We in Sandyhills Church aim to serve God by being a loving, caring, sharing church reaching out to the people of our community with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Websitesandyhillschurch.comsandyhillschurch.co.uk

Church address28 Baillieston Road

GlasgowG32 0QQ

Glasgow Sandyhills Registered Charity no SC009460

Sandyhills Parish ChurchParish Profile

Table of Contents

Heart of the Congregation.......................................................3So, what is our Vision?.............................................................4Who are we seeking?...............................................................4What can we offer?..................................................................4Parish Profile Overview of Parish.............................................5Church Premises – Baillieston Road, Mount Vernon, Glasgow. 5The Manse – Wester Road, Mount Vernon, Glasgow................6Church Services.......................................................................6X- Groups (Sunday School)......................................................7Bible Study..............................................................................7Shared Worship.......................................................................7Constitution, Office Bearers and Membership.........................8Finances..................................................................................8Organisations..........................................................................8Photo gallery.........................................................................10

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Heart of the Congregation

We, as a congregation and Christian family have a Mission Statement which reads:“We in Sandyhills Parish Church aim to serve God by being a loving,

caring and sharing church, reaching out to the people of our community with the good news of Jesus Christ.”

How is this translated in to our day to day living?As a church family, we believe in the saving power of the Cross, the life changing Holy Spirit and consistent prayer which reflects the strong stance of this congregation. We bring this mission to life in a number of ways but at the heart of everything we do is to live God’s word, support our Christian family both here and abroad, and spread the word of God to those who have yet to have their eyes and ears opened to wonders of His works.We embrace a variety of ways to worship the Lord, one of which is through song. Our choir recently celebrated there being 125 years of a consistent choir and they lead the congregation on a Sunday morning and at events. A more recent addition to the main choir has been the junior choir, who join in leading us in praise at Christmas. We are truly blessed to have this ability within our midst, reflecting our belief that music is a valuable ministry. As a church family, we believe strongly in the importance of bringing young people to Christ but in today’s modern world this has been a challenging task what with the competing demands on young people’s time. We are blessed to have a Sunday School, which we call X-groups, and a number of other organisations, which are run by devoted leaders and cover a variety of ages. However, we have a mission to grow this by bringing young people and their families into the church, recognising the joy that comes from seeing children come to know the Lord. To help us with this, we are actively seeking to recruit a Youth Worker in partnership with Scripture Union Scotland. We hope and pray that the Youth Worker will engage with the current children in the congregation and grow our ministry to help build the church of the future.We are however all God’s children, and as a family we strive to ensure that all those who have difficulty in attending the services, still feel a valued part of the church and have a role to play in carrying out God’s works. To this end we arrange transport, hold additional Communion services and, more recently, we have moved into the digital age which has enabled us to upload all services, sermons and choir anthems to our website (www.sandyhillschurch.co.uk) so those unable to attend can join with worship. Our website, together with the church magazine and prayer focus, are all mediums that we use to share news as well as offer an overview and welcome to those not familiar with our church. It is so often in the small things we can show others how much God cares.

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As a church, we are grateful that we are also able to support wider charities, enabling us to share the Good News beyond the Parish boundaries. As a Church Family we support 2 main charities, the first being Comfort International. Our work here has been to help raise money to build 4 houses in the Bisesero region of Rwanda. This work is ongoing with the next stage to help communities to set up small businesses with bee hives which will eventually allow them to become self-sufficient. Through the partnership with Comfort International, we see how God enriches lives and triumphs through adversity.Closer to home, we actively support, both financially and through volunteering at the Winter Night Shelter, Glasgow City Mission, the world’s first City Mission. GCM was established in 1826, providing care to vulnerable adults and children by fighting against poverty and disadvantage in Glasgow. We also support other local charities including the Lodging House Mission and Charlie Canning Centre and have a mission partner who works abroad with Unevangelised Field Mission. The motto of Comfort Rwanda/Congo is ‘A little can change a life’, and Glasgow City Missions is ‘Providing hope for today, tomorrow and Eternity’. With God’s will and a servant heart we endeavour to provide that hope and give what we can to change the lives of those in Rwanda and Glasgow.As a Church, over the past years we have experienced God in an increasingly profound way as individual lives have been challenged and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit working through a biblical ministry rooted in a compassionate heart. We hold the bible and its literal teachings to be central and believe in the authority of God’s word and its power to bring people to a saving grace.

So, what is our Vision?

We certainly desire a closer walk with God each day. We look to see the fruit of the Spirit become more evident in our lives each day. We seek a servant heart, which can only come from the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We seek to reach out into our community with the message of the good news of Jesus Christ and to see others come to know Him in a personal capacity. However more than all that we seek to know and follow God’s will for us.

Who are we seeking?

We are seeking the person we believe God has already chosen to lead us forward. That person will share our traditionalist view and have Bible-based ministry is committed to preaching the gospel, who will lead us as we seek to share the gospel with others and who will have a pastoral heart with a real care for others as God cares for us.

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What can we offer?

The position is offered on an unrestricted tenure as per the Presbytery of Glasgow Plan. We have also outlined our manse and other facilities. Equally as important, however, is we offer a talented congregation who are willing to work for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom, a people who seek to grow in God’s love, with a genuine sense of humour and a real care and compassion for others, who would welcome a like-minded person to work with them and lead them as they seek to fulfil God’s role.

Parish ProfileOverview of Parish

Sandyhills Parish Church is to be found in the east end of Glasgow. The parish extends to approximately a square mile and is generally a bounded on the north by the Glasgow-Airdrie railway line, on the west by Gartocher Road and the middle of Dodside Street and Ardgay Street to Culross Street and extension into the golf course, on the south by Central Avenue and extension into the golf course. From Central Avenue, it then goes south along the middle of Carrick Drive and extends to Mount Vernon Avenue back to the railway line. A more detailed boundary can be provided on request.There is a wide variety of private and local authority housing to be found within the parish including multi-storey blocks, red sandstone tenements, four in a block, detached and semi-detached bungalows and villas. Included in the parish is one nursing home, a sheltered housing complex, a primary school and a private bowling/tennis club and golf course (in part). There is also a further primary school and two secondary schools within close proximity of the parish.

Church Premises – Baillieston Road, Mount Vernon, Glasgow

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Sandyhills Parish Church can trace its beginnings back over 250 years and during that time it has sought to witness the Gospel in that area. God has been faithful and now 250 years later, the witness to God’s sovereign grace and mercy continues.The original church building has long since gone but in 1984 the present building was completed; the costs being met through the generosity of the congregation and some of the internal work completed using the gifts that God has given to many within the Church Family. Indeed, the giving was such that there was a surplus left after completion of the works. The church building seats 300 and has individual seating making it multi-purpose if required.

Our Sanctuary is well equipped with audio visual equipment to enhance worship which allows us to produce the service on to CD and our website to enable our Church Family to participate in worship if unable to join with us in the Sanctuary at services. The service is relayed to three screens in the sanctuary and choir room utilising SONGPRO4 software. The lower hall is also fully equipped with a widescreen projector and audio/video facilities allowing connections to various devices.In the last year, we have installed a fully functional Wi-Fi capability setup throughout Sandyhills Church. In addition, Ethernet connections are provided in the church office, vestry and at the audio/visual desk. We put this new setup to good use relaying a live link to our team in Rwanda during a Sunday service last year.

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In addition, there is also a suite consisting of two halls adjoining the church building. The upper hall was constructed around 1900 and seats approximately 70 with the lower hall being constructed in the 1950s and seating 150. All buildings are maintained in good order and repair.We are DDA compliant and have reasonable disabled access to most parts of our church buildings. We undertook many fundraising projects to cover the costs of the necessary works.

The Manse – Wester Road, Mount Vernon, Glasgow

The manse is an attractive and substantial 7-apartment sandstone chalet bungalow and garage constructed around 1935 and is situated within the parish. The property has been well maintained and is being upgraded, already benefitting from central heating and double glazing throughout. It has good sized gardens to the front and rear and driveway facilities.

Church Services

We gather together to feast on God’s word at 10.30am and follow a fairly standard and traditional act of worship at which the choir sing an Anthem. As a church we embrace hymns old and new, singing from Psalms CH3 and Complete Mission Praise. Over the past 20 years we have been exposed to expository preaching which has greatly blessed our congregation and deepened our learning of God’s Word.On the first Sunday of each month (September – April) we hold an evening worship service, generally lead by the minister of a visiting speaker. As this service follows a different format from our Morning worship, the preacher has more opportunity to expand on Gods Holy Word. We have 3 formal Communion Services per year, held on the 1st Sundays of March, June and November, with 3 services throughout the day at our June and November Communions (10:30am 2:00pm and 6.30pm) and a morning and evening service in March. The 2pm service is an opportunity for the elderly and infirm who cannot attend the morning service to receive the Sacrament with some of the Church Family. We also have 2 informal Communion Services, one on Easter Day to Celebrate our Risen Saviour and the 1st Sunday in December to begin our Advent period with Jesus at the centre.

