Kansas Mission Team

From 28th February to 10th March we hosted a ‘Kansas Mission Team’. Bob and Rita, already with us for 3 months, were joined by a man from each of the two Kansas congregations Stephen where Stephen had spoken during the summer: Jim (Winchester) and Bob (Shawnee).

On their first Saturday with us, the team helped organise an American style men’s breakfast, before starting into painting around the church building, which would form the bulk of their work for the week.

The team participated in the various aspects of church life during the week: the monthly church lunch on the Lord’s Day, the Monday evening Bible Study and our Wednesday Bible Study and Drop In.

On the Tuesday evening, they got to experience a Stranraer FC match with some of the congregation.

On the Thursday, they helped us with our World Book Day outreach - giving out free Bibles and gospels in the town centre. 48 Bibles and around 20 gospels were given out, and some good conversations were had.

On their second Saturday, we took the team to see Covenanter martyr sites at Wigtown and Glentrool.

On each of their two Lord’s Day evenings with us, a team member shared their testimony over supper after evening worship.

We are grateful for their work and their partnership in the gospel!

200 years in our current building

The second of January 2025 marked 200 years since the construction of our current building. (The congregation is older, with a previous building having stood on the same site - the church hall was added in 1898). A brief note about its construction is found in the Memoir of the pastor at the time, Rev. William Symington.

Symington first preached in Stranraer - in the original building - when the congregation was vacant and he was newly available to receive a call. Here are a few relevant extracts from his diary for January 1819:

January 8: “…The chapel is neat and compact, though rather small”
January 17.—”Had a large and respectable audience. House quite packed”.
January 31.—”House immensely crowded, the day being very fine”. 

The need for a new building was already apparent. The following account is written by Symington’s sons:

“In June of 1824 the old building was taken down, preaching being kept up on the green while summer lasted, and in the Relief or the Antiburgher Meeting-house when autumn came; and on the 2d day of January 1825 he entered the pulpit of a new and handsome church, adapted to the size of the audience.”

200 years on we are grateful for God’s provision and particularly for the work he has enabled us to do to the building recently due to the generosity of his people. On Saturday we held a church clean-up morning, some pictures of which are below:

GO Relief Team

In September we hosted a long-awaited GO Relief Team in Stranraer! The Relief Committee of the RPCI send annual teams to do practical work for churches, mission situations, etc. Two men from the Relief Committee visited Stranraer in May 2023 to see some of the work that was needing done to the church and manse (both listed buildings). It was arranged that a team would come after the new windows were put in the church, which meant a delay of over a year due to the need to wait for planning permission. A 10-person team came during what turned out to be the best weather of the summer. The team did plastering where the new windows had been put in, painted the outside of the building, restored the rotting doors, turned the old session room into a minister’s study, turned an old kitchen into a creche/cry room, laid a new floor in the manse living room, and much more.

We are overwhelmed with thanksgiving for the work that has been done, and pray that the work that has done might spark peoples’ curiosity to come in and hear the gospel preached.

Building Update: Sending the Gospel into the Future

Last week, the fitting of new windows in our 200-year old church building began. From 16th-20th September a GO Relief team (organised by the Irish RP Church) will be coming to do some follow-up work, and as much other work to the church and manse as they are able.

There is still time to sign up for the team - just email the address at the end of the video above.

New church signs

On Saturday we replaced the old sign on the front of the church, and put up another one on the side of the building. We're thankful to Oasis Design Studio for working with us to design them, and to our friends Daniel and Joel for bringing them over.

The work to the church hall is also coming on well, and we are looking forward to the potential opportunities that will open up as we seek to 'bring good news' to Stranraer!