Hopefully you will have had time to read Peter Neilson’s article entitled ‘Cumbernauld Churches Working Together for Change’  in this edition of the Church Newsletter. Peter has been working with the Cumbernauld Churches for almost 18 months now helping to make sense of the challenges that face the Churches in Cumbernauld both individually and collectively and to formulate a workable plan to address these challenges.

The report that Peter refers to in his article is the outcome of 12 months of working together and captures the key actions in a number of recommendations presented to Falkirk Presbytery in February 2010. Now that Presbytery have approved the plan the hard work begins.

The Kirk Session at Cumbernauld Old set aside time to discuss the output from the Mission Audit; you will recall being asked to give the Mission Audit Team your feedback last autumn, and the outcome from an exercise on ‘The Healthy Church’; Peter led the respective Kirk Sessions through this exercise in October last year, and have listened to feedback from the congregation, the Steering Group and the Congregational meetings held during 2009. All of this has been reflected in a plan specific to our own congregation and parish that aligns to the wider plan for the Cumbernauld area.

In his article Peter advises that the agreement reached with Falkirk Presbytery means that the Cumbernauld Ministers and Deacons remain in post, and that’s true; however, this is only the beginning and the agreement is based on the understanding that we will deliver our overall plan. Peter has outlined the strategy and gives some detail around the plan which will require effort and commitment from everyone if we are to deliver our part of the agreement.

A number of people in the congregation are already engaged on a number of initiatives and ideas, both within our own congregation and parish and in conjunction with other churches in the Cumbernauld area. As we progress through the plan more people will need to become involved.

During the coming year there will be plenty of opportunity for members of the congregation to learn more, be part of the discussion and become more involved.

The next opportunity will be the Congregational Meeting that will take place in Kildrum Parish Church on Sunday 13th June at 2pm.

The turnout from Cumbernauld Old at all three of the Congregational meetings during 2009 was tremendous and it would be really good to have a similar attendance at the meeting on Sunday 13th June, therefore we hope that as many people as possible from the congregation will be able to come along. No need to let anyone know that you will be attending; this is an open invitation to all. Just make sure that you put the date and time in your diary and arrive at Kildrum Church in time for a 2pm start.

We look forward to seeing you there.  

Brian Smillie
Session Clerk

© Cumbernauld Old Parish Church of Scotland; Registered Scottish Charity SC000877