Organisations
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Organisations |
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The following committees and organisations are associated with our church.
Kirk Session / Finance Committee / Property Committee
Banner Group / Boys' Brigade / Choir / Christian Action Group / Coffee Bean
Flower Guild / Girls' Brigade / Guild / Mothers and Toddlers / Open Door / Praise Band
Prayer Group / Sunday School / Youth Group
The Kirk Session consists of the Minister along with the ruling Elders, who, from 1966 could be women. The Minister and Elders have an equal voice on every subject as members of a church court and they all have the same responsibility.
The Kirk Session is responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of the congregation by appointing and providing for Baptism and the observance of the Lord's Supper. As a part of this spiritual duty, the Session is responsible for keeping the Communion Roll and admitting members to and transferring members from the congregation.
The Session also has a duty to exercise pastoral supervision within the Parish. This is done by dividing the Parish into districts and appointing an Elder to each one to carry out visits. Elders are also appointed to each of the organisations which they visit and report back to the Session. It is also responsible for appointing the Organist and the Church Officer.
The organisation of the Session is the duty of the Session Clerk, Mr Ian Harper, who takes the minutes of the meetings and incorporates them into a permanent record. He also has charge of all Sessional documents and prepares the agenda for Session meetings in consultation with the Minister. He also prepares the Elders' duties for Communion and organises and supplies the Bread and Wine.
Elders are elected for life and hold office until they cease to be members of the congregation or their resignation is accepted, or they are deposed or otherwise removed from office. After completing 30 years service, Elders are presented with a Long Service Certificate signed by the Moderator of the General Assembly. At the present time, there are 41 active Elders and a number of non active ones. Presbytery Elders are appointed by the Session to represent it Presbytery.
The Finance Committee are responsible for our church's finances. It is their aim, at the moment, to keep our church at full status.
Various fund raising events are organised throughout the year, including a Burns' Social Night, Nearly New Sale and the Smartie tubes are still doing very well. An Autumn Fayre takes place in September.
The committee meet in the Session Room as and when necessary and can be contacted through Mrs. Violet Barr.
The Property Committee is responsible for the fabric of the Church, the Hall and the Manse. This means not only new projects but the upkeep, repair and maintenance of all the previously mentioned buildings.
The committee meet when necessary in the Church Hall at 7.00 p.m. The Property convenor is Mr. Mike Carter
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Mr Carter (left) is seen going over the books with the previous Convenor,
Mr Davie Wallace. |
The official
handover on the 19th March 2007 |
The Congregational Board consists of the minister along with a certain number of elders and communicant members who are elected at the Stated Annual Meeting of the congregation. Those elected must be in full communion with the congregation, be over 18 years of age and can be of either sex. The numbers elected must in no way exceed the numbers of elders at the date of election.
The responsibilities of the Board are to
- manage the finances of the congregation
- raise income as required
- look after the property of the church
- set the salaries of the organist and church officer
- decide on the fees for weddings (£100 at present) and funerals (none)
The secretary of the Board is Mrs M Harper
Like the Flower Guild, the Banner Group exists to decorate the Church at various times during the year. It can be thought of as the Church's sewing bee. The group produce fabric banners, backcloths and decorations to brighten up the Church.
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Our company is the 2nd. New Cumnock Co., The Boys' Brigade, who can be contacted directly through their own website at
www.newcumnock.bb.btinternet.co.uk
The choir aim to lead the congregation in singing at morning worship and to introduce to them new songs and hymns. We enhance worship at particular times and events such as Christmas, Easter and Songs of Praise.We also provide additional choral pieces such as introits, anthems and retirals.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome any new members to our practices in the Session Room on Thursday evenings at 7.30 p.m. Contact Mrs Christine Wilson.
The Christian Action Group was formed in January 1969 as a further development of a Parish Outreach Campaign in 1968. Mrs E Anne Hogg was appointed as secretary and has remained so ever since. The work involved is mainly provision for and care of our senior members.
Events for each year are normally a car run in June, a concert in August or September, organisation and distribution of Harvest Thanksgiving gifts and arranging transport to Christmas services.
Special occasions are also marked by delivering flowers and cards to those who have Golden Weddings, Diamond Weddings and 90th birthdays.
| Miss B Sullivan's 90th Birthday 24th May 2003 | Mrs H Riddal's 90th Birthday 27th October 2003 |
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| Photos courtesy of Mr J Murray |
A team of visitors calls regularly on the elderly to deliver the Upper Room book to those who wish it thus keeping in touch with members who cannot attend church as they used to.
