Baptisms: Leo Campbell Main, c/o 7 Mull Court, Grangemouth

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1 SEPTEMBER Parish Register / Outreach 3 Women s Association 4 Prayer Promoter / Christmas Fayre 5 Diary Dates / Gift Aid 6 Minister s Letter 7 Elder s Conference 8 Treasurer s Report 10 Property Update 11 Senior Member s Welfare/Sunday School

2 PARISH REGISTER Baptisms: Leo Campbell Main, c/o 7 Mull Court, Grangemouth Funerals: Mr James Bonnar, 29 Oxgang Road, Grangemouth Mrs Jacqueline Smith, 50 Tummel Place, Grangemouth Mr John (Sid) Frazer, 4 Smallburn Place, Grangemouth Mr Alec Gibson, 37 South Marshall Street, Grangemouth Mrs Marion Marshall, 94 Morriston Court, Grangemouth Mrs Margaret (Moira) Dobbie, 12 Campsie Road, Grangemouth Mrs Jean (Sheena) Moodie, Thistle Cottage, Main Street, Maddiston, Mr William (Bill) Morton, 31 Overton Road, Grangemouth Mrs Mary (Ray) Wright, 121 Bowhouse Road, Grangemouth Mr Andrew Richardson, 75 Morriston Court, Grangemouth Mr David Kerr, 12 Pentland Way, Grangemouth Mrs Lexie Riley, 32 Zetland Drive, Laurieston Outreach Now that we have had our Prize Bingo for Nepal we can send a useful sum of money to our friends in Kathmandu to continue their vital work in the remote areas of a remote country. Thank you to all who contributed prizes and to those who came on the night. Our Harvest Thanksgiving will this year be for the benefit of Mary s Meals a charity which started in a shed in the Scottish countryside. They began by feeding 200 children in Malawi in 2002 and today feed over a million children every school day across four continents. It costs only on average to feed a child for a whole school year. If you would like to help, Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday is 25th September when the collecting jars should be returned. On that day too we will have our Harvest celebration in the hall after the service. As ever the folks at the Foodbank are delighted and impressed with your wonderful car load of food each month. They rely on regular donations to keep their storeroom stocked even though they receive collections from the supermarkets from time to time. Thank you for your faithful and generous support for Outreach projects. Betty Sutherland 2

3 Womens Association The Association starts again on Wednesday 21 st September 2016 for our new session. The committee have met during the summer months to discuss and form our new Syllabus for which we can share together in the weeks ahead. We look forward to welcoming everyone who would like to join us on a Wednesday evening. Here is an extract from the beginning of the new syllabus. On Wednesday 21 st September this will be the Welcome and Enrolment Night. 28 th September we will come together for the Dedication Service conducted by our minister Rev David Smith. 5 th October - Opening concert held in the Hall with The High Society Jazz Band. 12 th October our guest speaker will be Mrs Andrene Dickens, her topic will be her work at the Young Offenders Institute, Polmont. 19 th October we look forward to welcoming the Rev Alison Meikle, Minister at Zetland Parish Church. 26 th October Averil Boyne will be our guest as she shares with us her experience of helping Visually Impaired Children. The Syllabus then continues into November and December and on into the New Year when a variety of different events take place. I am very grateful to our committee, members and congregation for their support and to our secretary Mrs Mary Redpath for the work of organising the new syllabus. Our next report will take us further into the Syllabus. Please look for our intimations in our Church weekly Order of Service on a Sunday and in the Local News section in the Falkirk Herald which will cover our forthcoming events. Enrolment 3.50 Weekly 2.00 Concerts TBA Mary Wood, President (Tel: ) 3

4 Prayer Promoter KHR There is a Prayer tree in the vestibule. Please leave a message on this if you want prayers said for yourself or others. Lord Help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I can't get through together. Amen. We all have those mornings when we wake up and give thanks for the sun and the birds singing. Then we remember Today is that day. "That day can be many things to different people as some of us need necessary medication to help us through or awaiting test results or heard sad news of someone dear. Whatever the circumstances when I have these days a short prayer said to God and I know he is there giving a source of strength to help through the difficulties. I choose to pray counting my blessings and remembering that Jesus is just waiting to hear our call and he will give us his strength. He is just a short prayer away. Eleanor Neilson DATE FOR YOUR DIARY CHRISTMAS FAYRE Saturday 12 th November from noon Buy your stocking fillers, presents and treats early, enjoy a cuppa and a chat. Browse round the various stalls, it will be good to see you. So Let s get Wired in to raise funds for the re-wiring of KHR. 4

