaconess and one parish assistant. For the past two years the concept of Parish Grouping has been developed and discussed at length.A Steering Committee was formed and it has been meeting regularly to plan the future events, resolve difficulties and generally encourage the three churches to be involved as a team. The weaknesses in one church may well be strength in another and there is no doubt that we can be stronger together.
Our mission statement is, ‘Three Churches – one family’ and slowly this is becoming more and more of a reality.
The Presbytery Plan has resulted in Leslie Trinity Church losing a minister (but will still retain its status) and St. Columba’s Church has the present vacancy. At the moment, the Grouping only has one minister and a parish assistant in post. This situation has created a real need to co-operate and work together and there is an opportunity to develop the concept into something of value – without detracting from the identity of each individual church.
In 2009 St Columba’s, St Ninian’s and Leslie Trinity Churches were asked to form a Parish Grouping.
At that time there were three ministers, one deaconess and one parish assistant. For the past two years the concept of Parish Grouping has been developed and discussed at length.A Steering Committee was formed and it has been meeting regularly to plan the future events, resolve difficulties and generally encourage the three churches to be involved as a team. The weaknesses in one church may well be strength in another and there is no doubt that we can be stronger together.
Our mission statement is, ‘Three Churches – one family’ and slowly this is becoming more and more of a reality.
The Presbytery Plan has resulted in Leslie Trinity Church losing a minister (but will still retain its status) and St. Columba’s Church has the present vacancy. At the moment, the Grouping only has one minister and a parish assistant in post. This situation has created a real need to co-operate and work together and there is an opportunity to develop the concept into something of value – without detracting from the identity of each individual church.
Staffing levels within the Grouping will be two Ministers, Parish Assistance (2) and one Reader assigned to the
Grouping.
Leslie
Trinity Church
Since the 1950’s Leslie Trinity has been a united congregation of three former Church of Scotland congregations within Leslie.
The congregation of Leslie Trinity are at the moment in a period of a Continuing Vacancy following the departure of their last Minister at the end of his 5-year tenure on 1 June 2011, they are not allowed to call a new Minister due to financial constraints within the Church of Scotland.
The congregation still retain their own church buildings, Congregational Board and Kirk Session.
At the moment a Reader attached to the Parish Grouping conducts 3 Sunday morning services a month. It is planned that, when they are fully in place, the ministry teams from the other 2 churches, together possibly with a worship team, will cover the remainder. At present, pulpit supply is being utilised when required.
Leslie is a thriving town on the outskirts of Glenrothes and about 3 miles from St Columba’s. We currently have a guild, choir and Young church along with a café that runs once a week. We also run a community lunch club once a week that caters for the older people in our community giving them value for money lunches.
Outreach is also achieved by regular monthly services at a local nursing home.
We also have two local schools in our area namely Leslie Primary and Glenwood High School. One of our visions is to be a church at the heart of the community. With that in mind we are currently looking at a feasibility of restructuring our church buildings to include café, cyber café, youth centre, life long learning centre and meeting rooms to serve the community better.
This is a large project and we hope and pray that we can make it happen in the future. Any further information on our profile, history or events can be found on our website www.leslietrinitychurch.co.uk
Since the 1950’s Leslie Trinity has been a united congregation of three former Church of Scotland congregations within Leslie.
The congregation of Leslie Trinity are at the moment in a period of a Continuing Vacancy following the departure of their last Minister at the end of his 5-year tenure on 1 June 2011, they are not allowed to call a new Minister due to financial constraints within the Church of Scotland.
The congregation still retain their own church buildings, Congregational Board and Kirk Session.
At the moment a Reader attached to the Parish Grouping conducts 3 Sunday morning services a month. It is planned that, when they are fully in place, the ministry teams from the other 2 churches, together possibly with a worship team, will cover the remainder. At present, pulpit supply is being utilised when required.
Leslie is a thriving town on the outskirts of Glenrothes and about 3 miles from St Columba’s. We currently have a guild, choir and Young church along with a café that runs once a week. We also run a community lunch club once a week that caters for the older people in our community giving them value for money lunches.
Outreach is also achieved by regular monthly services at a local nursing home.
We also have two local schools in our area namely Leslie Primary and Glenwood High School. One of our visions is to be a church at the heart of the community. With that in mind we are currently looking at a feasibility of restructuring our church buildings to include café, cyber café, youth centre, life long learning centre and meeting rooms to serve the community better.
This is a large project and we hope and pray that we can make it happen in the future. Any further information on our profile, history or events can be found on our website www.leslietrinitychurch.co.uk
St Ninian’s Church
St Ninian’s Church, one of the partners in the parish grouping, is actively involved in the community. Along with the Sunday’s services of worship supported by a choir and a praise band and provision for crèche, primary and secondary school ages, the church is open most days of the week for various activities. They include a Day Care for the elderly, Oasis Café, Parent/Carer & Toddler Group, the Guild, Open House, Carpet Bowling, Dance Fitness, Prayer Hour, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, Target Challenge, Weight Watchers, The Kingdom Credit Union. St Ninian’s Charity Shop and Café located in the local precinct was set up by the church and provides affordable goods and food. The distribution of food parcels to those in need is provided by the Pastoral Care Team via the generous donations from the congregation in liaison with the Social Work Dept, Schools and Health Centre. It is an eco friendly church, promoting recycling and supporting Traidcraft with a weekly stall.
Any further information on our Church can be found on our website.
www.stninian.co.uk
St Ninian’s Church, one of the partners in the parish grouping, is actively involved in the community. Along with the Sunday’s services of worship supported by a choir and a praise band and provision for crèche, primary and secondary school ages, the church is open most days of the week for various activities. They include a Day Care for the elderly, Oasis Café, Parent/Carer & Toddler Group, the Guild, Open House, Carpet Bowling, Dance Fitness, Prayer Hour, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, Target Challenge, Weight Watchers, The Kingdom Credit Union. St Ninian’s Charity Shop and Café located in the local precinct was set up by the church and provides affordable goods and food. The distribution of food parcels to those in need is provided by the Pastoral Care Team via the generous donations from the congregation in liaison with the Social Work Dept, Schools and Health Centre. It is an eco friendly church, promoting recycling and supporting Traidcraft with a weekly stall.
Any further information on our Church can be found on our website.
www.stninian.co.uk