If you would like to help in this work please feel free to contact Mrs E Anne Hogg
Here we are at tea after our concert in August 2003. We were entertained by the Nithsdale Singers.
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| Photos courtesy of Mr. J Murray |
The Coffee Bean was started in January 1984. Its aim is to reach out to the wider community to bring people into a friendly meeting point where they can enjoy coffee or tea with home baking. The ladies of the church bake and serve on a rota basis and the money gathered is used to provide useful items for the church i.e. new carpets, stage curtains, double glazing and many other items.
The Coffee Bean is open on Thursday mornings from 9:45 to 11:30am in the Church Hall.
If you would like to help out by baking or serving then please contact May Rorrison or simply drop in if you're at the Castle.
The Flower Guild decorate the Church at significant times in the year eg Easter, Harvest Thanksgiving and Christmas. They make the arrangements for the window alcoves and operate a rota for fresh flowers on the organ. If you would like to contribute to this work, please speak to Mrs N Hunterer
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Our associated company is 1st. New Cumnock Girls' Brigade. Its aim is to help girls to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and through self control, reverence and a sense of responsibility to find true enrichment of life.
We meet in New Cumnock Parish Church Halls at the following times
Explorers (P1 to P3) on Wednesdays from 5 to 6:30pm
Juniors (P4 to P7) on Mondays from 6 to7:30pm
Brigaders (S1 to S6) on Mondays from 6 to 7:30pm
Our captain is Mrs Nan Paterson.
The aim of the Church of Scotland Guild is to invite and encourage both men and women to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and to express their faith in Worship, Prayer and Action.
The Guild meets in the Church Hall every second Tuesday at 7.00p.m.
The Convener is Mrs H Lamont and the Secretary is Mrs Ella Goldie.
We aim to provide a safe and happy environment for childrens play. Through this, we would like to promote positive behaviour and encourage the children to play and share. We would also like to give mothers and grannies the opportunity to socialise and make new friends in the parish. We are open to all mothers, grannies, babies and toddlers in the parish.
We meet in the Church Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
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Please feel free to come along or contact Mrs Janice Murray
It is our aim to extend a caring and welcoming hand of fellowship to all adults in our community whether they are members of our church or not. We would like to invite you to an "open door" in the church hall to share, informally, in various activities or just pop in for company, a chat and a "cuppa" whenever it suits you. Our recreational activities include indoor bowls, dominoes, table tennis, Scrabble etc. Speakers are also invited to come along. This past session wound up with a visit to Nurseries Direct for lunch.
We meet in New Cumnock Parish Church hall on Mondays from 2 - 4 pm, from October to the end of March. Please come along or contact Miss Margaret Ritchie or Mrs Margaret Murray for more details.
Here is a selection of some of our activities.
We play
at carpet bowls |
We did T'ai
Chi one afternoon |
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We donated our time
to paint the Kirk railings..... |
..... but everything
always stops for tea. |
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Photos courtesy of Miss Margaret Ritchie.
We encourage the use of musical talent by providing an opportunity for involvement in morning worship which we accompany from time to time. We also participate in special events to promote Church outreach. We meet in the Session Room on Thursday evenings at 6.30 p.m. If you are interested in coming along, please contact Miss Morag Ferrans.
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We commit to God every aspect of the Church's work within New Cumnock and pray for the social problems affecting our community. We pray for those who are ill and bereaved. We remember the troubled spots of our world and also our missionary friends.
We meet every Tuesday in the church hall at 10.00 a.m. and can be contacted through Mrs Helen Glendinning
Daily on-line prayers and readings can be found by visiting the Church of Scotland site at
www.churchofscotland.org.uk/praynow/intro.htm
and following the links from there.
The children of the Sunday School meet in the Church Hall before our Sunday morning church service. They come into the body of the kirk for the opening praise, the children's address and children's hymn. After this, they go back to the hall where they will complete an activity or a worksheet. It's not just about reading from the Bible - they play games, watch videos, have quizzes and make and draw pictures to take home.
If you or any of your children would like to join in then contact Miss Fiona Ferrans
The Youth Group is for Secondary School age boys and girls and aims to provide a welcoming environment for them to pursue various sports and activities while mixing with their friends. We also work at presenting the Christian gospel in a meaningful and relevant way for teenagers.
The group meet in the Church Hall on Friday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. Please feel free to come along and join in or contact Mrs Jean Cain.
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