5 DIARY DATES Sunday 18 th September Communion11am & 6.15pm Saturday 24 th September Community Care Harvest Time Fun Day - Church Hall 12noon 4pm Tickets 1 from Liz Brown or Moira Gilliland Sunday 25 th September Harvest Thanksgiving Saturday 12 th November Christmas Fayre - Church Hall 10am 12noon Sunday 13 th November Remembrance Sunday Saturday 26 th November Senior Members Dinner Sunday 4 th December Communion 11am & 6.15pm Gift Aid January to June, we have received 4, in recovered tax, a very welcome addition to church funds. Anyone who is a taxpayer and has not applied for Gift Aid, see me on a Sunday. All you have to do is sign a declaration form that s it no information needed about your finances or personal details. Under Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, charities can claim on donations up to 20. This means that for members who are not taxpayers, their offerings and donations can be included in claims to HMRC without having to complete a declaration form. This will cover offerings, open plate, small donations and giving day. If you have a change of circumstances i.e. change of address / name / no longer a taxpayer, please let me know keeps my records up to date. Elspeth Irvine, Gift Aid Convenor 5

6 Minister s Message I write this in the immediate aftermath of the Grangemouth High School team building weekend with the sixth years. As ever, it was interesting and encouraging to see the development of those who participated in the event. There was a large staff presence this year with a lot of new teachers willing to take part. It meant that there was a staff team doing the activities, the theory being that you really have to have done the event in order to properly understand the dynamics of it. (It also meant that I felt my age a little as it was hard at times to distinguish between many of the staff and the pupils!). Disappointingly, there were a number of pupils who dropped out at the last minute. They missed out on a fun opportunity to develop their soft skills which are needed in the modern work place. A couple of youngsters needed serious encouragement to go because this sort of thing was well out of their comfort zone. These were the ones who shone because they were taking on something that worried and scared them. Over the years I have witnessed congregations that have mirrored the pupil s responses. There have been some who have always been enthusiastic and will participate come what may. Others promise much but then don t participate. Some are worried and sometimes scared of doing something different and then are surprised by what they achieve by taking part. The National Youth Assembly happened again at Gartmore House and this year Hazel was joined by Chloe to represent us. Topics like Mental Health and Fresh Expressions were discussed and will be in their report to next year s General Assembly. When that report is presented, I hope and pray that commissioners will listen to what they say. There have been occasions in the past where the hall has emptied and a scattering of people have listened. Is that the way to encourage our youth? We know well about funding difficulties and the national church is no different, but it is surprising to see what gets cut and what survives. We can say the same at local government level. These decisions are never easy but, in the national church especially, we might need to look for ways to fund activities for our youth rather than cutting the budgets year on year. As one delegate said in a previous General Assembly, it s time for the Assembly to put its money where its mouth is. Priorities are often dictated by budgets but sometimes we need to take a step or two of faith. Taking a long view of things sometimes requires us to more ambitious in our thinking. When things get tight, we will pull in our belt and that makes sense at one level. The problem is that such a view can tend towards a meanness of spirit and navel gazing rather than keeping our eye on the missional aspect of being a church. 6

7 I am grateful to the Outreach Team for their constant vision seeking out groups who might benefit from the relatively small amounts that we can raise through Harvest, Advent and other appeals. I would hope that you share their vision. Every blessing, David Elder s Conference On Saturday 8 th October 2016 there will be a conference for all elders in Polmont Old Church Hall from 10.00am 3pm This will be led by the Rev Donald Scott. There will be a cup of tea on arrival and lunch will be soup, sandwiches and wraps at a cost of 3, payable on the day. More information on the theme for the day will be forthcoming shortly. There will be a list in the small hall for names of those who can attend and space to note any dietary requirements etc. Please come and join us for what will be a day of fellowship and discipleship. 7

