My church

Stephanie Fraser, a member of Baldernock Parish Church, near Glasgow, reflects on the constant presence of the church.

OUR church sits in a beautiful spot, surrounded by fields and farms, overlooking Glasgow. Christian worship has taken place here since 1236, although the current building dates from 1795. The site is filled with history and for me, it also represents my own family’s history and a physical record of my personal faith journey.

With the arrival of our new minister, I will be welcoming my seventh minister of Baldernock. I don’t remember the first, although he baptised me. Our family used to sit up in the balcony and I remember the fear that our hymn books might fall over into the congregation below during the service.

I was married at Baldernock, my grandparents and parents are buried in the churchyard, my two uncles are commemorated on the War Memorial, my sisters and three of my children are also on the cradle roll and recently, three of my children have chosen to join the church in their own adult lives.

Visitors always mention the warmth of the welcome. We may be small, but we have a loyal congregation drawn from the farming community around. This is represented by the elders’ chairs which are embroidered with scenes of the parish, one of which was sewn by my mother, one of my clear childhood memories. Apart from the usual great celebrations in the church’s calendar, Harvest Festival is always important, with the church bounteously decorated with local produce.

Given our rural setting, the church is the one thing that brings us all together, whether when filled to the brim for Christmas Eve watchnight services of the past, or the Christmas carol services of more recent years, from previous Summer Fayres to more recent Church picnics.

“ Visitors always mention the warmth of the welcome. We may be small, but we have a loyal congregation drawn from the farming community around.

In Covid times we gathered to worship outside in sun, rain or snow, and took it in turns to lead a shared outdoor service that kept us connected in fellowship during those difficult times. This was one of those moments when we realised the power of coming together to share public worship. Those outdoor services were very special. They appealed to all ages (although sometimes my children would complain that we took far too long talking to people after our service had concluded).

Our fellowship forged strong bonds that carried us through the pandemic and through the drafting of the presbytery plan. We discovered our desire to spread the work of the church throughout our community and beyond the walls of the church. Challenging each of us to think about contributing to worship illustrated what we could do for ourselves and forced us to think about our own personal responses to Bible passages or the particular date in the Christian calendar.

Ministers may come and go, people may move in and out of the parish, how we worship may evolve, but in my life, Baldernock remains a wonderful constant. With the arrival of our new minister, I feel a sense of opportunity, excitement and optimism, which I haven’t felt about our church for a very long while.