Bible Class
The Bible Class in our church was begun in 1983
The events below are taken from Church newsletters so some sound as though they are in the future and some have already happened.
1993 - The group of regulars (6 girls but no boys) had a good year. In March we joined four other groups from our Presbytery and shared a bus to go to a youth weekend at Carberry Tower. The Rev Fiona Buchan, National Youth Advisor for the Church of Scotland led the weekend along with a small resource team of voluntary helpers who provided a well-planned programme keeping us busy and entertained. We also met groups from churches in East Kilbride and Alva. Carberry weekends are extremely valuable in many ways for our young people and we appreciate the financial help given by the Cochran Trust.
In June, along with a Carluke group, we were invited by the Bible Class from Kirkcudbright to a BBQ on the Dhoon shore. This included an adventure of sailing from Kirkcudbright harbour down the river in a lifeboat with the Rev Stewart Wilson and the Sea Cadets. Dr Paterson, who has often preached in Carsphairn, and his wife Sheila, did an excellent job presiding over a BBQ for most of the afternoon.
Our proposed fundraising event is now planned for the autumn and will take the form of a Ploughman’s lunch.
1994 – Meetings continue on alternate Tuesdays from 4pm to 5.15pm. In October, we attended a charity concert in aid of Rwanda led by an East African children’s choir at St Leonard’s Church, Ayr. It was a thrilling and stimulating experience.
Plans are in progress for a trip to Iona next summer with the Rev J Wilkie, who has kindly offered to be our guide.
On Sunday, December 18th, following the Nativity play, we will serve lunch at the Lagwyne Hall from noon to 2.30pm. All welcome. The lunch is a reunion for all former members, as the Class had been in existence for 10 years.
1995 – Unfortunately, the visit to Iona did not take place but with all the time and effort put into the venture so far, and the money raised, we have high hopes of it being a certainty next year.
A youth weekend was booked at St Ninian’s Centre, Crieff in October, 6 girls attended. They met other young people from Linlithgow and Grantown-on-Spey, they had lots of fun, played riotous games, ate far too much food and had an afternoon swimming in Perth Leisure Pool.
In June we had a happy day out in Glasgow where we visited the new St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art and Glasgow Cathedral. Mary Pringle was thanked for help with transport to and from Ayr Station.
A Ploughman’s lunch is planned for Saturday 27th April at Lagwyne Hall where home-made soup, roll and butter, cheese and crackers, coffee or tea will be available at a reasonable cost. All money raised will go to Tear Fund, a charitable society which raises money for Rwanda. A video showing some of the work they do will be available to watch. A range of Tearcraft goods will also be for sale.
1996 – The Ploughman’s lunch held in April was a great success. The Tearcraft stall raised £160 for the general work of the Fund. £118 was raised from the proceeds of the lunch. This money went to a Children’s Foster and Adoption Programme run by Tear Fund’s partner organisation in Rwanda. We still have five regular attendees at Bible Class.
1998 – There are 5 young people attending regularly, 4 of them new members. There are 3 girls and 2 boys. Plans are in progress to return to Carberry Tower for a youth weekend in January.
The date of the demise of Stroanfreggan Sunday School is not noted. Mrs Jardine took over at Carsphairn for a while. The ensuing teachers, Mrs Pringle, Mrs Richmond, Mrs Burnie and Mrs Campbell will be well remembered by their pupils for Christmas plays and Sunday School trips. The trips expanded to an outing for anyone from the community just like they did a hundred years ago. Days out to Kelburn Country Park, David Livingstone’s birthplace in Blantyre, Dean Castle in Kilmarnock and Gatehouse are all fondly remembered as part of the social life of the church.
Even the youngest Sunday School children had speaking parts in the annual Christmas plays. Although they may have found this terrifying at the time, it probably gave them confidence to speak in public at more auspicious occasions in their later years.
Another highlight for the older Sunday School children was the invitation to attend the annual guild party, an occasion when young and old played games, partied together and ate the most delicious home baking.
From Sunday School the children moved onto Bible Class taken primarily by Mrs Richmond, who undertook this responsibility from 1983 until 1999, helped in the early days by Mrs Hunter Blair. The work and events of the Bible Class has been well documented in the photograph albums and scrapbooks.
Now, the weekly Sunday School, led by Mrs Maggie Phillips, takes the occasional service, as well as a Christmas service and it continues giving children another dimension to their education in a different setting from the school environment.
The older members of the congregation gain comfort from knowing that there is a younger generation taking an active role in church life.