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Local Church ReviewPart 1 – Your Church

Overview

This part of the review is divided into two sections

1 – The story of your church

This is where we would like you to tell us about the recent history of your church – both the celebrations and the challenges – and how this has led you to where you are now. We also ask about your parish and your values and focus

2 – The life of the congregation

In this section we will look at the life of the congregation in Worship, Community, Mission and Belonging

Purpose

The purpose of this part of the review is

To help you reflect as a congregation on the way you worship, fellowship, grow and relate to the world and the wider church.

To help the LCR team understand o what is important to you in terms of expressing your faith o the opportunities and challenges you face in your local area.o how these influence and are expressed in the way you worship and relate to God, each other, the

world and the wider church

Completing the sections

Please note that the bullet points are prompters to help you think rather than being a set of prescriptive questions

Any questions marked with an asterisk (*) are to be completed by the Minister or Interim Moderator, in conjunction with the Session Clerk

The spaces below the headers will stretch as you type if you are completing them electronically.

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1 The story of your church

History Thinking back over the last 5-10 years, please tell us something of your church’s recent

history – the celebrations, the struggles, the achievements, the failures and the dreams. Where have you seen God at work? How have you handled the challenges you faced?

Innovations, celebrations and learnings What have been particular highlights in the life of the church? What has gone really well? What have you learnt most from, whether the situation itself was positive or otherwise?

Since the start of the third millennium church life has certainly been interesting. At the dawn of the third millennium there was a vibrancy about the church. There were 180 children attending Sunday School, Seekers and Quest with 26 adult leaders. A highlight of the Sunday School year was the annual “Weekend away” at Comrie or Moffat. More than 100 teenagers attended the Meeting Place in the summer (Wednesday and Friday evenings) for a whole range of activities; supervising the evening were 25 adult leaders. We had 266 youth in the uniformed organisations. There were occasional rock band concerts in the large hall on a Saturday night attended by scary young people aged late teens to mid 20s, apparently hugely tall and powerful – at none of the concerts was there any problem with behaviour. To mark the millennium, over a five year period from 1998 to 2002 our congregation raised over £4,000 for a food project in Kalu, Ethiopia. Playgroup met every morning in the large hall. There were frequent coffee mornings. Every few years the Kirk Session had a weekend retreat, often at Balvonie.In August 2001 Fiona Cherry, wife of our minister, died very suddenly. On 8 th June 2003 Alastair Cherry preached his farewell service in Stamperland and we became a vacant charge. It does seem, in retrospect, that an era had come to an end. George Mackay was inducted to Stamperland on 24th June 2004. Prior to his arrival work parties laboured hard to re-decorate the manse and carry out maintenance. With the arrival of a new minister there was excitement and anticipation. However, by the time of George’s arrival Sunday School numbers had dropped to around 30. Playgroup had disappeared with children now going to the pre-school nursery at Netherlee School. Shortly after George’s arrival our much-loved organist, Jennie Fraser, died and not long after that, Stuart Bruce, a dynamo of an elder, Sunday School leader, church officer and much else moved away. There were a lot of changes.Sunday Break – tea/coffee/biscuits at the close of the morning service – started. It became our custom to wish our neighbours in church “A Good morning” at the start of the intimations. It wasn’t that we had been unfriendly before; rather this was an opportunity to get up and greet those around us. CH4 was introduced with members donating hymnbooks, often in memory of a loved one. The projector and screen were used, sometimes in novel ways as part of the children’s address. Open Door – a time for reflection and fellowship – started on Wednesday mornings. There were church football matches, church trips to Troon, quizzes and fund raising events. In 2013 we adopted the Unitary Constitution prompted, to a significant extent, by difficulties in getting leaders to head up Board and Session Committees. The initial stages of working with the new constitution were trying. That same year, 2013, saw the ordination of seven new and mainly young elders – surely a step forward. Throughout much of George’s tenure we were conscious of changing Presbytery Plans and of the implications of reviewable and unrestricted tenure. Many of us remain critical of the rationale behind the plan. There was considerable uncertainty over the future direction of the church and of options available to both minister and congregation. However, in recent months, there has been more clarity regarding our future and our linking with Netherlee. For many members the idea of their church losing its independence and no longer having its “own minister” has been a real challenge. Differences in outlooks have tended to polarise people into groups who wished to resist change, groups who would accept change but rather grudgingly and groups who tended to welcome the closer links as providing a more positive future in times of reducing membership and ageing congregations.

