Property Committee

Background

The Property Committee is a sub-committee of the Kirk Session and reports periodically to the Session. The Committee is responsible for the care, maintenance and repair of the three Church buildings, these being:

• The Church building, which is located on Erskine Ferry Road is a Grade “B” listed building, constructed originally in 1815, with later additions of the Kirk Session Room (built in the early 1900s) (now known as the “Choir Room”), and an extension Hall dating to the 1970s.
• The Cornerstone on Greenock Road. This was originally built in the late 1890s as The Erskine Halls and was used by the Church as a Youth Centre until being extensively refurbished in 2006/7 and is now the main Church community building.
• The Manse, located on Newton Road, which is a modern detached dwelling maintained for the use of the Minister.

Who owns the buildings?

The Church and the Manse are owned by the Church of Scotland General Trustees, while The Cornerstone is vested in the Kirk Session and the Minister. Regardless of ownership, the Parish Church Trustees are obliged to maintain the properties and (in general) to fund any improvements, particularly those required to adapt the buildings for changing uses and necessary improvements (e.g. to improve accessibility, to enhance building use through IT improvements etc.)

How do you manage all of this?

To do this, we have adopted a forward planning process which sets out and agrees a budget for both routine maintenance works, including replacements as necessary and project-driven improvement works, such as enhanced Audio-Visual equipment, heating improvements, and accessibility aids.

In order to manage the activities, we have a team of volunteers which works to manage and undertake the various tasks necessary. Some of our volunteers are more actively involved in other Kirk Session committees (e.g. the Finance Team, the Communications Committee and the Halls Committee) and I suppose we’re really operating a sort-of “Matrix Management” structure .. !
We try to support this by keeping almost all our records electronically on the Church Google Drives, so that they are readily accessible to all authorised users.

What are some of your most recent projects?

We can’t advance by standing still. There will always be new ways coming along of working to engage our Congregation, Parishioners,  and other users, and statutory requirements change over time, so we need to be aware of what will need to be done to keep our properties safe and relevant for current and future uses. We maintain a 5-year look-ahead budget, so that we can try to anticipate the need for fund-raising activities and work with our Treasury Team to manage cash flow and project outcomes.
The most substantial project undertaken in the “current” history of the Parish was the complete refurbishment of The Cornerstone, completed in 2007. This was a visionary project and has served the Congregation and the community well ever since.
Since then, we’ve had to attend to overdue conservation works at the Church building, and to improve accessibility at both buildings. Along the way, we’ve found time to improve heating systems at all buildings, get all our electrical systems up to date, install and improve audio-visual systems at both main properties, and … and …!!

• 2014 – Church Extension Hall Re-roofing
• 2014 – Organ Replacement
• 2017 – Church heating replacement
• 2018 – Church tower masonry conversion
• 2019 – Church AV System Upgrade (part 1 of many…)
• 2021 – Church Masonry Phase 2
• 2023 – Church Masonry Phase 3 (final phase)

Volunteer with the Property Team

Our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds and bring their expertise from current and previous occupations to bear on the Church activities. The skill-sets needed range from “gift of the gab” (for fund-raising, publicity and general communications), “handyman / woman” with a range of DIY and general maintenance skills, “Supervisors” for looking after the management of sub-contractors and routine maintenance tasks including attending to defects, “Project Managers” for the coordination and management of the bigger tasks, and even data geeks to make up proposals and reports.
More are always welcome – you don’t have to be a Church member. So, if you’ve a bit of time available and don’t mind mucking in, do give me a call!