This year sees an exciting new change for the Guild locally as we have decided to merge the Guilds from Alloa Ludgate and Alloa St Mungo’s and have one Guild – the Alloa Guild. When we spoke to our friends in Ludgate about once again having joint meetings for the Guild project speakers we felt that as this has worked well over the last couple of years it was the right time to merge the Guilds into one unit.
The Church of Scotland Guild was started in 1887 by Rev Dr Charteris as the Church of Scotland Woman’s Guild to give every woman in the Church an opportunity to have a voice. Six years later they decided to build a hospital next to a school in Kalimpong and it opened the following year – the Guild doesn’t hang about but gets things done! Over the years the Guild nationally has achieved a lot and has always been willing to change and adapt as necessary. Locally there have been Guilds in the churches for more than 125 years and over that time they have done a lot of work to support others at home and abroad while learning new things and enjoying fellowship and fun.
The first Alloa Guild meeting took place on 5 October and there was a real feeling of excitement in the hall as we mixed together and made new friends while discussing various aspects of the Guild and how we see it progressing. The Guild meets very 2 weeks from October to March and is open to all – men and women – and you do not have to be a member of the Church of Scotland to join. Please put aside any preconceived ideas you may have about The Guild and come along and see for yourself what we do. Our theme this year is “New Wine, New Wineskins” which seems to be very apt as we set out on the next stage of our journey.
October 2023