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Challenges What significant challenges have you faced and how did you work or are you working to overcome them?

Declining membership. Ageing congregation. Age group 20 to 40 largely absent from church life.Financial pressures on the remaining members.

Changes in society in general and in our parish. Few non-working mothers – Young Women’s Group folds. Monday lunch ceases.

Mother and Toddlers Group foldsAvailability of cheap clothes – “Nearly new clothes” on a Monday morning ceases as do Jumble SalesMonday morning coffee ceases.Playgroup finishes as all children go to local nursery at the school.Coffee mornings dwindle to almost zero

Children’s activities on Sundays see the decline of attendance at Sunday School – dancing, football, swimming, gymnastics, parties, ....... visits to the “other parent”

There has been a significant increase in the number of families living in the parish whose children attend the Roman Catholic schools in the area. Interestingly, this has seen an increase in the numbers of children attending the Scout and Guide organisations which meet in the church.

Our current challenge is to progress our relationship with Netherlee and obtain permission from Presbytery to jointly seek a minister who will, in the first instance, be inducted as minister at Stamperland. Thereafter our main challenge will be in developing the links and structures and practices to ensure harmonious working with our brothers and sisters in Netherlee.

Where are you now? Where are you currently seeing God at work? What is going well and what could be better in church life? What developments are you seeing?

Growing and developing our relations with Netherlee. Having a Locum minister who is very active in pastoral care.Seeing our locum minister run a new communicant’s class and bring five new members to join the church. Seeing three young elders willing and able to lead worship.

The new committee structure within the unitary constitution is starting to be effective; committees are beginning to operate well and there are signs of new ideas, new initiatives and new enthusiasm. There are some new committee members bringing new ideas and viewpoints.

New developments June meeting with Netherlee led to us thinking up new things to do..... Planning the way ahead..... October meeting with Netherlee is leading us to develop a new Joint Vision for our future.

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Values and focus What are the values that shape and direct the life of your church? Where is your energy spent just now? Is this where you want your energy spent?

Our valuesChristian values!!!

Direction of Energies Keeping church going during vacancy Ensuring people are working togetherKeeping people informedBringing Presbytery Plan to successful fruition – smoothly, amicably, trying to bring the doubters and the “over my dead body” people along so that we don’t lose any valued people.

Dealing with “church administration”; ....... including LCRs!!!

Are these directions worthwhile?Yes

Your parish What is your parish like? With which communities or types of people within your parish do you most

engage? What communities or types of people do you find hardest to engage with? Where do the people that come to worship live? Is it mostly from within the parish

or from elsewhere? Do different people come to different services within the church? How able are you to achieve all you want to do just now? What type of church does the parish need? What are the challenges you face in

meeting those needs?Overview of Parish

Stamperland is a suburb just a little south of the Glasgow City boundary. It is a community of a little over 5,000 people living in about 1460 homes over 95 per cent of which are owner-occupied. Within the last two years a new block of flats catering for the older age group and a new Care Home were opened. Other than these establishments houses are either detached, semi-detached or terraced. Stamperland is essentially a dormitory suburb; there is effectively no industrial activity within the community. There are just over a dozen shops located just across from the church. Of these, six are hairdressing and/or beauty salons (so we are well turned-out); two shops are small convenience stores; and one shop is a hardware store which seems to stock absolutely everything one could ever imagine. A large area of the parish is grass covered; on one side of the parish is Overlee Park on the other is Williamwood Golf Club. Overlee Park has football pitches, a children’s play area and a pavilion; the pavilion provides a meeting place for various groups including Age Concern and assorted children’s activities. The huge majority of people living in the parish would class themselves as “White Scottish” or “White British” and in 2011 fewer than 3 per cent of residents classed themselves as other than of European origin. Unemployment is low. The parish is relatively prosperous.Stamperland is within the catchment area for two of Scotland’s best-performing state schools – Williamwood High and St Ninian’s – and this feature attracts families to come and live in Stamperland. St Ninian’s is a relatively new school (only founded in 1984) and one noticeable feature in recent years has been the growth of the number of

