· Southend Parish Profile ·
The Parish of Southend is within the Presbytery of Argyll and covers some 50 square miles at the southernmost end of the Kintyre Peninsula in South Argyll. We are a rural parish with farming at its heart. Our Congregation is friendly and welcoming to everyone in the Parish, whether they are from families who have been in Kintyre for generations, or are more recently settled in Southend.
Our Church is the only centre of worship in Southend and very important to our small but busy community. Morning Worship is held at 11.30am each Sunday. Communion is celebrated at services on the last Sunday of June and the first Sunday in December. Working as a team, district elders undertake visits to every home in the Parish prior to communion.
The current roll contains 197 members and the Congregation has held together well during our time of vacancy, remaining active and enthusiastic. Average weekly attendance is between 25-40 and average age of worshipper between 65-75.
As a congregation we aspire to reach out to our community and attract new members. In particular, we are keen to engage with the many young families in the Parish. We have held a number of café church services in the village hall and also had a very successful outdoor service last year as part of our community jubilee celebration. We hope to continue to bring the church into the community in this and other ways.
We are fortunate that during the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis, our members have continued to give generously financially and with their time, not only our church but many other organisations in our community.
On the Sunday nearest to St. Columba’s Day (June 9th) there is a Conventicle Service held outdoors at Keil, the site where St. Columba is thought to have landed in Scotland in 563. First held in 1921, it is one of the oldest Ecumenical Services held in Argyll. Ministers and worshippers from many different denominations have come to commemorate St. Columba’s landing here on the way to Iona.
Our Church building was constructed in 1774 and lies about 1 mile north of the village. The MacVicar Rooms were added as an extension in 1974 and are used by the Kirk Session, Congregational Board and the Church Guild. The Church also has use of St. Blaan’s Hall, gifted to the community by the Dowager Duchess of Argyll in 1912.
The Future
We hope that our linkage with the other churches in South Kintyre will help us achieve our aspiration to attract new members. We are a caring and friendly congregation, greatly looking forward to welcoming a Minister who can help us build our church and faith here in Southend.
