St John’s Ministry Team
The Very Revd Dr John Armes
Rector
225 5004
[email protected]
Day off usually Friday
The Revd Donald Reid
Associate Rector
466 2461
[email protected]
Day off usually Thursday
The Revd Shona Boardman
Assistant Curate
07505 777053
[email protected]
Day off usually Friday
The Revd Professor Kenneth Boyd
The Revd Clephane Hume
The Revd Professor Freda Alexander
The Revd Sarah Kilbey MBE
Amanda Wright
Associate Minister
Associate Minister
Associate Minister
Associate Minister
Lay Reader & Sacristan
In this Issue
3
4
6
9
10
13
15
17
19
21
24
26
28
31
32
36
37
39
40
42
From the Rector
Japan – the earth quake and the aftermath - Mio and Ken Shapley
Cornerstone, Candid and Creation - Bishop Brian
Reflections on 2 Growth Group discussions - Andrew Wright
Tweetbook / Stories from a Sabbatical Part 3 – Donald Reid
From FoSP - a preview
Christian Aid – Sue Sellar
My favourite Psalm – Eleanor Harris
Notes from a Wild Garden – George Harris
Congregational News
Forthcoming Events / Garden Group -Fred Mobeck
People of the Peace Garden: The Lady from Carriacou– Angus Mitchell
Earth be Glad – George Harris
Walking Group – Veronica Harris
News from the Terrace :
Bookshop
Peace and Justice
One World Shop
From Together - Day conference - Joe Evans
St Aidan’s and St Thomas’s within the Wardrobe
What a picture!
Readings and rotas
The Easter Mural / The Last Word
2
225 6485
667 2996
557 4474
447 2378
317 1252
From the Rector –
Arriving at Base Camp
We have had our Gift Day and the news hot off the
press (although not so hot by the time you read
this) is that the congregation have pledged over
one million pounds – £1,002,571 to be precise,
from 130 money pledges.
This is an astonishing achievement. All the more so because I know that every
pledge, whether small or large, has been made after careful thought and
involves a real sacrifice. Some, though not able to pledge money at this stage,
have offered time and talents to support or lead fundraising efforts. This will
also be of great value as we draw closer to the moment when the building work
will begin.
One or two more pledges are awaited, and I shall be writing to members who
were unable to attend our development meetings to see if they would like to add
their support. The Vestry will consider how much should be added from
reserves, swelled by significant legacies over the last two years. And, of course,
as the pledged money comes it will be invested to earn interest. Thus, I am
confident that the amount quoted above will increase.
There was a huge sense of excitement on Sunday 22 May when the total was
announced. It was as if at last, after all our years of planning, we realised that
our development project is possible. This change of attitude is important. Now
the rumour will spread that ‘we can do this’ and positive energy is infectious.
Of course, we still have a long way to go. The total we need is £3.5 million; so
whilst we may have reached Base Camp, our assault on the final summit is still
a long way off. But we now have a firm basis on which to go to other funders
and to show them that the congregation is committed to seeing this through.
On the Gift Day a timeline was put around the church, telling the story of our
congregation from 1789 (when it was an idea in Daniel Sandford’s head)
through 1818 (when the present church was built) right up to 2011. Significant
moments in history are marked, as are events in the life of St John’s. The
3
exhibition will remain for a few weeks why not have a look – it tells a fascinating
story. Perhaps you will be able to think of events we should have included.
The timeline made me realise two things. The first is that St John’s is in
business for the long haul. We cannot read the future but we have every
intention that St John’s will still be around 100 years from now, keeping alive the
rumour of God in our corner of the city; seeking to embody those values –
compassion, justice, community, integrity, peace – that lead to human health
and well-being.
The second is that every age has its own challenges. And each generation
does its best to meet those challenges. The same goes for us. We walk the
timeline for a while; we are the ones who make history happen with all the skills
and wisdom we can muster. Then we pass the baton to others. And the point of
all this is not buildings or money but to be faithful to the call of Christ so far as
we can discern it.
So we have much to celebrate and we have every reason to take a breather.
Our Gift Day makes clear that the development project when it happens will not
be any one person’s achievement but rather something that the whole
community has worked towards and contributed to. Well done, and thank you!
But once we have had our rest… As one ancient traveller, Francis Drake, put it,
in very different circumstances from ours –
O Lord God, when Thou givest to Thy servants to endeavour any great
matter, grant us to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the
same, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory. Amen.
John Armes
Stand With Japan
Northern Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Charity Concert
Mio Shapley is Japanese musician living in Edinburgh and longstanding participant in the
Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Recently we organised with her an event in St John's to
express solidarity ‘Stand with Japan’ event. Here she helps give a flavour of what was a
beautiful, moving, tearful and joyful event.
4
On March 11, 2011 about 400km north east of Tokyo in Japan the most
powerful earthquake occurred since records began, triggering a massive
tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the
9.0 magnitude quake struck. Officials reported that more than 30,000 people
died and others are still missing. In Sendai alone, a port town in Miyagi
prefecture, 20,000 bodies were found. The quake is believed to be the fifth
largest in the world and 8000 times stronger than the one which devastated
Christchurch in New Zealand in February 1900. Scientists at NASA also
reported that it even shifted the earth on its axis by 10cm. Since March 11,
there have been over 1300 earthquakes in the same region of greater than
magnitude 4. The damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant still represents a
major threat to Japan and across the globe.
In the wake of the disaster people all
around the world felt the need to help
Japan in any way they could and prayer
being the natural response.
As a
Japanese living here in Scotland and so
far away from the disaster, I was filled
with a sense of futility and desperate to
help my fellow countrymen. With the help
of many people and friends I was able to
organise a concert Stand with Japan
which took place on the 30th March 2011
at St John's Church in Edinburgh. The
support, generosity, consideration and
love from the world over towards Japan
was tremendous. Within a very short time
groups of world class performers from
Scotland and Japan offered their talents
and time in support of the event.
My heart-felt gratitude and thanks go to Mr Donald Reid, Mr Andrew Wright, Ms
Katherine Newbigging, Mr Brian Smith, the Bishop of Edinburgh and Mr
Masataka Tarahara, the Consul General of Japan who moved everyone when
he sang 'You'll Never Stand Alone'. I would also like to thank all the performers
who played and filled the church with truly exceptional music, story and song.
