East Kilbride
Old Parish
Church
We have LIVE services every Sunday at 11am, in our church and online
Please join us below for our Sunday Service on 26th September
See 'Notices' for link to hymns (no longer on-screen)
Last Sunday's service is available below, but moves to 'Watch a Service' shortly before 11am on Sunday
The screen below will then prepare to show the new service
- Live Services Info
- Looking back: Challenging Times
- Sunday School / Messy Church
- Zoom Help
- “The Church is the people not a building”.
- Contact details
In-person Attendance
More and more of us are getting used to being back in church, and you can have confidence that we follow all the guidance so we can keep you safe:
1. The requirement for social distancing has been partially removed, but the Church is in favour of maintaining the 'one metre distance' for a while yet. Our compromise is to remove social distancing in the centre pews behind the organ, while the one-metre 'tick' signs remain in the other pews.
2. Communal hymn books are not yet allowed, but you can bring your own hymnbook if you have one.
Alternatively, you can bring along a digital or paper copy, but PLEASE ensure that any digital device will be silent during the service and any paper copy is taken home with you!
We no longer display the words to hymns on the broadcast service. Links to the words of hymns on 26th September are given here, as are the hymn numbers in our CH4 hymnbook:
Click Here to get the words to ALL the hymns for 26th September, which are:
CH4 21 Lord, teach me all Your ways
CH4 565 My life flows on in endless song
Note: Masks must be worn by adults in the congregation while singing - except for individuals who are officially exempt. Exemptions include children and the choir, who are now back in church.
3. As well as being required to make use of our hand sanitisers and wear face coverings, the congregation must continue to provide contact details. We use Track & Trace, so members must give advance notice to the Church Office (by Friday midday) that they will attend - contact the Church office 01355 279004 or ekopc.office@btconnect.com; or through Facebook Messenger. Note: Our aim is that anyone who finds the stairs to the balcony difficult can have a seat downstairs. If the church is particularly busy, we may have to ask members who don’t regularly choose the balcony to take a seat upstairs so as to free up a seat downstairs. This change will be reviewed, taking account of any comments from members.
Online Attendance
Our congregation attest that there is nothing to compare with being in church together, in communion with others, and we know this only too well after the Covid lockdown.
But for the benefit of the housebound (temporary or permanent), those on holiday or working away, and even potential newcomers to our church, we will continue to broadcast our Sunday morning service live each week (also see other options below).
The link is indicated by a small screen photo which is found on our Home page. During the week it continues to show the previous week's service, then on Sunday, a few minutes before 11am, a 'holding' screen opens, followed by the live link.
Having been on the Home page for a week, the recording of the service then moves to 'Watch a Service' - a 'Click-on button' below the video picture.
Below that, you will find sound-only recordings of services in 'Listen to a Service'. (Audio recordings are listed in date order so if you do not see the service you want, check you are in the right 'quarter').
Know someone who is housebound with no internet?
For housebound members without access to the internet, we provide recordings in these formats: Telephone Dial-a-Service, CD, DVD, USB stick, all on request. Please get in touch with Alistair Walker, or your elder, if you would like to know more about these for a friend or relative in the church.
As you can see in the photo above, we recently held our first in-person Kirk Session meeting since Covid in Glebe St Hall, but some committees and groups may find it practical to continue with Zoom meetings from time to time, so we will keep our following 'Zoom Guides' for a while at least.
New to Zoom? It’s as easy as choosing between 1, 2, 3 and 4! (And now 5! - telephone access)
If you are new to Zoom and want to join us in a planned meeting, please get set up beforehand. Try whichever of these methods suits you:
1) Click Here (or below at 3 if you prefer pictures).
OR
2) Send us your email in advance and our reply will get you started. Either phone it in to EK 279004, or email us at ekopcmagazine@gmail.com .
Note: you must be able to access your emails on the device you plan to use for Zoom.
OR
3) Prefer picture guides?
a) Picture guide for people who have downloaded the 'app': Click Here
b) For people who have not yet downloaded the 'app': We recommend you watch the video at 4) below.
c) Picture guide to the control symbols when you are in the 'Zoom Room' (for beginners): Click Here for a picture of the screen in a meeting, explaining the controls eg for sound, video, etc. You can zoom in on the screen picture if required in the usual way.
