Attached below are the Belhaven & Spott church accounts as of 31 December 2024. Following thereafter are some comments about the accounts from Gillian Rae, our church Treasurer:

At a first glance, the accounts appear to show a loss of over £700,000. But this is not a true loss, thankfully.

The old manse was owned by the congregation and its value was included in our accounts. When the new manse was purchased it was agreed to have it legally owned by the central Church of Scotland. On a day to day basis this makes little difference but it does mean that the value of the manse does not now appear in our accounts. The transfer shown in the accounts of £740,018 is the net sales proceeds of that manse.

The new manse had a lower cost. The difference between the sales proceeds and the purchase cost of the new manse is held by the central church in the consolidated fabric fund. We can use that fund broadly for the improvement and maintenance of our church buildings, including the new manse. 

One other item that requires some explanation is that we managed to recover some funds in relation to the Spott toilet project. A small amount was from central government and a larger amount from the consolidated fabric fund, as mentioned above.

If we were to take out the entries relating to the manse and the recoveries in relation to the Spott toilet project we would have a lower loss of approximately £3,500. That means that our ordinary giving was not covering the cost of our ordinary expenditure.

Safeguarding is very important to us at Belhaven and Spott. Our aim is to protect the congregation's children and adults who are at risk. To that end, all volunteers who carry out regulated work within the congregation - e.g., Launchpad, Lazers, Messy Church, Car Rota, etc. - must be PVG-registered with Disclosure Scotland. ("PVG" = Protecting Vulnerable Groups.)

These individuals must also attend appropriate training with Church of Scotland Safeguarding Service, either in person or online, and this training must be updated every 3-to-5 years. All Elders who are also Trustees and members of the Kirk Session must also attend Trustee training with the same organisation. This training must also be refreshed every 3-to-5 years. These are legal requirements and cannot be ignored.

If any person in the Congregation suspects or witnesses harm or abuse, or it is reported to you as a member of the Congregation, you must immediately report it to our Safeguarding Coordinator, Helen Baptie, who will then contact the Church of Scotland's Safeguarding Service at 121 George Street. (Helen can be contacted on 01368 862782 or 07944 560733, either to report an incident or to ask about training or other related issues.)

As noted in the above poster, the 2025-26 Church of Scotland Stamp Appeal is supporting the Al Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza; for more information, please visit https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/stamps. The previous Stamp Appeal for the Firmly Planted project to create tree nurseries in Malawi raised £18,613.50.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed stamps in the past year - keep up the good work!

Many congratulations to everyone who took part in Belhaven's annual Christmas Nativity celebration on Sunday 15 December. The show was much enjoyed by everyone in the congregation, and we really appreciate all of the effort that will have gone into making it happen! (Click on any of the photos to enlarge them and have them fill up the screen.)

Diana Mackie recently received a long letter - and many photos (along with several videos) - from Hriday Basumata, our twinning correspondent in Mahakalguri. There's plenty of news to share!

Dear Diana,

Greetings from Mahakalguri. I hope you are all well. It is a pretty long time that we are just silent and nothing being heard. However, I was a bit mentally retarded due to sudden stroke of my sister and her treatment in different Hospital and Nursing Homes for the last 7 months. Although she has overcome life threatened seriousness but lost the mobility and totally bedridden now. Still hopping the she will stand and walk again someday. Thankful to God that He has saved my sister. Please, pray for miracle and recovery for my sister.

By this time, we had lots of activities in our Diocese and Pastorate. We got a new Bishop Rt. Rev. Roshan Thapa in the month of July this year. Since formation of Church of North India in November 1970 we had no Bishop from the local Presbyters. Bishops were appointed from other Diocese of CNI and also there were no Bishop in the Diocese of Eastern Himalaya since 2010 till date and the Diocese was running by Moderator’s Commissaries posted time to time by the Synod.

The newly formed Men’s Fellowship in our pastorate successfully visited all churches in the month of September this year. A one day Seminar of Men’s Fellowship on the theme “The Role of Man in Home and the Church” and on “Financial Management in Christian Family and the Church” was very successfully organized on 5th October at Dan Chandra Memorial Church for the first time in the pastorate. We are thankful to God for this event where men memberships of all the 5 churches of the pastorate participated enthusiastically. The one day seminar of the Women Fellowship also colourfully organized in the Mahakalguri Mission School Hall on 10th October.

On 2nd November we organized a Eastern Duars Regional WFCS One Day Seminar successfully. The number of participants from the churches of 4 pastorates was truly much encouraging. Everyone was truly blessed with the wonderful sermon by Rev. David Hansda of Jalpaiguri of our Diocese. The church visits of WFCS is over on last Sunday the 6th of this month. We had very lively get together in my small church Dan Chandra Memorial Church of Pototola village.

The churches and family visits of Youth and Sunday school Fellowship in 5 churches of the pastorate is going on successfully. Truly it is a wonderful blessing of God in connecting people and God through this young children. They have visited every house and even houses of two families who are staying far at a distances of 10 and 18 km away from Mahakalguri. They will complete their program by early December. The Women Fellowship will do the same in November.

Twinning Co-ordinator for our Diocese Mr. Bill Stevenson is on the way to India. He will be visiting Mahakalguri and surrounding pastorates on 15th and 16th of this month. We are eagerly waiting for him prayerfully for his safe journey.
Finally, it is a good news that we have started construction of new church demolishing the old wooden church of Mahakalguri and a New construction of Church on new location in Taleswarguri Church of the Pastorate and the construction work going on smoothly. Please keep in your prayers for the financial sufficiency and early completion of the constructions.

