Thanks to all for your generosity with our Easter Offering.  The school and Sunday collections have raised £334.28 which will be donated to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

If you have been intrigued by the explosion of colour outside the church with trees and pillars wrapped in yarn, our minister, Peter, has explained how this came about and what we are trying to represent with it on his blog: click here for more.

The Trustees of Ferryhill Parish Church approved the Annual Report of 2017 at a meeting held on Sunday 18 March 2018. You can download a copy of the Annual Report here.

A few comments are worth clarifying as you read the Annual Report. The first is to thank everyone who participates in the work that goes on through the congregation at Ferryhill Kirk. The breadth of different activities and ministries going on to support the local community is wide and that is only made possible through the time and energy people give through the church and to the financial support offered. Donations by members of the church is by far the largest portion of our income. 

Secondly, you will see that in 2017 we had a small surplus at the end of the year. This is good news, of course, that we were not running a deficit, but one of the reasons for this is that we were not able to complete as many of the upkeep jobs as we might have wished over the course of the year. Part of the reason for this is that we are still striving to find someone or a few people to take on the responsibilities of Property Convener.

And thirdly, if you have a keen eye for the details, you may note on page 12 where there is a note of the movements of money in the various funds that one of the funds ends up with a negative balance. It highlighted for us at our Trustees meeting that these figures only record the cash held in our local bank accounts and not the proportions of these funds held in investments by the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. If you followed all that, well done!

A huge thank you to Val Hutton, our Treasurer, for all the work she and the Stewardship Team have put in to ensuring the finances of the church are well managed and to Lorna Glen, our Session Clerk, for the update in the first sections of the Annual Report on what has been going on in Ferryhill Kirk.

Rev Peter Johnston
Minister

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Over the next couple of months we will be encouraging us all on a Sunday morning to join with Rev Mary Whittaker during the Lord's Prayer to also sign the prayer. If you would like to practise that, please use the video above!

At the beginning of September we welcomed Rev Mary Whittaker to Ferryhill Parish Church. Mary has started a probationary placement jointly with us at Ferryhill Parish Church and also at St John’s Church for Deaf People.

Mary is already an Auxiliary Minister in the Kirk, but is now transitioning to the full time Ministry of Word and Sacrament. As part of that training Mary is undertaking this probationary placement. However, Mary comes with many years of experience in ministry already. She has been serving as locum at St John’s Church for Deaf People and leading worship in Elgin as part of a ministry amongst deaf people.

Mary is profoundly deaf herself and will be joined by her hearing dog, Scott. We will enjoy getting to know them both over the months to come, and learning a bit of British Sign Language in the process.

Say hello when you see them!

Come and see what we do!

A warm invitation is extended to anyone in the parish to come along to Ferryhill Church Guild.  Membership is open to men and women, whether they are church members or not and they can come to as many or as few meetings as they wish. This year there is a varied and interesting programme of meetings and events planned. For example, there will be talks from Malawi Fruits, a Scottish based charity who support farmers to help them grow cash crops and for them to become independent and to maximise their income and provide for the education and healthcare needs of their families,  Energy Scotland, who  provide free impartial help and support for saving energy in the home and  Embrace the Middle East,  a Christian charity that is bringing lasting change to the Middle East through healthcare, education and community development projects. There will also be a film night (with popcorn, if last year is anything to go by), a talk about World War One and why it is still important to us and a visit from a representative of the roof garden project at ARI. So, something for everyone.

Membership costs £10 and there is a collection at every meeting; £1 donation is recommended.

For more information about Ferryhill Guild, please contact Diane on 01224 874199. For information regarding the 2017-2018 syllabus, click here.

Our Lunch Club for the over 50s recommences on Tuesday 12 September at 12.30pm and will meet every Tuesday during school term-time. Come and join us for a delicious hot lunch (£4 per person) and a chat in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere any Tuesday you fancy. Booking is not required.

We are always looking for helpers. If you can spare a few hours every month to assist please do get in touch. For further information on helping or coming along for lunch , please contact Cecilia Young on 01224 581382 or the Church Office on 01224 213093.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Great News! At last our plans for the Living Well Cafe at Ferryhill Parish Church are coming to fruition with the opening of our Living Well Cafe on Thursday 20^th April 2017.   This facility is in recognition of the need to support people with memory loss or dementia and their families or carers and is already well established at Newhills and Oldmachar Parish Churches, so if you are aware of anyone who would benefit from attending please let  us know so that we can determine how many people may be accommodated.    The Cafe will run on Thursday afternoons, initially on a fortnightly basis, between 1pm and 3pm.   South Holburn Church is beginning the process of investigating the possibility of joining us in this exciting new venture and is actively involved in the preparation for opening on 20^th April.     Thank you to everyone who has responded so willingly to our request for volunteers; it really is appreciated.  Of course our door is always open for more help and if you wish to do so, on a rota basis, please do not hesitate to contact either Rita King Tel. 01224 572391 or Shona Matthew Tel. 01224 704378 for more information.

Young people from P7 up to S6 ages are very welcome to join us, meeting in the foyer and hall of the church on Sunday evenings (2nd and 4th Sundays) at 6:30 p.m., finishing around 8:30 p.m.

You will find more information here.