In a recent post, ThePetitor was asking how and when Alison Speirs was appointed as a Struthers leader. Everything I have to say about this was spoken publicly in church meetings and will be on tapes/CDs somewhere. Nothing is secret. As far as I remember, it was in the late 1980s when Alison was recognised and promoted as a church leader. Hugh Black told us at a Summer Camp meeting that he had listened to Alison speaking and giving her testimony, and as a result, he had felt God say to him that she had a preaching gift and should be given more opportunities to preach. This came to pass. Alison was passed to Mary Black who was entrusted with training her “in the deep ways of God” because Alison had little experience of Struthers teaching, having been converted from atheism. Yes, Miss Taylor was around at this time but was badly disabled after suffering two Strokes and was hardly ever out at church. Alison was taken to meet Miss Taylor and must have passed muster.

The main leaders at this time (late 80s), Hugh Black and Mary Black, wanted Alison and her friend, Sheila, to move from their home in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, to Greenock, so that they would be closer to the main church and get involved in it’s work. Alison said publicly that Mary had told her she would have to submit to the Struthers leaders and do what they told her to do. She said that although this was difficult, she made the decision to submit.

Next thing was, SMC (as far as I’m aware) bought the upper half of a large house in Greenock, which an older Struthers member was selling, and named it The Cedars or just “Cedars”. Alison and Sheila and their children lived there along with a number of young, single folk, all Struthers members. They lived and ate together communally and everyone had to contribute financially to the upkeep of the house. A few years later, they bought the ground floor and basement, thus making Cedars into one large detached house. (Now I may be wrong about the Church buying the house. I don’t really know who was paying for what, so I stand to be corrected on this.) Anyway, over the years, Cedars was home to a variety of students and young, single people, with Alison overseeing everything. The Cedars house was sold a few years ago as there was no longer a need for it apparently. I don’t think there are as many students and young folk coming into Struthers as there once were.

Throughout the 1990s, Alison was closely involved in serving with Mary Black in the Church Youth work in Greenock, Student work and in pastoring the Glasgow Church. Alison must have had some influence on Mary, because there were some positive initiatives like annual Craft Fairs, Passion Plays and Kids Outings/Barbecues. Then came the Cedars School, which the two of them set up in 1999 in the former Larkfield church building, and Alison was appointed as Head Teacher. They served together until Mary’s death from cancer in 2004. After that, Alison had of course, far more responsibility for many aspects of Struthers’ ongoing work, as well as the running of Cedars School. The School moved to a larger building in Greenock, where they still are, (I guess the Church paid for that too) and the numbers of pupils gradually increased at that time.

So, as ThePetitor points out, SMC leaders and attendees should be looking to see what went wrong and why such a longstanding and committed Struthers leader decides to leave the Church, taking others with her. There are reasons of course, and the current leaders know what happened. I don’t think they are bothering now, after the initial shock, and I suspect they are taking the usual stance with which we are all familiar: if you leave SMC, you are cast off and eventually forgotten and it’s always your fault. The financial mismanagement crisis in Struthers back in 1987 was soon no longer talked about or considered. Those who had left the Church because of it, were deemed to have been not submissive or not loyal enough, either to God or to the leaders. What nonsense.

Rensil, the house referred to as "Cedars" was not owned, operated by, or formally part of the Struthers Church. It was, and still is, a family home owned by private individuals, not the Church. The fact is many of the people who lived there over the years did also attend Struthers. However Alison Speirs certainly did not "oversee it all". It may have appeared that way to you based on the misrepresentations of the church leadership, but that very unfairly diminishes the agency of the actual owner. To be fair, it would make sense to retract the entire paragraph that refers to Cedars as it adds nothing to the otherwise correct assessment of Alison Speirs' significant role in the history of Struthers Church.

Hi Cheerylizard and good to have that additional info.

Part of the problem is of course that quite a lot of information is hidden rather than explained openly. I have for example noted proceeds from disposal of fixed assets of £ 393,000 in the annual accounts for 2018, and thought that was perhaps for the sale of the "Cedars" house.


Does anyone know what fixed assets (presumably some property) was sold in 2018?

Hi cheerylizard
I did ask for clarification when I wrote about Cedars house. As ThePetitor says, much in Struthers is clouded in mystery and one doesn’t get told the details about their many and various properties. So I don’t know all the comings and goings of Cedars House. I do know that residents all had to pay a rent. If it was once bought privately by Alison and Sheila, that’s fine. We all have to buy or rent a place to live.

Any time that I visited Cedars house, it was Alison Speirs who was obviously in charge of running it. She said herself once or twice in a meeting that if harmony and unity is to be present in a communal home, then you need someone to “call the shots” and she said that was person herself. As we know, she has excellent leadership qualities.

Someone just told me the other day that Cedars house has been redivided into upper and lower flats and, as you say the upper is now a family home. But as far as I was aware and was told by Struthers folk, a few years ago, the bottom half of Cedars house was put on the market and sold. You can see details of the sale on Zoopla. So what is the truth? Is that a family home of Struthers members also?

But the Fidra property, next door but one to Cedars House, was definitely bought by Struthers church because I remember Hugh Black telling us about it publicly in a meeting. How Fidra operated, I do not know except that residents who were all Struthers members, paid rent. “Fidra Operations” is listed in the church accounts under Restricted Funds. Perhaps someone could explain that? And the Church sold Fidra in 2017, that’s also in the accounts for that year’s end.

Anyone can pay a fee, and download the title deeds for any property in Scotland, and see who owns it.

