Kingcase Parish Church
Prestwick South Ayrshire

Welcome to Kingcase Parish Church. We are a friendly, welcoming and inclusive congregation which has been serving Prestwick Toll and the wider community for many years. So whether you are new to the area, a visitor, or just haven't been to church for a while, we would be delighted to see you at one of our Sunday services.

The Church is within the Presbytery of Ayr and has a congregational roll of 630 from some 571 homes.

Most of the congregation live in Prestwick and Ayr, some come from adjacent towns and villages and others from the surrounding rural area.

The church is one of four Church of Scotland charges in Prestwick and is celebrating it's 75th anniversary.

There are 89 elders who form the Kirk Session, the governing body of the church in spiritual matters.

The Kirk Session normally meets four times per year with further meetings in connection with Communion or as and when called by the Minister. The session has several committees who meet on an ad-hoc basis as required, these deal with "Policy",Commitment", "Pastoral Care" and "Membership within 20 to 40 age group".

The Congregational Board which consists of all elders and a further 17 or so members elected by the congregation has four regular meetings per year with other meetings as and when required. The Board is concerned with secular matters such as property and finance. There are three committees, "Finance", "Property", and " Stewardship".

A Kirk Session conference is held annually, often with a specific subject for discussion.

A "Stated Annual Meeting" of the congregation is also held at which the Board present their annual report, seek approval of the proposed budget for the following year and also elect the board members.

A church office with an administrator is open at the church each weekday morning from 9:30 to 12:30 to assist the minister, elders, voluntary workers and general members of the parish.

A church magazine is produced on a quarterly basis by the combined efforts of the editor, office administrator and a number of contributors.

 

http://www.kingcasechurch.co.uk  

 

The name "Kingcase" has been traditionally associated with William Wallace and King Robert Bruce, both great Scottish Heroes. A suggestion that a chapel was founded here by missionaries from Whithorn would, if true, make it one of the earliest religious sites in Scotland. In the middle ages there was a hospital at Kingcase which catered, amongst others, for leprosy, at that time the term was used of almost any skin disease

The later history of an establishment at Kingcase as a place of worship was as a mission hall under the direction of St Cuthberts Parish Church, later transferred to the modern St Nicholas' at it's inception in 1908.

The history of the modern church begins immediately after the Union of the Churches in 1929 which brought the four churches in Prestwick together within the Church of Scotland. A new congregation was formed in what was the New Prestwick mission hall of of St Nicholas Church. This congregation was recognised as Prestwick Kingcase Church in 1934 becoming a parish church in 1950

The main part of the existing church building was constructed in rectangular form, with the pulpit at the north end, just before the first world war and was extended in 1955-56 by the addition of the chancel and two transepts and the relocation of the pulpit at the south end of the building.

Various additions in the form of halls were constructed culminating in the purchase of the adjacent Observer Corps property which had become vacant due to the "Standing Down" of that unit. The main building of that complex "The Bunker" has since been demolished and the space given up to car parking

The congregation of Kingcase has risen over the years from 164 in 1935 to 1220 in 2001. Much of this can be ascribed to new housing in the area and a rising population.