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Roman Catholic families in the parish. In 2011, 24 per cent of the population was Roman Catholic – the proportion is probably a little higher today. We can also see this increase reflected in the growth of numbers attending our Guide and Scout organisations. In 2011, 33 per cent of the population of Stamperland classed themselves as associated with Church of Scotland. Of this figure a significant proportion are members of or are associated with churches outwith the parish. Greenbank, Williamwood and Netherlee Parish Churches are all within walking distance and many people living in Stamperland attend churches which are further afield. The reverse also happens. Quite a number of young couples start married life in a mid-terrace house in the parish; as they have families and as the household income increases they move to a larger house, often a mile or two away from Stamperland but retain their connection to Stamperland Church.

People with whom we engageThe ones who come to church The ones who come to church and whose children attend uniformed organisations Those who engage in church life at one level or another – Christmas Eve Watchnight service attenders; those who attend funerals (or, more rarely, baptisms and weddings); those who come to social and fund raising events.

Care HomeStamperland Bowling Club; Stamperland Social Club Williamwood House

Local shops

People with whom we find difficulty engaging

It is reported that the relationship between the church and the senior teachers in the local primary school is not as good as it used to be. We know that Alastair Cherry had very good and close friendships with the Headmistress and Deputy Head Teacher (Sandra Mitchell and Brenda Williams) and that good links continued with George Mackay. In George’s time there was close interaction with teachers at Netherlee who developed links with Pokola School in Zambia. As a church we supported the school both with donations of finance and also through donations of basic equipment for the pupils such including pencils, pencil cases, items of clothing, etc.. The Head Teacher Mr Richard Shikwesha and one of his colleagues visited our church. Netherelee Primary School use Stamperland Church for their end of term services.Jack Drummond, our Locum Minister, visits the school regularly as chaplain.It is possible that the local authority’s policy towards religion in schools is having an influence on the attitude of senior staff to our church.

Where do worshippers live?The Table, below, shows the numbers of members resident within and outwith the parish and the distance of their home away from the church as noted in 2012. Approximately 40 per cent of the membership live outwith the parish boundary. The percentage figures will be much the same today.

Number of members within the Parish 213 58%Number of members within 1 Mile 105 29%Number of members within 2 Miles 5 1%Number of members within 5 Miles 23 6%Number of members beyond 5 Miles 19 5%

 

Of those living within a mile of the parish, a significant number live in Netherlee parish. The boundary between Stamperland parish and Netherlee parish is not at the mid-point between the two church buildings but runs much closer to Stamperland. Consequently, a considerable number of homes within Netherlee parish are much closer to

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Stamperland Church than to Netherlee Church and Stamperland Church is the preferred church for many of these residents for convenience of location and accessibility.

A significant number of members living within five miles of the church are very active in the life of the church holding positions of office bearers and are regular in their attendance at Sunday morning worship, Guild meetings, Congregational Board and Kirk Session meetings, etc..

Of those who live five miles and beyond from the parish there is only a handful who are regularly involved in the life of the church. Most of the others have a “historic link” or “family link” with the church and, while some may continue to support the church financially, their attendance is at best spasmodic and in many cases it is unlikely they will ever attend.

Attendance at different types of service

Most Sundays majority are members (adherents) who attend regularly

Communion Sundays (1st Sunday in March, June, September and December) Usually more members in attendance than a “normal Sunday”. Afternoon Communion was held until recently – attendance was becoming limited to minister and duty elders.

Parade Sundays will see additional attendance by (some) parents of children in the uniformed organisationsRemembrance Sunday may see some members or local residents who do not normally attend Sunday worship.

Services with Baptisms will see attendance from friends and family of baptismal party.

Holy week services (Monday to Friday evenings) have an attendance of up to about 40 members. They are also attended by (a small number) of people who would normally attend a different church on a Sunday. The Service on Maundy Thursday is a joint communion service attended by members from Netherlee. There is an Easter Day Dawn service held in Linn Park – occasionally get non-member attending.

