Cults 

 

 

Collessie 

 

 

Ladybank 

 

 

Kettle 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 

Howe 

Of Fife 

Parish 

Profile 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2010 

 

 

 


 

ABOUT US 

 

 

 

OUR VISION 

The PURPOSE of the Church is 
to glorify God. 

The VISION of the Church of 
Scotland is to be a Church 
which seeks to inspire the 
people of Scotland and beyond 
with the Good News of Jesus 
Christ through enthusiastic, 
worshipping, witnessing and 
serving communities. 

Our MISSION, in the Howe of 
Fife, is to bring the Good News 
of the Gospel to all the people 
of our Parish 

by 

Encouraging the worship of God 

by 

Living and Sharing the Faith 

by 

Finding Fun in Fellowship 

by 

Giving of Time and Talents 

and all 

To the Glory of God. 

By the end of 2015, we would 
like to see our Church….. 

 

. Sharing the Glory of God 
through worship that is 
vibrant, relevant and 
closely engaged with the 
community. 
. Living and Sharing our 
faith by worshipping 
centrally in one Parish 
centre and addressing the 
needs of the wider 
community. 
. Finding Fun in Fellowship 
as we move forward 
together as one Church, 
using our facilities to 
draw people into our 
fellowship through social 
events. 
. Giving Time and Talents 
so that all take part in all 
aspects of Church life, 
helping one another in a 
positive and friendly way. 


 

 

 


LOCATION 

 
Looking across The Howe from Balmalcolm 

 

 

 

The Howe of Fife Parish is 
located within the Presbytery 
of St Andrews and the 
Parliamentary Constituency of 
Fife North East. The main 
centres of population are in 
Ladybank, 
Kingskettle/Kettlebridge, 
Pitlessie and Collessie and 
there a number of other 
smaller villages and hamlets in 
the Parish. The population of 
the Parish is approximately 
4500 and the active Church 
Roll is 530. 

Centrally located with access 
to the main A92 trunk road and 
the main East Coast railway 
with a station in Ladybank, we 
are within 30 – 40 minutes 
travel distance, by car, to 
Perth, Dundee and St Andrews, 
an hour to Edinburgh and 90 
minutes to Glasgow. 

There are busy primary schools 
in Ladybank, Kingskettle and 
Pitlessie which feed into Bell 
Baxter High School in Cupar 
with a roll of about 2000. 
There are local shops in 
Kingskettle and Ladybank with 
the latter also having a bank, 
chemist and the local medical 
centre and health clinic. There 
is a farm shop in Balmalcolm. 
There are restaurant facilities 
in Pitlessie, Ladybank, 
Kingskettle, Balmalcolm and 
Kettlebridge. 

There are major hospitals 13 
miles away in Kirkcaldy, 19 
miles away in Dundee and 25 
miles away in Dunfermline. 
There are Community Hospital 
facilities at Cupar and St 
Andrews. 

There is an internationally 
renowned golf club in Ladybank 
and we are less than 20 miles 
from the home of golf in St 
Andrews. 

There are a number of areas of 
historic importance in the area 
including Falkland Palace and 


other National Trust for 
Scotland properties. 

The whole Parish is an area of 
rich natural beauty surrounded 
by rolling farmland, wooded 
areas and nestling at the foot 
of the Lomond Hills, with the 
river Eden running through the 
Parish towards the North Sea. 

 

Looking across the Golf Course to Ladybank 

 

 

 

 

HISTORY 

The new ecclesiastical Parish 
of the Howe of Fife was 
formed on 23rd January 1983 
when the then Presbytery of 
Cupar determined that the 
Linked Charge of Cults and 
Kettle Parish Churches (1963) 
and the United Charge of 
Collessie and Ladybank Parish 
Churches (1968) be united. 

The Parish is geographically 
large extending towards 
Auchtermuchty in the West, 
from near Newburgh in the 
North, from Springfield and 
Craigrothie in the East and 
near Kennoway in the South. 