Tim Paxton (cello), Iain Hood (harp), Jessica Brown from JETAA with a personal
story of her time teaching in Japan, Fergus McNicol (guitar), Alan Spence (haiku
poetry), Edinburgh's Georgian Singers, Marion Kenny (flute), Hiromi Moffat
5
(shamisen), Dode Muir (Leith FM), band members from (The Last Tree) and
David Campbell (storyteller).
The evening's contribution was amazing and it was made more so by the videos
from people around the world offering their prayers of support. Harumi Currie
and the members of Women's Federation for World Peace, the Scottish
Japanese Residents Association and The One World Cafe all helped to make
the evening flow well, and I am delighted to say that we raised £3,185.53 which
has been sent to The Japanese Red Cross Tsunami Appeal.
When we are in difficulty we appreciate having someone beside us, whether
families or friends. For the people in Japan those gathered at St. John's Church
concert on 30th March are true friends beyond any doubt. They gave great
encouragement to victims of the tsunami especially as many survivors lost not
only their homes, families and jobs but also lack of food, clean water, clothes
and have to deal with the dangers of air pollution by the damaged nuclear power
plant.
Technology in today’s world is a wonderful instrument, however when disaster
strikes it becomes powerless and all we are left with is the power of prayer. The
harsher life becomes the greater in the urge to all pull together to help each
other. I feel that using more renewable energy, solar power and wind power is
an ideal way of living with nature.
Mio Shapley
Cornerstone, Candide and Creation
The Bishop of Edinburgh writes exclusively for the Cornerstone
We know what it is to live in a city that has been shaped
by dramatic movements of the earth. We see this at the
very heart of our city, where St John’s now stands. Our
churchyard and Princes Street Gardens are set in the
deep valley that was fashioned in the ice age by the
glacier meeting the volcanic rock of the Castle. Standing
outside Cornerstone Cafe we cannot but be reminded of
the power of geological forces that can rip through the
land.
6
The culture of our city too owes much to the impact of geological forces. The
intellectual ferment of the eighteenth century enlightenment was influenced by
the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. This was an earthquake itself of 8.5 – 9.0 on the
scale, whose tsunami rushed up the river Tagus, killing up to 100,000 people in
and around Lisbon alone.
The Scottish Geologist Charles Lyell wrote of it: In
no part of the volcanic region of Southern Europe
has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in
modern times as that which began on the 1st of
November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder
was heard underground, and immediately
afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater
part of that city. In the course of about six minutes,
sixty thousand persons perished. The sea first
retired and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising
fifty feet above its ordinary level. The mountains of
Arrabida, Estrella, Julio, Maravan, and Cintra, being some of the largest in
Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as it were, from their very foundations.
And the effect was possibly felt here in Scotland, for Lyell went on to comment:
The agitation of lakes, rivers, and springs in Great Britain was remarkable. At
Loch Lomond, in Scotland, for example, the water, without the least apparent
cause, rose against its banks, and then subsided below its usual level.
But besides its destructive physical effects, in Portugal and beyond, that
earthquake was to shatter the optimistic philosophical perspective that had
developed within eighteenth century Europe.
The German philosopher Leibniz had published in 1710 a book entitled
Theodicy – a title which meant the justification of God. It dealt with the question
as to why, if the world owed its origin to a good God, that world appeared to
have in it so many imperfections.
Leibniz expressed the view that God, being a ‘rational agent’, had to have
reason for creating this particular world, with all its puzzling features, and not
another one. Other worlds were certainly possibilities for God. Leibniz argued
that God chose to create this world, exactly as it is, because it is the best of all
possible worlds. On this view, things we may initially think of as ‘imperfections’,
7
on deeper thought are seen to have contributed to the greater goodness of the
whole. This view caught the imagination of many.
Such a view of God was challenged by the dramatic destructive force of that
Lisbon Earthquake. Particularly as the earthquake so killed many people as they
were worshipping in church on All Saints Day.
The French philosopher Voltaire criticised
this view of Leibniz in his poem on the
Lisbon Earthquake, and later he went on
to satirise it more fully in his novella
Candide. A character in that book, the
philosopher Dr Pangloss, seeks to defend
the metaphysical position of Leibniz, in
the face of disaster after disaster
(including an Earthquake in Lisbon) that
befalls the unfortunate eponymous hero,
Candide. Pangloss’ defence gets less
and less plausible as the book develops.
Rousseau responded to Voltaire’s
challenge and sought to defend Leibniz by arguing that if people had not chosen
to live in large urban conurbations such as Lisbon the disaster would not have
been on such a grand scale. Thus the loss of life should be seen as a result of
human folly and not an ‘act of God’.
The Scottish philosopher David Hume, whose tri-centenary we mark this year,
appears nowhere in his writings explicitly to mention the Lisbon Earthquake, but
would certainly know the debate. He commended ‘Candide’ to his contemporary,
the economist Adam Smith, and he also invited Rousseau back from Paris to
live with him while he was in England.
The debate lives on. Bernstein produced a musical version of Candide, and we
in Edinburgh came in contact with it again when that musical opened our
Festival two years ago.
Candide concludes with Dr Pangloss still trying to convince Candide that the
sufferings he has endured in the world were all absolutely necessary for him to
endure in order that he might know the benefits he now enjoys. But while
Candide continues to listen, he feels that the demands of work take priority over
Pangloss’ speculation. Pangloss’ final observation to Candide is:
8
There is a concatenation of all events in the best of possible worlds; for, in short,
had you not been kicked out of a fine castle for the love of Miss Cunegund; had
you not been put into the Inquisition; had you not traveled over America on foot;
had you not run the Baron through the body; and had you not lost all your
sheep, which you brought from the good country of El Dorado, you would not
have been here to eat preserved citrons and pistachio nuts.
Excellently observed," answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden.
Brian Smith, Bishop of Edinburgh
Growing in faith – over a few discussions
The St John’s Growth group has met 3 times since the publication of the last
issue of Cornerstone. Our meetings have varied greatly in focus but have had
one major thing in common – they have all provided us with an opportunity to
explore together how faith and daily life affect one another for us.