At Christmas there is a “Pyjama service” early in the evening of Christmas Eve, a Watchnight Service and a Christmas Day service. The “Pyjama service” attracts families with young children (and a surprising number of older people too). Attendance at this service is increasing. Attendance at the Watchnight Service is decreasing; it used to attract a lot of people “off the street” and “passing-by”. There are several people whose one church attendance in the year is this service. The Christmas morning service is also reducing in popularity; ten years ago there might have been 20 or 30 children recent years has seen that number reduce to half-a-dozen with possibly 25 or fewer adults. A Christingle Service has been re-introduced; last year it attracted 50+, including a significant number of families.

Do we achieve all we want?

In vacancy ............ in flux with Presbytery Plan ........... quite a lot of attention is inevitably directed “inwards” to the affairs of the congregation, managing different groups with different views and ambitions for the future, ........ dealing with the mechanics of linkage, ........... dealing with presbytery,

More and more time on “issues” such as PVG, OSCR, employee issues including tax and pensions, “regulations” of all kinds, “church law and procedures”, property condition schedules ............ Local Church Reviews

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What does the parish need? Does this differ from “What does the parish want?”

More engagement from church

More flexible worship - worship at different times / different days / different formatsTimes and formats to suit modern family life and work patterns

people working shiftssingle parent families and families with parents living apartchildren’s activities which take place on Sunday mornings (football training, rugby

training, swimming, dance classes, gymnastics ....... )

Currently looking at A Pie, A Pint and A Prayer.

Meeting the needs of elderly, housebound, those with limited attention span, etc..

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2 The Life of the congregationWorship - Engaging with God

Overview Please give us some details of how worship is conducted, giving us some insight into what you consider is going

well, the challenges you are facing or have recently overcome and where you want to develop worship. Typical Order of Service 

WELCOME & INTIMATIONS CALL TO WORSHIP PRAISE CH4 112 GOD, WHOSE ALMIGHTY WORD CHILDREN’S ADDRESS PRAISE CH4 458 AT THE NAME OF JESUS PRAYER PRAISE CH4 547 WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS READING JOB CH 23 v 1 to v 17

PRAISE CH4 555 AMAZING GRACE!

GOSPEL MARK CH 10 v 17 to v 31

SERMON

OFFERING & OFFERTORY PRAYER

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

PRAISE CH4 706 FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS

BENEDICTION & THREEFOLD AMEN

Welcome and intimations read by elder (currently, at present, mainly the Session Clerk)Bible read by member of congregation – list of about ten people willing to read the scripture.On parade Sundays Bible is often read by members of the uniformed organisations.

Usually organ leads praise.Use CH4, Mission Praise, Common Ground – words usually shown on screen so that any hymn or song can be sung by congregation. Congregation open to singing “different” hymns.

Congregation open to different forms of worship.

Reading and Preaching the Word* Please tell us about ways in which you enable people to hear and understand the Bible.

Speak to Jack

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Celebrating the sacraments of baptism and communion* Please tell us ways in which you engage people in the celebration of the sacraments.

Speak to Jack

Inclusive and Participative Please tell us ways in which you aim to make worship accessible

o friendly towards visitors and people not used to coming to churcho people with impairments, disabilities or additional support needso diverse ages

Please tell us what happens as people gather for worship and what happens after the service Who leads the various parts of worship? Please tell us about any opportunities there are for people to participate in worship

Member of “Welcome Committee” at front door to welcome people to church. Can usually identify a “visitor”. Five or six office bearers on duty in vestibule; Order of Service handed to everyone coming into churchInduction Loop fitted for hearing impairedWheelchair spaces within “body of pews” – ramped access to churchAccessible toilet

Congregation are generally friendly and would, at least, say “Good Morning” to anyone sitting down beside (near) them in a pew. During “Welcome and Intimations” section visitors are specifically welcomed and everyone is usually invited to greet neighbours and others around in an appropriate way. Whilst most members have a “usual seat in a usual pew” there are no restrictions on pews and no one will say, “you’re sitting in my seat”. Everyuone is invited to stay for tea/coffee/biscuits/chat at the close of the service

There is some neighbourly chatter before the service. The organ is usually played five to ten minutes before the service.

