So what actually goes on at our church, apart from worship on a Sunday? The short answer is probably ‘a little bit of everything’.

Within the church we have a number of official teams who look after various elements of our shared life, and report back to our Kirk Session. You’ll find these listed on the Our People page. Information relevant to families/young people is on our Family page.

There are also many other ways to get involved, whether as a volunteer or participant. Below you can find a bit of information about some of the things that go on and how you can be involved.

Acorn Centre

Our Acorn Centre and church are co-dependent - in the best possible sense of the word. We don’t see the two as separate but as mutually supportive. Both are designed to articulate our commitment to being a church in the heart of the community with the community at its heart.

We have several key staff members who keep things going to a professional standard without losing that personal touch. Many of our loyal customers have been coming for years and are known and greeted by name, and a real interest in how they are doing. We also see a regular flow of new people through the doors, which is always a pleasure.

We are aided by a wonderful, warm, funny, and very varied group of volunteers (some church members, some not) whom we couldn’t do without. If you’d like to try your hand at serving, we’re always looking for more helpers. It’s a great way to get to know people!

The Guild

We have an active Church of Scotland Guild who meet monthly on a Monday afternoon to listen to an interesting speaker and/or do an activity together and, of course, have a cuppa and a fine piece! New members are always warmly welcomed.

Gardening

As indicated on the Our Garden page, we have an active gardening group who maintain our community garden. If you love to get your hands dirty, we have plenty of opportunities for you!

Climate Cafe

Over the last few years we’ve become increasingly concerned about climate justice and our long standing Environmental Matters group is now supplemented with a Climate Matters group who organise a few events a year. This has included guided walks, discussions and speakers and in 2022 we organised and hosted a Climate Matters weekend involving many local groups. Out of this event our Swift project was born.

Swifts

With the support and encouragement of the Huntly Swift Group we have set up some nesting boxes for swifts in our spire. Due to climate change as well as changes in the built environment, these fascinating migrating birds have found it harder and harder to find safe places to nest. We now have eight boxes which are ready for any swift who hears the call.

To make things really exciting we have a ‘swiftcam’ installed in two of the boxes which is linked to a screen in our cafe area. Provided a swift chooses the right box (fingers crossed) folks will be able to view the progress of the chicks from egg to fledgling.

Bible Study

Our bible study group currently meets on Zoom. We began doing this in the pandemic and in the process acquired attendees from as far away as Shetland and Manchester. We also have former members who have moved away, or members on holiday, who still like to join us when they can. Because of this (and because winter evenings can be cold and dark in Aberdeenshire) we decided to stick with the online format. We usually meet on Wednesday evenings in blocks of five to eight weeks between September and June. Our dynamic is informal - we specialise in interesting tangents - and we use a range of home grown and external material.

If interested in joining us, contact our minister on r.cathcart@inveruriewestchurch.org to introduce yourself and to ask for the link

Amity Group

This is an informal friendship group who meet on an ad-hoc basis (usually organised via What’s app) to do something fun and interesting whether it is a walk, a craft session or a trip to the theatre.

Events

Our Acorn Centre hosts a whole range of events from concerts and conferences to book and craft clubs. We also have quiz nights and bistro nights and so forth. Keep an eye on our News and Events page for up-to-date information.

Church Magazine

One of the best ways of knowing what is going on in any given week, is to have a look at our fabulous monthly church magazine Encounter, which is published on our website and also emailed out to those who wish to be on our mailing list.

Christian Aid

A number of our folks are active members of the local Christian Aid group who work tirelessly to support those in need all over the world. One of the key annual events is the Christian Aid book sale which is currently held in our old church hall (behind the main building) in Christian Aid week. In 2025 that will run from May 11-17.

Inverurie District Churches Together (IDCT)

IDCT is made up of local churches from a wide range of denominations. We work together for events during Advent, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost and collaborate on a range of projects. It was IDCT, with the support of local churches, who commissioned and maintain the beautiful carved nativity in the Inverurie Town square every Advent.