In March we had a visit from an Egyptian professor who shared with us
something of Egyptian culture and the circumstances that had led to the recent
uprising. The things that stood out for me were the general placid nature of the
Egyptian people (getting any sort of support for a protest or rally is usually a
difficult task!) and the role that social networking played in coordinating and
encouraging people to speak out. It was through facebook in particular that
discussion took place and the clear single-issue focus of the demonstration that
led to the uprising was agreed. It was also disappointing to hear how the
religious bodies, including the church, were initially deaf to the voice of the
people and positively encouraged a ‘don’t rock the boat’ mentality.
April brought a visit from the director of a
project that provides opportunity for people to
be a ‘Muslim for a Month’ or a [Buddhist]
‘Monk for a Month’. In both instances this is
offered as a way of becoming steeped in a
culture as a way of gaining a better
understanding of and empathy for it. It was
very interesting to discuss what experiences
we would want to share, and what places we
would want to visit with someone who might choose to be a ‘Christian for a
month’.
9
May was different again and provided space for us to meet with Rachel Farey, a
member of St John’s and manager of the One World Shop. Rachel provided
some very interesting and inspiring stories behind the growth of the Fair Trade
movement worldwide. She also help me to understand the significance of
choosing to buy Fair Trade when faced with a choice of Fair Trade / Rainforest
Alliance / Other ‘ethical’ labels.
The Growth Group meet on the 2nd Tuesday in each month from 6.30pm for a
shared meal and from 7.30pm for discussion. Our meeting in June will be
focusing on the theology of Walter Wink. All are welcome – for more details
contact Donald or the Church Office.
Andrew Wright
Follow me!
You can now ‘follow’ St John’s on facebook and on twitter.
Our twitter feed is @ChurchofStJohn and you’ll find us on
facebook by searching ‘Church of St John the Evangelist’
Stories from a sabbatical:
Part 3 – Syria and Lebanon
Turkey and Syria now have an open border
so the journey to Aleppo (or Halab, in
Arabic) is a straightforward bus journey for
locals, who wait patiently as the foreign
tourists are processed. Just be careful you
don’t have an Israeli stamp on your passport
– you’ll get no further. Even referring to
Israel is discouraged – people prefer to call
it ‘Disneyland’ though its presence, just over
mountains, looms large in Syrian politics.
This is not a new problem for Syria, which
still smarts that the French, under their postWW1 mandate, transferred the region
around Antakya (Antioch) to Turkey and
10
carved out Lebanon as a separate state,
where Christians could hold ascendancy.
Israeli control of the Golan Heights adds to
Syria’s sense of historic injustice. Visit the
barbed wire border at the foot of the Golan
(pronounced Jolan) heights, patrolled by
the UN, and the Syrian border police point
out to you the Israeli military surveillance
posts on the peaks and Israeli farming and
water extraction on Syrian land, right up to
the very dividing wire.
What happened to the promise that, after
the fall of the Ottoman Empire, there would
be an independent Arab nation, stretching
from the borders of Turkey to the Arabian
peninsula - with beautiful Damascus as the capital? The world would be a very
different place if the strain of Islam found in Syria was pre-eminent, rather than
the puritanical Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia.
These issues you can (just about) discuss in Syria because they are part of the
official script - but best not to venture into internal politics. This is a minor social
inhibition, however, because Syrians LIKE TO TALK. In fact, I think they may be
the friendliest people in the world, unable to resist talking to this obvious
stranger (“German?” they kept asking..) in any café I went to. Over a cup of tea,
or an Arab coffee, or smoking shisha we’d talk about Syria and Scotland, about
Islam and Christianity, about history, or food, or culture. I have been taken to
the cinema, offered food and (mostly non-alcoholic) drink, invited to homes all
over Syria, even for religious festivals. I met Sunni Muslims, Kurds, Armenian
Christians, Palestinians.
This is an hospitable country which has
multiculturalism in its DNA. They have much to teach us: unlike the UK, here
everyone knows when Eid is and when Christmas is, and both are respected.
Many holy sites are shared and there is inter-religious understanding. I think I
may retire to Syria.
Except that a few months later it is in turmoil. My friend Iyas now never sleeps
at his family home in case he is arrested. Hassan has fled over the border in
Turkey to avoid military service. And Ghaith and Molham live abroad, nervous
about returning (these are not their real names). Which, I assume , means that
the café and bars in the thriving Christian quarter of Old Damascus are now
11
empty of tourists and Western student learning RP Arabic. When I was there, I
was pleased to move from the very faded splendour of the Orient Palace Hotel,
across the road from what used to be the Hejaz railway station – into the hostel
built into the very walls of the Old City, which meant you could climb down the
walls on a rope ladder not far from the spot where St Paul escaped, by being
lowered in a basket. [see p11 – Ed]
In the glorious Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, I joined the men for evening
prayer – realizing later that I had been standing only a few feet from the tomb of
John the Baptist. In the equivalent period mosque in Aleppo, I saw the crowds
venerating the tomb of Zechariah, John’s father. Outside the cities, I visited
mountain top where St Simeon the Stylite perched atop a pillar, to get away from
the crowds. Too bad then that the crowds were looking for just such signs of
holiness - and they flocked to see him. No, this isn’t Monty Python, this was
real.
Similarly, the Friday I arrived at the remote Syriac Catholic monastery of Deir
Mar Musa, in the desert hills an hour north of Damascus, it was packed with
Muslim day visitors (this being the first day of the weekend) – but they were
received as welcome visitors in this monastery which has made its reputation in
promoting Christian-Muslim harmony. In the restored 12th century chapel,
festooned with naïve style frescoes, visitors of different faiths squat for prayers
in Arabic, French, English and Italian – and share bread and wine, and a meal in
the tented dining area afterwards.
Where Syria feels like a relaxed multifaith country, Lebanon feels more
cantonised. On the way to the overwhelming ruins at Baalbek, it’s unmissably
clear this is Hezbollah territory, their yellow flags flutter everywhere. But the
next valley is Mennonite Christian. In Beirut, you can still see the scars from the
civil war, when the fragile peace between Lebanon’s many clans broke down.
Lebanon, like Scotland, is small enough to go anywhere in a day. Damascus is
a few hours away, by crazily driven taxi. To the south is Israel but to get there, I
had to go via Cyprus. The only people to have crossed Lebanon’s southern
border recently have been Israeli soldiers: and they didn’t stop to obtain visas at
the border.
