Church community’s farewell to minister

The combined congregation of four Highland Perthshire communities filled Fortingall kirk on Sunday to say farewell to their retiring minister.

Fortingall’s village church was packed to capacity as worshippers from the parish kirks of Fortingall, Glenlyon, Kenmore and Lawers gathered for morning service and to say a fond farewell to Rev Anne Brennan.

The Church of Scotland minister was retiring after twenty years.

Following the service, more than 120 people attended a lunch in the Molteno Memorial Hall, in honour of the popular and hard-working minister and to witness the presentation to her of a fine piece of garden sculpture created at Keltneyburn Smithy.

Elders James Duncan-Miller and Gordon Stark spoke of the immense help Rev Brennan had given to the area during her two decades of ministry based at Kenmore.

They spoke of the unification of the churches into one large parish at the end of May and thanked Anne especially for dealing with the recent discovery of dry rot in the tower at Kenmore kirk, which involved a huge fund-raising exercise to enable repairs to be carried out.

In her reply, Rev Brennan said that the union of the churches at the end of May had gone remarkably smoothly.

Speaking of the disruption resulting from work on the tower at Kenmore, she thanked everyone for their help and said:“Without the willing assistance of the Fortingall congregation in supporting joint services until Kenmore kirk was repaired, things would not have gone so well.

“We all try to help one another, and I have been so blessed to know you and serve you.”