Our Church is a newly united charge from five congregations, one being deferred. Each of the churches brings with it a particular history and ethos. The five congregations have been encouraged by Presbytery to cluster together since 2019 and worked together to put the five marks of mission at the core of our planning. Three of the congregations (St James’, St Luke’s & Queen Street and New Kirk) have been worshipping and working collectively since 2021. At the same time, we have been working with Barnhill St Margaret’s on joint youth and children’s initiatives.
In 2023 we explored the possibility of a five-way union, with St Stephen’s and West in a deferred union. This was agreed and the initial four-way union took place on 1st January 2024 with the Service of Union on 1st February 2024.
Through this journey we have engaged with the Five Marks to review our current mission and develop our aspirations. We are excited at the prospect of strengthening our outreach within the community.
The Team Ministry will ultimately serve the single Parish of Broughty Ferry across two worship centres and be supported by pastoral care, youth work and secretarial employees, the Kirk Session, and by congregational members who have received accredited training in worship leadership and the conducting of funerals
We are one congregation worshipping in two centres – one in central Broughty Ferry and one in Barnhill. All church buildings and garden ground areas are well maintained and all buildings have disabled access.
The church is the former ‘Broughty Ferry New Kirk’ (previously Broughty Ferry East Church) which was built as a Free Church and opened in 1865. It is a cruciform shape with a vaulted ceiling and a balcony at the rear. There is a modern sound system and audio loop system installed and there is a very fine pipe organ.
The Church building dates from 1895. It is a cruciform shape with the Lord’s Table directly under the crossing. The church has AV equipment (projector, laptop, CD player and a sound desk) that is used in worship, and the pews have been removed from one transept to provide a flexible space. There is an attached Session Room with projector and sound system, together with a vestry, a small kitchen area and several toilets.
All our halls and spaces are widely used by church organisations, local community and charity groups.
The complex is integral with the church and what is now the small hall was built as part of the original church. The remaining accommodation was added in the 1960s and consists of a large hall with functioning stage, kitchen, office, vestry with toilet, flower room and toilets/cloakrooms. There is also a Session Room up a flight of stairs. The large hall with stage can be used for many types of drama and musical productions and performances. There is also a fixed projector and screen
The hall lies in the grounds and was designed about 15 years ago to meet the fellowship needs of the congregation, as well as offering a welcoming environment to the wider community. The main hall has full AV equipment and efficient radiant heating. The foyer area can be used for smaller meetings along with two further meeting rooms. There is a well-equipped kitchen, the office, a minister’s office, toilets and storage. Part of the grounds adjacent to the hall are fenced to allow children to safely play outside.
St Aidan’s Church was converted into the St Aidan’s Centre which opened in 2012.This provides us with a versatile modern suite of halls, indoor spaces with a professional kitchen addition and upstairs worship space with AV equipment, all for church and community use. The disabled access includes a lift to the upper floor. The Centre is surrounded on two sides by a ‘green’ graveyard.
St James was originally the “Beach Mission Church” or Fisherman’s Reading Room, formed in 1889. The large hall was added in 1907. It has a long tradition of association with the fishing and seafaring community and the lifeboats (RNLI). It is intended that these buildings will create a community hub in the centre of the Ferry, building on its community heritage.
Our Parish – We are fortunate to be situated in the lovely seaside town of Broughty Ferry with a stunning coastline and the Sidlaws, the Angus Glens and the historic town of St Andrews, all nearby. We also benefit from being a suburb of Dundee and to be able to access its amenities including its rail links, airport and tourist attractions.
Broughty Ferry Parish church will serve a combined parish of about nine thousand homes (based on 2011 census) with more houses continuing to be built to the north.
Map taken from OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org), which is made available under the Open Database License.
Broughty Ferry Parish Church is located in the busy town of Broughty Ferry, and in Barnhill, its neighbouring community to the east. Originally a small fishing village, ‘The Ferry’ is now a relatively affluent but distinctive suburb of Dundee. There are, however, pockets of deprivation. It is essentially a residential area with most employment coming from the retail, tourism, hospitality, service, healthcare and education sectors. All of these could potentially provide an opportunity for chaplaincy and outreach work. We have a good number of families with children of all ages in our newly combined Parish and there are three busy primary schools and a large secondary school.
While there have been chaplaincy links with all these schools in the past, they are not active at present and we are keen to re-establish them.
There is a bustling shopping area in the centre of town with many independent shops, and smaller groups of shops in and around Barnhill. There are also many bars, restaurants and coffee shops, and together these attract numerous visitors. There is a Castle with a museum, the Rock Garden, a RNLI station, two health centres, a library, a Scout hall, a YMCA, Barnhill community centre, and a number of nursing and residential homes and sheltered housing complexes. The latter are necessary as we have an age profile skewed to the upper end and while we are in a wealthier area, there is still a great need to provide more facilities and groups that can help with all the conditions associated with ageing such as dementia, poor mobility and loneliness.