Whereas the Howe of Fife 
Parish is now a single entity 
each of its constituent 
parishes has a rich religious 
and social history. There is a 
United Kirk Session and there 
are 40 Trustees, i.e. 31 Elders 
and 9 Members of the 
Congregational Board. 

The Congregation of the Howe 
appreciate that the Church in 
this Parish will only continue to 
be relevant and effective, as it 
has for more than a millennium, 
if all the members work 
together to attain common aims 
and objectives. 

 

So, as we move forward in this 
place in the 21st century we 
have begun to embrace the 
opportunities that technology 
offers to help us reach out to 
people an important element of 
that is our Parish website: 

 

www.howekirk.co.uk 

 


FELLOWSHIP AND 
WORSHIP 

 
Collessie Church 

 

 

Although we are one Parish we 
normally have four places 
available for worship: 
Ladybank, Cults, Kettle and 
Collessie Kirks, although the 
Church in Ladybank is not 
available for use meantime due 
to a dry rot problem. 

There is currently a Whole 
Parish Service in Kettle Kirk 
each Sunday except on the 
first Sunday of every month 
when there is a service in each 
Church. Where there is a fifth 
Sunday in any month a United 
Service is held in one centre 
and the opportunity is taken to 
do something “different”. 

Special events such as 
Communion and Remembrance 
Services are held in each 
village. 

 

Family events such as weddings, 
christenings and funerals are 
held in each of our Churches. 
There is an active Sunday 
school at Kettle (which 
incorporates Ladybank Sunday 
School) and a Young People’s 
Group at Collessie with other 
youth activities in Pitlessie and 
Kettle. 

We appreciate the fellowship 
of enjoying social activities and 
events which bring us together 
in a variety of ways. 

There is a monthly prayer 
meeting held in Kettle Church 
Hall. During this time all those 
known to be sick, troubled or 
grieving are prayed for. Church 
activities and workers are 
prayed for regularly. In 
addition there is a theme each 
month, most commonly the 
same as the theme for the 
monthly prayer letter. 

Prayers are written on the 
prayer letter in such a way as 
to allow all members of any 
group to take turns to read or 
make responses. This has 


enabled those unfamiliar or 
nervous of open prayer to be 
comfortable and confident to 
take part in these informal and 
friendly meetings. All sorts of 
styles of prayer and themes 
have been used including using 
hymns, songs, psalms and bible 
passages as prayers. 

We have also enjoyed sharing 
prayers that people have found 
particularly helpful and often 
use the Prayer Trust booklets 
and prayers from Life and 
Work. 

A Worship Group of 9 
individuals is currently engaged 
in formal training workshops 
under the auspices of the 
Presbytery with the aim of 
developing these individuals to 
participate more fully in leading 
appropriate services within the 
Church. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MUSIC IN WORSHIP 

 

 

The Praise Band 

Worship in the Howe of 
Fife Parish is enriched by the 
Parish Choir and by the Praise 
Band – two very enthusiastic 
and committed groups. The 
Praise Band (guitars, recorders, 
keyboard and accordion) leads 
the singing every Sunday. The 
Praise Band enlivens many 
traditional hymns, and along 
with the Parish Choir it helps 
introduce contemporary praise 
items to the congregation. The 
Parish Choir contributes an 
introit, or an anthem, on 
various Sundays throughout the 
Church year and also during 
Songs of Praise services. The 
Songs of Praise services are 
particular favourites as the 


Howe of Fife Parish 
congregation enjoys the 
opportunity to revisit familiar 
traditional hymns and new 
classics. 

