Melness Church Anniversary – The 105th anniversary of Melness Church was celebrated last Sunday at a special service conducted by the minister, the Rev John Mackie.

The building was originally a Free Church, brought into use on 25th July, 1902 (the date having been gleaned from the archives of the NT) and later became a Church of Scotland. The driving force behind the building of the church was the minister at the time, the Rev Cathel Kerr, who was to die in South Africa during the Boer War when he was a chaplain to the Scots Guards.

The service commenced with the singing of the 23rd Psalm and was followed by the recitation of a poem entitled “Melness” by organist Peter Martin. The poem was written by a Mrs MacDonald, wife of the minister at Melness from 1939-45.

Readings for the service were taken from Psalm 121, Phillipians 2. 1-11 (read by Joyce Clement) and Mark 1. 21-28.

During the service Mr Mackie gave an audio-visual presentation of information and photographs associated with the history of the church to the present day.

The theme of the sermon was “humility” and referred back to the Rev Mr Kerr who, despite playing such a prominent role in the building of the church, has no memorial to his memory. He was indeed “a man who put his works before himself”.

The service ended with the singing of “Mine eyes have seen the glory”, and so into Melness Church’s second century!