Records of Kettle Kirk Session

Minutes, 1682-1731, 1742-1778; Register of testimonials, 1648-1660; Roll of adherents, 1890-1930; Miscellaneous documents, undated; Accounts, 1731-1843.

The church of Kettle was anciently known as Lathrisk. It was originally dedicated to St Athernash but there was an additional dedication to St John the Evangelist. The church was granted to the Priory of St Andrews prior to 1181. Ministry at Kettle is first recorded from 1565 in the person of David Cuke. The parish of Kettle lies in the Presbytery of Cupar (subsequently the Presbytery of St Andrews) and formerly in the Synod of Fife and it contains the villages of King's Kettle, Kettle Bridge, Coaltown of Burnturk, Balmalcolm and Muirhead. The present parish church was built in 1832. In 1930, after the union of the United Free Church of Scotland and the Church of Scotland, there was a local union of congregations. Kettle East, this congregation, united with Kettle West (the former Kingskettle United Free Church), and with Balmalcolm (formerly Kettle and Cults United Free Church). The new charge took the name Kettle, using the fomer Kettle East church. A further link was formed in 1963 with the congregation of Cults. In 1983 the congregations of Collessie and Ladybank, and Cults and Kettle were united under the name Howe of Fife.

Each congregation of the Church of Scotland has a Kirk Session, which comprises the minister(s) and the ruling elders, all members of the Session (including the minister) being elders. The elders' duty is care for the spiritual needs of the congregation; each of them has a district of the parish assigned to him/her. The Kirk Session determines the number of elders. The minister is moderator of the Session, and there is a clerk who has custody of all the Session's records. There may also be a treasurer, and an officer or beadle. The Session must have maintained a communion roll, containing the names and addresses of the communicant church members within the parish.

The Kirk Session's duties are to maintain good order amongst its congregation (including administering discipline and superintending the moral and religious condition of the parish), and to implement the Acts of the General Assembly. The Kirk Session is at the base of the pyramid of church courts, and it is subject to the review of the Presbytery in which it is situated, and to the superior courts of the Church. Each Kirk Session elects one of its number to represent it at the Presbytery (and formerly at the Synod).

Into the 19th century, there used to be weekly collections made for the support of the poor, but as the state began to assume responsibility for their support (by means of taxation) so funds collected from communicants might be directed to special schemes (eg support of missionaries), more recently through a weekly freewill offering scheme. Seat or pew rents were also quite common (money paid for a fixed seat in a church), but declined rapidly from the 1950s. Many congregations now have a congregational board, which monitors income and expenditure. Former Free Church congregations often had Deacons' Courts, which had responsibility for the whole property of the congregation, and had to apply spiritual principles in the conduct of their affairs.

Sources: Hew Scott and others (ed.), Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, vols.5 and 8-11 (Edinburgh, 1915-2000).

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Held under charge and superintendence of the Keeper of Records for Scotland.

Description compiled by Rachel Hart, Archives Hub Project, based on description created by Alan Borthwick, Scottish Archive Network project.

Typescript catalogue available in St Andrews University Library Department of Special Collections and in National Archives of Scotland search rooms.

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