4) Prefer a short video tutorial? Click Here
This is a short Youtube video made by a 'senior' couple who explain much of what we've told you above but in video format.
When you open it, change to Full Screen view by clicking the broken square at the bottom right of the video screen itself.
To go back again, click the Esc (Escape) key - top left on a keyboard, or use the Home button on an iPad.
5) Accessing Zoom meetings by telephone (audio only)
1) First, you need the Zoom meeting code number from the person hosting the meeting. (They will also give you a passcode if it's needed).
2) Dial 0131 460 1196
3) When asked, use the number keys on your phone to type in the meeting code, followed by the hash key: #
4) When asked for a 'participant ID', just press # again. (A participant ID isn't often used)
5) When asked for passcode:
a) If there is one, key in the passcode the host has given you.
b) If there isn't one, then just press the # key on your phone.
6) You will get a message that you are in the 'waiting room' and the host will let you in soon...
7) The host then lets you in. You will be asked to identify yourself, and you can join the meeting.
Get in touch if you need more help - use our 'Contact Us' button or the Church Office number (01355279004) in advance, or ring the host. Alistair and Iain are also usually able to help.
Need more help?
We will have nominated Helpers if you have a problem joining the 'meeting'. Just get in touch using our usual contact details (below, last item) preferably in advance. But you can also ring Iain, Alistair or Anne at the time of the meeting and one of them will 'step out' to give you guidance. Most commonly the issue is putting your volume or picture on. Read the guidance notes above to familiarise yourself with the control symbols.
“The Church is the people not a building”.
While our building was closed due to the pandemic, the people of East Kilbride Old Parish Church were here for you, and still are! Our 'Helping Hands' and other volunteers are willing to help in many ways – just get in touch.
For example:
- Need to hear a friendly voice, even if it has to be over the phone?
- Need some shopping, a prescription, or a dog walker?
- In need of spiritual guidance, a few words of comfort, or a prayer to be said?
We check 'remotely', on a regular basis, for messages to the following:
Contact details:
To contact us, telephone: 01355 279004, email ekopc.office@btconnect.com or you can use 'Contact Us' on this website. You can also go to www.Facebook.com/EKOLDPC
SCROLL DOWN FOR:
1. Sunday Service Information
2. Calendar/Hymns for 26th Sept
3. Sunday School Options
4. Hall Letting Notice
5. Volunteer? Message from Alistair
6. CFYW Change in programme
7. EKO Mag Link: September
8. Tai Chi restart
9. Prayer Group Diary Sept
10. Ch.of Sc.Prayer for 26/9
11. Get in touch!
12. Our Contact Details
'Getting back to Normal' (formerly 'Our Response in Challenging Times') details IMPORTANT information about our services.
Reminder: the congregation (but not the Choir) must wear masks when singing. We cannot yet issue hymnbooks so please bring along your own CH4 hymnbook if you have one, or use the following links to the hymns if you like. You can bring along a digital or paper copy, but PLEASE ensure that any digital device will be silent during the service and any paper copy is taken home with you!
2. Calendar/Hymns for 26th September:
We no longer display the words to hymns or readings on the broadcast service. Links to the words of hymns on 19th September are given here, as are the hymn numbers in our CH4 hymnbook:
Click Here to get the words to ALL the hymns for 26th September, which are:
CH4 21 Lord, teach me all Your ways
CH4 565 My life flows on in endless song
We generally have a mix of music, puzzles / quizzes, games, crafts, 'circle time' chat, a prayer, and a bible story. We can cater for children in Pre-school to Primary 7. See also our Sunday School page in 'The Young at the 'Old' / Youth section.
We have both options each week - You don't have to choose, you can come to both if you like!
a) via Zoom at 9am
and/or
b) in person, Upper Hall next to church, at 11am. Children should be dropped off at the Upper Hall next to the church (up the ramp and then stairs) at 10.50-11am* and collected there after the service – they will not be going in to the church.
