A WARM HIGHLAND WELCOME
Welcome to Balintore United Free Church, nestled in the heart of the Seaboard Villages of the Scottish Highlands. We’re a friendly church family of neighbours, friends, and generations together, united in our love for Christ and our desire to make Him known.
We seek to be a God-honouring, Christ-Centred, Spirit-Filled, Gospel Driven, and Mission Focussed church. We believe in simple, heartfelt worship, rooted in God’s Word and shaped by the grace of the Gospel. Whether you’re exploring faith or seeking a place to belong, we’d be delighted to welcome you.
COMMUNION WEEKEND – NOVEMBER 2025
We give thanks to the Lord for a precious Communion weekend at Balintore United Free Church. We were delighted to welcome Rev Prof Andrew McGowan as our guest preacher. Andrew is a much-loved Scottish theologian and pastor whose ministry has taken him from Mallaig and the Small Isles, to Aberdeen, then to Glasgow, and later to Inverness as minister of the East Church. He helped establish Highland Theological College as its founding Principal and later became Director of the Rutherford Centre for Reformed Theology, whose office was based at the College. He also served the wider church through the World Reformed Fellowship and the Scottish Evangelical Theology Society. Andrew retired from formal ministry in January 2024. Having him with us was a wonderful blessing, and we were grateful for his Christ-centred ministry throughout the weekend.
We began on Saturday night with the Preparatory Service, where we were delighted to welcome May Ross and Jamie Munro into membership as they publicly professed their faith. Afterwards, we enjoyed a time of praise and fellowship in the hall, with our guest preacher sharing his testimony to the amazing grace of God in his life. On Sunday morning, we continued to be blessed by Andrew’s ministry as we gathered around the Lord’s Table to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Our weekend concluded on Sunday night as we gathered for our Thanksgiving Service, followed by refreshments in the church hall that led into a wonderful time of fellowship and praise, during which Graham Skinner shared a word of testimony. We closed the evening singing Scottish Metrical Psalm 72:17–19, “His name for ever shall endure”.
We give thanks to God for every blessing and for the privilege of sharing this Communion season together.
Welcoming Chris Robertson to the Eldership
On Sunday 14th September 2025, at our Morning Worship, Mr Chris Robertson was welcomed and ordained to the Eldership of Balintore United Free Church. Chris was nominated by the congregation and warmly received by the Kirk Session, a sign of God’s ongoing provision for our fellowship. It was encouraging to see such a good attendance on this special occasion, as together we gave thanks for the Lord’s continued faithfulness to our congregation and prayed for Chris in his new calling.
This ordination is particularly significant in the life of Balintore UF, as the last elders to be ordained were in May 2002. In a church that traces its story back to 1738, through times of blessing, trial, and renewal, the ordaining of a new elder is a reminder that Christ continues to build His Church in every generation. As our forebears once covenanted together to remain steadfast in the gospel, so today we rejoice that the Lord is still raising up those who will shepherd and serve His people in Balintore and beyond.
We look ahead with gratitude and hope, trusting that God will bless Chris and his wife Barbara, and through them strengthen the witness of our congregation in the years to come.
Bethany Receives United Free Church Bursary
One of our younger members, Bethany, has begun her second year of studies for her BA in Theological Studies at Highland Theological College (HTC) in Dingwall. We are delighted that Bethany has been awarded a bursary from the United Free Church of Scotland, which will go towards the purchase of her study books for the year ahead.
Bethany continues to be an active and valued part of our church family here in Balintore United Free Church, and we give thanks for the way the Lord is leading her in her studies and service. Please remember her in your prayers as she continues in her studies.