Donald Reid
12
Looking forward to the Festival of
Spirituality and Peace
Saturday 6 – Monday 29 August 2011
Faith, hope and REALITY
In September this year, it will be the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Therefore, a
major strand in the Festival 'conversation' programme will be to reflect on the
legacy of the events of that day and the violence which followed it. We will be
particularly pleased to welcome Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf from New York City
who was at the centre of the controversy last September about the so-called
'Ground Zero mosque'. He will help us understand the trauma and paranoia
which has gripped the US and whether - ten year on, with a different
administration - those ghosts can be exorcised.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, commentator and
broadcaster, will kick of this series of topics, with an
event on Monday 8 August, asking if the world –
and Britain - has become a safer place with the
killing of Osama Bin Laden and with democratic
movements sweeping the middle east. Several
speakers with close links to Egypt and Syria will
help us understand the meaning of events there
and in other Arab countries. We will also look at
HOW the revolutions happened, with Osama
Saeed from Al Jazeera and Ruaridh Arrow, director
of the film about Gene Sharp's book 'From Dictatorship to Democracy' (often
cited as the revolutionary text behind the uprisings).
James Fergusson (author of ’Taliban’ ) and Ming Campbell will explore the
potential to talk to the Taliban and we will hear from Steve McLaughlin what it is
like to be an ordinary Squaddie in such conflicts. Don Mullan, a civilian victim of
Bloody Sunday tells the story of the recent ‘truth telling’ on that atrocity.
2011 is also the 30th anniversary of the identification of
HIV, so we will look at how faith communities influence
the incidence of AIDS, especially in Africa and Bishop
Christopher Senjonyo from Uganda will describe the
plight of gay people there.
13
Thinking of other perspectives on reality, what does science have to tell us
about the efficacy of prayer or the health benefits of faith? What ethical issues
are presented by the latest scientific technology? With philosopher Julian
Baggini, we will ask: ‘Do we have a soul’?
We will also look at (for?) Ethics in the financial system and what we can learn
from Islamic finance – but also the faith based case for and against general
taxation and reflections on how businesses have striven to act responsibly in the
recession.
But the festival is not just talk. This year we will have a significantly increased
performance programme playing host to some of Edinburgh’s and the world’s
finest performers. We are excited to welcome back Tokara Taiko drummers
from Japan and Coreen Scott from closer to home. Other highlights include a
Sitar concert, Persian bands and an explosive Science cabaret. There will also
be a wide range of classical music for you to escape from the hustle of the
festival. Or relax at a performance of The Screwtape Letters, St John’s Gospel
or The Gospel of Matthew by candlelight. And, of course, our own St John’s
Choir, in Concert.
If you are looking for something more ‘hands on’ get involved with our
workshops which will introduce you to Punjab cooking, martial arts or have you
rolling around on the floor during Laughter yoga. If you are really daring you
could even try firewalking.
14
We even have a range of children and family events featuring storytelling, run by
St John’s staff - and an animation workshop (sign up now, places limited!). It
would be good to have a short animated film made during the festival by children
and available to be shown at the opening or closing event.
Around St John’s there will be thought-provoking art exhibitions and places to
enjoy refreshments. With twice as many events this year there really is
something to suit everyone, so come and feed the body and the mind at one of
this summer’s most diverse festivals.
Katherine Newbigging, Co-ordinator, and Donald Reid, Director
News from the Middle
East
Christian Aid partners in Gaza hope that the unity accord signed at the
beginning of May will be a step towards alleviating the dire humanitarian
situation there and want to see one authority representing a unified West Bank
and Gaza. They want an end to the Israeli imposed blockade of Gaza, soon
entering its fifth year.
On Wednesday 4 May, Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah ended nearly four
years of internal political division by signing a reconciliation agreement which
promises to bring them together in a transitional unity government. The long
awaited agreement, which many Palestinians hope will create a representative
Palestinian authority, was met with both jubilation and caution throughout the
occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The unity agreement is only a first step of
many towards securing an end to the current situation. It will be a long path
which must be supported.
‘We all have mixed feelings. We’re not sure whether we should rejoice, wait and
see how this will really materialise, or ignore it because inevitably it will fail
without support from the international community. The last time we were unified,
we were punished by having our international financial assistance cut off,’ says
Mira Rizek, director of Christian Aid partner the YWCA-East Jerusalem.
15
Following Palestinian elections in 2006, many members of the international
community did not recognise the Hamas majority government that resulted
following free and fair elections. It precipitated an international boycott of the
Palestinian Authority, causing a financial crisis and spiralling the West Bank and
Gaza into unprecedented levels of poverty.
In 2007, a Palestinian National Unity Government was established to address
international concerns, but was short-lived due to the lack of international
recognition. This led to the internal split between Fatah and Hamas which has
impacted the lives of every Palestinian living in the oPt.
Last year Israel announced that it
would ease its blockade, a form of
collective punishment illegal in
international law, but very little
impact of this has been felt in Gaza.
While recent announcements that
Egypt may open the Rafah
Crossing and thus improve access
for Palestinians to the outside
world, the primary responsibility to
ensure movement and access in and across the occupied territory is with Israel.
Dialogue to secure this is best served by a unified and representative
Palestinian leadership.
Postcards from Gaza
Christian Aid gave disposable cameras to
children and teenagers in Gaza, for them to
record scenes from their daily lives, and asked
them to write captions to accompany. These
‘postcards from Gaza’ show how living under
occupation affects children, putting a human face
on reports of shortages, economic collapse and
worsening poverty caused by Israel’s blockade of Gaza over the past four years.
All of these young people attend centres run by Christian Aid partner the Culture
and Free Thought Association (CFTA). CFTA offers counselling and support for
children, and provides a safe space to play, learn, and make friends. This work
is critical for providing new hope to damaged children, both for their own sakes,
and for the sake of the future of Palestinian society and a future peace with
Israel.
16
To support CFTA, contact Anna Couper on [email protected] .To see
the postcards, go to:
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo/eyewitness/middleeast/postcards-fromgaza.aspx
The Culture and Free Thought Association is based in Khan Younis refugee
camp, one of the poorest areas of the Gaza Strip.
CFTA has three centres that run arts, crafts, drama, education, sports and other
activities that help children to learn and express themselves.
This is particularly important in the Gazan context, where all children have
experienced violence and war, and many have been traumatised by these
events.
