Following the Presbytery meeting on 29th of April the act of union between Mortlach & Cabrach Church and Rothes Church was ratified and from that time the new church will be known as Mortlach and Rothes Church. Consequently the linkage between Rothes and Knockando Churches is dissolved.

It is announced that the the Rev Eduard Enslin, lately the Minister for Mortlach and Cabrach, has taken up the call to minister at Bellie & Speymouth parish. This will mean that the proposed linkage between the parish of Mortlach and Cabrach and the parish of Rothes will enter into a vacancy.

Knockando Parish, being currently in linkage with Rothes Parish will be unaffected by the development and will continue to be subjected to the current Presbytery Plan which looks to create a linkage between Knockando Church and Aberlour Church.

At the meeting of the 2nd September the Presbytery of North East & Northern Isles received the approval of the Church of Scotland to implement those elements of the Presbytery Plan as they affect both Rothes Kirk and Knockando Kirk directly.

• The Plan is to dissolve the linkage between Rothes Kirk and Knockando Kirk.
• To form a new linkages with Mortlach and Cabrach Kirk and with Aberlour Kirk
• To explore the possibility of forming a Union of the four upper Spey side parishes and for them to be administered by a team ministry of two Ministers.

The General Assembly resolved that a radical action plan was required within the church to meet the changed and changing circumstances that the church faced in the future.

This Plan had two elements directly impacting on the Rothes and Knockando Kirks. The first being the reorganisation of Presbyteries into larger entities, resulting in the merging of Moray Presbytery together with other Presbyteries in the NorthEast of Scotland, into a new Presbytery called The Presbytery of the Northeast and Northern Isles and which came into effect on January 1st. 2023.

The second being the reduction of the number of charges available for Ministers to be called to, resulting in the larger grouping of parishes to be defined as a Minister’s Charge. This to reflect the projected reduction of available Ministers in post and under training.

This reduction is to be reflected in the new Presbytery Mission Plans.

In September 2022, the Presbytery Plan for Moray was decided in Moray Presbytery. This Plan was submitted to the Church of Scotland’s governance group where it was rejected. Moray Presbytery then reviewed the Plan on 29th November 2022. After some amendments they re-submitted the revised Plan.

For Rothes Kirk the Plan included for the dissolving of the linkage with Knockando Kirk and establishing a new linkage with Mortlach and Cabrach Kirk. Whilst for Knockando Kirk, the dissolving of the linkage with Rothes Kirk and the establishment of a linkage with Aberlour Kirk.

It is understood that the responsible committee in the Presbytery is continuing in dialogue with the Church of Scotland but to date no revision to the Presbytery’s Proposed Plan has been formulated.

To the new Site of the Rothes and Knockando Kirks.