Moderator praises church stalwarts

Nov 13 2008 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

Moderator praises church stalwarts

CHURCH of Scotland Modera tor the Right Rev. David Lunan recently undertook a 10-day tour of Lanarkshire.

Mr Lunan’s itinerary included visits to Shotts Prison, Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre and Blantyre’s David Livingstone Centre.

Moderator of Hamilton Presbytery, Bothwell man David Watt, said this week that Mr Lunan and his wife Maggie appreciated the warmth of the reception they received.

He added: “It was a very comprehensive programme and Presbytery Clerk, the Rev Shaw Paterson, and depute clerk, the Rev Norman McKee, deserve a lot of credit for arranging a programme of such breadth, depth and variety.”

A special presbytery communion service was also conducted by Mr Lunan during his visit, and long-service certificates were presented to 73 people.

The Moderator praised the length, variety and loyalty of service, and commented that the total of valuable service given by these volunteers - on average 30 years - amounted to more years than the Church has been in existence.

Recipients included 48 people representing churches in the Hamilton, Strathaven and Motherwell areas, and included elders, Sunday School teachers, youth leaders and cleaners.

The recipients were: Cadzow Church - Robert Burns, Ian Jackson, David Macdonald, Evan Rayment, Hamilton Smillie, Robin Wilkie and Henry Webster.

Blantyre Livingstone Memorial - Isobel Brodie, Gillian Gray, Lorraine Kinnen, Christine Miller, Sally Richardson and Myra Ritchie.

Dalserf - Bruce Archibald, Kay Blair, Lilly Budgell, William Callen, Lillias Eathorne, Rita Fairley, Thomson Forrest, John Grove, Helen Knox. Joan Pollock and Ann Price.

Strathaven Rankin and Chapelton - Scott Bennie, William Cochrane, Cliff Godley, William Hamilton, Jean Hiscock, Desmond Mitchell and Elizabeth Patrick.

Motherwell: Dalziel St. Andrew's - Susan Gray; Cambusnethan Old and Morningside - James Anderson, David Laing, Elizabeth Maclean and Martha Torrance: and Wishaw South: Abe Bradley, Jack Cairns, Ian Campbell and Mary Megahy.

Bellshill: Macdonald Memorial linked with Orbiston - Stanley Cook, Catherine Donnelly, Hugh Lawrie, James Mackie, Marion Whyte and Joseph Young; Uddingston: Viewpark - Jean Dykes and Ian Hamilton.