Our presbyteries

Thomas Baldwin reports on the challenges and hope within the presbytery of Clyde.

*at time of going to press

THE Presbytery of Clyde takes its name from its dominant geographical feature, and also one of its biggest challenges.

As the crow flies, Greenock, on the south bank of the Clyde estuary, is only about three miles away from Helensburgh on the north side. But, unless you have a boat or a helicopter, the journey will take you at least 50 minutes by car via the Erskine Bridge; or over two hours by train, in and out of Glasgow.

“I’m not sure everyone was convinced it was the best fit, because the river is a big barrier,” admits the presbytery clerk, the Rev Robbie Hamilton. “It’s a definite challenge to just get to know each other.” But it’s a challenge that the presbytery is up for as it looks to its future.

So much so, he says, that the presbytery Moderator, the Rev David Burt, has jokingly suggested holding meetings on the Waverley paddle steamer, moored somewhere on the river.

The presbytery, one of the first of the new larger groupings when it was formed in 2020 by merging Greenock and Paisley with Dumbarton, covers the area from the western outskirts of Glasgow to the Firth of Clyde in the south and Loch Long in the north.

To the south, that includes large conurbations including Paisley, Greenock and Barrhead; to the north, it takes in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Helensburgh (and the Faslane Naval Base). There are also many small communities in the rural and coastal areas on both sides of the river, including part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

“The two old presbyteries didn’t know much about each others’ areas,” says Robbie, who took over as Presbytery Clerk in October last year, “But you can probably say that about any of the new presbyteries. They don’t really know each others’ histories, their stories.

“So we are just trying to see how can we get this to gel, to make it work.

“We are looking at one or two things. We’re holding a mission conference in March, looking at the five marks of mission and bringing people together for worship, for fellowship and food, so hopefully folk who haven’t spoken to each other before will meet.

“My first presbytery meeting was a conference session, where we encouraged people to seek out someone they had never met.

“The moderator and I are looking at a lunch for ministers with no agenda, just a free meal and a chance to chat to each other. We’re also looking at an away day for ministers.

“One of the things I am trying to work on is communication, so everything is open and transparent, there are no ‘smoke filled rooms’. We’re looking at appointing a communications officer to work on the website, social media and so on, to help us share our stories with each other.”

Robbie is also planning a series of roadshows with the planning convener and mission development officer, and buildings officer if the post has been filled by then. “We’ll just be driving about getting to know the areas, seeing where the churches are in relationship to each other. We’ll meet with ministers and interim moderators, and have an evening with office bearers where we’ll all do an introductory talk and people can ask questions.”

Robbie came to the presbytery following 22 years as minister at the New Wellwynd Parish Church in Airdrie, where he says the first thing was ‘for people to get to know you and trust you’. For him, the same principle applies with the presbytery.

“The big thing for me is about presbytery not being about ‘them’ but about ‘us’. My great uncle was a minister, and one of the things he said to me was ‘when you are there for people, they tend to forgive your foibles’. So I am trying to meet as many people as possible and say ‘we are here for you’.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t have some difficult conversations, about unions and buildings and the like, but if we are in a good relationship with each other hopefully that is going to help.”

Like everywhere else, Clyde is going through the travails of the presbytery mission planning process, with all that brings in terms of church closures and ministry cover being spread more thinly. “Working towards the plan is not easy for any presbytery, especially because the newer presbyteries were still in their early stages” says Robbie. “It’s a work in progress, and we are waiting on the results of three reviews, so there is still uncertainty in those areas. We are trying to encourage people as best we can but there are a lot of challenges and we are still working through that.”

But there are also signs of progress. “We have had our first service of union, down at Inverkip, Skelmorlie and Wemyss Bay, and there are a number of other congregations that are close to agreeing the basis of union. And now the sist (on congregations calling a minister) has been lifted, we have got some congregations looking for a minister.”

Also more positively, the presbytery is setting up its own mission fund, in addition to the funds available from the central church, to help congregations wishing to explore new approaches. “That’s part of what the mission conference is about, to get folk to think about what we could do,” says Robbie. “There are many good initiatives already, and there are more to come including an art and spirituality festival in partnership with others in the community organised by St John’s in Gourock.”

The presbytery is also home to one of the Church of Scotland’s modern success stories: Port Glasgow New Parish Church, which has bucked the trend for shrinking congregations by welcoming 13 new members in the past two years.

Despite the challenges, Robbie says he is enjoying his new role: “People are being very open, welcoming and receptive. Very supportive, and showing willingness to be involved.”