Islay North Churches Blog

Hurray and Halleluiah! . After an absence of three years Kilmeny Church was at last able to hold the Carol Evening on a fine clear night with no snow. We are grateful to the youngsters of Islay High School Wind Band for coming along to accompany the well-known Christmas carols under the leadership of their dedicated instructor Scott McDermott. The church looked so attractive in candlelight with the fairy lights twinkling away on the tree and nothing was set alight.

The goodly sized congregation sang with enthusiasm and members of Kilmeny read lessons and poems. The evening was led by Rev Angus Morrison and Jim McNulty of the Islay Baptist Church, both of whom did a first-rate job. Once the singing was over the hospitality continued with tea, sandwiches and cakes after which people eventually began to wend their way home. We are extremely grateful to the members of the Band, to the folk who made and served the food and especially to Rev Angus Morrison who thought he had retired, but is very willing to help as much as he can, and to Jim NcNulty who already had had an afternoon of carol singing before coming up the road.

And after a two year absence we were able to welcome the children, parents and staff of Keills School to the church for their Christmas Assembly on the last day of term. It may have been a dreich day but it was very suitable for the children to walk from the main road. The children did the school proud with their story of the first nativity and singing of carols. After the service they were presented with a Christmas card and activity pack by the Church and off they, their parents and the staff went to enjoy the holiday.

Christmas Day saw a very good congregation come for a service of Lessons and Carols taken by the Elders. Again it was a fine day for travelling and we at last have managed to hold all the church Christmas events without let or hindrance ie weather. Deo gratias

Portnahaven held a successful Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve with tea and fellowship afterwards which everyone stayed behind for On Christmas Day the service was again one of Lessons and Carols, none of which had been sung the previous day. Again, these were led by the Elders and everyone went home happy having felt that it was actually Christmas Day with its true meaning being observed. The Advent Candles were lit on both occasions, 4 on Christmas Eve and 5 on Christmas Day.

New Year’s Day was special in Portnahaven when the Sacrament of Holy Communion was celebrated with the service conducted by Rev Angus Morrison, while in Kilmeny the service was again led by the Elders.

St Kiaran’s also had successful Watchnight, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day services led by members of the Worship Team. Now that we are into a new year we will continue to have worship services in each of the three churches while the Nominating Committee searches for a Minister for our charge.

We said goodbye to Rev Anne McIvor at the end of August when she stood down as Interim Moderator and welcomed Rev David Carruthers in her place. We still have no minister but maintain weekly services in all three churches with the help of the Worship Group and visiting ministers.

The two joint services for this year have taken place, the first on 19th June in Portnahaven and the second in St Kiaran’s on 23rd October. In June Rev Angus Morrison preached to a large congregation on Trinity Sunday and at the end we enjoyed the hospitality of the Portnahaven congregation. In October our Interim Moderator Rev David Carruthers came over from Ardrishaig to conduct the service and celebrate Communion again with a large congregation. Next year we will be having three joint services, the first to be held in Kilmeny Church followed by one in Portnahaven and the third in St Kiaran’s.

Soon we will each be holding our Remembrance Services. As in the past, there will be a special service at the Kilchoman war graves on Friday 11th November at 11.00am. On Sunday 13th Kilmeny Church will have Islay Lifeboat Crew present and a speaker talking about his years in the navy. Wreaths will be laid at the First and Second World War memorials Both Portnahaven and St Kiaran’s Churches will lay wreaths at the war memorials and continue on to church for the services.

This will lead us into the season of Advent and the special services held then. The first will be the Carol Evening in Kilmeny Church on Sunday 11th December at 7.00pm when members of the Islay Youth Band will be present. It is an evening of Readings, Carols and Poems with tea and cakes at the end. St Kiaran’s will be having their evening of Coffee, Cakes and Carols and Portnahaven their special Christmas Eve service at 4.00pm. There will be no Watchnight Service in Kilmeny this year but as Christmas Day is a Sunday, the morning service at 10.00am will be one of lessons and carols. Both Portnahaven and St Kiaran’s will have similar services at 10.00am and 11.30am respectively. We look forward to welcoming everyone to these services.

11th November, 2010
For our Service at the Military Cemetery on the cliff top at Kilchoman – 11.00am on Remembrance Day itself – this year the weather was so bad that photography was virtually impossible, and due to a severe lightining storm it was considered unsafe for the Bugler to take part. Regrettably also, representatives of the crew of H.M.S, Vanguard were unable to join us as had been arranged. Nevertheless, some twenty people turned out and wreaths (suitably weighted to avoid instant removal by the North westerly gale) were laid on behalf of St Kiaran’s Church and Argyll & Bute Council, and our most recent minister on the island, Rev Rob Barlow of the Round Church, Bowmore, spoke briefly but movingly, about the tremendous loss of life suffered in the conflicts, quoting the illustration used at a school recently to try to visualise the enormity of the loss, – that the numbers killed in both wars were equivalent to the total number of pupils in that school being killed every day for a thousand years.