This information on the work of Christian Aid in the Middle East is from the
Christian Aid Website, http://www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo/
Understanding the difficult
bits:
An
beautiful
intelligent
and
religion
for
Edinburgh
Eleanor Harris gives a historical perspective
on the Psalms in St John's.
The first Rector of St John's, Daniel
Sandford, was a man with a mission. He
wanted to provide an alternative to the two
prevailing religious cultures in Edinburgh,
the oppressive Presbyterianism which
dominated the City Council and established
churches; and a frivolous half-scepticism,
which nodded to David Hume to give an air
of intellectual excitement to dinners and assemblies. Sandford shared with his
neighbouring presbyterian ministers a mission to bring religion back into fashion
in the New Town. It is to this mission to show that religion could be beautiful,
intelligent and liberating that we owe our beautiful architecture, stained glass
windows and choral tradition, all of which Sandford established.
17
The Psalms were a particularly important ingredient in his liturgical recipe.
Sunday worship, matins and evensong, revolved around the singing of the
psalms. But the aspect of his ministry he appears to have considered most
important of all was the education of young people. As Bishop of Edinburgh he
dedicated a great deal of his time to preparing children for confirmation, which
he considered it a great privilege to perform; and he kept in touch with many of
them when they grew up and moved away. He wanted them to learn to find God
in beautiful worship as he had done, so when he published a volume of
Sermons, chiefly for young persons (1802), he dedicated one sermon to the
Psalms.
Sandford wrote that as 'the reading of the Psalms is a part of our daily service',
Christians ‘who would pray "with the understanding," as well as "with the spirit,"
ought to be well informed of the meaning of the words they here repeat, and the
offices of prayer and praise in which they join’. His Christianity never involved
leaving one's brain at the door. So he chose the most difficult psalm in the book,
109, rarely sung nowadays because 'a considerable part of this Psalm contains
such dreadful, various, and comprehensive imprecations, as, it would seem,
none but the most offended spirit could suggest, or the most ungoverned
passion could pour forth':
Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow...
But Sandford's reaction was not to omit difficult bits of scripture but to explain
them, so that 'we can join with satisfaction in repeating them in the church.'
Other commentators, he said, interpreted the curses in the prophetic sense as
divine vengeance. But Sandford was primarily a linguist rather than a theologian,
and couldn't allow this interpretation because it could only be made by doing
violence to the Hebrew syntax. He realised that the cursing verses, 5-18, were
'the Psalmists enumeration, not of the curses which he imprecates upon his
enemies, but of the curses which they, in the bitterness of their ungoverned
hatred, imprecated upon him'. This explains why the subject of the psalm
changes from 'they' (the enemies') to 'him' (David). Sandford points out that in
other psalms the translators have added 'say they' to the text to make this clear.
If 'say they' is added in a similar way to this psalm so that it is clear some verses
are spoken by another voice, what sounded like delerious and nonsensical
ravings suddenly all makes sense.
18
Sandford concluded his sermon by explaining the true moral of the psalm:
'Though men should curse, yet shall we be protected, if we put our confidence in
Him who will "give his blessing unto the righteous, and will, with his favourable
kindness, defend him as with a shield" '.
So thanks to Sandford the linguist, the first choristers at St John's had a key to
thinking about the often peculiar, frequently comic, sometimes disturbing, but
always interesting words of the psalms they sang. It is a great delight to me,
singing psalms matins and evensong every week, to continue to participate in
this tradition of intelligent and beautiful religion.
If you'd like to know more about Daniel Sandford and the origins of St John's
congregation, please put Monday 17 October in your diary. I shall be giving the
Social Committee talk based on research for my PhD, The Episcopal
Congregation of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh 1794-1818.
Eleanor Harris
.
Notes from a wild garden
(15 minutes walk from the West End)
If you can say with sincerity ‘Look at my
beautiful dandelions’, then you can
consider yourself a true wild gardener.
The first of these bold yellow-orange
flowers that respond so sensitively to the
sun, arrived just in time to provide nectar
for the early butterflies, as they awoke
from hibernation. Besides, they really do
look lovely, a profusion of bright yellow
amongst the green. As for the seed
heads, their downy spheres are one of
nature’s finest works of architecture.
The plants that turned up of their own accord in the garden do have a special
place in my affections. (So do the ones that I selected from catalogues, or grew
from wild seed, but they occupy different special places.) Most gardeners call
these plants ‘weeds’ and so they are if the grow in the wrong place. But they can
for the most part be confined to the areas where they look well, and it is as
pleasing to provide them with a place to thrive as it is to provide food for birds.
19
Celandines are welcome because they flower so
early, though they can spread alarmingly if not
kept in check. Cuckoo-flower, a most delicate
pink, never seems to grow in the same place
twice. Green alkanet can be a menace in a
border, but its flowers have a wonderful warm
blue. I have never yet seen any nice butterflies
laying eggs on my nettles, but the nettle flowers,
catching the light on a summer evening, tumble
delicately in heads of yellow-green. Docks, on
the other hand, have deep russet pigments. All my efforts to persuade foxgloves
to grow where I want them seem doomed to failure, but they are biennials, so it
is easy enough to dig up the young plants and shift them to the edge of the
trees. Hogweed (not its dangerous Giant cousin) has truly remarkable
asymmetric flowers in its umbeliferous heads. A really good specimen, left to
dry, will enhance your Christmas decorations if hung with tinsel. For two years
running there has been a single orchid in the “meadow”, but I hardly dare write
these words in case I never see it again.
There are welcome visitors in the hedge too. I bought
one hazel, only to have others arrive – probably from
nuts buried by squirrels. Brambles are a bit too much,
unless you own acres of spreading parkland, but it is
fun to return from holiday to find that they have grown
a couple of meters in a week. But raspberries are
welcome guests, though you have to be quick to get at
the fruit before the birds. Elder grows so fast that it has
to be cut back every winter, but its flowers and its fruits
are highly decorative. A botanist would be able to add to this list the mosses and
plantains and ferns, but even without knowing their names one can enjoy the
shapes and the textures.
My pride and joy, though, for which I can take no credit, is a tall hawthorn tree. It
must have been twenty years ago that I noticed a shrubby seedling that I did not
recognise. It was in the perfect place. Now it gives early bursting buds, a froth of
white may blossom, and then a big crop of haws for the blackbirds and, perhaps,
fieldfares. Even in this very early year it had not flowered by May 1 st, but ever
since eleven days were sliced out of the calendar in September 1752, these has
been little chance of May blossom on May Morning.
