Gilmour and Whitehill Parish Church linked with Hamilton West

HAMILTON
GILMOUR AND WHITEHILL
PARISH CHURCH
LINKED WITH
HAMILTON
WEST
PARISH CHURCH
PARISH PROFILE
INTRODUCTION
As a recently linked charge, we developed a strategy to take the charge forward.
Below is a summary of our four main strategic strands.
Develop our Priority Area for the better
The former Gilmour and Whitehill parish has Priority Area status and we set up a
Priority Team led by Alex Gilmour, who is very keen on this kind of work and
works in this field. As a result, we have applied to be a participant in the New
Connections Project of Hamilton Presbytery.
Develop an online presence
Prior to our linkage, neither congregation had an internet presence, so a Website
Team was set up, led by Diane Farrell. Our website therefore had to be created
from scratch and it is being developed at www.gilmourandwest.org.uk.
Develop church-school relationships
We set up two School Liaison Teams, one for Beckford Primary, led by James
Cameron, who has enlisted the help of others. They have participated in the
school’s harvest festival, presentations of pupil awards, coffee mornings, regular
school assemblies, and we look forward to hosting the annual Christmas Service
in the West Church. The second team, for Glenlee Primary, led by John Adamson,
is working with the Head Teacher to develop a similar relationship.
Develop a proposal to increase the number of Church of Scotland ministers
In light of the shortage of available Church of Scotland ministers, in conjunction
with Hamilton Presbytery and the Ministries Council, we are developing a plan
for recruiting and training interested ministers and students from the Presbyterian
Church, United States of America.
(The Proposal is on the last page.)
The full profile follows.
1
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.
HAMILTON
2
The churches
Hamilton Gilmour & Whitehill (Gilmour) and Hamilton West (the West) became
a linked charge in November 2014 after the retiral of their respective ministers.
The road distance between the churches is 0.6 of a mile.
Our raison d'être
The maintenance and promotion of Christianity and Christian values in our
community.
How do we do it?
When our Nominating Committee was formed, it looked at what we had to offer
a minister, the congregations, and the Church of Scotland, so our strategy
comprised the following six strands.
1 To improve our Priority Area by involvement in Hamilton Presbytery’s New
Connections Project.
2 To offer the minister the opportunity to decide the nature of the 0.5 full time
equivalent (FTE) additional staff.
3 To create a website.
4 To prepare an appropriate Parish Profile and Call Advertisement.
5 To re-establish church-school links with the non-denominational schools in
our linked parish.
6 To produce an innovative proposal to ease the dearth of ministers in the Church
of Scotland.
3
Here is what we did
1 Priority Area
Gilmour, being in a Priority Area (PA) parish, sought advice from the Rev Derek
Pope and his wife Helen, who are the Presbytery’s acknowledged experts in this
field. A Priority Area Team under the leadership of Alex Gilmour was formed.
As PA projects tend to be ambitious, the team has decided that our church will
become a member of Hamilton Presbytery’s New Connections Project. This
project is a community development project which encourages the sharing of
community based skills, knowledge, and experience.
2 Ministerial team 1.5 FTE
As we are now a large parish and comprise two of everything from buildings and
kirk sessions to funerals, our call is for a 1.5 ministerial team. As our new
minister, you will choose, in conjunction with the Kirk Sessions, what the nature
of the 0.5 FTE will be.
3 Online presence
Innovation and living in the present is now a must, as witnessed by the use of
websites rather than hard copy. Since the formation of our Nominating
Committee, we have set up a Website Team led by Diane Farrell and the team has
designed and set up our website which is now on-line and developing.
4 Profile and Advert
Our Parish Profile and Call Advert, which have been produced by our Parish
Profile and Call Advert Team, led by Frew Pollock, are now instantly available at
the touch of a button on the website.
4
5 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 are no
secondary schools in the parish.) There is one non-denominational primary
school, Beckford Primary School, in the West’s former parish and one nondenominational primary school, Glenlee Primary School, in Gilmour’s former
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 morning, and a morning of music and song. They
have taken part by giving scripture readings, a harvest message, a talk to the
children about ‘changes’ (new classes, new teachers) and prayers. Beckford’s end
of term church services will be held in the West Church – a welcome return to a
tradition of the past!
Gilmour’s team, led by John Adamson, is currently working with the head teacher
to develop a similar relationship.
In this way, at the very least, we are introducing primary school children to
Christian values and these young children may draw their young parents to
Christian activities in school and church.
6 The Proposal
Currently, we are proposing an innovative three-year plan which could help ease
the dearth of ministers in the Church of Scotland. The Proposal is being put
before Presbytery and if approved, it will go to the Ministries Council. If
successful, it will go before the General Assembly in May 2016. The Proposal is
at the end of this Profile.
5
Current information about the churches
Sunday worship
From Sunday 03 May 2015 until the last Sunday in June 2016 inclusive, services
in Gilmour will be held at 10.00 am and in the West at 11.30 am. The service
times will then rotate annually on the first Sunday in July. Joint services take
place from time to time, such as one held at the West on 14 June 2015 to dedicate
two books of remembrance: one of the men of Hamilton who died in World War
I and the other of the men of the West Church who died in both World Wars.
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.
Shoebox Appeal – Combined Service
6
Church organisations
Both churches have the following:
Choir
Sunday School and Bible Class
Boys Brigade (Anchor Boys, Junior and Company Sections, and Bible Class)
Rainbow Unit
Brownie Unit
Guide Company (Gilmour only)
Women’s group
Craft Group
Hall letting to outside organisations
Line Dance and Country Dance Group in the West
A daily café open to the public in Gilmour
7
The churches’ parishes
Gilmour
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 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 19th century with the
sinking of two new coal
mines and the consequent
arrival of some heavy
industry.
Since the end of World War
II, the mines have closed and
heavy industry has gone.
Both of these factors helped
to designate the parish as a
Priority Area parish.
Other churches in the parish are St Cuthbert’s RC Church, St Paul’s RC Church,
an Ebenezer Hall, and St Mary and St Michael Orthodox Coptic Church.
8
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, 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 are
also adjacent to the church.
Hamilton outside our parish
The town of Hamilton has: excellent restaurants; cafés; keep fit clubs; sports
centres; museum; two golf courses (one private and one public); library; Hamilton
Park Racecourse; the famous Hamilton Mausoleum; Chatelherault Country Park;
a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema with 9 screens and seating for 1,478; a night
club; and enough garages from which to buy the most humble car to a Bentley.
9
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 Gilmour Memorial and
Whitehill churches linked and in 1971 they were united as Gilmour and Whitehill
Parish Church.
Whitehill Church building 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 for services
and Burnbank Parish Church was sold to the Coptic Church as a place of worship.
10
The West
The West was founded in 1874 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.
11
CONCLUSION
As a linked charge we are not unique!
What will make us unique?
 The diversity of areas in the parish
 The opportunity of Priority Area status
 The Proposal
What an interesting challenge for a minister!
Registered Charities in Scotland
Registered Numbers:
Gilmour and Whitehill SC011571
The West SC008451
12
Hamilton: Gilmour and Whitehill (Gilmour) linked with Hamilton: West (the West)
Proposal for a Way Forward
We, the Sessions and Congregations of Gilmour linked with the West, agreed to the linkage mandated
by Hamilton Presbytery. However, we believe the proposal below may provide a more satisfactory
long-term solution for both churches.
We therefore submit to Presbytery the following proposal and three-year strategy of becoming two
churches linked by a common mission.
Year One
Produce a Parish Profile and seek a minister with an interest in Priority Area (PA) Ministry and a
proven record of good leadership.
This minister will initially have worship, pastoral, and administrative responsibilities in both
churches. This ministry will however have two unique emphases.
1
A nominated person from Hamilton Presbytery’s New Connections project and the minister will
be equally responsible for ensuring the development of a strategy for ministry in the PA of
Burnbank.
2
A nominated person from the Ministries Council, a nominated person from Hamilton Presbytery,
and the minister will be equally responsible for ensuring the development of a pilot plan for the
recruitment and training of a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister in one of the following
categories:
a) a recent seminary graduate, ordained in the PC(USA) to serve in the Church of Scotland
with missionary status,
b) a PC(USA) minister who has been ordained for five or more years,
c) a seminary student serving a one-year internship.
The PC(USA) minister will serve a designated term of three to five years (except the student
intern, who will serve for one year) with the intention of developing an ongoing rotation of
PC(USA) ministers who may, at the completion of their term, opt to return to the USA or seek
ordination in the Church of Scotland.
Year Two
The West will serve as the pilot church and call its own minister from amongst PC(USA) applicants.
The minister of the linked charge will have supervisory responsibilities over the incoming PC(USA)
minister, enabling him/her to learn the unique culture of Scotland and her Kirk. The ministers will
share worship, pastoral, and administrative responsibilities for both churches until such time that the
PC(USA) minister is able to serve in an independent capacity.
Year Three
The churches will move towards independent status, retaining their linkage for the purposes of:
An ongoing Priority Area ministry in Burnbank
An ongoing recruitment and training centre for PC(USA) ministers at the West.