We would like to continue the 
lively and energetic music 
tradition already established 
within the Howe of Fife Parish 
by welcoming new members to 
both our music groups and by 
continuing to extend our 
repertoire of contemporary 
hymns. Finally, in the fullness 
of time, we would hope to make 
better use of modern 
technology in order to share 
services with our house bound 
Parishioners 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES 

 

. Youth 


Through the dedicated 
work of our teachers 
and supporters within 
the Howe of Fife 
Parish ,the outreach to 
the youngsters of 
the local community 
includes Sunday School 
provision along with a 
mid week club and a 
Sunday evening 
club. 
At Collessie the Young 
People’s Group meets 
regularly within the 
Church and the 
youngest member is 
the tender age of 
three! At Pitlessie the 
Wednesday midweek 
club meet in the Scout 
Hall immediately after 
school. 
At Kettle during the 
Sunday service the 
Sunday School 
teachers, originally 
based at Ladybank 
Church now host a 
Sunday morning session 
which is open to all. In 
the early evening 
the Church Hall in 
Kettle plays host to 
youngsters currently 
aged up to secondary 
school age. 
All of the groups run 
a mixed programme 
allowing the youngsters 
to learn through 


games, craft, music 
and story proving fun 
for all. Increasingly, 
opportunities are taken 
to join up together, for 
example, to take part 
in the United Harvest 
Thanksgiving Service 
and at Advent 
Services.. The 
opportunities which 
have been taken to 
reach 
out to young people are 
a credit to the adults 
who dedicate 
themselves 
to the task of bringing 
the word of God to our 
next generation. 

 

Walking in Ladybank Woods 2010 

 

. Eden Group . 


The Eden Group is really a 
function within the Howe 
of Fife Parish rather than 
a discrete group. It 
facilitates the 
opportunity to meet 
together to explore a 
topic or book in the bible 
and to enjoy fellowship in 
someone’s home or on 
outings and trips. The 
small group settings 
enable people to ask 
questions and to listen to 
those of others. It has 
been running for 4 years. 
During this time there 
has been a series of 
meetings each term for 
bible study mostly using 
the “Life Builder” 
Scripture Union study 
guides but also using good 
DVD guides such as “Glad 
you asked”. We are 
currently following an 
excellent DVD series 
entitled “What’s so 
Amazing about Grace?” 
which explores prejudice, 
tolerance, forgiveness 
and grace. We have 
arranged Lent 
programmes for the 
Parish and had Christian 
Aid Week events. We 
were recently asked to 
take a Parish Service for 
which we took the theme 
of mission. We made 


contact with 7 Church of 
Scotland Missionaries for 
this service, reading their 
letters and praying for 
them (dressed in 
costumes appropriate to 
the countries) and 
including, slides, songs, 
instruments, fruit and 
flowers to help us picture 
the environment in which 
the Missionaries work. 
We hope that members of 
the Congregation will 
adopt and continue email 
contact with them and 
bring the newsletters for 
prayer to the monthly 
prayer meeting. 

Over the four years we 
have enjoyed trips to 
films such as “Amazing 
Grace” and “Black Gold”. 
We have regular theatre 
trips including an annual 
summer trip to Pitlochry 
Theatre- High tea seems 
to be an essential part of 
most trips! In October 
2008, we had a more 
ambitious adventure; 
spending a long weekend 
on Iona exploring this 
wonderful Island and 
joining together for 
Celtic prayers and 
readings. In 2008 we also 
had an Eden Project 
redecorating the manse 
and preparing the garden. 
For our regular studies 
there are 12 who attend 
regularly but others come 
along to themed evenings 
and outings or particular 
studies. It is hoped that 
we can increase the 
number of groups meeting 
for the studies in the 
future. 

 

 

Trip to Iona 2008 

 

. Celebrations Group: 


The Celebrations Group 
was formed 4 years ago. 
The purpose of the group 
is to organise events 
which celebrate different 


aspect of life in The 
Howe. A key objective has 
been to use our facilities 
as a community resource, 
to bring people to events 
within our buildings where 
they might not join us at 
Sunday services. Events 
have included a Festival 
of Flowers, Walks across 
the Parish and a diverse 
range of concerts from 
local Choirs and bands. 
Although fundraising is 
not the principal aim, 
many of the events have 
raised funds for the 
Church or other charities. 

