GadgetVicar

Joy & Prayers

Much joy tonight for Joyce at a little get together to celebrate her being granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. It only took ten years. Praying for others I know (and those I don't) who are still in the midst of the immigration process.

Prayers for Kenny and RW following the freezing damage to the new rectory.

Joy that people are still being dug out of the ruins in Haiti. Praying that medicine and food will reach people quicker than it has done. Prayer too for all those in situ who are trying to bring aid.

Buckfast Code

A bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church has spoken out against a great moral scourge - Buckfast Tonic Wine. This follows the report that five thousand crimes over the last three years were related to it. One of our congregation regularly shows up at church with a bottle up his voluminous sleeve and he's not averse to getting into a bit of a violent contretemps. He showed up on Sunday night, bottle of Buckie and all. When sober he's a nice man. Drunk, he's nasty. Why are Weegie drunks either all, "Ah luv yoose!" or "Ah'm gonnae kill ye!"?

I see the damage Buckfast does close up and I'm thankful for Bishop Bob Gillies speaking out. As with most things, it's not that Buckfast is in itself bad. It's our ability to abuse it that is the problem and the fact that the Church is facilitating such abuse by producing the wine. I wonder what else the Church says and does that causes others to stumble? (see 1 Corinthians 8:9)

Where No Flowers Grow

At Sunday morning's "Together", we were thinking about how we take care of the earth. I got to beat Nick Cox up (in my dreams!) as an example of how the effects of our sin can be obvious. In response to the question (about not seeing the damage we do), "Where does our rubbish go?", Hannah replied, "It's taken to a big hole in the ground, then covered in soil, and no flowers will grow there." We couldn't have planned a better answer or expect greater knowledge from one of our younger members. It was an awesome moment.

Vestry agreed with the suggestion that our collections should go to the Haitian Earthquake relief efforts. Over £1500 was given. It seems that we are joining with the whole nation in responding to the Haitians' plight. Many of us are also shocked by some Christians decidely odd explanation of this disaster. I wonder how those in Haiti, including very many Christians, who have lost loved ones and are suffering, receive such comments?

The Bishop-elect of Glasgow & Galloway

That's us got  the new bishop sorted out. The Very Reverend Gregor Duncan was elected quickly at the Electoral Synod yesterday. Prayers for him in the tough task ahead and for the others who allowed their names to go forward (Alison Peden and John Applegate).

Now, I hope that it's onward with a great deal of energy, passion and vision.

A Full Day

An "action-packed" Saturday ahead, with the day beginning at a breakfast meeting of St Silas' men, (exploring addiction), the voting part of the Electoral Synod (hope we don't discuss/politic much - if we've been praying and listening this week, maybe we can move to an early vote and see what comes? Who knows, maybe we'll see consensus and a quick result?). The evening brings the AGM of the World Shine Foundation.

Prayers of Preparation for the Election of a Bishop

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

to whom you revealed your power and might and promised your presence and blessing,

be among us during this special time in the life of our church as we pray for a bishop to shepherd us.

Reveal your power and might to us in our ministries, in our ministers,

in our planning and in all our deliberations. 

Bless and guide our prayers and our labours that our mission and witness might be strong in you;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Send forth your Holy Spirit, O Lord, and raise up for us a shepherd of your own choosing:

a bishop to lead and guide us, a shepherd of wisdom and strength,

compassion and grace, holiness and learning,

with vision and the commitment to build up your Church and unite your faithful people around

the love of him who offered himself for us and for all the world, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

O Wise and Gracious God, when your chosen people Israel prayed for a leader,

you sent the prophet Samuel to discern your will, not with the eyes of the faithless,

not with the ears of the popular, not with the wisdom of humanity,

but with the insight of faith and trust in you alone. 

As we prepare for the election of a bishop for our church, make our conversations holy,

our listening attentive, our prayer fervent, our trust in you strong,

and our insight filled with faith and knowledge of your will for our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"The Road", Back to Work and The Election (for a new bishop)

A belated Happy New Year to all! I've been having a quiet week post-Christmas break, ignoring email, mostly pottering about the rectory and walking in the snow.

I've seen a few movies this week, including the excellent, though ultra-bleak, "The Road". This realisation of Cormac McCarthy's book features a post-apocalyptic world devoid of plants and animals, where everything is cold and gray - it could have been filmed in Glasgow, judging by the vista from the top of the Cineworld complex! The grimness of the book and film is mitigated by the deep love of father and son for one another and the sense of them "carrying the fire" for a better future. It's in no way a feel good movie, but it is a thoughtful reflection on humanity, nature and love.

