Congregation Profile

St Paul’s is a member of the St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane Diocese and serves the area once known as Kinross-shire, now part of Perth and Kinross District. There are other churches serving the Kinross area but St Paul’s is the only Episcopalian Church, the nearest Episcopalian neighbours are in Dollar, Perth, Lochgelly and Glenrothes.

The congregation roll comprises 131 members plus 104 adherents from 88 households. Sunday communicants average 40, peaking to 80+ for the major Christian festivals. The majority of the congregation reside in the immediate area but some families travel from outside what would be considered the normal “catchment area” of Kinross and Milnathort and the membership of St Paul’s reflects the socio-economic diversity of this extended area. The congregation includes all ages, with an active and successful Sunday School, and similarly active and successful House Group and Handicraft Group.

Leadership is by our Recotor, supported by an elected Vestry. The Vestry comprises 8 elected members, plus the Rector and Lay Representative, up to 3 additional persons may be co-opted to assist the regular Vestry. Each Vestry member assumes full responsibility for one function within the Church; Finance, Property Sunday School, Music etc., and co-ordinates all activities pertinent to their function. We see this as a model for the future, the Vestry working alongside the incumbent Rector, contributing to and sharing the functions of worship.

Sunday worship centres around the Eucharist. There is an 08.30am service of Holy Communion every Sunday morning followed by an 11.00am Family Eucharist. On the third Sunday of each month a non-Eucharistic service, which we call “All Age Worship” replaces the normal service. This service is led by the congregation and all members are encouraged to contribute. Music for the Family Eucharist and the All Age Worship services is normally provided by an organist with occasional support from guitarists. Mission Praise provides the backbone of the music with a supplementary Carol Book for use at Christmas.

The Rector of St Paul’s shares with other Kinross church leaders the leadership of regular mid-week services at the Kinross-shire Day Centre and ecumenical activities within the context of Kinross Churches Together.

St Paul’s supports the diocesan links with Pelotas - in Brazil, and with Meath and Kildare – in the Republic of Ireland. It has historically supported the Aberlour Child Care Trust

Within St Paul’s there are four Groups who meet on a regular basis, the Sunday School, the Thursday Morning Group and the Handicraft Group. Additionally there are a number of ad hoc groups, with no specific membership, who convene for specific purposes at irregular intervals, e.g. property and gardening work parties.

The Sunday School
The Sunday School meet every Sunday during school term time. The leadership team, currently 4 adults and a number of our young people, work with the Living Stones resource. The team meet regularly to review and plan the timetable. On a bi-annual basis, usually summer and Christmas the children have led worship which has been much enjoyed both by the congregation and the children. Currently we have children within the Pebbles, Rocks and Boulders groups with between 12 - 15 attending regularly and around 20 on our roll. The Sunday School also acts as a crèche facility for a small group of younger children. The Sunday School currently meet in the Masonic Hall, a short walk from the church.

The Thursday Morning Group
Meet regularly as a house group for prayers, fellowship and discussion. Currently it comprises around a dozen regular members and is led by a member of the congregation

The Handicraft Group
Another house group and major fund raiser for St Paul’s. They meet regularly throughout the year and sell their produce at local sales and craft fairs.

Communication with the congregation is maintained by a weekly pew leaflet, a monthly newsletter and within the wider community through the Kinross Community Newsletter.

At the present time we are raising funds to enable us to build a new church hall, replacing the existing hall which is somewhat run-down and becoming expensive to maintain. We have secured planning permission and completed surveys to determine the suitability of the site for the proposed building.

St Paul’s is a finely balanced congregation which may be considered to be at a religious crossroads. We have our traditionalists and our progressives, senior members and very young members, established families and new families, and even some teenage members. Leading such a diverse group of people is a considerable challenge, balancing the needs of the traditionalists with those of the modernists, the quiet contemplative worship usually preferred by our senior members with the more upbeat worship that appeals to younger people and families.