From the Manse

From the Manse.

Dear Friends

I was amused to see a fridge magnet which bore the words, God give me patience

and give it to me right now! That is how I am feeling with regard to our building

project. As I write the work has not yet started, but I am assured that a start is

imminent. As far as the financial aspects of the project are concerned, members will

be aware we are still short of our target. We are able to borrow money from the

Consolidated Fabric Fund of the Church of Scotland, however we would hope to

minimise any such loan and are having a "push" to close the funding gap. lan Steven

has provided for Grapevine a resume of where we are with regard to financing the

project. Philip Craig our Session Clerk has been working very hard making grant

applications and with some success. To date we have been awarded grants totalling

around @60,000.

There will be a sponsored walk on 1st of June down at the Esplanade to try to get

the members of our youth organisations and other hall users and their families

involved in the fundraising effort. On Sunday 8th of June, communion Sunday, we are

having a gift day to allow all members to contribute what they can afford as an

additional offering to enable us to finish the job. The more we raise the less we

borrow and ideally we will borrow nothing at all!

Over the next few months we are going to be challenged for space in the hall from

time to time and the car park will be unavailable. For a limited period we will only be

able to enter the church from the door on Waterloo Road. We will all have to be

patient as the building work progresses.

Many thanks to all who contributed to Rev Cath Shaw's leaving party and present.

She selected a garden bench as a gift and she was also presented with a handsome

cheque on behalf of the congregation. It will not be possible for me to make up the

visits which the Rev Cath did on our behalf, but a new group of visitors is being

organised and they will be visiting some of those who were on the Rev Cath's list. So

if one of the visitors arrives to see you, be sure to give them a welcome.

The design for the window, which has been commissioned by Mrs Wynne Strachan

in memory of John, has been approved by the Church of Scotland is likely to be

installed in the church over the summer period.

It is still our intention to run a holiday club during the school holidays and the details

still have to be worked out. The week beginning Monday 4th August has been

pencilled into my diary for that to take place.

Yours fraternally

T.David Watson

Building Project

Work on the new Church Project hopefully will have started at beginning of May.

The contractor (Mould of Kilmarnock) will start work at the east end (Monkswell) of the church and will work from east to west, completing the work on the room opposite the Horton Room around the end of October.

The site committee comprising representatives from A.R.P. Lorimer (Architects), Kingcase Church, Ayrshire Housing and the contractor will meet every 4/5 weeks. The church extension sub committee comprising senior office bearers of the church and representatives of the Finance, Property and Catering Committees will also meet regularly and a ‘progress report’ will be given in the pew leaflet.

At present there are three entrances to the church:-

Main entrance at Waterloo Road, West side entrance at Arran Park, entering the church through the corridor and East side entrance, entering the church from the car park.

From early May the car park and east side entrance will be blocked off, thereby reducing the number of entrances to the church to two. After that cars should be parked in streets or in public car parks close to the church.

Two or three months into the work the entrance to the church via the corridor will be blocked off, thereby reducing entry to the church solely via Waterloo Road. The Arran Park entrance should continue to be used to gain entry to the Office, Horton Room, toilets and large hall only.

It is anticipated that work on the extension/alterations will be undertaken on five and a half days per week – Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm and Saturday mornings. It is hoped that while the work is being carried out disruption to the church’s activities will be kept to a minimum. If any member of the congregation has any problems relating to this anticipated disruption please contact the Church Office (470755) during office hours (9:30am to 12:30pm) Monday to Friday.

M. McGregor, Property Committee

Church Development Project

By the time you read this progress report the demolition works required by our building project should be well underway.

The construction of our new hall and the building of our new toilets and kitchen are scheduled to take 26 weeks so we are looking at a “completion” date around the end of October this year. I have put completion in inverted commas because, at that time, there will still be certain outside works to be finished and we will not get the use of our car park until early 2009.

The total cost of our Project will be £370,000 including all the demolition and construction costs, all the professional fees and an amount for VAT on the replacement elements of the works.

Funding the cost

The funding of our project is now as follows:- £

Income from Sale of Ground. (Net of Charges) 103,539

Interest accrued on Funds held by General Trustees 2,720

Efforts Fund – Balance at 29^th April 111.900

Amount approved by Cuthbertson Bequest 50,000 Anticipated further grants 25,000

293,159

=======

This leaves a funding gap of some £77,000.

Special Appeal

The Congregational Board has agreed that there will be a further Special Appeal Gift Day to ask the congregation for funds. This day has been fixed for Sunday 8^th June 2008. Special Envelopes will be distributed along with this issue of Grapevine to each member of the congregation along with a Gift Aid letter. If you are a U.K. taxpayer then the church can claim back from the U.K. Income Tax Authorities 20p in the £1 for each £1 gifted to the church in this way. I urge you to sign the Gift Aid declaration if you are a U.K. taxpayer.

In closing here is a thought. There are over 700 active members in Kingcase Church. If each one gave £100.00 this would raise £70,000 and our funding gap would be closed – almost!