 

 

Merchiston Castle School Choir in 
Concert 

. Kettle Thursday Coffee 
Mornings: 


The ladies of Kettle Kirk 
have for many years now 
organised a weekly coffee 
morning in the Church 
Hall. These are enjoyable 
and well supported events 
which provide an 
opportunity for villagers 
to socialise and have 
raised many £1000s over 
the years which have 
been used to enhance the 
Church buildings. 

. Church Choir and Praise 
band: 


See music in worship, 
above. 

. The Ladybank Maltings 
Tuesday Afternoon Teas: 


another example of a 
highly valuable social 
event providing outreach 
into the local 
communities. 

 

. Outreach 


During the year ended 
December 2009 The 
Heart of Fife Riding 
for the Disabled 
Association benefitted 
from donations raised 
at a concert by the 
Fife Strathspey and 
Reel Society. 

Retiring collections at 
the Armistice Services 
raised funds for Poppy 
Scotland. 


A Celebration of 
Christmas in 
association with The 
Big Sing 2009 raised 
over£400 for 
Christian Aid and 
additional funds were 
raised over the year. 

Retiring offerings over 
the Christmas period in 
2009 raised over £500 
for the Children’s 
Hospice Association 
Scotland. 

Last year, over 200 
shoeboxes were 
collected for the 
Blythswood Care 
Appeal for distribution 
in Eastern Europe. 

 

 

Parish walk 2009 

 

 

COMMUNICATION 

We produce a monthly Prayer 
Letter. Each month this 
provides a calendar of Church 
activities and details of 
Services together with 
suggestions for prayer each 
week. The yearly cycle tries to 
include all the Church workers 
and members of the 
Congregation, the locality and 
the wider world. It puts special 
emphasis on prayer to support 
current events such as 
Christian Aid Week or Sunday 
Schools. The reverse of the 
letter provides material for 
prayer partners, prayer groups 
or private prayer and 
advertising of Eden Group and 
Celebration Group events. It 
also includes a monthly Focus 
prayer “Claiming God’s 
Promises” for use in any 
meeting which uses a verse in 
the bible as a prayer. The idea 
behind the letter was three 
fold: 1) to aid communication, 
2) To encourage prayer and to 
enjoy the encouragement and 
benefit of corporate prayer 
knowing that a large number 


will be praying for the same 
people and themes , 

3) To bring together on one 
single A4 sheet, material for 
the various prayer initiatives. 
It is now in it’s fourth year of 
production. 

 

We also produce a quarterly 
Parish Newsletter entitled 
” Howe’s Life”. This is 
distributed to every household 
in the Parish and provides 
information on forthcoming 
events and items of news 
within the Parish including non 
Church related activities . 
Members of the Congregation 
are encouraged to contribute 
to this Newsletter and there is 
usually a message from “The 
Manse”. 

Information on Church news 
and events are also found on 
the Parish website. 

www.howekirk.co.uk 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOLUNTEERS 

Our talents are valuable to the 
Church in a variety of ways: 

. Reading in Church 
. Contributing to worship 
. Visiting the housebound 
and sick 
. Sunday school teachers 
. Property maintenance 
. Cleaning of Churches 
. Grounds and gardens 
upkeep 
. Flower arranging 
. Supporting activities and 
events 
. Hospitality after Whole 
Parish Services 
. Administrative duties 
such as photocopying 
. Production and 
distribution of Parish 
magazines etc 
. Providing transport to 
Church and events 
. Fundraising 
. Choir 
. Praise Band 
. Organist 


 

 


 

 STEWARDSHIP 

In 2008 the Kirk Session 
agreed to pursue a 
Stewardship Campaign; to 
invest in the services of a 
Consultant and establish a 
Planning Group to plan and 
prepare for the Campaign as 
“an exercise to get those 
outside the Church in and to 
turn insiders on!” 