In contrast, three days later, on Remembrance Sunday, the weather was perfect for the wreath laying on our local War memorial at Port Ban following the Church service. We had two novel features this year. Children from the local Port Charlotte school laid their own wreath, joining the Coastguards and the Church representative, and the Coastguard wreath was laid on the north side of the memorial – the one covering those who fell in the ’39 – ’45 conflict – by one member who has a relative named on that stone.

We are all delighted that at long last Islay and Jura have a Children and Youth Worker. Jessica Reynolds was appointed by Argyll Presbytery and will be working along with the churches and schools in Islay, Jura and Kintyre. Jess says: “I began working with children in 2007 as a Project Assistant for a local charity ‘Community House Ltd’. Here we would care for children in an after school setting providing snacks and various activities. I then also became a Children and Family Worker for St Andrews Erskine Church in Dunfermline where I created clubs for primary aged children and family film nights. I was also involved in voluntary work with children through the local church, where I helped to run summer holiday clubs and through Scripture Union working in the schools in Clackmannanshire running lunch clubs and assisting in weekend retreats.

My husband and I moved to Islay in the middle of August and we have been made to feel very welcome. Everybody has been very kind, welcoming and friendly towards us and we would like to say thank you and look forward to meeting you all.”

As we have no Church Hall, the Sunday Club meets at 11.30am every Sunday in Term time in The Natural History Museum in Port Charlotte – otherwise known as the the Field Centre – under Leader Pat Jones and Assistant Hannah Waterworth. Current regular attendance is 10 – mostly of Primary school age. As part of their work, they produce paintings such as those shown, illustrating various Biblical stories and events. which are subsequently displayed in the Church. “Two, prepared for the Harvest Service are shown. The children themselves attended the Service, bringing Harvest produce, and taking a major part in the Service. The produce was subsequently distributed to members of the community and congregation unable to attend due to age or illness”

I also include 3 photographs from a selection of Sunday Club Christmas paintings and would ask you to add these, plus a sentence to the S.C. blurb as follows “This year, apart from the opening and closing by Scott our Lay Reader, the Nativity Service was totally run by the children, ably led by Pat the Club Leader. It was much appreciated by the congregation” The new collages were displayed in the church until the end of January.”

St Kiaran’s Annual Open Air Service which is held on the Green in Port Charlotte every year about this time, the aim being, that by holding it in the middle of the village, to let the Community will know we exist, and to encourage non members – including holiday visitors – to join in. To encourage participation the service is followed by a BarbeQue

Once again we were fortunate with the weather. It was a glorious August morning, but despite this, very few non members joined us – even for the BarbeQue -

Although everyone who did come, enjoyed the occasion, we may have to re-think the idea for future years

We now have a Nominating Committtee consisting of 7 members drawn from the three chuches who are in the process of looking for a new Minister for the parishes. A Parish Profile is available from our Interim Moderator, Rev Anne McIvor and the vacancy has been advertised on two occasions in the Presbytery of Argyll column in Life and Work.

We were blessed with favourable weather for our outdoor activities. Sunday 8th November saw St Kiaran’s usual Remembrance service, with the wreaths – Coastguards, Community Council and the Church – laid at the memorial plaque followed by 2 minutes silence and Phillip Maxwell reciting ” For the Fallen” Following the normal service two wreaths were taken and laid on the War Memorial at Port Ban, one remaining in the church for a week, before also being laid on the War Memorial.

27th June was a perfect day for a strawberry tea; tennis at Wimbledon, a dry and warm day, but with a breeze to keep the midges at bay!

A goodly number of people gathered at the Manse in Port Charlotte, to eat strawberries and cream, with scones and jam, and drink tea. Church members and visitors from the villages around the island, and further afield, were attracted to this happy event, and a total of £420 was donated for the Klay Orphenage project. St Kiaran’s church, in partnership with the charity “Mary’s Meals” is funding this orphanage in Liberia, west Africa during 2009.

Many thanks are due to the people who baked scones for the tea, and the volunteer who picked the Strawberries from Bridgend Community Garden! Also the staff who served on the day, Patricia Halsall, Jean MacKay, Karen Cracknell, Janet Waterworth, Chris Fulcher.

The next St Kiaran’s events are 23 July Summer Bazaar in Bruichladdich Hall; 9 August Open Air Service on Port Charlotte green.

A very successful coffee afternoon was held in Bruichladdich Hall on Saturday 28th February by St Kiaran’s Church to support Mary’s Meals charity and our involvement with the Klay Orphenage in Liberia.
It costs just £5.80 to feed a child FOR A YEAR in Liberia, and St Kiaran’s congregation have committed themselves to raise enough funds for Mary’s Meals, the Dalmally based charity, to feed and educate all the children in this Orphenage.

The coffee afternoon was supported by people from right across the island, and Bruichladdich Hall was swamped! In the end, £319 was raised at the event, but with donations this rose to £453. In all St Kiaran’s has raised £1494.90 for this project since we began in January 2009, and this is in addition to our other commitments.

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard for this project, and to all who supported it. Keep up the good work!