We had an excellent meeting of the Kirk Session and Congregational Board tonight. It is quite clear that we shall end the year with all our bills paid and with money in the bank. We celebrated by agreeing to send £300 to Linus Malu, our Missionary partner in Malawi. This tiny sum of money here will enable him to help two people to set up their own businesses there. We’ve also committed ourselves to have a fund-raising event early next year to assist him in his work.

Looking to the future of ministry in our little church we have agreed to ask the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland to allow us to buy a small cottage to which we can invite retired ministers from Scotland, and from around the world, to come and stay with us in exchange for conducting our services. Our presbytery has already given us its enthusiastic approval.

Tonight we also arranged a special planning meeting for the afternoon of Sunday 12th. January. We’ll have a buffet lunch after our church service and then we’ll be helped to dream dreams and develop a vision about our mission strategy for next year.

And of course, we planned our Christmas Services and, after the meeting was over, we used the bodies present to carry our giant advent calendar from the gallery to the chancel where it will be used on Sunday.