St Machan's, Lennoxtown

Introduction

St Machan's in Lennoxtown, within the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, is named for a Celtic missionary who studied theology in Ireland and worked in the Campsie Fells around the 7th or 8th centuries. St Machan established a church at Clachan of Campsie, a remnant of which is still to be found.

Parish life

The parish is formed of three local church communities: St Dominic's Torrance, St Machan's Lennoxtown and St Paul's Milton of Campsie. The parish has hall committees at St Machan's and St Paul's, groups of parishioners responsible for maintaining the Church Hall and arranging social and fundraising events. The parish has Eucharistic Ministers who assist the priest in administering the Blessed Sacrament at Mass and to the housebound. The parish has passkeepers in attendance at all Sunday Masses who help with any enquiry. The parish has altar servers in each of the churches who serve at Sunday Masses and occasionally at funerals and weddings.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is by appointment, requested by speaking to the parish priest. The parish advises letting the local parish priest know directly if a relative is in residential care or moving into residential care, for Catholic spiritual care.

First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation are normally arranged in conjunction with St Machan's Primary School. The Parish Pastoral Council comprises the Parish Priest and 12 parishioners, 8 elected from across the Parish and 4 co-opted.