Back in the saddle today with some admin, taking down the Christmas decorations in the church and way too much time on the phone. The good news is that, following the heating problems of last weekend, the heating in the church is on full blast, and will remain on over the weekend. I'd still wrap up well if you are coming - more artic temperatures are forecast for the next few days.

Tomorrow brings the meeting of the Electoral Synod of Glasgow and Galloway, which is part of our quest for a new bishop. It's the "beauty pageant" part of the process tomorrow when we get to see the three candidates in person. Please pray for Alison Peden, Gregor Duncan and John Applegate. It's not an easy process for them. Pray too for the electors, including Simon Johnson and myself from St Silas', as we try and discern which, if any, of these people is called by God to serve as bishop. We'll meet again on the 16th January to pray and vote.

Christmas Spirit

I got to church at about 10pm on Christmas Eve in order to set up for the Watchnight service. As I opened the bag which contained my prayer book and Bible, I detected the powerful smell of whisky. I'd placed a bottle of Glenlivet in the bag earlier in the day when one of our senior members had given it to me after a home communion in a snowy Strathblane. The trouble was, I'd forgotten to remove it when I got home. This wouldn't normally have been a problem, but unfortunately I slipped on the ice outside the rectory while leaving for church. I lost my mobile phone at this point too (I found it frozen to the step when I got home in the wee small hours). The bottle's base separated from the body during the fall, but I only discovered this once at church.

My main problem was that my Bible and Prayer Book were both reeking of strong liquor. At the beginning of the service, I explained what had happened, just in case anyone smelled the whisky and thought someone up front had taken one too many. I commented that my Bible was now most definitely full of the spirit. Most people laughed. I could have cried at the waste.

One staff member commented that this was one very convoluted method of explaining away my partying on Christmas Eve.

The Christmas services were both busy. It was good to welcome back some people who came to our Carol Service last Sunday night as well as those visiting family and friends. As usual, many of the church family are way at this time of year, but nonetheless, it always feels to me as if our worship is joining in with something much bigger, and so it proved this time as my retired Church of Scotland minister friend, Gordon Reid, led the music. On Christmas Day, I managed to avoid the dancing he invited us to participate in. This might have been somewhat lacking in Christmas spirit!

Acting It

Reminder to self: never offer to act in anything again. I've trod the boards several times this month, shocking my fellow cast members last week  with my hammy sergeant-major. This morning I played "Mike", the grumpy hubbie in our marvellous Christmas play (Whaddya mean, " You didn't need to act, then?").

In my youth, I was in a little theatre troupe called "Ripples": we toured the land presenting our little Gospel tales. We performed on the stage of the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow and the BBC recorded  and broadcast our work (I even have a video of the latter, which will remain sealed in a vault until I go to to heaven). It's been lovely to do a bit of acting again, but far more stressful than I remember it being.

Tonight at 8pm is our Carols by Candlelight Service. Another superb team has been working on this. I always find this a tough one to prepare for and every year I struggle to put some thoughts together for the talk. This year has been no exception, but I hope I've been given something worth saying.

I suppose that, in some ways, my acting has been replaced by preaching. Preachers should always have a good sense of the dramatic and an ability to project, so those experiences in the past have all been useful. The main difference being that preachers should always be true to themselves and express what God has impressed upon them, not just what they think. I hope I do that tonight.

On A Frozen Sauchiehall Street

Many thanks to the team who braved the freezing conditions to assist with our Christmas invitation and battery giveaway on Sauchiehall Street this afternoon. It was another thrilling example of taking the church to the streets. More than a thousand invitations were distributed.

The highlights? The young Asian man who commented, "Why would you give something to someone who is not of the same faith?"  The young woman who said she'd take some batteries so long as I didn't pray for her. After listening to her heartbreaking story, I offered to pray with her, and she accepted. Nick chatted to someone who didn't need batteries because he is an atheist. His XBOX controller must be powered differently from everyone else's.

At the end, two young men appeared, looking for some batteries. Sadly, by this time we had run out. We gave them some soup, bread and cookies. They are homeless and hungry. We pointed them towards Glasgow City Mission for further help. I hope we see them again. Their stories moved me to tears.

All-in-all, this afternoon was a humbling experience, and a powerful encouragement to reach out with God's love this Christmas.