Welcome to Torphichen Kirk!
We are a Church of Scotland congregation located in the small village of Torphichen, West Lothian.
All are welcome!
Sunday Mornings
Services continue in the Kirk at 11.15am with various health protection measures in place.
- Face coverings are recommended.
- If you require level access, please let one of the stewards know.
- We would encourage lateral flow testing, vaccination and good hand hygiene. Please inform us if you test positive.
- Please maintain physical distancing.
- If you are unable to give your offering by standing order or bank transfer, please use the offering box inside the kirk.
- The vestry and west gallery are out of bounds to all.
- The doors and some windows will be open throughout the service to maintain ventilation, so wrap up well.
- Please do not block the passageways after the service,
Being the church is going to be quite a different experience for us all for a long time to come. The Session is well aware that not everyone will feel that they wish to start re-attending the kirk yet; no-one should feel under any pressure to do so. We are in the process of arranging the installation of a phone line to allow services to be viewed online.
We will continue to put devotional material on our website.
Click here or on the Time for Worship tab at the top of the page, or
go to our Facebook page for more.
We are keeping in contact with everyone by phone, email, Facebook and Zoom.
Zoom Services
We hold Sunday evening Zoom services. The services are participatory, with suggestions and contributions from everyone. We have had folk attending when on holiday, in hospital or when housebound and either by tablet, computer or phone- even landline. Around a quarter of the folk now attending are not members of Torphichen; some even join from Africa and across the Atlantic!
The services are at 7.00pm and you can join in by tablet, computer or phone from 6.50pm.
Click here to join the service or type the following address into your browser:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82660439113?pwd=ak93N0ZqbXFhYlAwWENweFFmNUFlUT09
Meeting ID: 826 6043 9113 Passcode: 030303
(To join by phone, dial 0131 460 1196 )
NOTICES
CHRISTMAS APPEAL
At the last two Christmases we have run an appeal to provide gifts for less well-off children in the area. What we did, therefore, was to collect money and send it to 'Bright Star Toys' toyshop in Linlithgow who were happy to deliver toys of the corresponding value (along with free samples they had received) to the Salvation Army. Due to the incredible generosity of people, over £1300 was raised last year. In this way we could provide gifts, support a local business and reduce unnecessary contact and handling.
Due to the complexity of the kirk’s on-line banking, if you would like to contribute, you could put cash or a cheque through my door or post it to me. Alternatively, if you wish to transfer it electronically, let me know and I can give you my bank details. Please let me know if you wish a receipt. The sooner we have the donations or notice of what you intend to donate the better, as it is far from certain what the supply chain for the shop will be like as time goes on.
We will need the donations (or notice of what you intend to donate) by 10th DECEMBER at the latest to enable the toyshop to arrange delivery.
Yours,
Innes Duncan, Session Clerk
01506 652169
A Drop in Place
As you may have seen, after having had a chat with the kirk and local residents, Kenny at the Torphichen Inn is going to provide a warm centre this winter on Mondays and Fridays from 10am-2pm providing soup, teas and coffees free of charge.
Come along and have a chat, read a book or play a game. This is a great idea and the kirk is happy to back this venture.
Session Report
Click on the link to read the report from the latest Session meeting.
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Session Oct 22.pdf Size : 83.542 Kb Type : pdf |
Amazon Smile
Do you ever shop on Amazon? If yes, then please support us as your chosen charity on Amazon Smile. Every time you make a purchase, they donate a small percentage to us (Torphichen Parish Church of Scotland).
You can find out more at https://smile.amazon.co.uk
Offerings
We are grateful for the financial support provided through regular giving such as standing orders, and direct bank payments.
As planning for reopening the Kirk continue, there will be changes in the way in which offerings are collected. To reduce any unnecessary contact, if you are able, you may wish to consider either setting up a standing order or pay by bank transfer your offerings. To do so, please contact the Kirk's Treasurer on 07922 124724 to obtain the bank details.
If that is not suitable for you, a locked offering box will be placed near the door within the Sanctuary for offerings to be given on arrival. Please take care to keep physically distanced when doing so. The box will be emptied regularly, and the money deposited in the bank account and we will be able to claim gift aid on them using the small gift aid donation scheme.
If you wish to set up a standing order or other direct bank donations please contact for further information our Treasurer James White on 07922 124724.
With every blessing for your ongoing support of the work of the Kirk.
Annual Accounts for 2021
The Kirk's annual accounts have now been approved by the Trustees (Session and Congregational Board members), by the Presbytery of Edinburgh and West Lothian, and published on the website of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. They are also available here.