We are acutely aware that not everyone will be able to afford £100.00 but, on the other hand, there will be others who are able to give more than £100.00. The main point to remember is that the more funds we raise in this way, the less we will have to borrow to fund our project.

Ian Steven

Fundraising

2008

April On the last Saturday of the month we were entertained by the Festival Winning Choir of Ayr Academy and our friends from Ayr Amateurs Concert Party. It was an excellent evening and much enjoyed by all who came along.

May Throughout the month of May we intend to have tablet, quiz, videos and books on sale after both morning services.

June On Sunday 1^st June our Summer Sponsored Church Walk is taking place at 2:00pm on the Esplanade, ending with a B B Q at 25 Links Road. Do walk with us and be sponsored by family and friends -----

or please do sponsor someone!

September An “Adamton Amble” ------ (details to follow)

October Sunday 5^th October ------ Harvest Praise Service with Harvest Supper to follow in large hall (more details later)

Our grateful thanks to all who continually support us in our fundraising endeavours.

We trust you will enjoy a relaxing summer with some sunny days and hope to see

you at the events to come.

Joyce Pringle, Fundraising Convener.

Flower Donations 2008

July 6^th Mrs Cossar

13^th Miss Templeton

20^th Donation

27^th Mrs Rintoul

August 3^rd Mrs Cuthbertson

10^th Miss Hawkes

17^th Mrs Adair

24^th Mrs Bowles

31^st Mrs McClure

September 7^th Mrs Sinclair

14^th Mrs Steven

21^st Mrs Ford

28^th Mr Millar

October 5^th Mrs Ewart

12^th Mr McLanaghan

19^th Miss Kerr

26^th Mrs Auld

A Thought

I have been reading Ezra and I was amazed at what King Cyrus of Babylon did for the children of Israel.

The foreign king made a decree to build their House of God.

The vessels of gold and silver were taken from Babylon and sent to Jerusalem.

What joy the Jews must have had after years of exile and depression, without their temple.

Sometimes when we are very low and think everything is lost God reveals his love and lifts us up.

Ezra 7: v28 says “I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me.”

God bless you all. John McFarlan

Kingcase Guild

We are at the end of another session and a very successful one it has been. One of our projects this year is The Leprosy Mission and it is concentrating on one hospital that makes artificial limbs and specially designed footwear for people, the difference that this makes to their lives is incredible and I am glad that we are able to help in some small way with this work.

We had an evening of fun and fantasy when Stewart Travel joined us to talk about cruises and holidays in the sun, this definitely had us dreaming of sandy beaches and being waited on hand and foot, hopefully some of us will be able to take

advantage of what they offer. Reverend David and his sparring partner Reverend Fraser Aitken gave us a very entertaining night with slides and stories of their

second visit to the Holy Land. Sheena Andrew took us round 'Auld Ayr' and

provoked many conversations about the buildings and sights that have now

disappeared. Ronnie Russell, a local artist and cartoonist kept us laughing all night with his stories and pictures, he is a very talented man and his work is quite stunning.

Kingcase hosted The World Day of Prayer this year and the service centred on

Guyana. Unfortunately it fell on a wet and windy day and as in past years the

attendance was small, but I hope that everyone who did attend enjoyed taking part in the service. It is an awe inspiring thought that at 3:00pm on that day people all over the world are joining together to take part in this service.

We finished with our AGM and I am delighted to say that we have several new members joining our committee for next session. We will meet shortly to plan our new syllabus and we look forward to working with the new committee on your

behalf. We were entertained by our own songbird Sylvia Timpany accompanied

by Isobel Kilmurry and two young ladies Monica and Kirstine from The Aileen

Robertson School of Dancers and it was a lovely end to our session.

Our outing is on 3rd June when we travel to Blackford to visit The Baxters

Emporium amongst other things and taking in Aberfoyle and Callander before

heading home. We are looking forward to a day of fellowship and hopefully

sunshine.

Our new session starts on October 7th and I wish you all a good summer and look forward to seeing you all then.

Kathryn Sinclair. Convenor

Pulpit Diary Minister, Rev. David Watson

Services are held every Sunday at 9.45am and 11.15am

You may wish to note the following services as predicted when going to press

June 8th, Communion at both services with extra seryices at 2.30pm and 7.00pm

June 15th Healing Service 7.00pm

July 13th Mr Ian Jamieson 9.45am & 11:15am Services

July 20th Mr Ian Jamieson 9.45am & 11:15am Services. Healing Service at 7.00pm

July 27th Rev.Michael Dickie 9,45am & 11.15am Services

August 17th Healing Servuce at 7.00pm

September 14^th Special Service at 2.30pm for Housebound

September 21^st Worship Group at 9.45am &11.15am Services. Healing Service at 7.99pm

September 28th Communion at both services with extra seryices at 2.30pm and 7.00pm

Latest News from the Scout Troop

A swimming night was held in Troon swimming pool at the beginning of February. This allowed many of the boys to gain a Swimmer’s badge, or improve on the level that they had previously attained.

