Welcome to the website of the Bankfoot Church Centre.
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AUCHTERGAVEN & MONEYDIE
linked with
REDGORTON & STANLEY
“IS IT I LORD?”
We are looking for a new minister:
• Who is enthusiastic
• Who will lead us in a warm and friendly style of worship
• Who can relate to all ages
• Who will help and encourage us on the journey the Lord has chosen (for us)
We are two congregations, fully committed to our new linkage.
• With both modern and traditional buildings
• We are enthusiastic and hardworking
• We have many active organisations
• We are supportive, caring and ready to grow with our new minister
If you can say, “Here I am Lord”, please
contact the clerk to the Nominating Committee Mr David
Walton, 6 Maxtone Court, Luncarty. Perth PH1 3FF
Email: david41walton@aol.com Tel 07767852840
Email: david41walton@aol.com Tel 07767852840
A Parish Profile can be viewed from the website: www.bankfootchurch.org.uk
Informal enquiries can be made by contacting the Interim Moderator the Reverend Scott Burton on 01738 636757 or e-mail minister@stmatts.org.uk
Closing Date for Applications: 30 November 2011!
The parish profile
for our linked parishes can be downloaded by clicking
the link.
Parish profile.
Parish profile.
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We opened our new
building on
To some the Bankfoot
Church Centre represents a new way of “doing church”, to
others it is a recovery of a model based on scripture, where
worship and daily life merge into one.
The aim of the project to rebuild the church after the fire
was to provide a twenty first century building accessible
and relevant to all.
Throughout the planning
and building process, the church sought to listen carefully
to the needs, hopes and plans of its community. It also
listened carefully for God's plans and was encouraged by the
continued recurrence of the words of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I
know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “Plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a
future.” These words seemed so fitting
and deliberate that they became the inscription on the
foundation stone on which the whole project was, quite
literally built. Within the building there are facilities
for all ages, from the soft play area for children to a day
care centre for the elderly. Our hope is that all who enter
the building will not only feel welcome but know that God is
present in the midst of this community.
MISSION STATEMENT:
We aim to provide a focus of faith and worship accessible to all within our growing community.
By relating to all ages we will reach out in Christian service and caring to all in Auchtergaven and Moneydie Parish.
We aspire to bring the progressive influence of Christ into the midst of the life of our parish creating a sense of belonging to the wider family of God.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE:
To foster and grow the ethos of unconditional acceptance to all expressed through our Christian faith.
To make the gospel available to all generations using the best methods and materials we can employ.
To be an open, outward looking congregation founded on the truth of scripture and led by the Holy Spirit.
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FROM THE INTERIM MODERATOR REV. SCOTT BURTON
(Written in late September for the October 2011 edition of the church magazine. A copy of which can be hand by emailing us.)
Dear Friends,
I hope this parish letter finds you well!
Certainly, we're all well on our way into the new session of church activities after our summer break when much of all our churches' work quietens down a little.
On the vacancy front there is not a great deal more to report to you from that which I have reported before. In the main, the news is that the Nomination Committee has been working hard on the Parish Profile and advertisement for the informative insight of any prospective candidates.
The Kirk Sessions here at Bankfoot and over at Redgorton and Stanley have now approved the profile. It should, indeed, be available for download from the church website imminently - a very specific strategy knowing that most ministers nowadays are very familiar with "googling" and "surfing" to find out any information they can! The advert will also be placed in Life and Work soon (so watch out for it there!) and also in a monthly newsletter called Minister's Forum which all Kirk ministers receive.
Hopefully we will be reporting in due course that the notices and information will have attracted several interested parties. Further, we pray, we will hopefully be able to announce that applications have been made, leading us further and further towards that desire we all have: to see a new minister inducted into the charge.
Realistically, it is unlikely that we shall have a new minister in place before the turn of the New Year, given the timing of publications, the holiday periods, the whole process of interviews etc and the need to sensitively assist a minister leaving behind a possible previous parish. We all know too well the many emotions and practicalities of such transition from one parish to another, given the departure of Iain McFadzean so recently. Never say never, though! We keep on praying and working towards a speedy settling of the vacancy situation, but equally note the importance of taking enough care and time to ensure that any applicant is really the most suitable for the new linkage that has taken place. We want to get it right!
For now, all I would ask is that you continue to remember the Nomination Committee in your prayers, go on supporting Bob Sloan as your locum who leads your weekly worship so ably and provides the necessary pastoral cover.
I've assured you before of my own commitments to the process and I offer that dedication once more. Here's hoping that we all use the period of vacancy to remember that every church thrives mainly though the team-work of the members, rather than the dependence upon any one ministerial individual. Keep on keeping on, then! Let's together, show all those potential applicants what a hard-working, enthusiastic, generous and positive congregation he or she would be coming to, were they to be called here eventually.
