My church

Irene Munro, Session Clerk at Newton Mearns Parish Church, explains why it is ‘a huge privilege’ to be part of the church family.

I AM Session Clerk at Newton Mearns Parish Church, in the Presbytery of Glasgow, in the district of East Renfrewshire.

Our church is located right in the heart of the growing community of Newton Mearns. During my nine years in this role, I worked closely and collaboratively with our chosen minister for more than six years, always striving to push ahead despite the unforeseeable challenges which occurred during that time. I have also served in two periods of vacancy, enjoying and appreciating positive relationships with our Interim Moderators.

My church means a great deal to me – I love my church and its people. I see it as a huge privilege to be part of the lives of so many, joining together in worship, sharing in times of joy and in darker moments. We are fortunate in having many fine people around us in our church who give of their time to maintain a strong BB company, a flourishing Guild, monthly coffee mornings and many more activities. We lead monthly worship in the local nursing home where there is regularly a large congregation of residents, family members and staff. This outreach is working well.

We work closely with our neighbouring churches in the area, sharing, for example, Holy Week services. Since the introduction of the Presbytery Mission Plan, we have met regularly, working together to find the best way forward for the church in our community in the future, establishing the best environment for the Five Marks of Mission, inspiring our people with the Good News of Jesus Christ in our worshipping, nurturing and serving communities.

I have been a member at Newton Mearns, which I cherish, for a large number of years yet I remember with fondness the other churches to which I have belonged. Baptised in Govan Old Parish I remain a Friend of Govan Old, I grew up and was married in the South Parish Church in East Kilbride, sadly now closed, and I spent happy years as a young parent in Thornliebank Parish. In all these places I met many fine people all sharing the same faith and Christian ideals. I feel privileged to be a member of Glasgow Presbytery, attending meetings and serving on committees. One of my main roles there was as Convener of Education, reaching out to our young people, trying to progress faith formation in the community and active discipleship in the church. I believe it is really important for us to share at all levels, listening to and learning from each other. I would like to highlight how much I have appreciated being able to attend the General Assembly where there is that sense of occasion, a strong feeling of belonging and sharing with people from all over the world as our church is heard nationally. The reports, the debates, the decisions are all important and have a bearing on us locally.

These are challenging times for our church and many faithful servants are weary. But Eric Liddell, athlete and committed Christian, believed that God has made and gifted each person and real joy comes from using those talents for him. These words are relevant to us today in this time of uncertainty for our church. There is much talent on our pews. As our Moderator said in his closing speech at the General Assembly: “We need to keep moving forward.”