At the conclusion of morning worship the preacher normally goes to the front door and shakes hands with the congregation as they leave. Tea, coffee and biscuits (occasionally, cakes) is available in the church close to the area where the choir sit. Usually some twenty + people remain or come back in to church having shaken the minister’s hand.

We are fortunate in having elders willing and able to conduct worship in the absence of a minister.

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Enabling people to journey in faith and grow in wholeness Please tell us ways in which you enable people to develop their faith as part of a group and/or as individuals Please tell us ways you facilitate people to grow in wholeness

New communicant’s classBible Study groupThe GuildOpen Door and Prayer MeadowFocus “middle pages”Sharing in fellowship

BB Bible Class Stepping Stones helpers

Relevant to the people in the parish Please tell us ways in which you work to make worship relevant to the people in your parish

Sermons, prayers, etc. relevant to situation and peopleOthers leading and participating in worship Link between children’s address and lessons in Sunday School

George Mackay had a “Seasons of the Heart” service to which family of people within the parish who had died at some time in the year before the service were invited. People who had died were named, prayers offered and at the close of the service the invited families were invited to stay for coffee...

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Community - Engaging with each other

Overview Please give us an overview of your church community and how it is developing. What do you consider to be your strengths and what are the challenges you are facing in this area?

Age profile

Showing grace, love and unity, encouraging people, and developing and sharing gifts Please tell us how you actively facilitate opportunities for people to connect and build friendships

Tea after Sunday morning service

The Guild

Social events –

Transport to church, hospitals, etc......

Church magazine into care home and new flats

Encourage people to come to social and fund raising events

Activities such as Garden Open Weekend.

Church members have naturally developed close friendships. There are many members who share leisure time activities with other members. Such friendships are not viewed as “church inspired”; however, they undoubtedly have their origins in a church environment

Growing disciples Please tell us of opportunities available for people to grow in discipleship

Leaders in organisations. Junior leaders in uniformed and Stepping Stones.

Different people taking part in worship.

Opportunities to work on committees.

Serve tea coffee at new events. Helping to organise and take part in events. Open door team -- getting new people.

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Developing ministries of service and leadership Please tell us in what ways you enable people to

o discover their giftso develop their capabilities

Please tell us about how support is provided as people start to exercise those gifts

Stewardship Talent development ...... Bits from above

Start people off – encouragement – ask to do more - being around to help assist step in

Offering hospitality Please tell us of ways that you offer hospitality to each other and to the wider community, including on an

ecumenical or inter-faith basis if applicable

Tea coffee friendship

Garden open weekendLinks to CCT

Social and fund raising events

Commonwealth baton relay lunch at Stamperland

RESOURCES STRATEGY & ENGAGEMENT

MISSION NURTURE

Finance Committee

Property Committee

Strategy & Engagement Committee

Fund Raising and Social CommitteeParish & Beyond Committee

Pastoral Committee

Worship Committee

Education Committee

Stewardship Committee

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Creating structures that are ordered and organised to support mission and good practice Please tell us about ways in which the leadership structure within the congregation enables mission and

congregational growth Please tell us ways in which you review your structure in order to ensure it still meets your needs Please tell us ways in which you decide upon and develop the range of activities and meetings both for the

congregation and for mission.

Within the last two years we have adopted a Unitary Constitution. In preparation, we spent time critically reviewing what we needed to do as a congregation. We developed a committee structure from the “bottom up” starting with a list of basic tasks and responsibilities. From these we defined a series of committees with broad remits. Individual committees were then combined into four groups as shown below. For more detail click on this link.

Each committee has a leader. The committee groups have a co-ordinator. The co-ordinators are members of the Business Committee. The other members of the Business Committee are the Minister and the Session Clerk. Three co-ordinators have direct access to the Business Committee – they are the H&S co-ordinator, the PVG co-ordinator and the Food Hygiene co-ordinator.

One of the challenges we face is finding people willing to lead committees. We know we have able members and indeed, people with ability serving in the committees; however, not all able people are willing to take on a leadership role. One of the reasons for moving to the Unitary Constitution was to try to broaden the pool of committee membership by inviting all members of the congregation to join a committee of their choice.

