The Gayton Kirk Presbyterian Church, USA
Growing in Jesus Christ through worship, study and missions.
Kirk History
Who We Are
THE PEOPLE
We are Musicians, Teachers, Lawyers, Administartion Assistants, Students, Nurses, Self-Employed, Actors, Managers, Retired, Dancers ... we are your neighbors.
Our worship style is casual, respectful, and creative...
We celebrate The Lord's Supper on the first Sunday each month.
We study Scripture so that as we follow Jesus Christ we might become more like him.
We baptise infants and adults, knowing that it is not by anything that we do but by God's grace that we are called children of God.
We become members of Christ's church by publicly confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We believe that God changes us through our worship and discipleship so that during the week we are enabled to be kind, to stand for justice, and to walk humbly with God.
Our name "kirk" means church in Scottish, and has prompted us to study and embrace Celtic Spirituality.
THE CONNECTION WITH OTHERS
The Gayton Kirk is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church USA ( www.pcusa.org )
We are members of a group of 114 congregations in this area of Virginia called
The Presbytery of the James (www.presbyteryofthejames.org ).
Our congregation began meeting at Steward School in the early 1980's as a new church development begun by our mother church, First Presbyterian Church of Richmond.
The Rev. Richard A. Brand was called as the first minister and The Gayton Kirk became active in 1982. The present facility was occupied in 1985.
After the retirement of The Rev. Brand in 2005, The Kirk called The Reverend Mary Hutchinson Johns as Interim Pastor.
In the Fall of 2007 The Rev. Janet James became our second and current pastor.
___________________________________
LEST WE FORGET: MUSINGS
By Dick Brand, Pastor Emeritus
The new Celtic Cross near the church sign is a beautiful work done by Jim Collins, one of The Kirk Elders.
The cross in the sanctuary was made shortly after we moved into the building by Elder David Fitzgerald at the request of Mary Cauthorn (and with the full support of all of us).
David made the cross from his family's farm near South Hill, He designed the cross so that it is actually an onlay of two crosses - there is no other like it.
THE PEOPLE
We are Musicians, Teachers, Lawyers, Administartion Assistants, Students, Nurses, Self-Employed, Actors, Managers, Retired, Dancers ... we are your neighbors.
Our worship style is casual, respectful, and creative...
We celebrate The Lord's Supper on the first Sunday each month.
We study Scripture so that as we follow Jesus Christ we might become more like him.
We baptise infants and adults, knowing that it is not by anything that we do but by God's grace that we are called children of God.
We become members of Christ's church by publicly confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We believe that God changes us through our worship and discipleship so that during the week we are enabled to be kind, to stand for justice, and to walk humbly with God.
Our name "kirk" means church in Scottish, and has prompted us to study and embrace Celtic Spirituality.
THE CONNECTION WITH OTHERS
The Gayton Kirk is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church USA ( www.pcusa.org )
We are members of a group of 114 congregations in this area of Virginia called
The Presbytery of the James (www.presbyteryofthejames.org ).
Our congregation began meeting at Steward School in the early 1980's as a new church development begun by our mother church, First Presbyterian Church of Richmond.
The Rev. Richard A. Brand was called as the first minister and The Gayton Kirk became active in 1982. The present facility was occupied in 1985.
After the retirement of The Rev. Brand in 2005, The Kirk called The Reverend Mary Hutchinson Johns as Interim Pastor.
In the Fall of 2007 The Rev. Janet James became our second and current pastor.
___________________________________
LEST WE FORGET: MUSINGS
By Dick Brand, Pastor Emeritus
The new Celtic Cross near the church sign is a beautiful work done by Jim Collins, one of The Kirk Elders.
The cross in the sanctuary was made shortly after we moved into the building by Elder David Fitzgerald at the request of Mary Cauthorn (and with the full support of all of us).
David made the cross from his family's farm near South Hill, He designed the cross so that it is actually an onlay of two crosses - there is no other like it.
HOW THE WORSHIP AREA HELPS WORSHIP
more musings from Rev. Dick Brand
The architectural firm that designed our building was Tyler, Nash and Farmer, which later merged with Baskerville and Sons. When our building committee met with the architects they asked what we wanted the building to do.
We told them it would serve as worship space, church school space, office space, fellowship space, meeting space and community space -- and that it had to be affordable.
Then we told them that the worship/fellowship space would be where the congregation gathered to hear God's Word and then disperse to do God's will. And we said that we wanted to gather around the table and be able to see the world into which we would go.
The beautiful result: The highest part of the roof is at the sanctuary's entrance which is a corner of the square room. The roof (which is almost two stories high) descends to the worship center.
The clear windows located on each of the two exterior walls are grouped first two windows, then three windows, four and finally a group of five windows using light to draw the eye toward the communion table, the baptismal font and the pulpit. The windowed walls become higher as they near the worship center.
The clear windows enable a view of the world outside and everything inside is movable so that the space is multifunctional.
more musings from Rev. Dick Brand
The architectural firm that designed our building was Tyler, Nash and Farmer, which later merged with Baskerville and Sons. When our building committee met with the architects they asked what we wanted the building to do.
We told them it would serve as worship space, church school space, office space, fellowship space, meeting space and community space -- and that it had to be affordable.
Then we told them that the worship/fellowship space would be where the congregation gathered to hear God's Word and then disperse to do God's will. And we said that we wanted to gather around the table and be able to see the world into which we would go.
The beautiful result: The highest part of the roof is at the sanctuary's entrance which is a corner of the square room. The roof (which is almost two stories high) descends to the worship center.
The clear windows located on each of the two exterior walls are grouped first two windows, then three windows, four and finally a group of five windows using light to draw the eye toward the communion table, the baptismal font and the pulpit. The windowed walls become higher as they near the worship center.
The clear windows enable a view of the world outside and everything inside is movable so that the space is multifunctional.