 

The Planning Group met over 
the Winter of 2008/09 and 
committed to a Stewardship 
Campaign focusing on the 
building-up of the Church 
Family and, as a first step, 
arranged for a Family Meal, 
together with a parallel 
Exhibition of Church Activities, 
for Members of the 
Congregation subsequently held 
in the Corn Exchange, Cupar on 
Sunday 15th March 2009. 

 

An integral part of the 
Stewardship Campaign was the 
publication of a brochure, 
which we called “Howe is it for 
You?”, the purpose of which 
was to: 

 

. Remind every one of the 
history of the Church in 
the Parish, 
. List the current activities 
within the Church 
. Highlight the variety of 
ways Members could 
assist within the Church, 
. Provide some background 
to the Church’s financial 
position, 
. Outline the meaning of 
stewardship whilst 
reminding members of our 
Mission Statement, and 
. Challenge Members to use 
their time, talents and 
treasures to benefit the 
Church. 


 

The Family Meal / Exhibition 
was attended by 230 Members 
who in enjoying the meal and 
fellowship praised the 
organisation of the event; 
congratulated the “catering 
team”; made mention of the 
happy and relaxed atmosphere 
and commented very favourably 
on the extent of the 
Exhibition, the thought 
provoking presentations and 


the musical entertainment, 
including the childrens’ 
performance of “Joseph”. 

 

“Visitors” delivered a copy of 
the brochure personally to 
each Member who in turn was 
invited to complete a Response 
Form for collection by their 
“Visitor”. The “Response 
Forms” were designed to enable 
Members to indicate how they 
could participate in the life of 
the Church by using their time, 
talents and treasures. 

 

The main benefits accrued in 
embarking on the Stewardship 
Campaign were: 

 

. Brought together a 
sizable number of 
Members of the 
Congregation working 
towards securing the 
primary objective of 
building up the Church 
Family, 
. Engagement with every 
Member of the 
Congregation in their own 
homes during which a 
personal invitation was 
issued to participate in 
the Stewardship 
Campaign, 
. A significant increase in 
the number of Members 
participating in the life of 
the Church as a direct 
consequence of 
completing the Response 
Forms, 
. A noticeable increase in 
confidence exhibited by 
the Congregation 
attending Sunday 
Services, 
. A welcome increase in 
numbers attending 
Sunday Service, 
. A significant increase in 
financial liberality, 
. Provided information to 
facilitate the updating of 
the Communion Roll. 


 

The Kirk Session will consider 
how this initiative should be 
revisited and progressed to the 
next step in tandem with the 
appointment of a new Minister. 

 

 

 

 


 

INTERIM MINISTRY 

On the departure of the 
previous minister in 2007, it 
was agreed to appoint an 
Interim Minister to assist the 
congregation to develop 
workable patterns of worship 
across the four communities, to 
strengthen the fellowship and 
unity of the congregation, to 
develop pastoral, youth and 
communication strategies and 
to tap the gifts and talents of 
the Congregation through fresh 
focus on stewardship. 

 

In the period of the Interim 
Ministry from July 2008 to 
March 2010, new worship 
patterns (Whole Parish 
Services in Kettle for three 
Sundays and the local centres 
of worship on the first Sunday) 
were established and have 
become an accepted rhythm, a 
successful stewardship 
campaign was implemented, and 
the essential unity of the 
charge was affirmed along with 
new communication links. The 
dispersed nature of the Parish 
makes a coherent youth 
strategy difficult, but the 
children in each community are 
served in a variety of ways. 
The Interim Ministry helped to 
stabilise the Congregation and 
give it a deeper sense of 
common identity while seeking 
to serve four distinct 
communities 

 

 

 

BUILDING REVIEW 

 

 

The major issue to emerge in 
the course of the Interim 
Ministry was the need to 
review the use of the four 
buildings, a process which 
involved the General Trustees 
and an Economic Planner as 
professional Consultant. A 
proposal to sell Kettle Kirk and 
Ladybank Church for 
redevelopment as affordable 
housing and to establish a new 
Parish centre in Ladybank was 
brought to the Congregation 
shortly after the Interim 
Ministry ended, but the 


proposal was defeated by two 
votes. 

