MINISTER'S MESSAGE
Kilsyth Burns & Old Parish Church is presently "vacant".
Our Interim Moderator is Rev Thorsten Koenig. Our most recent minister, Rev Bob Johnston was ordained and inducted back in 2017 and he demitted in 2024.
We are now carefully and prayerfully navigating Glasgow Presbytery's Mission Plan and how that relates to the Church of Scotland Parishes in Kilsyth.
December 2025
Dear Friends of Kilsyth Burns & Old
This little picture shows the nativity play which my wife and I put up every year. When you look closely, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and even the animals; they are all smiling.
This is my wish for you, that Christmas puts a smile on your faces too because we celebrate that God keeps his promises.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised a long time ago:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from it's roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The spirit of the Lord will rest on him-
The spirit of Wisdom and of understanding,
The spirit of counsel and of might,
The spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord,
(Isaiah 11: 1-2)​
At Christmas, we remember and celebrate the birth of a little boy.
This birth is the mystery of God's unlimited love. God came into our world and shared our lives; God shared our joys and celebrations - and in Jesus, God shared in our questions, doubts, and uncertainties.
And Isiah continued his prophecy - with an extraordinary promise:
" The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down​ with the goat
the calf and the lion and the yearly together;
and a little child will lead them.
[...]
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea." [Isa 11: 6+9]
And even so, this promise sound extraordinary when we look around us and look back on this year, but this promise became true is Jesus birth.
Christmas is also the beginning of a new era.
This little boy grew up gathered friends around him.
He told everyone willing to listen about God's unlimited love and God's commitment to each one of us.
Jesus showed us that we can become messengers for and workers in God's Kingdome here and now when we trust Him and follow Him.
So, my prayer for us at this time of Christmas is that we listen to Jesus' message of love and reconciliation and that we find the strength and the love to follow him.
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I want to thank you all for all the patience you have shown me over the past few months, and I hope that when we meet again , we can continue to work together in God's Kingdom, expecting that our God will lead us.
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Have a wonderful and blessed time,
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Thorsten
Dear Friends
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My name is Thorsten Koenig, and I am your new Interim Moderator.
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As my name already indicates, I am not Scottish but German. Before my wife Astrid and I arrived in Scotland five years ago, we lived in Amsterdam. There, for 15 years, I served as an elder and treasurer of the English Reformed Church, which is part of the International Presbytery.
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We came to Scotlad because Astrid was offered a position at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, and so I followed her.
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Well, that was also the moment when I quit my job in the food industry, where I held various senior positions. Now, five years later, I am the Assistant Minister at St George's Tron in the centre of Glasgow - and since October, I am your Interim Moderator (IM).
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The role of an IM is primarily to chair the Kirk Session meetings during a congregation's vacancy. In our particular situation, I will guide you and serve you on your journey towards a union. This includes liaising with the IM of Anderson Church, with the relevant people within Presbytery, and most importantly, the members of our Kirk Session.
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The union will be a significant change for all involved. You may have questions, and many of you may be uncertain about what the future of the new congregation will look like. All of those emotions are OK. When we are uncertain, when we lament, we are in good company. Already in ancient times, the Psalmist cries out to GOD (Psalm 13):
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1 How long LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
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But with all his questions, and even so, he does not get an immediate answer, he praises:
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5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the LORD's praise, for he has been good to me.
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I hope and pray that we find comfort in God's promise that he cares for us and loves us. And I hope and pray that we will discover that God continues to build His Church in Kilsyth and each one of us is called into God's family.
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Be blessed,
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Thorsten