Minister’s Message 16 November
Dear Friends
A meeting of the Kirk Session of the united parish on Wednesday evening brought home
to me the fact that there has been a lot of water under the bridge since this Sunday last
year when the four congregations of Cleish, Fossoway, Kinross and Orwell & Portmoak
voted in favour of the formation of the united parish of Kinross-shire.
I want to pay tribute to those who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring
about the necessary changes to our structures and processes. Not only have four Kirk
Sessions become one but a different way of working is beginning to take shape with a
much smaller Kirk Session of about a dozen trustees meeting monthly to ensure the
effective governance of a charity with an annual turnover of around a third of a million
pounds, allowing the wider eldership to be freed from trustee responsibilities in order to
focus on the developing of a vision for the work of the Kingdom of God across the
county.
The everyday work of ministry and mission has continued around Sunday services and
weekday activities and thanks are due to those who have played their part in making
these things happen, but we do need to take forward the development of our outreach
and community work, the deepening of our Christian fellowship and the pastoral care of
our congregations, and in particular the building up of the work of the church among the
young.
As we move towards a new year, please keep the Nominating Committee in your prayers
as they undertake the process of bringing a nominee for election as a second team
minister in the parish and pray also for those who through KYTHE are engaged in the
process of appointing a youth minister who will also have a role in the wider church in
Kinross-shire. In God's time these two appointments will help to enable the ministry of
all God's people in church and community.
I particularly want to mention that the Presbytery is asking us during the first half of
2026 to shape a five-year plan which will help us to prioritise what is important in the
mission of our church in the years ahead, and the next meeting of the whole eldership in
January will be focusing on that. Although there will be time for formal consultation on
this amongst the wider membership of the church in the new year, I am writing to
encourage all of you to begin to consider now what areas of our life and work as a
congregation need attention at this time and what new dreams you might have for the
future of Kinross-shire Parish Church.
With all prayerful good wishes,
Alan
Revd A D Reid