[www.ros.gov.uk]

While I am think about the money and properties, it is interesting that the accounts for 2018 state: “Investment properties comprise two properties in London acquired in late 2014 to generate income in support of the charity's work in South East England”.

I find this fascinating for a number of reasons. For example, in 2015, the accounts showed an income of £ 22,127 against “Rental Income”. According to the ubiquitous google, London rents have increased by about 20% in that time, so I would expect the current rent to be about £26,000 - £27,000.

Yet the income last year was just £17,710. Seems a little strange. Why are they not charging a market price?

To the bigger point however, the accounts indicate this income, averaging say £20,000 per annum is “in support of the charity's work in South East England”. Nine years at £ 20,000 is £180,000. I would love to hear more about how this £180,000 has been spent “in support of the charity’s work in South East England” and what the outcomes have been. I have certainly not heard of any notable successes, and I am not even sure “the London church” meets every week.

Remember that SMC is a church that preaches you will be corrupted and miss God’s high calling for your life if you dare to even set foot in some other church. A church that regularly preached that “God’s word will not return to Him void”. How on earth can they justify spending this sort of money, which was, according to their own words, “ income in support of the charity's work in South East England” with no explanation of the aims, activities and outcomes?

cheerylizard
I’m still a bit puzzled by your post about the house in Greenock called “Cedars”. You say that it is and has always been a family home with an actual owner. When I knew it and visited it, there were always quite a number of people living there. There was Alison Speirs, her friend, their teenage children, a young couple with a child, plus a number of students and young, single people all of whom were members and regular attendees of Struthers Churches. Residents would move on or get married and new residents would move in. They all ate dinner together and the girls took turns at cooking it. Shopping was done for the whole household. That doesn’t sound like a family home with an owner. It sounds like what we knew it to be, a communal home overseen by Alison Speirs.

Did you ever visit it? Have dinner there with the group? I did and Alison was definitely in charge. On one visit, she was saying that nobody had emptied the dishwasher. When I offered to do it, she said, No, no, the folk who live here have to take their turn at chores in the house. Doesn’t sound like a family home to me.

Also, the Struthers leaders were quite particular about who was allowed to live at Cedars. Some young folk in Struthers were told they could not stay there, for various reasons according to the leaders’ so-called discernment if they felt someone might be a bad influence. Family home? Doesn’t sound like it.

You posted back in 2015, cheerylizard, that you’re not a member of SMC. I’m just wondering how you know so much about Cedars house if you’re not even part of the church? The moderator asked you to explain your position re SMC back then in 2015. That’s why I’m puzzled.

Rensil,

When was this, and did the house have an HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) certificate?

Local authorities were given discretionary powers to introduce HMO licensing in 1991, and this was made compulsory for all local authorities in 2000.

Hi ThePetitor
No, as far as I know, the Cedars house was never registered as a House of Multiple Occupancy even although there were twelve to fifteen unrelated people living there. Looks like it should have had a HMO license. The rules for Inverclyde Council HMO licensing say the following:

“If you rent a property which has three or more unrelated occupants and it is their main residence, the landlord will require a House of Multiple Occupancy license.” A fee has to paid for the license, I think annually.
“Mandatory licensing is required for premises occupied by three or more unrelated occupants who share bathroom and kitchen facilities.”
“Failure to obtain a HMO license is a criminal offence and liable to a fine.”

So why did SMC (or the owner mentioned by cheerylizard) not obtain a HMO license for the Cedars house? Is this why they maintain that the Cedars was always just a family home? To avoid having to get a HMO license? If so, this seems to me to be deceptive and underhanded. I guess the SMC leaders would not want to go through all of the necessary process and have questions asked by the authorities. If a house registers as an HMO, it has to comply with certain regulations, e.g. fire escapes, number of shared bathrooms and kitchens etc. Also, neighbours can be asked if they object to a house becoming an HMO. I know that some neighbours did complain about the number of folk coming and going at Cedars and about the extra noise. Before SMC (or whoever) bought the downstairs section of the house, the neighbour who lived there complained about noise from the flat above. Once SMC (or the owner) had the whole house, that was no longer an issue.

What was the real purpose of the Cedars house, then? We all thought it was a provision of accommodation for students and young folk all of whom were Struthers attendees and who could benefit from a communal living experience within a Christian environment. They all had to pay towards the upkeep of the house, which is fair enough, but I heard of some young folk who felt their money had been taken off them too easily and they were scared to say anything. Did SMC have to justify their use of this large house which we now know has an owner? There are many questions.

Anyway, Cedars as a communal property no longer exists and the house has been redivided and is back to being two family homes. But to say it was always a family home, is to my mind not true.

Hi Rensil,

I agree absolutely that it would have needed an HMO licence.

Just one thing I would clarify though, and that is I don't think it matters whether it was called/ thought of as a "family home". I guess people can think of it that way if they wish. From your description, that language would be pushing the boundaries in terms of how it was used, but I guess it could apply to the kind of building it was, layout etc.

The point is that it is totally irrelevant though. Whether it was owned by a family, laid out as a family home and lived in by a group who thought of themselves as a family is not what is used to determine whether it required an HMO certificate.

If there are people from three or more families living in it and at least one of them pays rent, it requires an HMO certificate. Simple as that.

I am not really disagreeing with your point, just clarifying the issue of whether it was in some ways a family home is really nothing to do with whether it needed an HMO. Two separate points.

It is however just another example of "holiness", "entering the deep places with God" and "walking every moment in the will of God" meaning we will do whatever we want, even if it is illegal, because we are better than other people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2023 05:07PM by ThePetitor.