Worship
Sunday Morning Services
At present, morning worship in Kirkoswald Parish Church is usually at 11:15 am. The church is situated just off the A77 in Kirkoswald, 5 miles south of Maybole and 7 miles north of Girvan in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Evening Services
Evening Services are not a regular occurrence, usually occuring during Advent, Lent, and Holy Week. We also participate in the Festival of Faith series of evening services, organised by the churches of South Carrick and usually taking place in Girvan.
Holy Communion
The Sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sundays of May and November at 11:15 in the church, in mid-afternoon in Malin Court and in the evening at Maidens Church. There are also celebrations at Christmas, Easter and during Holy Week.
Baptisms
No specific Sundays are set for the Sacrament of Baptism.
Worship at Maidens
On Easter Day, then from the beginning of July until the end of August, there is a service in Maidens Church conducted on alternate Sundays by Kirkoswald Parish Church and Maybole Baptist Church. The Church Hall in Maidens is situated just next to Little K Shop and Cafe.
Worship at Malin Court
There is a monthly service at Malin Court at 2:30 p.m.on the second Wednesday of the month. Although intended primarily for the residents of Malin Court, these services are open to all.
Style of Worship
Our worship aims to use inclusive language, and to offer a range of music and words. At the main morning service, an order of service is in use in which the words of all of the hymns are printed, thus freeing us to choose from a great variety of sources.
Worship in Kirkoswald Parish Church is fairly traditional, reflecting the wishes of the congregation. We are fortunate in having the freedom to introduce new words to old tunes fairly readily and full advantage is taken to use both inclusive and more contemporary words of hymns. Words are drawn from a great variety of "world church" sources, from Scotland's own Wild Goose Resource Group - part of the Iona Community - to hymns from American, Canadian, African and Australian sources, and hymns "published" on the internet. Frequently these involve us in singing new words to old, or familiar tunes.
The 'Pew Bible' is the Good News version, but on any given Sunday, readings can be taken from the New Living Translation, The Message (Eugene Peterson's modern and vibrant paraphrase), the New Revised Standard Version, the Contemporary English Version, the New International Version, or, again from the Internet. For example, translations of the Revised Common Lectionary passages by the Australian minister, Nathan Nettleton, published at his "Laughing Bird" web site.
Weekly worship usually follows a set of Bible passages called "The Revised Common Lectionary", specifically in the form adopted by the Church of Scotland. The use of this set of readings means that many different denominations are using the same passages week by week, although we all preach different sermons.
