A circle of friendship

The rhythm of the group is simple but meaningful. Someone reads aloud, another shares a thought, and soon voices overlap as the ladies connect: the challenges of ageing, the worries about children and grandchildren, the loneliness of bereavement, the ordinary difficulties of everyday life. At times, laughter fills the air over a shared memory or story.

“It can get quite chatty, and I like to encourage our quieter members to join in and share with the group,” Christine says. “It helps everyone feel more connected.”

The friendships don’t just end in the lounge area. Over time, the group has woven in outings that have become highlights of the year. They have shared lunches at the local garden centre, trips to the theatre and to the beach in Largs, and even a cruise on the Waverley paddle steamer. These excursions give texture to their fellowship, building memories that they carry back to the group each Monday. “It’s amazing what a difference it makes to get out together,” Christine says. “It doesn’t have to be fancy - it’s just about being with one another.”

As well as the Monday meeting, the ladies also organise events such a charity coffee morning and visits from the ice cream van.

For some, the group has become a highlight of the week. Margaret, 74, puts it simply: “This group gives me something to look forward to each week and reminds me I’m not alone in my faith.”

Maureen, 72, echoes the sentiment: “Christine’s dedication makes this possible. We laugh, we support one another – it’s special.” Both ladies speak with a gratitude that shows just how much the creation of the Ladies Together group has meant in their lives. Throughout the week, group members will pray for each other.

When I visited, I was struck by how natural it all felt. The ladies spoke freely, with no fear of being judged. There was a sense of safety in the room, the kind that comes only when people have shared not just words but years together. Christine’s role was quiet but unmistakable. She offered small nudges to keep the conversation flowing, asked gentle questions that invited honesty, and made sure everyone had a voice. Her leadership was the kind that does not call attention to itself, but without it, the gathering would not be what it is.

To understand why the Ladies Together group feels the way it does, you have to step back, beyond the lounge and the laughter, to a life shaped early by faith and service. Christine grew up in Glasgow in a Baptist family where church was not a Sunday habit but a daily orientation.

As a girl she sensed a call to mission; in those days, she laughed, if you said “missionary” people pictured the Belgian Congo because that was all anyone knew. The impulse, though, was clear: take the love of God seriously enough to carry it wherever it was needed. As a young woman, Christine worked at the University of Glasgow as a photographer. Downstairs, in the geology department, was Murdoch. What began as a friendly invitation to the pictures (his sister could not go), turned into long conversations and soon, something more. At first Christine hesitated, she was a Christian and he was not yet a believer, but love and honesty did their quiet work. By the time they married in 1964, faith was the core they shared. “We both loved the Lord,” she said simply, “and He was the one we depended on to keep us together.”

That pattern continued for decades. In Glasgow they joined a church, poured themselves into its life, and held open the doors of their home. Christine studied crafts for three years and exhibited her work. Murdoch was an elder in the church and visited many of the congregation. And when age began to ask difficult questions – steep stairs, a couple of falls, health that needed more attention – they prayed again and moved to Strathclyde House in Skelmorlie, trusting that God had a use for them there as well.

Like any real place, Strathclyde House carries both blessings and bumps. Christine has spoken plainly about both, the sun that floods their flat, the friendships that form in Monday morning prayer and mid-week meetings, the frustrations of buses that don’t arrive by the bus stop outside on time, furniture that refuses to budge when you need a circle not a row. The disappointments do not dampen her faith; they refine her focus. If fellowship feels thin the answer is to make more of it.

The secret of the warmth of the Ladies Group is not complicated. Christine likes to treat hospitality as ministry. She believes that being known by name and listened to without hurry is a holy thing. She has learned, through decades of missionary work and marriage and church service, that joyful fellowship is knit out of simple, repeated acts: a welcome at the door, a free chair, a story honoured, a prayer offered.

If you ask her what has kept a marriage going for 61 years, she says, “We both love the Lord and depend on Him.” Ask her what has kept a group like this together, her reply is always the same: love the Lord, love people, and provide space for fellowship.

In her spare time, Christine:

• Loves to get busy with her sewing machine,
making arts and crafts

• Is reading Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs