HAMILTON: GILMOUR AND WHITEHILL PARISH CHURCH LINKED WITH HAMILTON: WEST PARISH CHURCH PARISH PROFILE
Hamilton is the administrative centre of South Lanarkshire. It lies twelve miles south of Glasgow, about half a mile to the west of the River Clyde as it flows between Strathclyde Loch and Hamilton Park Racecourse. It is home to a campus of the University of the West of Scotland. HAMILTON Page 1 of 10
The congregations of Hamilton Gilmour and Whitehill ( Gilmour ) and Hamilton West ( the West ) were linked in November 2014 after the retirement of their respective ministers. The distance by road between the two churches is 0.6 of a mile, although both congregations have their own distinct ethos. The Presbytery Plan has allocated a ministerial team of 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) to the linked charge, i.e. one full-time Minister and one 0.5 FTE Parish Assistant. Despite strenuous efforts to find a new Minister, our vacancy was sisted (i.e. put on hold) in February 2017 by Hamilton Presbytery. A review of the Local Area Plan was carried out and there were extensive discussions in the course of the following months. Finally, it was agreed in December 2017 that the sisting could be lifted and so, once again we are looking for a new Minister. What are our values? We want to live out and promote the Good News of the Christian Gospel throughout the communities that lie within our respective parish areas. We want both of our places of worship to be welcoming and inclusive. We want to consolidate the good work that has been achieved in the past. We seek to reach out both prayerfully and practically to those who live and work within the areas which we are called to serve. What are we looking for? We are not looking for a perfect Minister as we make no claim to be two perfect congregations. However, we are looking for someone who will teach, lead and inspire us on this next important stage in our history. We have a keen body of elders and members who are open to new ideas, under fresh vision and leadership, as we continue on our journey of faith and witness. Despite the long vacancies (Gilmour having been vacant since 2012 and the West since 2014) both congregations are in good heart and keen to move forward. Although there seems little appetite at the moment for the linking to become a union, relations between the two congregations and their office-bearers are good, and friendships are developing. There is a genuine willingness to cooperate more and even share resources where this is appropriate. Page 2 of 10
Sunday Worship Services in Gilmour are held at 10.00 am and in the West at 11.30 am. The original Basis of Linking stated that the times of morning services should alternate every year. In 2016, after wide consultation, the two Kirk Sessions agreed that the existing times for both congregations should remain as they are. Joint services take place from time to time, such as at Easter, Christmas and Remembrance Sunday. In 2017, for the first time, the two congregations successfully held one united morning service over the months of July and August. Both congregations also offer monthly services in local homes for older people. Communion is celebrated on the second Sunday of March, June, and September in both churches and on the first Sunday of December in the West and on the second Sunday of December in Gilmour. Kirk Sessions Each church has its own independent Unitary Kirk Session. Organisations in both churches Choir Sunday School and Bible Class Boys Brigade: Anchor Boys, Junior and Company Sections, and Bible Class. (At present there is no Company Section at Gilmour) Rainbow Unit Brownie Unit Guide Company (Gilmour only) Women s Groups Craft Group Hall letting to outside organisations A coffee lounge is open to the public in Gilmour on weekday mornings. Worship At present, both congregations follow a conventional Order of Service on Sundays. Scripture Readings are normally given by members of the congregations. Choirs in both churches regularly offer introits and anthems. Congregational praise is normally from CH4 although, on occasions, Mission Praise or Songs of God s People are used. The Good Page 3 of 10
News Bible is available in the pews. Both churches have good pipe organs and pianos. Buildings Both churches are Victorian buildings and conventional in layout with traditional pew seating. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to ensure that the plant at both churches is in good condition and fit for use in the 21 st century. There is an ongoing schedule of maintenance and upgrading in both. Both churches have modern hall and kitchen accommodation. Manse The former manses for both congregations were sold. There are adequate funds in hand to purchase a suitable manse to house our new Minister and his/her family. The acquisition of a new manse was put on hold for a time, pending fairly drawn-out negotiations as to the future of both congregations. Now that the search for a new Minister has resumed, the two Kirk Sessions will, in cooperation with Presbytery, seek to identify an appropriate manse as a matter of priority. Current Developments As part of its outreach to the community, in 2017 some volunteers from Gilmour, along with staff based at Udston Hospital (which lies within the western boundary of the parish) and Alzheimer Scotland formed the Memories Tearoom to provide some support for people with dementia and for their carers. The Tearoom meets once a month in the Gilmour hall and has been an outstanding success to date. In addition, the YOD Club ( Young Onset Dementia ) has also begun holding occasional meetings in the hall. At the West, a Good Companions group has recently been formed with a view to providing support to the older members of our congregation The Parish Areas Gilmour The church itself lies in the centre of Burnbank. Geographically the parish can be split into three distinct areas. To the north of Burnbank lies Whitehill and to the south lies Udston. Burnbank sits like a corridor Page 4 of 10