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We are a congregation who want to dig deep into Gods word, therefore all of our services are rooted in strong Bible based teaching, highlighting the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

X- Groups (Sunday School)

All the children and leaders join in worship in the sanctuary for the first part of the service at 10.30am and then go out to their classes. The children are taught in three groups according to their age bracket and meet every Sunday during the school term.  During the school holidays a summer Sunday school is run by volunteers from July to August.We have a dedicated group of Christian men and woman as leaders, whose aim is to share the gospel through bible teaching and example, in a relaxed and fun environment.

There is a rota of willing volunteers from members of the congregation who support and assist leaders throughout the year in delivering the message of Jesus saving grace in a format that the young folks understand and enjoy.

Prayer is a vital part of all that we do recognising that we are totally dependent on the Lord for everything.

Bible StudyWe have a Bible Study/Prayer meeting once a week to study Gods word under the guidance of a Minister or LOM, this gives those in attendance an opportunity to delve deeper into Scripture through group discussion. As always prayer is central to what we do, and time is devoted to this at the beginning of this meeting. We have a time of open prayer which allows for our church family and many wider issues to be brought before God.

Shared Worship

We have a formal church grouping with Kenmuir Mount Vernon Church and Carmyle Parish Church. We share evening worship between churches throughout the remainder of the month and engage at frequent social events organised by each member church of the grouping.

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ChaplaincyEastbank Primary School with 271 pupils enrolled, who hold their end of term services within the Sanctuary at Sandyhills Parish Church. Once a Youth Worker has been appointed we would look to grow our relationship with the children.Care HomeA service is held in Eastbank Care home on the 2nd Sunday of each month, our Eldership lead this on a rota basis sharing a time of fellowship with the residents and reminding them of the promises God has given to never leave us or forsake us.

Constitution, Office Bearers and Membership

We operate under the Model Constitution.At present the Kirk Session has 27 Elders, with committees engaged in Worship, Education, Pastoral Matters and Outreach.In addition, the Congregational Board has 18 members and two main committees being Fabric and Finance.The roll of the church presently stands at 210 of which 162 live within the parish and the remaining 48 living out-with. Approximately 120-140 attend morning worship. Although a number of younger people and families attend, the larger part of the congregation consists mainly of middle aged through to an older age group in congregants.

Finances

Sandyhills Parish church is blessed with members who give generously on a regular basis. And we also use the Gift Aid scheme run by HMRC which allows us to claim the income tax back on the offerings paid by members who are tax payers and registered for Gift Aid. Our full annual accounts can be seen using the link below on OSCR website. https://www.oscr.org.uk/charities/search-scottish-charity-register/charity-details?number=SC009460#resultsOur accounting period runs from January to December, in the current year (2017) from January till end of September our general offerings via envelopes and open plate is £43,981.74. We let the church hall for various local organisations during the week and this has helped in generating £5,159.94 during the same period. From the total funds the church holds (this can be seen in the accounts on OSCR

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website) we have set aside £45,000 to be paid for a new youth worker employment.

Organisations

These fall in to 3 broad categories as follows:1. Those which come under the auspices of the Kirk Sessiona. X-Group Sunday Schoolsb. Sandyhills Guildc. Men’s Saturday Breakfast Clubd. The Choire. Prayer Group prior to Sunday morning worshipf. Mid-week Fellowship with prayer meetingg. Prayer Chain & Quarterly Prayer Focush. House group meeting Monday mornings

2. Those which are Church Sponsored Groupsa. Rainbows, Brownies & Guides with combined roll of 36b. Beavers, Cub Scouts & Scouts with combined roll of 60

3. Community Usea. Glasgow East Foodbankb. Glasgow Life Exercise Classc. Zumbad. Line Dancinge. Silver Saints Cheerleadersf. Toddler Dance Classg. Karate

As a Church, over the past years we have experienced God in an increasingly profound way as individual lives have been challenged and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit working through a biblical ministry rooted in a compassionate heart. The hymn from Mission Praise (870) sums up Sandyhills Parish Church perfectly

Jesus is the name we honour:Jesus is the name we praise.

Majestic name above all other names,The highest heaven and earth proclaim

that Jesus is our God.10

Phil Dawson Johnston© 1991 Thankyou Music

We hold the Bible and its literal teachings to be central and live in the belief that if we seek to honour God then he will honour us. That truth has been demonstrated to us time and time again.

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Photo gallerySandyhills Church

Built in 1984

Font retained from original church after rebuilding in 1984

Communion

The Guild The Manse

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