8 Treasurer s Report Rewiring Since the last issue of the magazine, our application to the Church of Scotland trustees for a grant and a loan was considered. The very positive news is that a grant of 10,000 towards the cost of the rewiring work was awarded, along with a loan of 10,000, with very reasonable repayment terms. There is perhaps some recognition of how hard we are working as a congregation, and how much we contribute, which has been reflected in a more sympathetic view of our circumstances. Regardless, we are extremely grateful to the trustees for their assistance, as without this help it would have been very difficult to see how this essential work could have been paid for. However, even with the generous grant and loan being offered by the trustees, it was clear that we would be unlikely to be in a position to pay the balance of the rewiring work ( 12,000 of 32,000) while continuing to pay for all of the other outgoings. We approached the contractor with a view to cutting the costs wherever we could. Happily, we have negotiated a reduced total bill of around 25,000, which will be much easier to meet. The essential work will still be completed as originally planned, but we may re-use some items to help keep costs down. While this may mean a slightly higher cost in the long term, it gives us much more scope to balance the books in the short term. Get Wired In Our campaign has been running for a few months now, and it has been astonishing just how much enthusiasm and commitment has been in evidence. I don t think I have ever experienced such a vibrant and uplifting atmosphere within the church, whether at fundraising meetings to discuss arrangements for forthcoming events, or at the events themselves, with everybody mucking in. That in itself is a success, and it is further boosted by the magnificent sums raised so far. Let s keep the feel-good factor going, and let s see where it takes us. The totals raised in the two events so far are as follows: 8 Children's Day drop-in cafe Wimbledon-themed lunch These are fantastic amounts raised, and I would like to thank all who contributed their time or talent to help our cause. It is probably remiss of me to single anybody out, but I have to say particular thanks to Kathryn Bennie for taking on a pretty huge event, in the Wimbledon Afternoon Tea. Sadly, I was on holiday and missed the event, but I am told it was great fun to be part of, and a huge success. A further fundraising idea which we have adopted is the use of a website called Easy Fundraising. Basically, by shopping on the internet, exactly as you would normally, but instead navigating via a website associated with Kirk of the Holy

9 Rood, you will raise additional funds for the church at no cost to yourselves, or indeed to the church. Just by shopping via this website means that commission is paid on your purchases, so please consider this is as a further help to our funds. The website is If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. Shop I d like to thank everybody who helped with the shop. A heck of a lot of donations. Similar hard work, along with huge dollops of patience and diplomacy, was required from those serving in the shop, and of course much work in the background, with re-stocking each day, banking the all-important takings, and clearing up at the end Thank you sincerely, for your contributions to the church. Forthcoming Events If you can help with the organising of fundraising events, or support any of the events themselves, we would appreciate this very much. It would also be very helpful if you helped to publicise our events, so that as many people as possible can hear about them. Those that have made the effort to organise a fundraising event deserve, at the very least, that the rest of us do our utmost to support it, and make it as successful as it can be. We are all in this together. Forthcoming Events Coffee Morning Saturday 3 rd September 2016 Talbot House Christmas Fayre Saturday 12 th November 2016 May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your contributions to Kirk of the Holy Rood, whether it be your time, your talent, or your financial assistance. Best Wishes Stuart Stuart Blackwood Treasurer 9

10 Property Update - Church Re-wiring As most of you will be aware by now we are having to get the Church rewired. This will be happening at the beginning of October and we are hoping that there will be as little disruption to the life of the Church as possible. This is a huge job but will be worthwhile with improved lighting in the passageways and the Church itself. The Duty teams might even be lucky enough to have some heating when standing at the front door. As you can imagine this does not come cheap and we have been fundraising to augment the Grant and Loan we received from Edinburgh. You have been very supportive of the events that have already taken place with more than 800 being raised and the next large fundraiser will be a Christmas Fete to be held on Saturday 12 th November at 10-12noon. So don t buy your stocking fillers too soon and come along and see the goodies we will have on sale. After the rewiring we will have to give the Church and halls a thorough cleaning so I will be looking for some volunteers to help with this. Again there will be more information in the Sunday intimation sheet. Ann Fenton (Property Convenor) 10

11 Senior Member s Welfare Once again we are updating the Senior Members Register. If there are any members of the Church who think they are eligible for their names to be placed on the register please complete the attached form and return to myself or your elder. Qualifications are as follows:- Ladies 60 and over and retired, couples qualify if the husband is 65 and retired. Name. Address The annual dinner will be held this year on Saturday 26 th November at 1pm in the Church Hall. Bill Fenton Sunday School By the time you read this the Sunday School will have started back for another session. The Summer Sunday School ran again this year although volunteers for this were low this time but a big thank you to all that helped. As you know the number of children in the Sunday School remains low and we would like to invite children from age 3+ to join us on a Sunday morning (during the service) in the large hall to hear about people/stories in the bible. If you know of any of your own or your friend s children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren who would like to come along and have some fun please let them know our details or better still encourage them to come with you. Parents/grandparents/friends/older siblings are welcome to sit with them until they get to know everyone and settle in. Kind Regards Ruth Rehill 11