St John's Church

St John’s has recently adopted the Church of Scotland’s new Unitary Constitution.

There continues to be a Kirk Session made up of those appointed to serve as elders in the congregation.

The Session Clerk is Muriel Dymock and the Treasurer is Norman Fraser.

Kirk Session meetings are open to members of the congregation to attend. In the new structure, meetings are held four times a year on the first Tuesday of February, May, September and November at 7.15pm. These meetings now provide an opportunity to hear briefly about the work of Session Teams, to break for coffee and then to have a general discussion of wider issues relating to being the church today. Some of the discussion will relate to issues sent by St Andrews Presbytery or The General Assembly.

The Kirk Session at St John’s has delegated many of its responsibilities to Session Teams, but remains responsible for appointing elders, admitting new communicants and preparation of the sacraments. Vacancy procedure, sale of property, the keeping of appropriate records, discipline, matters remitted from Presbytery or Assembly also remain with the Kirk Session, as well as any issue which does not fit obviously within the remits of the teams. (As with all constitutions, the minister remains responsible to Presbytery for the charge, rather than to the Kirk Session, and while “worship” appears under the Faith and Support Team, to enable wider participation and reflection, this remains the responsibility of the minister as before.) Elders continue to have a pastoral role and make regular visits to members of the congregation.