George Harris
20
HEARTBEAT
St John’s community
at the heart of the city,
at the heart of the nation.
Congregational News
Congratulations to George Ayrton who
turned 90 in May.
Sorry to upstage you George, but
gratulations also to postal member, Kathleen
McCubbing who turned 100 years old in
May. She is virtually blind and very hard of
hearing, but her niece, Wendy Christmas,
assures us that she always enjoys catching
up with St John’s via the Cornerstone.
Kathleen moved away from Edinburgh about
24 years ago and now lives in a nursing
home in Ascot.
David Hill received his Life Time Service Award and delivered a lecture on his
work developing adult reading material for English as a foreign language in April.
Malcolm Goldsmith was recognised for his
contribution to person-centred/spiritual care for
people with dementia and for his work in
developing the organisation Faith in Older People
(FiOP) by a lecture dedicated to him. This took
place in New College and was given by
Professor John Swinton of Aberdeen University.
Attendance was at bursting point. Sadly Malcolm himself could not attend
because of a recurring infection in his leg which landed him up in hospital yet
again.
21
Sarah Armes writes from her gap year in India that
she celebrated her 18th birthday and Christmas in
style, then in January went parasailing and banana
boating in Goa before settling down to three
demanding months of solid maths teaching - she
reports that the results were a definite improvement,
on what she does not say! She and her friend set
up after school English classes and encouraged
children to write their own stories and to learn
Scottish dancing. Now they are travelling – Jaipur,
Rajasthan, Mumbai etc.
Nunraw News
Many at St John’s, including the Guardians who visited the Cistercian monastic
community at Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw near Haddington, will be
saddened to learn of the death of one of their number, Brother Aidan. Aidan ran
the monastery farm for 32 years, was Sub Prior for 15 years. He died suddenly
on Wednesday March 30th, aged 77 years, in his 48th year of his monastic
profession. He was at work to his last day. St John’s Guardians visited Nunraw
last May and were met by Father Hugh Randolph and later by Brother Patrick at
the Guesthouse. Although we did not meet Aidan, we were made aware of the
work carried out by him at the nearby farm, and felt the quiet peace, spirituality
and hospitality of the community and its location. I sent a card to Father Hugh
expressing sympathy on behalf of the Guardians from St John’s to all the
Brothers .Further information on the Nunraw website at www.nunraw.com and
Dom Donald's blog on www.domdonald.org.uk
Moire Reekie
Summer Tea Party
The Summer Tea Party, held on 9th May in a packed hall, was a great success,
as ever, despite the less than summery weather. However, mountains of
strawberries and cream were served as befits any summer party, 7 kilos, to be
precise, washed and de-stalked the night before thanks to the Herculean efforts
of Phil and Wren Hoskyns-Abrahall. And no summer party is complete without
cucumber sandwiches, scones and jam and many more offerings including three
enormous 'birthday' cakes baked by Ann Reid. So many thanks to her and the
team of cake and sandwich makers, tea-servers and washer-uppers. Ian
Stevenson was our M.C. and his duties included asking who had a birthday to
celebrate and asking them to cut the cake/s. This honour was performed by
22
George Ayrton, celebrating a Happy Unbirthday (Alice in Wonderland-style)
since it was not actually the day but near enough.
The event reached even more jolly heights with a
splendid mini-recital by Carole Clarke whom
some of you will have heard sing the Alto Solo in
the Messiah on Good Friday at St John's. This
time, wearing a long, blue, white-spotted summer
party frock, Carole, accompanied on the piano by
Noel de Jongh, (Choir member Emeritus) chose
suitably upbeat songs ranging from Burns,
(quickly donning a tartan shawl), Ben Jonson to
Gershwin and an audience-participation rendition
of 'Wouldn't that be luverley' preceded by a quick
lesson in Cockney pronunciation. Having created
a summer's day in the hall, we then left to the rain
outside.
Stephanie Harding
Walking for Christian Aid
A band of seven St. John’s walkers braved a stiff breeze and the roar of traffic to
cross the Forth Bridge last April 30th for Christian Aid.
Christian Aid raises money to help people in some of the world’s poorest
communities to improve their lives. £60 could pay for a treadle pump to water
crops in Malawi and feed communities; £160 could pay for two buffaloes for
landless communities to earn an income in India; £445 could pay for literacy
training sessions for a woman living in a small fishing community; and in Egypt
£1,077 could pay to build a house, for a displaced family in Columbia.
Brilliant sunshine and the vistas of the Firth of Forth lifted the spirits of the many
walkers of all ages. Volunteers provided refreshments, guidance and stamps
verifying our efforts and we crossed the bridge two, three and four times,
depending on circumstances and stamina. We wish to thank our sponsors,
particularly those within the St. John’s community for supporting us in this
fundraiser. And walkers all, please consider coming along next year to ‘fight
poverty step by step’ on the Christian Aid Forth Bridge Cross.
Eden Anderson
23
From the Registers:
Congratulations to Beatrice & Olivia Macrae, mother & daughter who were
baptised on Easter Day; also to Nikkita Collins, daughter of Alexander &
Ashley, baptised the same morning. Freya Wodgrove was admitted to
Communion during the same service; Freya had been unable to be admitted at
her home church due to illness so we were pleased to admit her here whilst she
was in Edinburgh visting her XXXXX
Wedding congratulations go to Ian Power & Alexandra
Stewart who were married by Kenneth Boyd on 16th April.
Forthcoming events
Frances Burberry will be installed as Rector of St Ninian’s Comely Bank on 16
June at 7.30pm Many congratulations and best wishes.
Confirmations There is a service of Confirmation planned for Sunday 3 July.
If you are interested in knowing more please have a word with a member of the
clergy – no commitment at this stage.
Edinburgh Royal Choral Union with the Edinburgh Pro Musica Orchestra has
its next concert - Beethoven and Haydn – at 7.30 pm on Sunday 5 June in the
Usher Hall. More details of the programme in the church porch.
Saturday Lunchtime Organ Concerts at St Cuthbert’s at 1.30pm on 25 June
with JS Bach Howells, Walford-Davies, and Simon Preston.
