About Us

As with all Church of Scotland churches, St Mary's has a resident Minister, who is elected by the church membership after a lengthy selection process carried out by a Nominating Committee which itself is selected by the church's congregation.

The Minister moderates (chairs) at Kirk Session meetings. The Kirk Session is responsible for the spiritual matters of the church and consists of Elders who are ordained to that office and admitted to be an Elder in a particular congregation. Elders are elected by the Kirk Session and can serve for life.

In St Mary's we have a Board of Management who are responsible for the temporal matters - finance, property, fabric etc. The members of the Board are elected by the congregation at a Stated Annual Meeting and serve for periods of three years.

Scotland is divided into several areas called Presbyteries, whose purpose is basically to oversee the running of the churches in its area. The membership of each Presbytery consists of the minister and an elected elder from each of the churches in its area.

Every year the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meets in Edinburgh. It is the supreme ruling body within the Kirk. Usually each church sends its minister and an elder on a three year cycle.

Please see the separate contact page for details of whom to contact in the church.