Light on the Black Isle

There are two things you need to know about Avoch on the Black Isle. Firstly, it’s not pronounced Avoch (think ‘Aw-ch’); secondly it’s not on an island (the Black Isle is a peninsular just north of Inverness). 

Nonetheless it was to Avoch Congregational Church that John Marker was called in 2011. John was studying theology at Highland Theological College (HTC) and had visited Avoch CC as a student. In 2011 the church was down to less than 10 regular attendees and surviving on a single Sunday morning service with no other meetings and activities. Despite this, the challenges of rural ministry and having a family brought up in Stoke, John and his wife Julie were sure Avoch was where God wanted them to go.

Early on John was convinced that prayer needed to be the priority and quickly established a church prayer meeting. In the beginning the numbers were just the ‘2 or 3 gathered together’ and occasionally it would just be John on his own. Another big concern was identifying a reliable fellow Bible teacher to cover John’s ‘free Sunday’ once a month (as John 'officially' works for the church on a half-time basis). But the prayer focus was honoured by God and an early answer was the provision of Arthur, a retired minister living nearby, who was to become John’s fellow elder in the church.  John began to take the church back to its Gospel roots through consistent Bible teaching. This was met by some consternation on occasions as people were surprised to be taught Biblical truths sadly long neglected – ‘we’ve never heard that before!’ For some John’s ministry was a cause to leave – but as John reflects, this meant in some instances the removal of some negative influences including Free Masonry.

A church with vision!

Despite the need to withdraw from its previous Congregational network due to doctrinal concerns, the church’s vision remained one of being connected to other Gospel churches in order to strengthen themselves and other like-minded churches throughout Scotland. Thus the decision was made to affiliate to FIEC.

Despite the inevitable ‘ups and downs’ of ministry, the commitment to the Word and Prayer is producing fruit. Three years on from attendances of six people on a Sunday morning there are now regularly between 40 and 60 present. The weekly prayer meeting is regularly attended by between 15 and 20 people – remarkable in these days for such a small town. Some long standing members have got saved and been baptised, and local Christians are discovering a local church with a renewed Gospel vision.

Refurbishment Plans

In the coming weeks work will begin to refurbish the church sanctuary with new seats, heating and décor. John described the apprehension about whether funds could be raised for this as they set an initial target of raising £5000 on a ‘Gift Sunday’ – only to receive ‘out the blue’ the sum of £25,000 four days beforehand. This summer a football outreach week is being planned to connect with the children of the village.

Humanly, many would have ‘written off’ Avoch CC as a viable church with any great future three years ago. That it’s growing today, John is very clear, is not because of human ingenuity but a testimony to what can happen when churches renew their trust in the power of God’s Word and prayer.