Gardening notes
An old motto:
Mist in May and heat in June
Bring all things into tune.
The Peace Garden is beginning to mature. We had a wonderful display of early
flowering bulbs – snowdrops, daffodils and grape hyacinths, and of course
hellibores (the Lenten lily).
24
Later on in the lovely month of May we had the wallflowers, forget-me-nots which produce a wonderful haze of blue, and the Doronicum which has yellow
daisy-like flowers.
We are continuing to add to our collection of plants. Please remember that any
plants that you can give us are always welcome! Certainly many of the plants we
have added will ‘seed around’ to produce new ones. Examples are the red
campion, cowslips and hellebores, and also the primroses and forget-me-nots.
You will note that some of these are native to Britain – which is good! We mix
them up with the ‘cultivars’.
The Dormitory Garden is a delightful place for people to sit and rest; there is
always something in flower there; we try to plant interesting flowers for the visitor
to look at. Recently we put in Erisymum ‘Bowles Mauve’ (purple wallflower),
Anthemis cupiana (silvery foliage and white daisy flowers), and Stachys lanata
(Lambs’ lugs) which has silvery foliage.
The ‘biblical’ plants now each have a label with a scriptural reference. Their
whereabouts in the garden can be tracked using the leaflet which is available at
the back of the church (although we will need to update this as a few of the
plants have had to be moved!)
We now have our own garden store in Arch no.1. Previously we shared space
with other users. This wasn’t ideal for us as our tools got lost.
25
We want to attract wildlife so we have now planted sweet rocket, evening
primrose – which is scented in the evening, honeysuckle, buddleia, wallflower,
red valerian, Sedum and Lychnis. More will be added in time. At present I am
growing from seed Verbena bonariensis and Linaria ‘Canon Went’.
Recently I was talking to the staff at the Bookshop and One World Shop and
they told me that many people have made encouraging comments regarding the
Peace Garden. It is good to hear that people are enjoying our oasis in the
middle of a city – a ‘Nectar café’ for humankind as well as for insects and other
wild life.
The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
You are nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on Earth.
Fred Mobeck
People of the Peace Garden:
The Lady from Carriacou
Most of the 19th-century monuments in the graveyard of St John’s Church
commemorate the lives of professional families, but there is one small stone to a
remarkable servant who was buried in the eastern section; it reads as follows:
MALVINA WELLS
Born in Carriacou, West Indies Died at
Edinburgh 22 April 1887 aged 82 years
For upwards of 70 years a faithful servant
and friend in the family of Mrs Macrae.
Faithful in all the house as a servant Hebrews
III.5
Malvina’s monument lies at the foot of a
much larger one for the family she served,
including her mistress Joanna Isabella
Maclean (1815-1890); that has a fine bronze
head of Joanna’s husband John Anthony
Macrae (1812-1868), Writer to the Signet.
Malvina was born in 1804 on the Dumfries
26
Estate in Carriacou, a small Caribbean island near Grenada. According to her
death certificate, her father was a planter called John Wells, who may have
been a young British supervisor on the plantation. Her mother’s name was not
known, but there is little doubt that she was a black slave of African descent
working on the same estate.
Before Parliament abolished slavery in the
British Empire in 1833, children born to a
slave remained the property of the owner. It
was a common practice in the West Indies to
employ the mulatto children of white fathers as
house servants rather than as field labourers;
this evidently happened to Malvina before the
age of 12, since her gravestone shows that
she had been ‘for upwards of 70 years a
faithful servant and friend in the family’ when
she died at the age of 82. It is therefore
probable that she began to work in the
Maclean household before Joanna was born
in 1815.
The owner of the Dumfries Estate, John Maclean (Joanna’s father), died in
1816, leaving his brother George in charge of the plantation; it continued in the
ownership of the same family until it was taken over by the Grenada
Government in 1950 for a land settlement scheme. John Maclean also left £100
in his will to a mulatto son called Donald, whose mother might have been a
slave on the same estate.
After John’s death his widow and daughters came to live in Edinburgh, and
brought Malvina with them as a lady’s maid - her occupation in the 1851
Census. In July 1841 his daughter Joanna married an Edinburgh solicitor, John
Anthony Macrae, who lived in 32 Great King Street; they had 3 sons and 3
daughters in the next 10 years. Malvina was known in the family as “Mali”, and
the warm tribute on her gravestone suggests that she played a major part in the
children’s upbringing.
The 1881 Census shows that Joanna Macrae, as a widow of 66, was then living
at 14 Gloucester Street with her unmarried sister Dorothea, daughter Jessie and
5 resident female servants. Malvina was still listed as a lady’s maid, but at the
27
age of 75 it seems likely that all or most of her duties would by then have been
taken over by another lady’s maid, Christina Anderson.
Malvina died of heart disease at the age of 82 at 14 Gloucester Street on 22
April 1887; her occupation was described on her death certificate as “domestic
servant”. The informant was Joanna’s third son Horatio Ross Macrae WS
(1846-1931), who must have known her well all his life. On 25 April Malvina was
buried in Saint John’s graveyard by the Rector, the Reverend Charles CowleyBrown. The Macrae family also placed a notice of Malvina’s death in the
newspaper, a rare tribute to a family servant.
As far as we know, Malvina was the only
woman buried in Edinburgh who was almost
certainly born as a slave. By a strange
coincidence, another monument in the
graveyard commemorates a prominent
campaigner against slavery, the Reverend Dr
Andrew Thomson (1779-1832), Minister of Saint
George’s Church in Charlotte Square. Together
these two remind us of the ending of a shameful
and unsavoury period in British history.
This bare summary of Malvina’s life leaves many questions unanswered. If I had
been given the privilege of meeting her, I would have wanted to ask her What was life like on the Dumfries Estate? Were you happy to leave Carriacou
for Scotland? Did you tell the Macrae children any stories of your childhood?
Did you attend any services in St John’s or other churches? These questions,
alas, may never be answered. With some imagination, however, they could
provide a fruitful basis for a historical novel or a colourful film; here’s hoping!
Angus Mitchell
Earth be glad: endings and new beginnings
Since late 2009 St John’s Church’s commitment to
tackling climate change was recognised and
supported by the Scottish Government’s Climate
Challenge Fund. Their grant enabled us to employ
two consultants, Ben Murray and Eleanor Harris,
and build on and expand the work previously
carried out by volunteers from the Green Ginger
Group.