The troop went for a hike around Glen Afton in the middle of February, and were delighted when they discovered that some of the route was covered in snow… I think you can imagine what happened next!

In March, the Scout troop visited a climbing wall in Glasgow. A great time was had by all in attendance, and they hope to return to the facility in the future.

The troop’s latest venture was a hostelling weekend around the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. This event was featured in their activity programme last year and it proved to be very popular with the boys. They had just as much fun this time around…

Beavers prepare for a “Magic and Mystery” Evening

By the time you read this, the Beaver Colony will have taken part in their latest themed meeting: “Magic and Mystery”. This follows on from two previous annual events, both based on a “Whodunnit” theme, which proved to be highly enjoyed by the boys. This time, it will feature Tic-Tac (Simon Lamb) as an eagle-eyed detective called Inspector Claypole, and Malak (Maureen Waugh) as a fortune-teller; the other Beaver leaders will play roles such as a fairy and a shop owner. Will the Beavers complete all of the tasks and solve the mystery of “The Robbery at the Baker’s Shop”? Apparently, the thief stole quite a bit of dough…

And a little snippet of important information…

From April 2008, the “Ayrshire Area” of Scouting ceased to exist… But fear not, because the movement lives on in a bright and sparkling new region: “South West Scotland”.; the old district has been collected together with others to form a larger area. So, here’s all the best to the “South West Region”!

By visiting www.12thayrshire.org, you can keep up to date with the groups’ activities, and see a selection of pictures from the various events. If you would like further information on any aspect of Scouting in Kingcase, phone Bill Hamilton (Group Scout Leader) on 01292 478250. Until next time, Simon Lamb, Explorer Scout, Beaver Leader, and “eagle-eyed detective”…

2^nd Prestwick (Kingcase) Boys’ Brigade

Although we are coming to the end of another session of Company nights and

activities, the officers and boys are already looking forward to next year. The Boys’ Brigade nationally are introducing a new badge structure which will be both

exciting and improve the quality of training for the boys. The Discover Programme is an innovative scheme of learning which we look forward to embracing.

The membership of the Company is smaller than I would like but the quality of boys is excellent. We have done remarkably well in Battalion competitions this year, excelling at the swimming gala, reaching the semi-finals of the football and winning the basketball competition. The final result being that we are 4th in the league table of Battalion competitions.

Our activities outwith Company nights continue to expand with the boys receiving free golf lessons at the Roodlea Complex. This is a direct result of the Company joining Clubs for Young People Scotland which will enable the boys to participate in a broader range of activities than is currently available through Brigade sources. We have recently spent an afternoon at Somerset Park supporting Ayr United (somebody’s got to!) and there are plans afoot for other visits in the future.

After last years successful weekend camp in Arran, we made a return visit this year from 18th-20th April for a very strenuous weekend of activities which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. We conquered Goat Fell on the Saturday under some quite extreme conditions with winds gusting to 70 miles per hour during our ascent. The Sunday was spent having an invigorating cycle run to Lamlash where the boys were shown round the Lifeboat Station which houses the “Boys’ Brigade” lifeboat which was donated by the national organisation.

Our annual display night will take place on May 9th at Kingcase School, to which all family and friends are invited. The Company will be holding a plant sale in the church hall on Saturday May 17th and all proceeds will go to the Church Building Fund. We look forward to the support of the congregation for this very worthwhile event.

It remains only for me to wish you all a good summer and if you are visiting Ayr Flower Show this year, please come along to the plant creche and say hello to the officers and boys who will be once again providing this facility.

Our new session commences on Friday 5th September and I look forward to

welcoming old and hopefully some new members then.

Ken Sinclair, Captain

Summer Prayer Thoughts

Loving God, help us to return to the work of Your Church refreshed and filled with enthusiasm and energy for all that lies ahead. Be close to us, continue to guide Your Church with wisdom and grace.

Amen

People need people and friends need friends,

And we all need love,for a full life depends

Not on vast riches or great acclaim,

Not in success or wordly fame,

But on just knowing that someone cares

And holds us close in their thoughts and prayers.

The love of God surrounds us

Like the air we breath around us

As near as a heartbeat,

As close as a prayer,

And whenever we need Him,

He will always be there.

Joyce Pringle, Prayer Promoter

The World

As Christians we know that God wants us to look after His Creation, our world. Most of us are aware by now that over-indulgence in Air travel and unnecessary use of our cars are aggravating Climate Change and endangering the future for our children and grandchildren and the inhabitants of poorer countries. But how many of us are aware of the even greater damage caused by office workers and private residents leaving their computers and other I.T. equipment switched on when not in use? Enormous levels of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere. 1 billion tonnes of CO2 a year – between 2% and 4% of global emissions – more than aviation and military combined.

A substantial waste of energy.

Christians should either buy software that automatically turns off computers after work, or make a point of switching-off when not in use.

If everyone did that it could lead to a reduction in carbon emission equivalent to taking 2 million cars off U.K. roads.

Prayerfully we will all play our part.

Rev Michael Dickie

Who is Who and Who does What