Please spread the word! Iain Shaw 07912295943 / iainshaw18@gmail.com
There are lots of elements involved in going live and recording our services, including for example:
- operating cameras through a control desk
- producing powerpoint slides
- choosing video clips,
- copy/recording to DVDs
and, as a matter of urgency, we are looking to develop our team of volunteers to do this - the bigger the team is, the better. Some tasks are done at home, some in church. You will be well trained and supported in whatever task you choose to take on. Why not give it a shot - we can organise a taster session to help you decide if it's for you! Contact Alistair Walker to discuss. Here's a personal message from Alistair:
"We urgently need a few volunteers to work with Austin to pick up some of the skills needed to deliver the live streaming of our church services. We now have three trained operators, but we really need at least the same again to be able to operate a reasonable rota to allow for holidays and other commitments.
Austin is confident that with side-by-side training and some help with the technical bits, someone with a bit of enthusiasm and an interest in acquiring additional skills would soon be up to speed.
If you, or anyone in your family, are interested in knowing more please speak to Austin or anyone on the camera team or with myself."
Sadly, it has been decided that, unless the current restrictions relax sufficiently to allow us to continue safely, we must postpone the following, possibly until the new year (2022):
> Messy Church,
> Family Film Afternoons
> Family Fun events (eg the Family Beetle Drive scheduled for October).
However, we are pleased to say that the Sunday School (above) and Children's Art group (below) can continue.
Note: While guidelines now allow us to resume personal delivery of the magazine by Helping Hands, if you wish to receive the EKO by email, please contact Isobel Gray - you can use the Church Office number: 01355 279004, isobelgray@blueyonder.co.uk or ekopcmagazine@gmail.com .
8. Tai Chi
Our group has recommenced! We meet in the Lower Hall, Mondays, 1.30pm for an hour. Small weekly charge. Usual safety measures in place. Go to our page in 'Activities for Adults' to get more information.
9. Our Prayer Group
Our Prayer Group is not meeting at this time, but we are still taking prayer requests to our Heavenly Father on your behalf. Please send texts and emails to Marion Leddie. "Take your worries to the Lord in prayer. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.”
This Month's Prayer Diary
September
23rd. Father God, thanks for the healing miracles that we are witnessing in our church.
24th. Lord keep me safe as I take refuge in you.
25th. Be with politicians world-wide as they deal with recent complex and serious issues.
26th. Please send your light to guide me along the narrow path.
27th. Thank you for your promise Lord, that when I am weak you are strong and when I am weary and burdened you will make me strong and give me peace.
28th. Open my lips so that my mouth may sing your praises.
29th. Give thanks that EKOPC led by our minister Anne Paton, may be a shining light as it reaches out to the community of East Kilbride revealing God's glory.
30th. Lead us and guide us when we are dealing with Covid 19.
Church of Scotland
10. Church of Scotland Website Prayers
Join the Church of Scotland and others in prayer every Sunday 7pm.
Churches and Christian organisations across Scotland called on Christians to pray at the same time in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thousands of people across Scotland have been answering the call to pray during this time of sacrifice, difficulty and bereavement. Prayer has become increasingly a valued time for Christians as they pause to pray, conscious that many others will be sharing the same prayer at the same time. It helps create a sense of community when we are isolated through lockdown. Click Here for more details of the Call to Pray.
Introduction to the Prayer for 26th September (followed by recording)
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.' (Psalm 19: 14)
The Psalmist turns to God, as we ourselves do, in search of the One who will accept us as we are and who will be our strength in hard times. The times in which we live will feel to many of us like hard times. In these times, the Psalm speaks to us and for us.
We are conscious that the words we offer are but frail and we sometimes fear that they will not carry to God. Likewise, we fear that our hearts are faint. In these times, the Psalmist stands where we stand and calls upon the Lord as the One who is our rock and strength, and as the One who will bring us into the living presence of God. The words are offered from open lips and an open heart and rise into the presence of God. The words are offered trusting that they will be pleasing before God. In similar fashion, we offer our words from open lips and open hearts and we trust, that in these times, they will be heard by the One who is our Rock and Redeemer."
Click Here to hear the prayer for 26th September, read by the Moderator
Click Here to hear the prayer for 19th September, read by the Moderator
Click Here to hear the prayer for 12th September, read by the Moderator
Click Here to hear the prayer for 5th September, read by the Moderator
... we’ve got folks watching our services in the Caribbean, the US, Germany, Scandinavia as well as various parts of the UK?
