Greenbank Church
Just like any other organisation the Church of Scotland has its own jargon. Phrases such as "The Kirk Session" (often abbreviated to "The Session") are used and people are referred to as the Elders, the Session Clerk, the Moderator. Here we try to explain a few of these terms.
The Kirk Session and Associates
The Kirk Session is the body that looks after the spiritual affairs of the Church and the care of its members. The members of the Kirk Session are the elders, who are ordained to that office in a special ceremony in church, who are assisted by associates who are not ordained. When they meet together formally the Minister presiding is known as the Moderator. The Moderator is assisted by the Session Clerk and the Deputy Session Clerk. The Clerks do a great deal of work in keeping Greenbank running smoothly. There are four co-ordinators for the four main concerns of Worship, Outreach, Fellowship and Stewardship.
The congregation is divided into geographical districts and each member of the congregation has a District Elder who will pay a visit at least three times a year. District Elders also like to know when members are ill or in trouble so that they can offer help and comfort if possible. They work very closely with the District Visitors who delivers the "Good Neighbour", our parish magazine.
Each organisation which meets in Greenbank or is associated with it also has a Liaison Elder who visits and forms a link between the organisation and the Session.
In addition the Session appoints elders to work with local charitable concerns such as the Lodging House Mission, Williamwood House and Age Concern Eastwood and to represent us at the Presbytery of Glasgow meetings and the General Assembly.
You can usually find out what happens at Session through Good Neighbour. The elders discuss, debate and implement where necessary important topics such as Children and Communion, World Poverty, Education within the Church and other social and spiritual issues that come down from the General Assembly and the Presbytery of Glasgow.
Since 2009 we have moved to a unitary constitution. This means that we no longer have a separate Congregational Board. Roughly speaking, the Stewardship section of the Session takes on the responsibilities formerly dealt with by the board, e.g. Finance, property and grounds, office and computing and publicity.