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A blast from the past...
I am delighted to have been asked to contribute to this the 500th edition of your Church magazine. During the time that I was with you at Holytown it was always a pleasure to be able to conduct worship, the welcome I received and the support that was given was very much appreciated.
Without doubt I am certain that Caryl has and will continue to receive that same unstinting support from you all at Holytown.
Myra and I have settled well in Dumfries and although I thought I was coming here to retire I have been kept very busy as I have been doing the work of a Locum for the last fifteen months. Fortunately that is just about to end and perhaps I will be able to have some time to spend as a retired minister.
Your Church at Holytown is blessed with some very dedicated people who are not adverse to going that extra mile in the effort that they give to the Church. This is something that we all need to do to enable the Church as a whole to move forward and continue to spread the message of Good News of Jesus Christ to the Parish and the world.
I am certain that the folk at Holytown will play their part in ensuring that the message is spread to all the people of the Parish. I wish you all God's richest blessing in the work that you do in Holytown.
Colin Sutherland
Greetings from Castlemilk
I am delighted to have the opportunity of saying a word of congratulation to Holytown on the 500th anniversary of the Magazine - and congratulations, also to Margaret, as Editor! A magazine is such an important way of keeping the congregation informed of what is going on. Of course, it also is a good way of giving us food for thought through the letters and articles written, the ideas shared and the questions asked! The Holytown Magazine has certainly done that over all these years and must now be a treasure chest of memories and a rich source of the congregation's heritage. Speaking personally, I know that during the 22 months of Interim Ministry when I was with you, I valued the Magazine as an excellent way of keeping the lines of communications open. It proved to be an essential tool at a time when there was a fair bit going on!
With this note of congratulations on the anniversary of the Magazine, I also send my very best wishes to you all, and your minister Caryl. May God continue to bless you and guide you for the next 500 editions of the magazine - and beyond!
Every blessing
lain
Reflections from Ulster
Congratulations on your 500th issue of the Holytown Church magazine especially to Margaret Milne with her work with it over all the years. It was still relatively young when we were with you from 1973-1978 and that means it is almost 32 years since we left Holytown. We enjoyed our time with you and have pleasant memories of those years especially working with the young people and it was quite a wrench to leave. Obviously things have moved on for you since then and being linked with Wrangholm is quite a change from former days.
Our family have all grown up and are married with families of their own. Even Rachel, who was born when we were with you and was only two when we left, is now married and has two baby girls, one only a month old, and lives just three miles up the road from us. Fiona and Paul are each less than half an hour away from us though Tim is far distant in London and between them all they have produced eleven grandchildren for us. Life is still busy with us though it is nine years since retirement and in the last three months only a couple of Sundays have been free. With other responsibilities in Presbytery, church, schools and the family we do not have too much free time.
Finally a reminder that it is God's work in which we are all involved not that of a mere human organisation. A movement specialising in encouraging church improvement suggested that you cannot expect to see a church grow if you do not have a young minister, old ones are past it. That was not our experience for in our last church before retiring, and John was 68 when he retired, we saw a congregation more than double with one elder remarking that every Sunday was like a harvest as the church was nearly full every week. The last year was particularly exciting as we saw the power of God at work bringing a good number of people of all ages from both the church and the local community to trust in Christ. So old folks can still be useful! We do trust that you will know much of God's blessing in the days that lie ahead.
John Linkens
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