Services and Events

Dear Friends,

In 1994 Miss Nan Wallace retired as Clerk to the Bolton and Saltoun (B&S) Kirk Session, after serving for fifteen years. I agreed to succeed her, but with the proviso that if - God being willing - I was able to serve out the same term of office as she did, I would then retire also. I am now well past my fifteenth year as Clerk and therefore I now ask the Kirk Session (once again!) to appoint a successor.

The matter may not be quite simple, for reasons which our more senior Elders will remember. In the 1970s Mr.Buglass, the last Beadle of B&S, retired and was not replaced. For a good number of years the Beadle’s work was done badly, on a casual basis, or not done at all. On my appointment as Clerk in 1994 I soon found that I was expected to be Beadle also – a job which is actually much more demanding than that of Session Clerk. (In many churches this is still a salaried post, though in these parishes Mr.Buglass was the last person to be paid.) However, after fifteen years I no longer wish to have to set up churches, see to heating and lighting, and be “first in; last out” at virtually every service, funeral, and function. It is also true that the passing years have taken a toll of my energies, strength and abilities. It is time for me to stand down!

In other matters, in these fifteen years we have seen the setting up of the Bolton & Saltoun Website – one of the first in the Church of Scotland. For this site I am webmaster and the code is all held on my computer. I would be very happy to pass all this on to anyone who would host it. A small knowledge of HTML would be necessary, but the site uses very basic coding.

Also, the quarterly Bolton & Saltoun Newsletter in its present form is largely written, edited, printed and issued for distribution by me. (The Newsletter was, you may remember, adopted by the Rev. John Wilson as our main outreach vehicle when he abandoned Communion Cards in 1995). We issue 250 copies quarterly, plus a growing email distribution. Its preparation and issue is not a trivial task.

I serve also as B&S Roll Keeper and EDF contact person and would be quite happy to pass those tasks on also, although they are not onerous jobs.

So there it is…… I have separately prepared a dossier on the detailed duties and responsibilities of the Clerk/Beadle etc. as I see them. Others may see these duties differently. There is no compelling reason why all these tasks must all be done by one person, although there have been advantages to me in holding all the reins in my own hand. If in these days no one person will take on the whole day-to-day management of the church in B&S (though I bow here to the Treasurer and Fabric Convener, who are also much involved) then the various component jobs can be separated. I will of course offer all possible advice to my successor(s), and I thank you all for bearing with me over the past fifteen years in these various roles. May you find a worthy successor.