ABOUT US
BLACK ISLE EAST CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
MINISTER
Rev. Dr Warren Beattie
Warren and Stroma spent over 20 years in Asia working with churches and organisations in South Korea and Singapore with OMF International: Warren was involved in theological and mission training and latterly Director for Mission Research, whilst Stroma was the International Medical Adviser – responsible for a community of over 2000 adults and children living across East Asia - through an organisational medical clinic based in Singapore.
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Returning to the UK, they were involved in All Nations Christian College a residential centre offering degrees in Intercultural and Biblical Studies to students from over twenty-five nations in a community setting.
Now based in the Black Isle, Warren has been working as a minister and teaches on Worship through the Highland Theological College (HTC) part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI); Stroma works locally as a GP, she is on the Board of OMF International (UK) and has just stepped down (after nine years of service) as the chair of the board of Friends International - a Christian organisation reaching out to international students .
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Throughout their time in Asia, England and returning to Scotland they have connected deeply with local churches and enjoy being in the Black Isle in its distinctive community with its own missional challenges and opportunities – whilst welcoming friends from all corners of the globe to the manse.
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If you have any questions about church life or would like to get in touch with Warren, please send an email to:
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Creeds & Confessions
Our congregation belongs to the Church of Scotland. The Church of Scotland draws its beliefs from the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, traditionally described as the "rule of faith and life"; it subscribes to historic creeds like the Apostle's Creed and, after the Reformation, recognised particularly and formally, in the late 17th century, the relevance of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The Church of Scotland website suggests that "for a brief summary of our beliefs, it is useful to look at the Apostles' Creed,
which is used by many churches in declaring Christian faith":
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried; he descended into hell.
"The third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
"I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints; the Forgiveness of Sins;
the Resurrection of the Body; and the Life Everlasting."
This Creed affrims the trinitarian nature of God, the centrality of Jesus in the purposes of salvation - in terms of his life lived in history, his
death and resurrection - and the importance of the Holy Spirit in Christian life and experience; it also reminds us of the central role of the
church universal, the necessity of personal faith - in that all of the affirmations begin with the words: "I believe in ..." - and the far-
reaching and enduring nature of the Christian hope.
TEAM
The Kirk Session is the group of elders who have responsibility for the congregation.
They meet six times a year to give direction to the church: its weekly worship and activities, the groups in the church, the different generations and the pastoral care that the church offers to those in its midst. The Kirk Session is also responsible for the church finances and building.
Jack Kernahan
Session Clerk & Treasurer
Bob Moore
Elder - Explore Groups & Avoch Hall
Stuart Tickner
Elder - Explore Groups
Douglas Cooper
Elder - Explore Groups
Bridget Houston
Elder - Pastoral Care Team
Linda Simpson
Elder - Young People's Ministry
OUR PRESBYTERY
Clèir Eilean ì: Highlands and Hebrides
Black Isle East Church of Scotland
Our church has recently become Black Isle East Church of Scotland - a new union serving the villages of Avoch, Fortrose & Rosemarkie and Cromarty and surrounding countryside areas.
Clèir Eilean Ì - The Church of Scotland in the Highlands and Hebrides
As part of a connected process there is a new presbytery in the Highlands and Islands stretching from Argyll in the south up round the west and North-East of Scotland to the Inverness bay area and western Moray..
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Clèir Eilean Ì: literally means the Presbytery of the Isle of Iona
- a symbolic title - in the hope that the missional vision of the early Celtic Christians can be an inspiration for today's contemporary context.
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Read more here. ​
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OUR BUILDING
Church Building
There has been a Christian presence in Rosemarkie for many centuries , with the current Church building having been constructed in the early 1820s. At the heart of the current design is a central pulpit with sounding-board (above) with seating downstairs and a horseshoe gallery. The Rosemarkie building has been designated as the central building for the new union of Black Isle East Church of Scotland.
200th Anniversary Stained Glass Panel
As part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the church building in 2022, the congregation commissioned a stained glasswork from the local artist Erlend Tait - whose parents have been part of the church community.
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To celebrate the church’s bicentenary, Erlend uses the idea of using flowers and plants found locally with symbolic Christian meanings.
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These have been organised into the four seasons of the year,
representing the passage of time; the number twelve is repeated in the border and in the number of different plants.
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The overall layout of the cross echoes the pattern in the upstairs gallery windows and that on the Pictish Rosemarkie Stone.
Starting with Summer at the base, the flowers and plants grow upwards through Autumn and Winter towards heaven, with Spring at the top, the season of Easter, to symbolise rebirth and Christ’s Resurrection.
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