between the two. Udston and Whitehill are virtually self-contained housing schemes from the 1930s and 1940s. Burnbank was expanded and developed in the second half of the 19 th century with the sinking of two coal mines and the consequent arrival of some heavy industry. Although officially part of Hamilton, Burnbank has its own distinct identity. Since the end of World War II, the mines have closed and the heavy industry has gone. Both of these factors helped to designate the parish as a Priority Area parish. Quite a number of private houses have also been built in Burnbank in recent years. Other churches in the parish are St Cuthbert s RC Church, St Paul s RC Church, the Ebenezer Hall (Christian Brethren), and St Mary and St Michael Orthodox Coptic Church. The Roman Catholic High School (St John Ogilvie) lies within the parish as does Udston Hospital. Through our Memories Tearoom (see above) new connections have recently been made both with St John Ogilvie and St Cuthbert s Primary School. The membership of Gilmour currently stands at around 120. The West The administrative centre of South Lanarkshire, with all its offices, lies within the parish and about 200 metres from the church. New Douglas Park, the stadium of Hamilton Academical Football Club, a club in the Scottish Premiership, also lies within the parish and about 400 metres from the church. The West s parish also comprises an area of mixed housing, including private villas, bungalows, flats and council houses, The other Roman Catholic High School (Holy Cross) lies within the parish. The West, as with Gilmour, is suitably placed for excellent travel to Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the south by motorway and train. Hamilton West Railway Station is adjacent to the church. Several small industrial estates and a retail park lie quite near to the church. The membership of the West currently stands at around 200. Page 5 of 10
Hamilton outside our parishes The town of Hamilton itself has excellent restaurants, cafés, keep fit clubs, sports centres, a museum, two golf courses (one private and one public), libraries, Hamilton Park Racecourse, the famous Hamilton Mausoleum, Strathclyde and Chatelherault Country Parks, a state-ofthe-art multiplex cinema and enough garages from which to buy the most humble car to a Bentley! History of the Churches Gilmour In June 1877 the then United Presbyterian Church held its first service in a local shop in Burnbank. The church s first Minister, the Rev John Gilmour, was inducted in 1880. The 1900 union resulted in the church becoming Burnbank United Free Church and after the 1929 union it was renamed Gilmour Memorial Church in tribute to its first Minister. The year 1956 saw the linking of the Gilmour Memorial and Whitehill churches and in 1971 they were united as Gilmour and Whitehill Parish Church. Whitehill Church was built in 1946 as a successor to a House Church and held its final service in December 1999. In January 2013 Gilmour and Whitehill Church united with Burnbank Parish Church using Gilmour as the sole place of worship and retaining Page 6 of 10
the name of Gilmour and Whitehill Parish Church. The Burnbank building was subsequently sold to the Coptic Church. The West The West was founded in 1874 by the Free Church of Scotland as the Burnbank Mission Station. In 1881 the name was changed to the West Free Church and, after the union of 1900, was changed again in 1901 to the West United Free Church. Following the union of 1929, it became the West Parish Church as a new parish of the Church of Scotland. The present building opened in 1882 under the ministry of the Rev T M B Paterson. It incorporates a fine hammer-beam roof, second only in Scotland to that in the High Court in Edinburgh. Page 7 of 10
What we have done so far, during the vacancy 1 Priority Area Gilmour, being in a Priority Area (PA) set up a Priority Area Team under the leadership of Alex Gilmour, one of our elders, who has experience in this area. 2 Ministerial team of 1.5 FTE We agreed that, ideally, the new Minister should be involved, in conjunction with the Ministries Council and local representatives, in selecting the 0.5 FTE Parish Assistant and establishing what that person s prime role would be. As the vacancy has lasted longer than anticipated, it was agreed that the appointment should proceed even although procedure had been sisted. As a result, the linked charge was fortunate in obtaining the services of Michelle Binnie in the course of 2017. Michelle came to us with a wealth of experience in working in Priority Area churches and will, without doubt, prove to be a valuable support to the new Minister as well as an asset to the two congregations. 3 Online presence The linked charge has its own website www.gilmourandwest.org.uk which is maintained and updated by Diane Farrell. Both churches also have their own Facebook presence, set up by the Interim Moderator. 4 Church-school relationships A way to increase membership in falling congregations is to attract young people of school age. To this end we set up two School Liaison Teams. There is one non-denominational primary school, Beckford Primary School, in the West s parish and one non-denominational primary school, Glenlee Primary School, in Gilmour s parish. There are no nondenominational secondary schools in the parish. The West s team, led by James Cameron, has involved members of the West s congregation in taking part in Beckford s assemblies and other school activities along with teachers and parents. For example, they have joined with the pupils, teachers, family, and friends at the harvest festival, weekly pupil awards presentation, Macmillan coffee mornings, and mornings of music and song. Members of the West have taken part by giving scripture readings, a harvest message, a talk to the children Page 8 of 10
about changes (new classes, new teachers) and prayers. There are plans, as yet to be realised, for Beckford s end of term service to be held in the West Church, which would be a welcome return to a tradition of the past! Gilmour s team, led by Anne Paul, is currently working with the head teacher to develop a similar relationship. As indicated above, there have been recent connections made with the two Catholic schools St John Ogilvie and St Cuthbert s through the Memories Tearoom initiative. Michelle Binnie, our Parish Assistant, also has hopes of further developing relationships with the schools. In this way, at the very least, we are introducing primary school children to Christian values and these children may draw their young parents to Christian activities in school and church. Page 9 of 10
Enquiries and Applications A linked charge brings challenges but it also brings opportunities. What makes us unique? The diversity of the areas in the two parishes The Priority Area status The support of a part-time Parish Assistant Informal enquiries and expressions of interest are warmly welcomed and may be made in confidence to the Interim Moderator: Rev Alasdair B Gordon BD, LLB, EdD Flat 1, 13 Auchingramont Road, Hamilton ML3 6JP Tel 01698 200561 Mob 07768 897843 alasdairbgordon@hotmail.com Applications should be addressed to the Clerk to the Nominating Committee: Mr Sam Hewitt 3 Corrie Court, Hamilton, ML3 9X Tel: 01698 457403 sam.betty@hotmail.com Registered Charities in Scotland Registered Numbers: Gilmour and Whitehill SC011571 Hamilton West SC008451 Page 10 of 10