Proposal to close eight Caithness churches put on hold
A PLAN to close eight churches in Caithness over the next six years has been put on hold. The Caithness Presbytery of the Church of Scotland has decided not to go ahead, at present, with the proposal which would have resulted in more than half of its kirks being shut by 2028.
A draft plan had been backed by the Presbytery and approval from the church's headquarters in Edinburgh was being sought but there was disquiet among some members who were unhappy at the number of churches scheduled to close.
The matter was discussed again at a Presbytery meeting in Thurso earlier this month and it was decided not to proceed with the plan in its present form.
That was confirmed by Caithness Presbytery clerk, the Rev Heather Stewart, who is a locum minister at Latheron.
She said: "Presbytery voted not to approve the plan in its entirety at this stage."
The closure proposal was mooted due to a reduction in ministers, the increased cost of maintenance of the buildings and the decline in the number of people attending church.
The kirk's headquarters in Edinburgh will now work with the Caithness Presbytery to try and find a solution to the issue. The next meeting of the Presbytery is in February.
Under the plan, Watten church would have closed in June, 2023. Reay, Dunnet and Dunbeath could have been shut by the following June with Keiss closing in June 2025 and Olrig in June 2026. Thurso West and Pulteneytown in Wick were set to shut by December 2028.
Only six churches would have remained: St Peter's and St Andrew's in Thurso; Wick St Fergus; Strathy; Halkirk; Lybster and Canisbay.
At present, Caithness Presbytery has four full-time ministers at Thurso St Peter's and St Andrews, Pulteneytown, the North Coast Parish and the Pentland Parish as well as two part-time parish assistants and one ordained local minister. In 2021, Edinburgh reduced the number of ministers in the Caithness area from 9.1 to 5.5
As previously reported, a retired Caithness minister, who did not wish to be named, described the planned closure of eight churches as "disappointing" and claimed Presbytery had "not handled the situation well."
He said: "We were asked to close 25 per cent of the churches but it was decided to close more than that. We cover a huge geographic area and people are not going to travel a distance to attend a service. We could have retained ten, eight or six churches but decided to retain six. It is disappointing the way things have gone."
At the time, the Rev Stewart said: "It is a national cutback and Presbytery is well aware of the pain and hurt that it causes when our buildings close but if we are going to be sustainable in the future this is necessary at the moment. Falling attendances in the church also makes it more difficult to maintain our buildings."
Liz Geddes, an elder and session clerk at the Pentland Parish which includes Olrig Church, said last month: "There is always the chance of a review and always hope that something may happen to change the situation otherwise the churches will have to close."