quicker than many a Minister who lives in a city can get to his parish. When I

stand in the garden at the Manse, I can actually look and see all three parishes

and not many Ministers in a linkage can do that!

Having three Kirk Sessions, Congregational Boards, Sunday Schools and

Women’s Guilds also takes up time and one has to be careful to make sure

that two entries do not appear in the Diary for the same night.

I am of the opinion that the overall advantages outweigh the difficulties

and I am encouraged by the way in which the present membership is deter-

mined to make the linking work.

For Strathkinness Church to continue to flourish, it needs your support.

I warmly welcome you to our services on a Sunday morning.

The Church has changed considerably over the years. It is no longer authoritarian

and repressive; the fear of God has been replaced by the love of God, and the Church is

concerned with the community and the wider world as well as with its own members. As in many

communities, especially in rural areas, the survival of the local church is threatened. Most

people in the community do not wish to see the church disappear from their midst, as they

feel it is a valuable element in the life of the village. In the end, the survival of rural

churches in places like Strathkinness will depend on how relevant sufficient people feel the

church to be to the needs of the community and the wider world, and how it relates to their

own lives. If the community really wants the church to survive then it is up to the people

of the community to express their wish by supporting it.

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