The operation and effectiveness of the new structure didn’t get off to the best start and there were initial problems and issues. Two years on it is now possible to say that the new structure is becoming effective and (most of) the committees are running (or starting to run) as hoped.

The effectiveness of the committees is reviewed and addressed by the Business Committee. At the beginning of November the committee structure was “tweaked”.

Qustionnaires issued to congregation and also to “outside people, e.g. bowling club social club.

BUSINESS COMMITTEE

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Mission - Engaging with the world

Overview Please give us an overview of your response to spiritual and social need – in what ways do you communicate and

engage with the wider community, identifying and acting upon the needs of the parish and communities to whom you minister?

In what ways do you find this challenging and in what encourages you?

Members informing minister of illness or bereavement in the parishMinister’s visits

Conduct of parish funerals

Members visiting / speaking to and interacting with neighbours as “friends” rather than as “church members”

Learning of initiatives within the area from members on the Community Council of from local councillors.

Communications with our councillors, MSPs and MPs on specific issues

Visits from local councillors to church events

We have members who work and volunteer in care homes – Williamwood & EastwoodhillMinister leads worship in both homes on a regular basis

Members involvement with other organisations e.g. Soroptimists

GUILD SPEAKERS

Regular support of Mary’s Meal’s Backpacks, Blythswood Shoe box appeal, CofS HIV Project through Souper Sunday

Support of Guild projects

Youth organisation support various appeals

Donations from Communion retiring offerings, Harvest Thanksgiving (Water Aid and LHM) Christmas services.

We regularly donate to “local” and overseas good causes – see church web site for more information. Click Home for information on donations to local charities and causes.Click Beyond for information on donations to overseas charities and causes.

Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom Please tell us about how you share your faith

Teaching, baptising and nurturing new believers Please tell us how you encourage people to grow in their faith and in their confidence to express that faith in

word and action.

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Responding to human need by loving servicePlease tell us about ways that you

o are directly involved in loving serviceo support agencies who are involved in loving service

Transforming unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursuing peace and reconciliation In what ways are you involved in social justice issues or take direct social action? Please tell us ways in which you promote peace and reconciliation Please tell us what “challenging violence” means for your congregation

Two elders attend Eastwood Peace and Justice Forum and report back to Kirk Session.

Striving to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustaining and renewing the life of the earth In what ways do you encourage and promote sustainability and good stewardship of the earth Please tell us of any environmentally friendly initiatives you run or are involved with or ways that you actively

reduce carbon footprint

Actively strive to reduce energy consumption.

Recycle as much as we can

We collect “old batteries”

We have lifted paving stones from the area between church and Clarkston road to permit “natural drainage”.

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Belonging - Engaging with the wider church

OverviewPlease give us an overview of your relationships with the wider church

Nurturing local relationships – parish neighbours and ecumenical groups Please tell us about ways in which you engage with

o other Church of Scotland churches locally?o other local churches and Christian agencies in your local area?

How effective do you consider those relationships to be in terms of mutual support and action?

Clarkston Churches Together

Presbytery ProjectsLodging House MissionThe WellChurch House Bridgeton

CrossReach homes including Williamwood House and Eastwoodhill

Christian AidSponsored swim, Art Exhibition and sale, House-to-House collections

Engaging with an mutually supporting each other as part of Presbytery Please tell us about your relationship with Glasgow Presbytery Please tell us about any ways in which you support or work with other churches across Presbytery?

Anne Mackenzie as Presbytery Elder

Engaging with the Church of Scotland, its councils and committees Please tell us about the extent to which you engage with the national church

Anne Mac and Guild committees

Norman Bolton attends the Digital Divide Committee of the CofS Society, Religion and Technology Project

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Identifying and connecting with the worldwide church Please tell us ways in which you connect with, give support to and advocate on behalf of the worldwide church

Recognising and celebrating our relationship with the church – past, present and future Please tell us ways in which you celebrate belonging to the church historic Please tell us about the part you consider you are playing in developing the future church

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your congregation and/or parish?