The Future of Cluny Church - Presbytery Planning
Cluny linked with Monymusk Parish Churches
Church Buildings Future Update
Over the course of the last few months there has been a lot of ongoing meetings and discussion about the future of the church buildings at Cluny and at Monymusk. I had hoped that we would have had this matter resolved by now but circumstances have delayed the final decision and so at this point
(4th August) the future of both congregations churches is uncertain and will not likely be resolved until late September or early October. I know it is very unsettling and I wanted to share with you what has happened so far.
1. The first draft of the new Presbytery Mission Plan said that Cluny was to stay open and Monymusk close within the timescale of the plan - 5 years. This was circulated in March and it was expected to be agreed in May. (This was reported in the press on the advice of “experts “ in the field and with no intention to spin a story- there has been some criticism about this being in the public domain.)
2. Sadly by the time May came it became clear that there were concerns in the original documentation sent from the central offices of the Church of Scotland and how they had allocated our number of ministry posts which led to our Presbytery asking the General Assembly to resolve this at the annual May meeting of the General Assembly. This has delayed the approval of a Presbytery Mission Plan until it is resolved.
3. The Presbytery committee (Presbytery Planning Review Group) felt that as the only concern delaying the approval of the plan was ministry numbers (see above) and not buildings they could finalise the building categorisations at the June meeting of Presbytery so that this aspect of uncertainty would not impact congregations over the summer.
4. In late May a document was circulated which showed the proposed categorisations of the buildings in Presbytery. This report said Monymusk was now to stay open and Cluny to close. At the Presbytery meeting in June Anne Harrison, on behalf of Cluny, addressed Presbytery expressing the concerns of the Kirk Session about a lack of consultation about the change of classification of buildings and Presbytery agreed to defer making a decision on our church buildings until a response was submitted by Cluny which has now been made and at this time both buildings (Cluny and Monymusk churches) are now under review.
5. We are now waiting for the PPRG to prepare its final report and present it later in the year. In the meantime we wait.
Folks this is where we are and there is little more that we can do. Both Cluny and Monymusk have now made submissions to the PPRG who will review them and make a recommendation to Presbytery.
It is clear that the outcome of the consultation process will result in the proposed closure of one of our church buildings causing many to feel hurt and great sadness. Whatever the outcome I will feel hurt and great sadness and I am sure that we can support one another through this. The closure of the building will not be immediate as there will be discussions with many parties about the next steps. The Presbytery Mission Plan says that the buildings deemed for closure have to be closed within five years.
I am willing to chat with anyone about this - give me a call and I can pop round to see you.
Euan
Minister Cluny Church of Scotland Minister Monymusk Parish Church
This is our latest submission (July 2022) to the Presbytery Planning Review Group, as mentioned above.
cluny_church_submission_pprg_july_2022.pdf
We now have month about services at Cluny and Monymusk. Please check the Calendar under the Heading "Church Newsletters & Calendar", drop down tab. Our Cluny & Monymusk Facebook pages are also kept updated.
Communion services
From January 2023 we will share Communion services time about at Cluny or Monymusk. Everyone is welcome to attend either or both churches. Please see the Calendar for more information.
Summer Services
During the months of July and August each week we worship with our neighbours at Monymusk. During July the services are at Monymusk at 10.00am and in August we return here to Cluny also at 10.00am.
September onwards
From September we will continue with joint services month about but please just check the Calendar.
September onwards
From September we will continue with joint services month about but please just check the Calendar.