Bowden and Melrose Parish Church

Church Office, Weirhill, St Mary's Road, Melrose. TD6 9LJ
Telephone : 01896 823339 E-mail : bowden.melrosepc@btinternet.com
Scottish Charity No: SC006480




The United congregation of Bowden & Melrose was formed in 2007 and retains both its places of worship.
This is a Church of Scotland congregation within the Presbytery of Melrose and Peebles.

Bowden Kirk
Melrose Parish Church

Taking the Parish Church on line presence into the 21 century.

It is now well over 18 years since Melrose Parish Church first established its first website and it has been my honour and privilege to have been responsible for this development and ongoing work. Severals versions have followed and now this is closely linked into working in parallel with other forms of social media which the minister and the church office are now undertaking.

Unfortunately, due to my ill health, the ability for me to commit to offer this voluntary service on an ongoing basis to the congregation now proves unreliable and it is time that this vital part of the church's mission is handed over to others. I am informed that a Galashiels IT business has been commissioned / employed and that all the files, domain name and hosting of the website are now in place and the minister and Helen will have technical back ups should this be needed.

It is therefore my intention to make the last change and updating this coming Sunday (31st January 2021) and at that point disconnect myself from any further ability to update, revise or add to the website.

I have seen this as an important part of my commitment to the Bowden and Melrose Parish Church and hope that its on-line reflections, services, and numerous other information on the congregation life of the church and community has been of interest and sustained many in times of happiness and sorry.
Kindest Regards
John Henderson
30/1/21

Continuing for the forseeable future the minister is posting Regular Short Reflections, On-line Services and Messy Church Ideas on the website and on Facebook.

Please share all these resources widely. Do not hesitate to contact the minister at any time. 01896 822217 or 07791 158608 or by e-mail RFrew@churchofscotland.org.uk

The church office remains closed however the secretary will be working from home on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9.00am – 1.00pm and is picking up all e-mails and messages.

For all up to date news & forthcoming events
link to our Social Media.

To help support the work of our churches in this lockdown period, the Church of Scotland has an ONLINE DONATIONS system where one can choose to support us nationally or donate to one's local church directly.
This is available whether you are a church member who wants to continue to give your regular offering to your own congregation or a friend to the Church who is moved to contribute for the good of your community.
When the online system was set up by Anne Macintosh (Church of Scotland's General Treasurer) she stated that “All donations made to an individual congregation will be returned to that congregation, enabling members to continue to make their regular offering – or to make a special donation – to enable the Church's work to continue at this difficult time.”
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By clicking on the above button you enter the Church of Scotland's secure donate page.





The church's website is always subject to updating. This has been particularly so as a result of the COVID pandemic. Further change is almost certain even when church services fully resume and it is anticipated that ‘Church On-Line’ will remain an important element.
Earlier changes that impacted the website resulted from the regulations on GDPR and its impact on personal data protection and how it impacts on religious organisations. For this reason the website no longer contain open access to duty rotas and over the last few months the website has seen some changes in its navigation and the introduction of a "Members & Friends" password protected section where all the congregational rotas can be viewed.

Regardless of these changes the webmaster remain keen to receive news that tells more about the work of the congregation and its activities within the local communities. Much of the work of the parish can be seen in our Parish Profile which although created in 2016 still offers some interesting information on the life and work of the congregation. This profile can be seen by clicking on this link.

The website continues to offer open access to all of the essential news and information along with sections on the churches history and past editions of the parish magazine. This data can be accessed via the navigation bar above or the links below.

The current magazine for the period November to the mid March 2020 is now available to download and view on line.

This current edition is packed full of interesting and thought provoking articles. As well as the usual information on church activities we would highlight the following.

  • Minister's Letter - Camino experience
  • Messy Church Christmas
  • Melrose Churches Together - Glimpses of God
  • Crisis Christmas
  • Street Pastors - Letter of thanks
The current Door Duty and other Rotas are available but they are only accessible through the "Members & Friends" section of the website. This requires you to enter a password which is available to all members of the congregation.

The Church being fully aware of the GDPR Data Protection Legislation, which has been in force since May 2018, has with support from the Church of Scotland legal department and our Parish Safeguarding Coordinator published the following two documents.

Both documents can be downloaded by clicking on the appropriate link above.

Alongside Bowden and Melrose Parish Church the town of Melrose has the Roman Catholic High Cross Church, and the Scottish Episcopal Church of Holy Trinity.

The Parish Church endeavours to provide a service to all the community, both member and non-member alike. The Melrose buildings are in almost daily use and Bowden Kirk is a popular stopping point on St Cuthbert's Way. In the following pages we provide information on the many ways in which the Parish Church plays a vital part within the Community.

   Bowden & Melrose Parish Church is a Fairtrade congregation.

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