Are you among them? Do you watch our weekly service? Have you a local connection here but are now settled living away from East Kilbride?
We’d love to hear from you!
Please get in touch with us - by clicking on 'Contact Us', or via the church email address: ekopc.office@btconnect.com . You could maybe tell us a bit about yourself, where you live (in the UK or abroad), how you found us, and what you like best about our website? No personal information will be printed on the site (unless you are happy with that).
12. Contact details
We are here to help in difficult times! To contact us, use any of the following (all now monitored daily, despite the office being physically closed):
Telephone: 01355 279004; Email: ekopc.office@btconnect.com ; Send a Website Message via 'Contact Us' on this website; Or to go to our Facebook page, click the link below.
Remember: Do use the service, and spread the word to others in our local community and church alike.
This Focus topic was moved here from the 'Getting Back to Normal' page:
Reviewing Our Response in Challenging Times
After the lockdown in March 2020, we had to think and act quickly, and after some short experiments we were ready to go with online services by Palm Sunday with a new style of worship, in the 'virtual' setting of the sounds and images of East Kilbride Old Parish Church, and made in the context of the pandemic, with no contravention of distancing rules.
Lasting around 30 mins or less, they began by blending new videos, recorded by the Minister and readers in their own homes, without outsider involvement, only technology! The hymns were initially those sung by our congregation in the past as we are lucky to have access to an archive of audio recordings from previous years. However, we later moved on to a new sound - recordings made individually at home by a few choir members and blended together digitally by David K.
Services can now take place in church again, with a congregation seated in an increased number of places upstairs and down, so our 'overspill' worship space in Glebe St Hall will only be needed on special occasions (eg baptisms).
Filming of the in-church service is broadcast live every Sunday at 11am (see item above). We have installed cameras in the church which show an overview of the congregation not close-ups; they mainly focus on the Minister at the altar or pulpit. A technical team directs the filming and produces recordings of the service, which is broadcast live on the internet (ie this website, Facebook and Youtube). (NB: volunteers more than welcome, training given!)
Recordings are then made available in the formats mentioned above.
The live-stream and subsequent recordings can now reach not only our housebound folk in the parish, but people (mainly relatives and friends of the congregation) across the world! Some have even been our bible readers, filmed in their own homes thanks to the internet.
How strange it is now to reflect on the times we have gone through... and what we have achieved together. God has clearly been with us every step of the way!
Click Here to read two more detailed pieces about 'Looking Back: Our Response in Challenging Times'. They were written in March and April 2021, so there have been some changes since then (eg social distancing and use of gallery).
Now keep scrolling down (or go to the top menu) for our other sections:
Church Welcome and Introduction including:
General Information; Location Maps; and 'Contact Us' message facility.
then our
Click-on Boxes:
Worship with Us, including information on Church Services as well as Communion; Accessibility and Extra Support; a 'Newcomers' Guide
News: Church News; Pastoral Letter; Youth & Families Worker Updates
Photo Gallery
Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
Activity Group Pages (Youth and Adults)
Faith Matters
History and Graveyard
NB: Work and Workings of the Church is yet to be opened...
Welcome to East Kilbride Old Parish Church!
Join us for worship on
Sunday Mornings from 11am – 12noon.
We hope you will feel a warmth and friendliness and that your experience of our worship together is enjoyable, meaningful and encouraging. Please also look out for activities you could be a part of during the week – there are lots of opportunities to meet with a friendly crowd! East Kilbride Old prides itself in being known as a welcoming church.
From the church of the past to the church of today…
“This website includes a section on the history of the church and its graveyard because we know may visitors are interested in this. The current building dates back to 1774 (though there has been a church on this site since pre-Reformation times).
When today’s church was built, it stood in the midst of a small village. Today it stands in the midst of a large new town with a population of around 75,000 people.
Beautiful as it is however, our church is not the building, but the people. Within that building, there is a warm church family. People of all ages meet together, all striving to reach out to the community we serve in the Village area and East Mains.
We have active organisations for children and adults, giving a wealth of opportunities for fellowship and sharing, and everyone is assured of a warm welcome.”
Rev. Anne Paton