It is further to inform that the Diocesan Twinning Meeting is being held on 18th instant. Please pray for the success and blessing of Lord Jesus on the meeting.

Apart from the church, me. My wife and the children in US are all fine in His grace and Mercy.

Prayerfully Yours,
Hriday

All of the proceeds from Caring Christmas Trees goes directly towards the work of Bethany Christian Trust, helping to fund their work on Homelessness Prevention, Crisis Intervention, and Housing and Support. Bethany works to alleviate the suffering and meet the long-term needs of people facing homelessness, or the risk of homelessness.

Trees can be collected from Belhaven on Saturday 14 December. If you are willing to volunteer to help onsite on the day, please sign up on the Caring Christmas Trees website.

The annual report and unaudited financial statements for Belhaven and Spott Church for the year ending 31 December 2023 are now available to be viewed in the below PDF:

A Q&A session will follow the talk in Spott Church, covering more in-depth research into local families. Refreshments will be available, as well as an opportunity to view displays of Spott Parish archives. In the event of inclement weather, an illustrated version of the talk will be presented in the church.

East Lothian Council have now launched the full programme of events for the fortnight. Details and the booking facility can be found on the John Gray Centre website at this link. Numbers for the event will be restricted to two groups of 25, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the Saturday; if you have difficulty booking a place, please call 01368 863035.

The displays will also be accessible in the church on Wednesday 4 September, Wednesday 11 September and Saturday 14 September from at 10 a.m. to Noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and also on Sunday 8 September from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The 1650 Battle of Dunbar Exhibition will also be open at these times.

With the combination of David Anderson’s amazing wealth of knowledge and the rich history of our church, this is an event not to be missed!

Donation envelopes will be available at Belhaven and Spott churches from the beginning of May and can be handed in at either church. Alternatively, you can donate online at Dunbar Christian Aid Envelope - Christian Aid Fundraise.

You are also warmly invited to attend an ecumenical Songs of Praise service in Belhaven Church at 7 p.m. on Sunday 12 May. The hymns will be chosen by members of all congregations in the Dunbar area. There will be a retiring collection for Christian Aid, and refreshments will be served afterwards in the Church Hall.  

After the service, most of the attendees retired back to the Belhaven Church Hall for coffee, croissants and conversation. It was a real blessing to be there, and we hope everyone will consider coming along to the service next Easter!

We received an Easter message from Mahakalguri Church in North India: "Hallelujah...Praise the Lord...Easter greetings from Mahakalguri. Pastor Rev. P. Narjinary sends message of resurrection singing a song 'Early morning Mary Magdalene visited but did not find Jesus' in Bodo language."

For more information about our twinned church in Mahakalguri, please visit the About Us page of the website.

Thank you to those who already support this important project - new contributors would also be welcomed. For more information, please contact any of the following people:

Belhaven: Chrissie Black (chrissiedunbar62@gmail.com) or Andrew Brown (andrew.brown3@btinternet.com)
Spott: Moira Cockburn (moira.cockburn@hotmail.co.uk)

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the process yesterday (10 March) of selecting a Nominating Committee to search for Belhaven and Spott's next permanent minister. Whether you put yourself forward for selection, nominated someone else for selection, or simply cast a ballot yourself to help determine the final list of committee members, it was great to see everyone come together and help us take this next big step forward.

The 10 people from Belhaven and Spott who will be on the Nominating Committee are as follows (in alphabetical order):

Nick Archer

Neil Black

Sheilagh Fallon

Val Goodwin

Hazel Gray

Diana Mackie

Peter McIntyre

Malcolm Payton

Richard Smith

Richard Taylor

The remaining three members of the 13-person committee will be elected by Dunglass on 17 March.

There will be no April meetings of Inspire due to the Easter holiday period.

For further information, please contact either Chrissie Black on 07799 607163 or Alison Murray on 07823 469472.

Your friendly website correspondent was in Switzerland on a work trip this week and had a chance to meet up with Rev. Laurence Twaddle (and wife Lindy) at their Manse, in an apartment block on the north side of Geneva. They have been in Geneva for seven years now and are enjoying life, even to the point of having gotten used to the exorbitant cost of pretty much everything in Switzerland! He ministers at an English-speaking church where none other than John Knox (among others) used to preach, and although numbers are down from where they were pre-COVID, they get anywhere from 50 to 70 attendees each Sunday. They send us their greetings and love and wish us nothing for the best as we look to fill our vacancy in the near future.

We feel powerless, but the one thing we know we can do is pray. So on 24 February, please join us in praying for the people of these countries and pray for an end to the suffering. (Don't feel you need to stay for the full two hours; just join us when you can.)

For more information, please contact either Chrissie Black (07799 607163) or Alison Murray (07823 469472).

Our Burns Supper on Saturday 20 January in the Belhaven Church Hall was a great success - see below for a few photos and videos from the event.

The Inspire Women's Group met together in St. Anne's Church last week for an Advent Craft and Meditation event. Led by Diana Hall, we explored poetry, music and art as we shared in a peaceful and uplifting evening! Many thanks to all who attended, especially to Diana.

(Click on each photo to enlarge)

For details of further Inspire meetings, please contact Chrissie Black (07799 607163) or Alison Murray (07823 469472).