Cardross Parish Church Profile

LOCATION AND PARISH Cardross is situated 20 miles west of Glasgow on the banks of the , and six miles from the magnificent landscapes of Loch Lomond. Our village has excellent road, rail and bus links to Glasgow city centre. The population of the village is around 2500. Cardross is approximately four miles south-east of . The parish comprises both social and private housing, with 120 new houses being built in the last ten years. The village is served by a local primary school with nearly 200 children attending, most of whom have been at the local playgroup or private nursery. The village has a number of shops, including a post office, pharmacy, hairdressers and newsagents. Cardross also has a bowling club, tennis club, an 18 hole Golf Course, and village football team. Cardross Parish Church enjoys strong links with the local Roman Catholic Church, village primary school and wider community.

HISTORY The Church was first mentioned in 1226 in a Charter of Maldoven, Third Earl of Lennox, which granted the Bishop of Glasgow “the Church of Cardinros, with lands, tiends, fishings and pertinents of every kind, in pure and perpetual alms, to be devoted to the use of the Bishop’s table.” Throughout the centuries, Cardross has always had a church within its parish. In May 1941, the Church was one of a number of buildings destroyed by heavy bombing. After the war the tower of the bombed church was retained as a War Memorial, and the building in Station Road - opened in January 1872 as a Free Church - was adapted for use as the present Cardross Parish Church. As a Millennium project, the old Church tower was completely restored and at a Service held on 10th October 1999 was rededicated “to the glory of God, as witness to past faith and future hope.” Sadly our minister, Rev Andrew Scobie, passed away recently after 45 years of long and distinguished Ministry.

BUILDINGS Church : Our church has been well maintained both internally and externally. As part of the church’s millennium project, additional bells were added to create a full octave. Within our church sanctuary, there are magnificent embroidered panels by Hannah Frew Paterson, silk hangings by Susan Sumsion, depictions of the four seasons by Sadie McLellan, etched Gospel windows by John Lawrie and, most recently, stained glass windows by Susan Bradbury, installed in March 2012 in memory of our late minister, Andrew Scobie. All of these attract many visitors throughout the year. The church has wheelchair access. Adjacent to the sanctuary, there is a small office, vestry and cloakroom. Halls : At Cardross we are fortunate to have an excellent suite of halls which were built in the 1950’s and recently extended. The suite of halls contains one large and one small hall, meeting rooms, computer room, kitchens and cloakrooms, and are accessible for wheelchair users. These facilities are [extensively] used by church organisations as well as many village groups. The halls are situated in spacious grounds which are well used by both the congregation and our wider village community. Manse : Our church manse is currently up for sale. It is hoped to purchase another manse before our new minister takes up their position. Should this not be possible, suitable rented accommodation will be made available.

ACTIVITIES AND ORGANISATIONS

Church Organisations Kirk Session Congregational Board ‘Way forward’ group ‘Pioneers’ Sunday School The Guild Choir Lent and Advent House Groups Coffee club Communications ‘Focus’ Magazine New Website Regular elders' visits Church office and secretary Hall lets/Community links Badminton Art Club Women's Rural Institute Toddlers Playgroup Fiddlers Knitting group Cardross, Colgrain and Craigendoran Senior Citizens' Group Ecumenical activities Annual soup lunch and prayer chain with St Mahew’s RC Church Mission and Charity Christian Aid Romanian Shoeboxes Kalimpong orphanage Fairtrade stall ‘Home from Home’ donations Contact group Hospital tea bar Fund-raising coffee mornings, concerts and two fairs per year Faith suppers Seniors Lunch Club

CHURCH AND WORSHIP

Constitution The Church operates under the Model Deed Constitution, with 36 elders on the Kirk Session. All elders are members of the Congregational Board together with 12 elected congregational members. Membership The membership of the church is 422 Worship Services currently take place at 11.00 am each Sunday, and are led by our Locum Minister at the present time. Members of the congregation regularly take an active role in assisting with worship by reading prayers and lessons. The congregation has one Presbytery Reader within its membership. Sung worship is from CH4 and is led by a congregational choir, under the guidance of the organist and choir-mistress. The Revised English Bible version of the Bible is provided in the pews. Our average attendance is approximately 80. Young people attend the first part of the service, before retiring to continue their worship in their own groups. The congregation employs a Church Secretary. The duties of Church Officer are carried out by a team of volunteers.

OUR FUTURE Like all churches and communities we face challenges, but we passionately believe that these can be viewed as opportunities to move our church forward through the 21st century. Our church has been built up by strong spiritual leadership, generous support and goodwill by successive generations. Both members of the church and the wider community have faced far greater challenges than we face today, and have overcome these, leaving us the rich legacy which we continue to enjoy today.

