June

29 June: United Worship Service (Orwell Church at 10.30am) followed by Stated Annual Meeting.

25 June: Kinross-shire Parish Eldership Meeting - Orwell Church at 7.30pm.

11 June: Kirk Session Trustees' Meeting - Fossoway Church at 7.30pm.

 

May

7 May: Kirk Session Meeting in Fossoway Church at 7.30pm.

Session approved:

• Jaffrey Weir continuing as Interim Session Clerk.                                                                                                   
• Anne Miller to be appointed permanently to Roll-keeper.
• Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance as recipient of May/June communion offering.

£1,490 & gift aid has been received from the March communion retiring offering for Mercy Ships. 

 

April

"At the congregational meeting on Wednesday evening (23rd) the following people from across the united parish were elected to form the Nominating Committee:

Convenor: Douglas Walker    Clerk: Cara Chalmers                                                                                                                                          David Aird, Fiona Eastop, Brenda Fraser, Brenda Frier, Alan Harper, Sarah Kendrick, Rob Packham, Shona Sutherland, Linda Thomson, Rosemary Tolson, Luke Wilson. 

Their task will be to look for the right person to be the second full-time minister for Kinross-shire who will work from the Manse in Crook of Devon (with primary responsibility for the worshipping congregation at Fossoway) but will also exercise ministry in the wider community across Kinross-shire.

The Committee will first meet with the Presbytery Advisory Committee to discuss the process of searching for a minister. They will decide whether to advertise and/or to seek recommendations for suitable candidates. In due course they may set a closing date for applications and then may decide to hold interviews and/or to go and hear ministers preach in their own church or in a neutral venue. We should not expect the process to be a hurried one and their deliberations must remain absolutely confidential, so we should not expect anything more than the most general of updates in the coming months.

In due course, when the Nominating Committee is satisfied that they have been led to the right person they will invite them to be Sole Nominee. The Nominee will then conduct worship at one or more services in Kinross-shire and you as a congregation will vote on whether or not to elect them. A Call will then be made available for signing and the Presbytery will be asked to sustain the Call and induct the new minister.

Please be patient but above all be prayerful in the months ahead."    Extract from Minister's letter of 27 April

 

9 April: Kirk Session Meeting in Kinross Church

After a respectful and open debate, the Kinross-shire Kirk Session voted to remain with the historic and current position of the Church of Scotland on questions of human sexuality.

 

March

19 March: Kirk Session Meeting in Kinross Church

The Kirk Session updated the membership roll and welcomed four new members and a new adherent. Young people are to be encouraged to be on the electoral roll and to be put forward for the Nominating Committee for the vacancy of a second minister for the new parish.

• Parish Profile: A group was appointed to prepare a Parish Profile for the vacancy.

• Cleish Manse: A group was appointed to inspect the manse for the vacancy.

• Edicts: The Congregation has since been read these Edicts, relating to a decision to be taken by the Kirk Session on 9 April on Ministers in Civil Partnership or Same-sex Marriage and a Congregational Meeting on Wednesday, 23rd April at 7.30pm in Kinross Church to elect a Nominating Committee of thirteen.

• Finance: A Finance group and convener were approved.

• Grant: Presbytery has awarded us £800 towards printing and distributing a leaflet about the new united congregation.

• Church Buildings: Cleish and Portmoak churches have been surveyed for valuation purposes.

• Elders: Active Elders are to confirm with the Session Clerk which teams they wish to be part of: Worship & Discipleship; Youth & Families; Fellowship & Pastoral; Outreach & Community; Service (with sub groups for Admin & Comms, Finance, and Property). These groups will report to the Kirk Session. Elders on the Kirk Session are also the Trustees under charity law. 

 

February

26 February - Presbytery Advisory Committee meeting with the Kirk Session. Meeting of the Kirk Session with the three representatives of the Presbytery appointed to advise us in the search for the second full-time minister in the parish. The Rev Mairi Perkins from the parish of Ardoch and Blackford, the Rev Fraser Penny, minister of Dunkeld Cathedral, and Mr Ed Morton, an elder from St Ninian's Old Parish Church in Stirling who is also the depute Presbytery Clerk, will journey with us through the vacancy process. This initial meeting will help the Kirk Session to create a parish profile which will be used in advertising for the new minister and also to ensure that we are on top of the formal processes, including the drawing up of an electoral roll and the election of a nominating committee that is representative of the congregation. 

 

January 2025

30 January - Kirk Session Meeting, Orwell Church

New Structure: Progress was made on a new governance structure of a smaller Kirk Session, of around 12 members meeting regularly and acting as the formal Trustees, and a wider ‘eldership’ of all active elders meeting four times a year. A suggested structure is to be submitted to Presbytery and the church’s law department.

New Teams: The work of the church will be divided into five teams reporting to the Kirk Session: Worship and Discipleship; Youth and Families; Fellowship and Pastoral; Outreach and Community; Service (with Administration and Communication, Finance, and Property sub-groups). These teams will be led by elders but open to all interested members.

Worship Arrangements: Sunday Worship at 9.45am at Fossoway, 10.30am at Kinross, and 10.30am at Orwell. Songs of Praise at Portmoak 3pm on last Sunday of month; service at Cleish at 11.15am on first Sunday of month. All to be reviewed in June.

Vacancy: Rev Beverly Stevenson, currently Locum and Interim Moderator at Cleish and Fossoway, is retiring in February. Presbytery has appointed Rev Marc Prowe as Interim Moderator to oversee the process of filling the vacancy of charge B in Kinross-shire Parish Church. A locum will be sought meantime. The next steps will happen soon: a Presbytery advisory committee, updating the congregational roll, electing a Nominating Committee and approving a Parish Profile.

26 January - Songs of Praise at Portmoak Church from 3 - 4.30pm.

25 January - Praying in the Parish, Kinross Church, 7am - 7pm

 

News from the Kirk Session Meeting held on 11 January

Positions: Interim Session Clerk - Jaffrey Weir; Treasurer – Linda Stewart; Safeguarding Coordinator - Cara Chalmers; Interim Roll Keeper: Anne Miller.

2025 Budget - approved.  Expected deficit - £30,000.

Worship: Sunday Services: Fossoway - 9.45am, Kinross - 10.30am, Orwell - 10.30am. Portmoak - Songs of Praise at 3pm, last Sunday of the month (aimed at the whole new congregation). Arrangements for Cleish and Arngask to be decided.

Ministerial Vacancy (Charge B): Rev Beverley Stevenson is Interim Moderator of the Nominating Committee. Members of the 13-person Committee will be sought.

Kirk Session: The Kirk Session comprises all the active elders of the previous congregations. and next meets on 30 January. Going forward, the intention is to have a smaller formal Kirk Session as the body recognised by OSCR as charity trustees.

 

9 January - Service of Union for the new Kinross-shire Parish Church, Thursday 7pm in Kinross Church, conducted by Presbytery.

5 January - United Communion Service, 11am at Fossoway Church.