In this 150th anniversary year of Alloway Church, we were particularly delighted to welcome Rev. Neil McNaught as speaker at the Society's November meeting.
His presentation outlined the broad sweep of the Church in Scotland, concentrating in particular on the 150 continuous years of the life of the present Alloway Parish Church from its founding in 1858 thanks to the drive and support of Thomas Baird of Cambusdoon. Neil illustrated the life of the Church with excellent slides and by reading us extracts from Church records. We were particularly privileged to see a very early picture of the Church building and to read for ourselves the original copy of the Church Register of Births. At the end of the talk there was a barrage of questions and relevant stories from an audience who had obviously been fascinated and intrigued by this talk. If any proof of interest in the topic were needed, it lay in the number attending. In spite of the known absence on holiday of a few members, 29 were present, this number being swelled by 22 visitors. Mainly these came from the congregation whose active support for our programme is greatly appreciated: particular mention must be made of one couple from Dumfries who, having been married in Alloway Church some years ago, made a special journey to join us for the occasion.
Our sincere thanks go to Rev. McNaught for agreeing to speak to us and for giving us a very special evening.
His presentation outlined the broad sweep of the Church in Scotland, concentrating in particular on the 150 continuous years of the life of the present Alloway Parish Church from its founding in 1858 thanks to the drive and support of Thomas Baird of Cambusdoon. Neil illustrated the life of the Church with excellent slides and by reading us extracts from Church records. We were particularly privileged to see a very early picture of the Church building and to read for ourselves the original copy of the Church Register of Births. At the end of the talk there was a barrage of questions and relevant stories from an audience who had obviously been fascinated and intrigued by this talk. If any proof of interest in the topic were needed, it lay in the number attending. In spite of the known absence on holiday of a few members, 29 were present, this number being swelled by 22 visitors. Mainly these came from the congregation whose active support for our programme is greatly appreciated: particular mention must be made of one couple from Dumfries who, having been married in Alloway Church some years ago, made a special journey to join us for the occasion.
Our sincere thanks go to Rev. McNaught for agreeing to speak to us and for giving us a very special evening.
Sheila Dinwoodie