Until next time: God's richest blessing to you and yours.
Scott Burton
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April 2011
As the new interim moderator in the now linked Charge of Auchtergaven & Moneydie linked with Redgorton & Stanley, please allow me to introduce myself if I may. I'm Rev Scott Burton, minister of St. Matthews in Perth town centre where, along with my wife, Jill, and two daughters, Eilidh and Sara, I moved in 2007 after a seven year ministry in west Fife.
My own role regards procedures that will take you forward towards electing and inducting a new minister for the charge. The manse needs to be inspected and brought up to whatever standard is agreed by Perth Presbytery, meetings with the Presbytery’s Advisory Committee will require to be held, an electoral roll needs to be prepared, a nomination (formerly known as a vacancy) committee must be formed, and then a parish profile produced, applicants sought and interviews held! Stage by stage we shall get there, and month by month I shall try and keep everyone informed as best I can.
For now can I say very directly that it is imperative that each member of your congregation (that's you) do their utmost to attend worship in order to hear the variety of edicts and intimations that shall be communicated. I've always said that "communication is a two way street". One part of this is to be present in church wherever possible in order to hear what is said and, for sure, there will be many messages shared from the pulpit over the coming weeks. It is important to listen out for them.
Attending worship more regularly will also set an excellent precedent to the commitment that we would all hope your eventual new incumbent will witness in due course, as well as ensure the vital contributions needed for any healthy church: the time, talents and finances of its membership. Rather than being a time to relax our commitments, vacancies are times to strengthen them. I thank you so much, in anticipation, then, for what I pray you will offer! Similarly, I pledge to you my commitment to the work ahead of us!
May what we do in this new chapter of church life bring honour and glory to the God we believe in, the Lord we serve and the living Christ we have so recently celebrated in the season of Easter. With warm best wishes to you and yours.
Scott Burton
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February 2011
THE FUTURE OF BANKFOOT
As some will be aware when we called our present minister to our church it was the end of a difficult chapter in our history. A period which saw the retiral of our previous minister Rev. Bill McGregor, a fight to avoid a linkage or union and be allowed to call another minister and the burning down of our much loved church building
When we called our present minister, Rev. Iain McFadzean, we did so on the basis of a 5 year reviewable tenure. This meant that at any time the presbytery could review our minister’s tenure and decide whether he was required or not with no further reference to the congregation. When our nomination committee asked Iain at interview if this concerned him he said, “No, because within 5 years we will be seen as such a successful enthusiastic church that we will be moved back onto Full status once more.”
I am happy to say that on the 9th of February that prophecy was fulfilled when the Presbytery of Perth voted to remove the restriction on tenure at Bankfoot. In effect this means that Iain moves onto a permanent contract which can only be changed with his agreement. It also means however that Bankfoot Church is once more a Church in “Full Status”, securing a dedicated minister for Bankfoot and ensuring the ability to call another minister without restriction should a vacancy arise in the future. This is good news for Iain but great news for Bankfoot Church.
The one “fly in the ointment” is our financial situation. The Church of Scotland System requires each congregation to pay into a central fund which is then used to pay for all the ministers, ensuring that even churches which cannot afford it can have the services of a minister. Those who can afford it pay more and those who cannot, pay less. At present only one third of churches are self-supporting and they are subsidising those who are not. The situation is becoming unsustainable and there is a danger that, in the future, there will not be enough money to support the present number of ministers. The challenge therefore is to try to get more churches to be self supporting.
When looking at the list of self supporting churches it is humbling to note that many are in areas where per capita income is very low but where commitment levels are obviously high. If these churches can be self supporting, so can many others.
Unfortunately Bankfoot is still an “aid receiving” church to the tune of £18,000 per year. Although this has been reducing over recent years we still have some way to go. While we are still aid receiving, our position of trying to ensure that there will always be a full time minister in Bankfoot is considerably weakened.
We have come a long way in the last few years and are now in a much stronger position than we were. I hope that we will now be able to look forward to a time when we will be able to say with pride that we are not only “Full Status” but also fully “self supporting,” and indeed will be able, in time, to support others who are going through what we have been through.
This is not a begging letter and, at present there are no plans to start a new stewardship campaign, though we need to think about this soon. At present this is just a note of congratulation to Iain and the whole congregation and a warning that as one chapter finishes another begins. I am sure the next chapter will be as exciting as the last and I look forward to seeing how our story unfolds.
ALASTAIR MACDONALD
SESSION CLERK & DEPUTY TREASURER
