Report to AGM 2026
We have today made minutes of the 2025 AGM available to you. This may seem strange as they are the minutes of the Westwood AGM. However, the Charity number SC001857 is the continuing charity, now Westhills, so we thought it best to make those minutes available. Just how relevant they are is questionable! But thank you for approving them.
If a report to the AGM allows us to look back, as much as forward, then we only have 6 months to look back upon, yet a lot has happened in the last six months. But before we get to that I have to say a big thank you to all those who served as part of our Working Group – a small team of people drawn from both legacy congregations who met as regularly as possible to talk through all the things that needed to be done and agreed just to get us to a starting point. They did a great job !! We have in theory kept the Working Group in place this last six months so that everyone had someone to approach should there be issues to resolve. I’m not aware of anything that has been a source of upset or conflict which maybe reflects the fact that they did a great job from the outset. Thank you to each and every one of you.
We have tried to take the merging of two neighbouring congregations step-by-step; not rushing anything, trying to keep you informed by newsletters but mainly by intimation. It has been helpful, as the Sunday Song Sheet developed to be able to include notices and intimations there in print. Those who take the Song Sheet home have a handy reminder of what’s coming up in the church calendar. Things like that have developed naturally; other things have required thought and sensitivity toward the heritage of both congregations. While we have brought church furnishings together there are still things that remain to be done and hopefully, we will arrive at decisions in the autumn months. Communion ware from both congregations needs to be merged and will be once we have sorted out safe storage for old and valuable communion silver. The Trustees need to make a decision on which church organ to keep even though we don’t have an organist! Framed Cradle Rolls probably need to be bound into book format so they can be preserved, and there are a variety of lectern and pulpit falls that will enhance the sanctuary and help reflect the seasons of the Christian year.
Above all of that, above all the practical bits and pieces is the way people come together. And I think we would all agree that it has been good the way we have come together. At this early stage it is not possible NOT to hark back to what was once Greenhills or what was once Westwood. But it is not done in any sense of pride, arrogance or in order to divide. The atmosphere amongst us is warm, those who seek a deeper involvement have been able to do so, and those who wanted to sit down after years of “keeping it going” have been able to do so. There is a contentedness amongst us and a foundation upon which to build Westhills.
The union created a new Kirk Session or Trustee Body with some very familiar faces serving on it. There are 12 Trustees plus the Minister making a body of 13 Trustees.
In addition, seven elders continued in eldership as non-trustee elders – Elspeth and Gerry Briody, Nan Brown, Liz Porterfield, Janis Ramage, Raymond Thomson and Kay Whitehead. We are grateful for their willingness, in a time of change, for continuing to serve the church in what will be by-and-large a pastoral roll.
The union also presented an opportunity for some elders to retire from eldership. Where appropriate some will have been presented with Long Service Certificates prior to the union. We are grateful to the following for their years of service within the eldership; Flora Head, Ann Gowans, Sheila McDermott, Elspeth Livingstone, Elizabeth Donald, Bob Hart, Margaret Roger, Margaret Syme and Marion Dickie.
One of the tasks of the Trustees is to ensure that our activities comply with the Law. Compliance comes in many forms, financial, Health and Safety, Bribery and Procurement, Data Protection. Data Protection is giving us a bit of a headache. Trustees are sure that we require church members to confirm their consent for Westhills Church to hold their personal information, which is information like home address, postcode, phone number and email address i.e. information that could be used to identify a living individual. We know that the process of seeking church members’ consent is never 100% successful. There are always members who do not or cannot return their consent forms which means their details have to be removed from the communion roll; effectively they cease to be church members. Often these are elderly, infirm members who are no longer able to attend church. In our current situation with a much larger parish area, no traditional elders districts in place, postage costs being high and many not using the internet, we see the risk of a higher than usual percentage of members not participating in the process of giving consent and therefore their names being removed from the communion roll. Equally, as a church, Westhills does not have the capacity to communicate with all those who are on the communion roll. It is a matter of concern but it may be something we have to live with in order to comply with Data Protection Regulations. We have sought advice on this matter but at this time advice is not forthcoming.
The union of Westwood and Greenhills congregations, broadly speaking, came about through an Act of the General Assembly known as the Presbytery Mission Plan Act. That Act of the General Assembly has since been updated to encompass local congregations not just the Presbytery. Every congregation of the Church of Scotland is required to develop its own Mission Plan looking forward over the next five years. While this sounds foreign to the life of most congregations it actually comes at a helpful time for us at Westhills as we seek to find our own identity and focus. We need to have a draft plan by November of this year, which is a bit of a tall order, but there is nothing to prevent us from trying. A plan of this nature needs broad input and insight. The trustees want to reflect that broad input by establishing a Planning Group of 10 to 12 people consisting 2 or 3 Trustees, 1 or 2 non-trustee elders, 5 or 6 members of the congregation. Trustees have their thinking caps on which means that approaches or invitations will be made over the coming weeks. If you are approached to take part, we hope you will respond positively. It will be helpful if the work of planning commences toward the end of August.
The AGM provides an opportunity to express thanks to the many people who contribute time, resources and energy toward the life and work of the church. Some do this through recognised offices; others do this in the background in quiet and almost unseen ways. So, let me invite our Session Clerk to come to the lectern and offer those words of thanks. And at the same time let me, on your behalf, express thanks to Sandra for her work and diligence in overseeing the administrative aspects of church life.