The centenary of the opening of St Serf’s Church, High Valleyfield, in Fife, was marked with a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving, celebrated by Bishop Stephen Robson.
Fr Michael Carrie, parish priest, reports from the parish archive: “The church dedicated to St Serf was solemnly opened by Bishop John Toner, Bishop of Dunkeld on 23rd April, 1922. It replaced the school-church which had been in use from 1915.”
“The bishop was assisted by Very Rev Dr Forbes from St Peter’s College, Bearsden. Fr Carrigan was deacon and Fr Murphy of Cowdenbeath served as sub-deacon. Canon Michael Lavelle was Master of Ceremonies and Canon John Malcolm and Canon Doherty were deacons at the throne.”
At the Mass on 1st July 2022, Bishop Stephen was joined by priests from across the Diocese including Canon Tom Shields and Mgr Martin Drysdale – both sons of the parish. Canon Tom delivered the homily.
During the Mass, Bishop Stephen blessed a new icon of St Serf which was commissioned to mark the parish’s cententary. The beautiful icon of St Serf was created by Katherine Sanders Icons. It depicts St Serf welcoming St Thenew and the infant St Mungo at Culross.
Katherine said, “Creating a new painted icon with water gilding for this parish gave me the opportunity to imagine a moment in Culross, where three saints – St Serf, St Kentigern (or Mungo) and St Theneva (or Enoch!) were gathered together on the shores of the Forth, blessed by Christ Himself.”