A new church ‘plant’ in the growing community of Tornagrain is already aiming to branch out.
Tornagrain Community Church is an offshoot of Smithton Free Church and aims to become embedded in the developing new town east of Inverness.
However it also has ambitions to expand into other communities.
What is a church plant?
A church plant is a term referring to the process which results in a new Christian congregation becoming established.
The new venture is led by Rev Innes Macsween, formerly assistant minister at Smithton, who moved to Tornagrain last year.
The church plant currently rents the nearby Petty Church of Scotland building alongside the existing congregation.
The building, built in 1849, is earmarked for closure with the Kirk congregation due to unite with those at Barn Church in Culloden and Ardersier.
Mr Macsween said Smithton Free Church has been planning for many years to set up a plant, but the move was delayed by the Covid pandemic.
It was originally intended to move into the Culloden West area, but the growth of Tornagrain, which has no church building, changed the plans.
Tornagrain is being developed by Moray Estates. When completed, it will have about 5,000 homes, schools, shops and employment spaces, with a population of 12,500.
The plant church holds services every Sunday at 10am and has a regular congregation of 50-60.
Originally, it was going to meet in Croy Village Hall before discovering the Petty Church building would be available.
Church has been growing since it started
Mr Macsween said: “We were initially planning to plant in Culloden West, but God made it clear it should be Tornagrain.
“While we had never done this before, we feel that God has been at work, and we’ve been growing since we started.
“And we weren’t even considering Petty Church initially, but God opened the door and the congregation were so generous in letting us use it.
“The fact that Moray Estate gave the land in the 1800s to be used for a church and now Moray Estate is encouraging us to use it going forward is also a little quirk of history I enjoy.”
He added: “As many churches are closing, the Free church is slowly growing around Scotland.
“As a denomination we have a vision for a healthy gospel church for every community in Scotland.
“And so we want to go into new communities and communities that are losing churches and say ‘you’re not alone,’ and, long-term when possible, to plant in these communities.
“So we will start with Tornagrain, but we also have an interest in the whole area between Inverness and Nairn where there will be tens of thousands of people eventually.”
A different type of town
Mr Macsween said unlike some new housing developments, Tornagrain is being built with a vision of creating a community.
“Not only is it a beautiful town, but it’s a different type of town”.
“The Earl of Moray and the developers that his team have brought in are doing a fantastic job building a community rather than just a housing development.
“It’s been a real joy coming in at the start and growing with the town.
“I loved my work at Smithton, but going into an environment like this and trying to start something new is brilliant, I’m loving it.”
Nicole Petrie, Tornagrain development manager, said: “We’re delighted that a local historic building, one with which Moray Estates has a longstanding association, continues to be used as a place of worship and play a role in the lives of local residents.”
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