THERE WERE FEW available pews when a community turned out to celebrate a local church having completed 250 years of service to its communities.
The Kinloss and Findhorn Church held a special harvest service on Sunday to mark the anniversary – and the congregation reacted by turning out in number to the delight of minister the Rev Louis Bezuidenhout.
Parishioners and visitors helped in the creation of a new cairn outside the historic church, each member of the congregation bringing a stone to add to the memorial.
“There were a lot of people with family connections to the church,” Rev Bezuidenhout said, adding: “We also had many former parishioners who have moved elsewhere but visited us for this special occasion.”
Part of a weekend of celebration included a dinner and entertainment event at which the Kinloss Military Wives choir performed, while an art exhibition had been put on show throughout the weekend.
A booklet detailing the changing role of religion in the Kinloss, Findhorn, Alves and Burghead communities was also released to coincide with the anniversary, with a copy of that presented to Margaret King, Moderator of Moray Presbytery who was present at Sunday’s service.