Leith Churches Together Executive Committee

Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 24th May 2011

at SouthLeithBaptistChurch, Casselbank Street

Present

1 / David Igoe (Chair) / St Mary’s Star of the Sea Roman Catholic
2 / Robert Munro (Treasurer) / Ebenezer United Free Church of Scotland
3 / Fr. Denis Cormican / St Mary’s RC
4 / Rev. John Tait / Pilrig St Paul’s Church of Scotland
5 / Jennifer Stark (Secretary) / Leith Churches Outreach Project leader
6 / Rev. Leslie Morrison / Duke Street URC
7 / Robert Richard / Duke Street URC (trainee minister)
8 / Walter McGillivray / Leith St Andrews C of S
9 / Rev. Elizabeth Youngson / “
10 / Rev. Jennifer Booth / South Leith C of S (retired associate minister)
11 / Barbara Cartwright / St James’ Episcopal
12 / Tim Bell / Port Chaplain – LCT/ Sailors’ Society (North Leith C of S)
13 / Jeanette Wallace / SouthLeithBaptistChurch
14 / Andre Barbosa / “

Apologies

1 / Elisangela Arruda / LeithBaptistChurch
2 / Eric Fisher / Pilrig St Paul’s C of S
3 / Revd. Duncan Maclaren / St James’ Episcopal Church
4 / Rev. Andrew McMillan / Ebenezer UF
5 / Gillian Gilmour / South Leith C of S
6 / Kerry Reilly / Leith Acorn Centre YMCA (Methodist)
7 / Rev. Ian Paterson / South Leith Baptist
8 / Rev. Alex McAspurren / North Leith C of S
9 / Margot Hudson / “

1. The Chair, DI, welcomed everyone, in particular Barbara Cartwright as a new representative from St James’, and opened the meeting with prayer.

2. Apologiesreceived as listed above (Rev. Ian Paterson welcomed us but had to leave). Niall Martin from NorthLeithParishChurchattended as an observer.

3. Updates from congregations.

Leith St Andrew’s. EY and WM reported that LSA had organised a ‘MessyChurch’ in St Cuthbert’s Church for the ‘Roll Away The Stone’ event during the C of S General Assembly. This had been very successful, and given that the union of the two congregations (LSA and St Thomas’s Junction Road) had only taken place in autumn 2009, it had been a good chance for everyone to ‘come together’. The church had also installed a new Powerpoint system.

St Mary’s Star of the Sea. DC reported on the recent Parish Congress which had taken place at St Mary’s. The last one had been 5-6 years ago. The congregation had been preparing for this over several months, with a 12-person steering group. The day began with Mass, and included lunch and dinner together. It had been an opportunity for new ideas to be brought forward and broaden involvement, and a children’s programme was organised in parallel with the adult groups. DI added that they had recently appointed a full-time youth worker, Anne Fegan, who would be dividing her time between St Mary’s and St John Ogilvie’s in Wester Hailes. The church had also enjoyed a parish picnic at Nunraw Abbey.

St James’ Episcopal. BC reported that the church had held a series of Lent meetings, including a meal beforehand, which had focused on ‘fellowship’. These had been very successful, particularly in helping people get to know each other, as a number of the congregation do not live in Leith. A weekend away is planned for September.

Pilrig St Paul’s. JT reported on the outreach work in schools which Martin Ritchie, the organist, has been developing, through a choir of primary-age children (Vocal Vibes) and a similar project with secondary schools (Singchronicity), though the latter is taking longer to get off the ground. The church is a Fringe venue during the Edinburgh Festival and usually welcomes an American ‘High School Theater’ group. Mark Warner, of the Sailors’ Society, had preached at the church on 22 May.

JT also mentioned two Leith Festival events to which all are invited:

-Pilrig St Paul’s is hosting the ‘Question Time’ event during the Leith Festival. The discussion topic is ‘How to make Leith a paradise for children.’ Confirmed panellists are Margo Macdonald MSP, Bill Stevenson, president of the Boys’ Brigade in Scotlandand Steve Gilhooley, headteacher at St Mary’s RC Primary School.

-PSP are organising the rota for the Tea Tent at the Leith Gala Day on Saturday 11th June and volunteers to help with this would be very welcome.

SouthLeithParishChurch. JB reported that the church had said farewell to Rev. Ian Gilmour on Easter Sunday, with great regret,but with thanksgiving for his ministry of 15 years. The locum minister is Rev. Sara Embleton, and the Interim Moderator is Anne Logan. The Holy Week services, based around the theme of ‘bread’, had been a memorable time and a good chance for people to be involved in creating worship. The next months will be a time of discernment and discussion as the church works through the vacancy process, and support on the way will be much appreciated.

Duke Street URC. LM spoke of the commitment of the URC to being ‘one church in three nations’, and about 2 national programmes to be launched soon. One, ‘20-20 Vision’, is to be taken up by the URC churches in Scotland. The second, ‘Zero Intolerance’, is a radical welcome to the unchurched. The programme is from the Uniting Church of Christ in the USA.

