The Loch Lomond Pilgrimage Centre
The Loch Lomond Pilgrimage Centre was opened by the Reverend Douglas Nicol, then of the Board of National Mission of the Church of Scotland, on 16th. September, 2004.
The Centre had been constructed out of the ruins of former outhouses at Luss Manse over the previous nine months. The concept had grown out of our thinking through the implications for us of the Church Without Walls report. What was our special task? How could we equip ourselves for that task? Luss is often described as ‘the jewel in the crown’ of Scotland’s first National Park. During the course of a year more than 750,000 people visit our tiny village and many of them come to be with us at the Church. What we needed, we decided, was a Centre where we could meet with our visitors. Using the new-found enthusiasm and willingness to be adventurous which we had gained as a result of our activities during the year out of our Church while it was being restored, and the skills and talents of our Arrochar work-force (who had rebuilt our Arrochar Church), we realised that God had given us the embryo of what we required in the old broken-down premises surrounding the manse.
The building was repaired and restored. A Heritage Room in which to welcome visitors was created out of a former barn. The original barn had no windows so our new room has no windows – instead there are eight window-like alcoves each with a touch-screen computer installed. Each screen tells the story of Luss using the voices of local people. The room is used for all manner of local groups as well.
In addition to a kitchen, toilet and vestibule, three workshops were also created: a computer and video room which provided broad-band by satellite for local people long before broadband by telephone line reached the village, a pottery with four wheels providing a facility for local people and visitors alike (and now with a potter-in-residence to develop the facility still further) and a candle-making unit which is extremely popular with children from the area and as a small business facility creating personalised wedding favours for brides who come to be married in our Church. The computer room has recently been transformed into a 2010 room – the centre of activities and planning for all of the events of this special year. We still have computers but now we have installed a Wi-Fi system throughout our buildings and provide small note-book computers for our folk to use wherever they wish throughout our Manse and Pilgrimage Centre.
The Centre was constructed for around £30,000 (of which £10,000 was provided by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire) and equipped for about £40,000 (of which an additional £10,000 was provided by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire and £17,500 by the Lomond and Rural Stirling LEADER + European Funding Body).
Combined grants of around £90,000 were awarded to enable the Centre and its projects to have development staff for a three-year period during which we developed a sustainable future for the Centre and its various outreach activities. (£45,000 was awarded to us by the Church of Scotland Parish Development Fund and up to £39,000 by the Lomond and Rural Stirling LEADER + European Funding Body). When the three-year project came to an end in May, 2008 the Church was able to continue the employment of our Development Officer to spearhead the preparations for our congregation’s fifteen hundredth anniversary celebrations this year.
