Minister’s Message 5 January
Dear Friends,
First of all let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Good and Fruitful New Year whatever may lie ahead for you in 2025.
As a Church the year starts with a bang in the sense that as of 1st January we now are part of the new Kinross-shire Parish and we will be celebrating that in the coming week with three special events.
First of all, tomorrow (Sunday) morning there will be a united service at 11am at Fossoway Church. It should be said that joint services (at least on Sunday mornings) will be relatively rare, so I would encourage you to make every effort to be there if you possibly can. The service will be conducted by Beverley Stevenson, the Locum at Cleish and Fossoway, with Alex Johnson preaching the sermon and Robert Calvert leading communion. I will be leading a prayer and a number of elders from all the former congregations have a part to play. There will also be a joint choir. There will be no service in Kinross Church this Sunday but if you meet there at 10.30am, transport can be shared to the Crook of Devon to minimise congestion around Fossoway Church.
There is some uncertainty about what the weather may be like on Sunday morning. Please do not put yourself at risk by travelling if you are concerned about the conditions. If you are unable to make it to the service in person please join the live-stream which will be found at the Fossoway Church Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/@fossowaychurch193/streams
The ministry team will be meeting on Monday and then on Thursday evening the Presbytery of Perth will lead the Service of Union which will be held in Kinross Church at 7pm. Again, it would be good to see a healthy turnout for this service at which Anne Redpath will be the preacher, but again, don't put yourself at risk if the weather is bad. That service will be live-streamed via our usual channels - https://www.youtube.com/@worship6371/videos and on the Kinross Parish Church Facebook page.
Next Saturday morning the first meeting of the united Kirk Session will be held, again in Kinross Church. Please pray that this meeting will light the fire for what Kinross-shire Parish Church will become as we move forward together in the work of God's Kingdom under our joint mission statement:
Kinross-shire Parish Church
Worshipping God ~ Following Christ ~ Serving the Community
Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) and that is a word to each one of us at the start of a new year and at the start of a new chapter in the life of the Church. Let me exhort and encourage you to make a new commitment to following Christ at this time. Why not try something new in the life of the congregation (including things that are happening or will happen in other parts of the united parish)? Details will be given in these weekly emails and in church on Sundays. In particular, if you are interested in discerning where God may be leading at this time, why not join the Year of Listening group that Alex Johnson is starting? Ask him for more details if you would like to find out more.
I look forward to seeing many of you during the course of the coming week. Please join me in praying that God will be honoured in us and through us not just this week but always.
Yours because His,
Alan
Rev A.D. Reid