It is hoped that there will be another ‘Jazz Vespers’ at Duke Street this year.

SouthLeithBaptistChurch. AB and JW reported that there are some new members joining the church, some as an ‘overspill’ from the successful Toy Library and lunch that follows. Their new website is about to be launched. There will an event on 24th June – Next Generation – to which all are invited. JW noted that AB was doing a great deal for the younger members in the church, but not forgetting the older members in his ministry.

Ebenezer UF. RM reported that the church was preparing for the ‘Songs in Praise’ fundraising event for Christian Aid, which will take place on Sunday 29th May and welcomed anyone who could support it from other churches.

North Leith C of S. TB reported that their new minister, Rev. Alex McAspurren, was now in post. He commented, following their recent Kirk Session meeting, that he felt it was important that such meetings were not dominated by Church of Scotland affairs (such as the draft Presbytery Plan) but also took a wider ecumenical perspective.

4. Minutes of the last meeting. These had been circulated and were approved.

Matters arising from the minutes:

  • Youth trip to SOLAS festival. Posters and flyers had been prepared by DI, JS and KR but there had been no takers this year. Some families / individuals will be going from various churches. JS hoped to have time over the next months to get to know Sunday School / youth leaders. An earlier start + publicity may help. DI is going to SOLAS with his family.
  • Sailors’ Society/ LCT agreement re. Port Chaplaincy. JS reported. She had written to the SS for documentation on this and also checked with former committee members. The amount of £656 per annum as the LCT contribution was confirmed, though the calculation for this amount was not entirely clear. The Chair will write to the SS, asking for a letter of request to be sent to LCT each September, to regularise the payment. The amount contributed will be reviewed at the next meeting. JS will circulate the documentation for members’ reference.

5. Leith Churches Outreach Project. JS spoke to her paper (no powerpoint presentation possible). Good progress is being made in building up the contact with the shop staff in OT on her ‘chaplaincy mornings’, and she had organised a small display over Easter, including the LCT Easter card and using stories from the Passion as a springboard for a prayer / reflection. The Mission Shaped Ministry course which she and DI have been attending has excellent material for use with church or ecumenical groups, which she would be happy to lead. Following Ian Gilmour’s departure, Rev. John Tait has taken over as her line manager.

6. Report re. unmanned Seafarers’ Centre. TB spoke to his paper. There has been no response to date from Forth Ports as to the continued availability of the Vine Trust site, despite approaches from TB and also from JT as LCT co-chair. TB will see the harbourmaster at a meeting this week and report back.

Ship Visitors group for cruise liners: work ongoing. The group is growing, as is the ecumenical range (mostly Church of Scotland and RC but with Episcopal and also now URC involvement). DI thanked TB for his continued excellent work.

7. Financial update (previously circulated). RM spoke to the financial reports. Note that some costs this year for the Outreach project were setting-up costs(eg. a laptop computer) which would not be required next year. Note that organisations such as LCT will soon have to find an alternative to cheques when these are phased out.

EY suggested and the committee affirmed, that it was good practice to share the financial reports with Kirk Sessions and equivalent bodies to communicate what LCT was doing. JS likewise encouraged all committee members to share her reports and other LCT information as far as possible (if they were not already doing so).LM noted that OSCR recommends that it is good practice for charities where there are over-lapping interests to share their accounts.

TB informed the meeting that there is now a Sailors’ Society Scotland, in accordance with OSCR requirements. This is now his employer. It is run and managed by Southampton but has separate bank accounts and board of trustees. Southamptonhas already successfully applied to a Scottish charity, which was not possible before.

JS reported that she had approached two people re. taking on the role of LCT Treasurer. One person had declined due to other commitments; the other person is considering the request. The latter is not a member of a Leith church,but could be a co-opted member.

8. Monthly ecumenical services. Pilrig St Paul’s is hosting these for May-July. It was agreed after some discussion that TB would approach the North Leith minister, Rev. Alex McAspurren, and church personnel to see if they are willing to host the August-October services and that DC will do likewise for St Mary’s for the November and December services.

Action: TB and DC.

9. Leith Churches Holiday Club. JS circulated a short note about this from one of the organisers and EY gave some background information about the club, which advertises in local schools and will run from 18-22 July. The club is not an LCT venture as such, but involves volunteers from several Leith churches. Volunteers (who must be Disclosed) are welcome.

10. Remembrance Service at Leith Community Treatment Centre (see JT’s paper circulated to November 2010 meeting). JT reminded the meeting that as he was retiring in 2012, this would be the last service he will organise as part-time chaplain to LCTC. It seems likely he will not be replaced as chaplain. He would like someone to ‘shadow’ him to enable a good transition so that the service can continue, under LCT’s auspices. EY recommended that more than one person be involved. JS said she would be willing to help with the service and organisation.

Next meeting: Tuesday 20th September 2011. Venue: possibly Pilrig St Paul’s(JT to confirm).

The meeting closed with prayer, led by JT.

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