After consultation with the 
General Trustees, further 
architectural surveys and 
numerous conversations with 
the congregation, the local 
Trustees have decided, in 
principle, to redevelop the 
Church at Ladybank, 
integrating into that design, as 
far as possible, the creative 
ideas generated for the new 
build parish centre. 

 

Representatives of the General 
Trustees have recently 
affirmed this direction of 
travel. Architects are being 
commissioned to draw up 
appropriate plans for 
redevelopment, and funding 
options are being explored. 

 

The future of Kettle Kirk is a 
matter of concern for the 
community of Kingskettle as 
much as for the congregation, 
and we hope to address those 
issues together as we move 
forward. The separate church 
hall at Kettle will be retained 
as a base for worship and 
service in the community. We 
hope the church building will be 
developed for housing in a way 
that is compatible with the 
aspirations of the village. 

 

Helping the congregation 
implement these proposals and 
turn dreams into a reality will 
be a core task for our new 
minister. We recognise the 
challenge this represents, but, 
with the right leadership, we 
believe this could offer a fresh 
focus to the life of our church 
within the parish. 

 

The manse is a 1970’s house on 
ground level, adjacent to 
Ladybank church. Due to the 
generosity of the General 
Trustees, the kitchen and 
bathrooms of the manse are 
being upgraded in anticipation 
of our new minister’s arrival. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINANCE 

 


The finances of Howe of Fife 
Parish are in a reasonably sound 
condition. In 2007 there was a 
deficit of around £4000 but 
the following two years 
produced a surplus which 
helped to build up reserves 
towards the level specified in 
the financial policy of the 
Church. In 2009 the 
Stewardship Campaign 
produced an increase in 
voluntary giving and in gift 
aided pledges. Voluntary giving 
has fallen away slightly in 
recent months, probably 
reflecting these financially 
straitened times. However, in 
2010 the General Fund will 
probably again end up showing a 
surplus. We cannot be 
complacent however, as 
insurance costs have increased 
by 25% this year and 90% in a 
full year. We are also looking 
at the likelihood that, in 
future, water rates will be 
charged on at least two of our 
properties. 

 

As indicated earlier, Howe of 
Fife Parish is also outward 
looking and generous to others 
less fortunate. In 2009 
support totalling over £2700 
was donated to the Poppy Fund, 
CHAS and Christian Aid. This 
year already over £1000 has 
been raised for the DEC 
appeals for Haiti and Pakistan 
and Christian Aid benefited 
from more than £1800. 
Collections at the Christmas 
Services are normally given to 
charity and the Blythswood 
Shoebox Appeal is generously 
supported by Church members 
every year. We are now in our 
fourth year of supporting this 
venture. 

 

Last year we opened a 
Development Fund to help 
finance future improvements to 
facilities for worship in the 
parish. This benefits from any 
profit made by events 
organised by the Celebrations 
Group and at present stands at 
over £6000. 

 

There is also a separate 
designated fund which provides 
money for maintenance of the 
manse. At present this is 
benefiting from income from 
rent as the house is let during 
the vacancy. 

 


The Congregation has a large 
maintenance burden for four 
Victorian Churches and two 
halls and this is a constant 
drain on the Fabric Fund. We 
are fortunate indeed that 
three of these Churches have a 
group of “Friends” who raise 
funds to help with the upkeep 
of the buildings. 

 

 

ABOUT YOU 

 

 

We are looking for a new 
Minister to lead us on the next 
phase of our journey. 

 

We are looking for someone 
who will: 

. Lead us 
. Unify us 
. Be open to new ideas 
. Be interested in the 
youth of the Parish 
. Preach the gospel so that 
all ages can benefit 
. Embrace new technology 
. Support experimentation 
in new ways of worship 
. Support the development 
of music in different 
styles in our worship 
. Enjoy being involved in 
the life of the 
communities across the 
Parish 
. Have the stamina to cope 
with a geographically 
dispersed congregation.