Staff and Leadership

Please find below an introduction to our church leaders and members of staff.


Rev Calum Stark - Minister		David Moreland - Session Clerk
Born in Edinburgh, Calum came to faith at the age of 14 following a Billy Graham crusade. He went onto study law at Dundee University before going into a career in Human Resource Management. Calum studied Theology at New College, Edinburgh and was ordained at Macduff Parish church (in the north east of Scotland) in 2010. Following his time up north Calum served for 6 years as Minister of Bellshill West Parish Church before joining us here at Avendale and Drumclog on December 2021. He is married to Liz and has two boys Douglas and Fergus. Calum enjoys running, music and following Motherwell Football Club. If you would like to contact Calum, then please visit the Contact Us page.		David and his wife Caroline have lived in Strathaven for over twenty years. They have two grown-up daughters. David served on the Kirk Session and the Congregational Board of both Cardonald and Sandyhills Parish Churches before joining Avendale & Drumclog. He became Session Clerk in 2020, having served as Clerk to the Board since 2005. As Session Clerk, David enthusiastically sees to the proper functioning of the Kirk Session. He also devotes his energy to coordinating and encouraging the activities of the Work Group team and Worship team. The Work Group team lead the work of the four Work Groups which are: Mission & Discipleship, Worship & Prayer, Pastoral Care and Children & Family. If you would like to contact David, then please visit the Contact Us page.


Neil Spence - Treasurer		Calum Steven - Musical Director
Neil has been Treasurer since 2012 and has responsibility for overseeing the finances of the Church. The includes providing Trustees with information throughout the year to allow fabric issues at both buildings to be completed and to ensure that the mission and outreach goals of the Congregation can be achieved. Neil also has responsibility for the Annual Accounts and charity returns to OSCR to certify that the legal obligations of the Trustees are fulfilled. If you would like to contact Neil, then please visit the Contact Us page.		Calum is the Musical Director at Avendale and provides Sunday morning music every week using the organ and piano and as part of the praise band ('The Elastic Band'). Calum works closely with the Minister and worship leaders to ensure that praise is accessible to the congregation, using familiar tunes and supporting the congregation to learn new tunes. He co-ordinates the musicians of 'The Elastic Band' and Singers enabling others to use their abilities to serve. If you would like to contact Calum, then please visit the Contact Us page.



Ian Gibson - Property Convener		Matthew Chapman - Children & Youth Ministry Leader
Content coming soon If you would like to contact Ian, then please visit the Contact Us page.		Matthew has been a member of Avendale Church since 2012 when he and his wife moved to live in Strathaven. Since coming to faith whilst at university in Glasgow, he has always had a passion for serving in youth ministry and seeing children and young adults committing their lives to Jesus. He has been involved in the leadership teams on 'Scripture Union' camps in Scotland as well as 'Eastern Europe for Christ' camps in Romania and Hungary. He became involved in the youth work at Avendale church in 2016 and at present is involved with the leading and teaching of YOOF (our ministry for those of secondary school age). In addition to his role in the youth work he plays the saxophone in the church band and is Dad to three wonderful boys. If you would like to contact Matthew, then please visit the Contact Us page.

If you need to contact the Church then please visit the Contact Us page.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

The church meets every Sunday at 9.30am at Drumclog and 11am at Avendale.

Sunday worship continues to be live-streamed from Avendale each Sunday at 11am on the Avendale & Drumclog YouTube Channel.

At Drumclog we meet at:
Drumclog Memorial Kirk
Drumclog
South Lanarkshire
ML10 6QG

At Avendale we meet at:
Avendale Old Parish Church
59A Kirk Street
Strathaven
South Lanarkshire
ML10 6LB

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it at both Avendale & Drumclog. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up and show you where the disabled toilet is located if required.

Our Service - Drumclog Memorial Kirk

Drumclog

At Drumclog, the service begins at 9.30am with a warm welcome from our Minister, or the person leading the service. During the service we usually sing 2 or 3 songs/hymns. The Minister or a member of the Worship Team will usually read aloud from the Bible and lead the congregation in prayer. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. The Minister, or person leading the service, will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church.

The service lasts approximately 45 minutes. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service. After the service we serve refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) in our church hall. This is a great way to meet people and enjoy fellowship together. We would love to chat to you there!

Our Service - Avendale Old Parish Church

Avendale Wide

At Avendale, the service begins at 11am with a warm welcome from our Minister, or the person leading the service. Before the service begins, we will show a loop of news and notices on the screens in the church. This is a good way to find out what's going on in the life of the church. During the service we usually sing 3 or 4 songs/hymns, often led by our church praise band 'The Elastic Band'. The Minister or a member of the Worship Team will usually read aloud from the Bible and lead the congregation in prayer. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it's all part of our connecting with God. The Minister, or person leading the service, will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. Throughout the service, we may also show videos on the screens in the church to help us reflect on what is being shared during worship or in the sermon. We then share news and notices, usually about what's going on in the life of the church.

The service last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. After the service we serve refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) in our church hall. This is a great way to meet people and enjoy fellowship together. We would love to chat to you there!

images: Services

What about my kids?

At Avendale, we have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (0 months to 4 years). Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/carer at all times.
His Kids (5-10 years)
Yoof (11-18 years)

Children stay with their parent or carer at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and short Children's Talk. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the Children's Talk, someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy the first time you come along to church.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, Bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

For more information about what happens in the children's and youth work please visit the Children's Ministry page and/or the Youth Ministry page.

N.B. - there is no children's programme or youth programme during the service at Drumclog.

Getting Connected

Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Home Groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out our Home Groups page and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a Home Group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group. If you would like us to put you in touch with a Home Group leader, please let us know via our Contact Us page.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team here.

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Other Groups in the Avendale & Drumclog Community

The following groups are also part of the life of our church:

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Rev Calum Stark - Minister		David Moreland - Session Clerk

To find out more about our staff and leaders, please visit our Staff & Leadership page.
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes

Calum Stark - Minister