The Inverness Kirking of the Council will take be on Sunday 12 September at 10.30am.

Every year the Inverness City Committee of the Highland Council processes to the Old High Church for the Kirking of the Council, a service seeking God’s blessing on the work of the council and the life of the city. This recently revitalised service is part of a tradition in many Scottish towns, and in Inverness goes back some 400 years.

The Kirking of the Council is a partnership between the congregation of the Old High St Stephen's Church of Scotland and the Inverness City Committee of The Highland Council that enables the Kirk to bless the work of the elected Members and their officials and for the Council to recognise the contribution of the Christian community to the City of Inverness. The occasion also gives the Council the chance to recognise the valuable contributions of all faith groups, charitable agencies and voluntary organisations to the City of Inverness.

A colourful parade precedes the service, as councillors in red robes, accompanied by a pipe band and young people from uniformed youth organisations, make their way to the Town House.

This ecumenical service is open to all in the city, of all faiths or none. Also invited are representatives of the emergency services, judiciary, local schools, our MP and MSPs. The sermon seeks to reflect on the issues facing those in public service. The 2009 sermon, reflecting on the credit crunch, was entitled ‘The Complacency of Fools’. Addressing councillors, the Minister, the Rev Peter W Nimmo ‘We will pray you might have the courage of your convictions, and that you will not leave morality at the door of the council chamber. We will pray that you will have a heart, above all, for ordinary people, and especially for the neediest in our society: the poor, the unemployed, the mentally ill, the very young and the very old’. You can read full sermon on our blog.

The service marks the end of the annual Inverness Summer Festival. You can read about the 2009 service on their website here.

Vist the photo gallery of last year’s service here. There are photos from 2008 here .

The council press release on the 2010 service is here.

Press comment on the 2009 service is here .

If you would like to know more, please email us or call the Minister, the Rev Peter W Nimmo on 01463 250 802.