ST ANDREW’S PARISH CHURCH

COATBRIDGE

OUTLOOK – MAY 2003

 

 

Minister:                                                          Session Clerk:

Rev Ian G. Wotherspoon                           Mr Alex McKee

77 Eglinton Street                                       34 Woodlands Drive

Coatbridge                                                       Coatbridge

Tel: 437271                                                     Tel: 421191

 

St Andrew’s Church Tel: 431385

www.saintandrewscoatbridge.org

 

Dear Friends,

On the 19th of May  the Kirk session and Congregational Board will be visited by a team from Presbytery.  This visit (or Quinquennial) happens every five years and is a kind of ‘health check’ on the life and work of the congregation.  On Sunday 25th May the team leader will take the service in our church and bring the Presbytery’s greetings. 

I hope there will be a good turn out of both Board and Session on the 19th and equally a good turn out on Sunday the 25th.  We do not want to create false impressions but it would be more than a pity if the team went away with anything other than a good impression of a very dedicated, faithful and loyal congregation here in St Andrew’s.

Another date I would like you to note is the date of our Silent Auction on June 21st.  this is a Saturday and there will be viewing in the morning and the sale in the afternoon.  As we did the last time we will ‘close’ one table at a time.  This time however, we will select a number of the best items and at some point during the afternoon there will be a proper auction.  The advantage of this is that we should get a better price for the more valuable items.

The Silent auctions which we have held in the past have always been great fun and have raised a substantial amount of money, but they are entirely dependant on your support.  We have some very nice gifts handed in.

already, as we have been gathering things for some time now, but we need quite a lot more, so search the cupboards and explore the attic to achieve the joint goal of making your house free of all those things which you never use and at the same time make some valuable funds for the church.  Above all come along on the 21st to be part of the fun and buy some more bits and pieces to fill the cupboards which you have emptied!

With every good wish and blessing,

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Ian G. Wotherspoon

 

PARISH REGISTER

FUNERALS

10.  04.  03            Mrs Ann Hall 52 Swinton Crescent, Coatbridge

12.  04.  03            Mr James McCurdy, 6 Albion Court, Coatbridge

13.  04.  03            Mrs Margaret Johnston, 42 West George Street, Coatbridge

21.  04.  03            Mrs Sarah Cairns, Dunbeth Lodge, Coatbridge

26.  04.  03            Mr John Neil, 18 James Demspey Court, Coatbridge

28.  04.  03            Mr Duncan Montgomery, 39 Cornhill Drive, Coatbridge

ANN HALL

Ann Hall, one of our elders, died at the age of 80 at here own home at Swinton Crescent on Thursday 10th April 2003 after months of illness which she bore with courage and quiet faith.

Ann was ordained to the eldership in Gartsherrie Parish Church in 1987 and served that congregation until the union which formed St Andrew’s, she then served St Andrew’s with the same devotion and faithfulness which had marked her service to Gartsherrie.

Her special interest was the Evergreens, as the senior citizens’ club was called in Gartsherrie, then the Thursday Club in St Andrew’s after the union, Ann was always to be found busy on a Thursday working in the with her friends to ensure that the teas were just right!  In addition to the Thursday Club, Ann enjoyed the fellowship of the Guild and the monthly Whist and Beetle Drives organised by the Social Committee.

Outwith the church Ann had many interests, she loved music and ballet – her party piece was the ’Dying Swan’. She had a great sense of humour and fun and loved to tell stories, which she did very well.  Through her work as a clerkess in MacDougall’s she developed an early interest in antiques which stayed with her to the end of her days, even when she was very ill and weak she enjoyed watching programs on antiques on the television.

She was a keen bowler, a member of Coatbridge Bowling Green and Coatbridge Indoor Bowling and here as in all her activities she enjoyed the fellowship and the chance to meet her many friends.

Today we remember her life within our congregation and give thanks to God for all the years of quiet and devoted service which she gave.. She was a person who expressed her faith in practical ways in her involvement in our organisations and in  her care of her district.

Our prayers and sympathy go out to Sam her husband and to the wider family, whose devoted care and attention enabled Ann to stay in her own home, which she loved so dearly, right to the end.

She lived a quiet life of faith, kindly and nice in her life and courageous in her illness which she faced with dignity and bravery to the end. Today we give thanks for that life of faith and for her service to Christ and his church. 

 

Stated Annual Meeting, Sunday 23rd March 2003.

The meeting was attended by seventy members of the congregation.  Eight apologies were also received and noted.   The main business was conducted by a question and answer session by Mr Wotherspoon and Mr McKee, Finance Convenor.  

The Minutes of the meeting of 17th March 2002 and the Accounts for 2002 and Budget for 2003 were approved by acclaim.

Various questions were asked by the congregation and satisfactory answers given.

Auditors.   Mrs Christine Nelson and Mr Ian Sinclair were re-elected by acclaim.

Congregational Board.   Mrs Rosemary Wotherspoon resigned and was thanked for her service on the Board.   Janice Seymour, Ann Kennedy and Stuart McDougall retired by rotation but were re-elected to serve a further three years.   Christine McCrone and Gordon McRae were proposed, seconded and approved by acclaim for membership of the Board.   There were no further nominations, thus leaving four vacancies to be filled.   The meeting was closed by singing the Doxology.

At the statutory meeting of the Board on Monday 28th April Bill Craig, Jim White and Elizabeth Llewellyn were co-opted to fill three of the vacancies. 

 

Matt Sprott, Clerk to the Board.

 

COLLECTIONS                              

F.W.O.           Open Plate               Total

April            £4740.75            £211.20                      £4951.95

 

SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Sunday School are collecting old mobile phones and printer cartridges and sending them to help fundraise for CHAS.  If you have any lying about at home no longer in use please pass them to any teacher.

The Sunday School trip, which is going to Leven on Saturday 31 May, will be leaving the hall at 10am and returning about 7.30pm.  The price of the ticket is £8 for adults and £3 for children not in the Sunday School.  As usual our Sunday School children go free of charge.   All tickets should be paid by 4th May.  George McCall

 

CHRISTIAN AID

The Christian Aid house-to-house collection will take place from Monday 12th to Saturday 17th May.  Please give generously.  If you miss the collector, or no one calls at your house and you would like to donate, envelopes will be available at the door of the church on Sunday 18th May.