Helensburgh: Park Church Parish Profile

LOCATION AND PARISH Helensburgh is a thriving community on the north bank of the at the mouth of the Gare Loch, about 25 miles north-west of Glasgow. It lies on the southern boundary of the Scottish Highlands, some five miles away from the southern end of Loch Lomond and the main A82 road leading to the Western Highlands, Kintyre and the Western Isles. The population at the 2011 census was 14,626. Helensburgh is located approximately four miles north-west of the village of Cardross. Visitors crowd the sea-front during warm summer weekends, and naval exercises on the Clyde occasionally bring an influx of foreign sailors to boost town-centre trade for a few days. There are convenient public transport links: in addition to bus services, the town has three railway stations, two serving the busy commuter route to Glasgow and directly through to with a half-hour service, the other the picturesque West Highland Line to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig, as well as sleeper trains between and Fort William. There are good road links to Glasgow. The most significant local employer is the Ministry of Defence at the Faslane Naval Base some 5 miles north-west of the town on the Gare Loch and at the associated sites at Coulport and Glen Douglas a few miles further away on Loch Long. Between them these three sites employ a large number of civilians as well as service personnel. Otherwise employment is in the retail or service industries. Housing in the older part of the town consists mainly of sandstone villas and tenements, with parts of the upper district a conservation area. There are Naval married quarters in Helensburgh and new housing is being developed in our parish. Education is well catered for in the three primary schools, a special needs school, the new Hermitage Academy state secondary school and Lomond School, a private independent school which has both day pupils and boarders. There is a wide variety of independent shops in Helensburgh as well as branches of Boots, W H Smith, Tesco, the Co-op, etc. A new Waitrose store is due to open in 2013. There is a public library and swimming pool with leisure facilities. The town has a lively selection of clubs and societies, particularly strong in music.

HISTORY The coming of the railway in 1858 established Helensburgh as an important commuter town for the city of Glasgow. With its attractive situation and desirable properties, its population grew significantly, until in 1861 the Free Church of decided to build a second church to serve the east side of the town, and so Park Church came into being. The unfolding history of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland meant that in 1900 Park Church became part of the United Free Church of Scotland, and later a Parish Church in 1929 when union took place between the U F Church and the Church of Scotland. Today Park Church enjoys a lively and friendly congregational life, whose worship and activities reflect the contemporary nature of community life, while emphasising the relevance of a Biblical faith for the everyday needs of ordinary people. The parish comprises the eastern part of the town, from Charlotte Street east, including Craigendoran, Colgrain, Churchill and Kirkmichael. The present population of the parish is estimated at 6,084 (Presbytery Plan 2011).

BUILDINGS

Church Built in 1862-3 on a prominent site in Charlotte Street at the corner of East King Street, the church building was designed in Gothic style by John Honeyman with later additions by William Leiper. Major interior redesign took place at the centenary of the Church. In 1987 a side chapel was created in the south west corner of the sanctuary. The church – part of which is a category B listed building - comprises the main sanctuary, seating 550, with disabled access and toilet and a hearing loop.

Halls The suite of Halls comprises a Main Hall (with disabled access), Upper Hall, Upper Lounge, Kitchen and Session Room.

Manse A new manse will be jointly purchased by the linked congregations.

ACTIVITIES AND ORGANISATIONS

Girls’ Brigade Our Girls’ Brigade Company, numbering 42 girls from P1 to S6, meets in our halls on Friday evenings.

The Guild The Guild meets fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons with an average attendance of 15, including those from other churches. Joint meetings with other branches take place. The fellowship is warm and caring, with a varied programme.

Bible Study A women’s Bible Study group meets fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons, and includes women from other churches. This is in addition to “Faith at Four” mentioned under “Worship Services”.

Prayer Several prayer groups meet weekly at different times and in a variety of venues.

Alpha The Alpha Course has been run regularly in previous years and we have a pool of trained leaders.

Social We run “Biscuit and Blether” every Friday morning in our halls, an informal drop-in centre offering tea, coffee and fellowship.

CHURCH AND WORSHIP

Constitution The congregation operates under the Unitary Constitution, with the Kirk Session being responsible for all matters, both spiritual and temporal. There are groups covering all aspects of church life. We have 38 elders, 21 men and 17 women.

Membership There are 413 members on the Communion Roll (2012).

Worship Services Sunday worship currently takes place at 11.00 am. Attendance varies between 60 and 100 with the younger children (Kidz for God) attending for the first part of the service. There is also a crèche. Members of the congregation take part in reading the Bible and leading prayer. For six months of the year Faith at Four offers an informal afternoon Bible Study. The Good News version of the Bible is provided in the pews and the NIV is also used. CH4, Mission Praise, and various other modern praise sources are used. The words of hymns and readings are projected on screens, which allows, flexibility in the items used. The choir contributes to the worship – there is currently a vacancy for an organist and choir leader. Services are recorded on CDs for the housebound. Tea and coffee are served in the large hall after the service.

Lay Ministry Over the years many members of Park Church have served as elders and deacons, and others have answered the call to full-time service in ordained ministry, readership, overseas mission and Christian youth work. There are two Readers within our congregation.

COMMUNITY AND PARISH LINKS

Chaplaincies The minister is Chaplain to Colgrain Primary School and serves on the Chaplaincy Team at Hermitage Academy. He is Chaplain to the Girls’ Brigade Company. Links with other churches Park Church plays an active role in various church events in the town, such as the annual Christian Aid campaign, joint Holy Week and summer services, and a children’s holiday club in the spring and summer. It is also a base for the Helensburgh Healing Rooms.

Contraflow Set up in 1997, Contraflow is part of the Scripture Union Associate Worker scheme. The project is supported by churches in Helensburgh and the wider area, and employs a full-time worker who works in the local schools and churches to reach young people with the Gospel and to nurture young Christians in their faith.

OUR FUTURE Summary Park Church is a lively, active congregation, which regularly shares fellowship with other churches in the community. We are looking for a minister who will enable us to continue with our outreach to the parish while challenging the congregation with God’s Word. Our vision is: “Enabling people of all ages to believe, learn, share, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, thus equipping them to enjoy their faith”.