28
The funding is now over but this work will not finish, as George Harris’s article,
below, explains. As convenor of the management group which supported the
consultants and reported to the Vestry, I thought it might be helpful to reflect on
the achievements of the period of grant aided funding.
The project had three aims:
 to increase the number of members of the congregation participating in
the Earth be Glad project and monitoring their carbon emissions;
 to develop an improved and expanded web based carbon calculator which
would be easier to operate and more robust, both for people using it and
for the administrators of the system; and
 to encourage other churches and faith groups to sign up for the scheme.
Much work has been done over the last year and we are very grateful to Ben
and Eleanor for their energy and commitment.
Within St John’s
The response to the new initiatives has
been very encouraging. A large number
of the congregation, Vestry and clergy
are now participating in the scheme, or
have said they will do when the new web
tool has come into existence.
The church has endorsed a new
environmental commitment and, with
Ben’s help, has carried out an energy
audit of its own carbon emissions. The Vestry is currently considering a radical
scheme for ‘carbon budgeting’ which would enable it to set annual targets for
carbon reductions and report on these to the annual general meeting, in the
same way that financial budgets are reported on.
Developing the carbon calculator
For various reasons it did not prove easy to redesign the carbon-monitoring tool
within the lifetime of the project, but with the invaluable help of Stephen Todd,
we should shortly have a fully working revised tool available.
29
Stephen has adapted a piece of ‘open source’ software, of which we were not
previously aware, for our purposes and we are very grateful for his help. The
new tool should be available very shortly.
Outreach to other groups
The difficulties in developing the carbon monitoring tool hindered our ability to
sign up other churches and faith groups, but Ben and Eleanor have carried out a
considerable amount of outreach, and, through our links with the Eco
Congregations and the Edinburgh Inter Faith Association, we are confident that
many other groups will wish to use the new carbon calculator in the future.
Overall, then, we have made considerable progress.
When, in November, we received our second award as an
Eco Congregation the assessor described Earth be Glad’s
work of as being of ‘national importance’.
I was very pleased to be part of the Earth be Glad project
during this part of its evolution. Helen Bonsor and Jeremy
Jamison, the other members of the management group,
were brilliant to work with, thank you!
There is still much to be done, but with the enthusiasm and faith that there is
within the congregation, I believe that St John’s has the potential to play a
significant part in helping us face the challenges of climate change.
Hilary Patrick
A Glad future?
Hilary has suggested that, in my capacity as Convener of the Green Ginger
Group I might say a word or two about the future of the Earth Be Glad Project.
The simple point is that it is continuing despite the ending of the official funding.
Eleanor is going to go on sending monthly e-mails. Ben has agreed to advise
Andrew Wright as necessary on keeping the data for the Carbon Budget up to
date. Stephen has generously agreed to carry on looking after the web site. The
GGG has agreed to offer as much support as we can.
The most important things for you, the readers to do are:
 If you are not already part of the Earth be Glad scheme do join. It costs
nothing. You won’t be pestered.
30
 If you are one of the many St John’s members who has joined the
scheme, do please recommend it to your friends and contacts in other
congregations (of all faiths).
Earth Be Glad has not yet grown and spread as fast as we would like, but it is
poised ready for rapid expansion if all those who approve of it help it on its way.
George Harris
St John’s Walking Group
The walks in June, July and August are
listed below. Further information will be put
up on the noticeboards in the church porch
and hall. Alternatively contact the walk
leader. For general information on the walks
please contact Veronica Harris at
[email protected] or 0131
228 1016.
2 June
Rumbling Bridge and the River Devon. A circuit of 4-5 miles, through a
spectacular wooded gorge along the river Devon and on field and farm tracks
(Veronica Harris: 228 1016).
18 June
Meall Corranaich and Meall a' Choire Leith in the Ben Lawers range. Start
from the high road north of the Ben Lawers car park (Jeanette Rennie: 443
3075). Low level alternative (Veronica Harris: 228 1016).
7 July
East Linton, Hailes Castle and around Traprain Law (Margery Ramsay:
01875 819092).
16 July
Walk in the Lammermuirs (11 miles) starting in Pressmennan Wood near
Stenton. Some long but gradual ascents up to open moorland with fine views
over East Lothian and the coast (Georgina Rosair: 07584 035 279). Low level
alternative (Richard Butterworth: 339 1068).
31
4 August
Callander area –a 4 to 6 mile walk including Branklinn Falls (John and
Elisabeth Law: 445 2427).
13 August (2nd Saturday)
Ben More, ‘Big Mountain’ is the 16th highest Munro. The route, from the
Crianlarich road, is straightforward enough, and the views, if clear, are very
spectacular indeed (George Harris: 228 1016). Low level alternative (Veronica
Harris: 228 1016).
News from The Terrace
Cornerstone Bookshop
Book Reviews
‘Around a Thin Place: An Iona Pilgrimage Guide’
by Jane Bentley & Neil Paynter
781849521888 £13.50
The isle of Iona has been a place of
pilgrimage for centuries, inspired by St
Columba, who founded a monastery there
in the 6th century. People today are also
drawn to the island through the work of
the Iona Community. This book is a varied
collection of readings, prayers, poems,
photographs, songs, stories and
reflections for both Island visitors and
‘armchair pilgrims.’ George MacLeod, the
Founder of the Iona Community,
described Iona as ‘a thin place – only a
tissue paper separating the material from
the spiritual’. This collection invites each
of us to draw inspiration from this special place into our daily life.
10% off the above title for readers of Cornerstone magazine. Just bring your
magazine to the shop with you to receive your discount.
32
God is Not a Christian: Speaking Truth in Times of Crisis’
By Desmond Tutu
9781846042515 £12.99
Archbishop Desmond Tutu shares his thoughts on a
variety of subjects, from forgiveness and justice to hope
and human rights. There are highlights from speeches,
letters and articles with a commentary by John Allen (who
has worked closely with Desmond Tutu for many years)
explaining the historical context and continuing relevance
of his words. This book captures over 30 years of an
extraordinary life and career and is a reminder of why
Desmond Tutu is regarded so highly as an outspoken
activist for peace.
‘An Outline of New Testament Spirituality’
by Prosper Grech
978080286601 £11.99
This book presents the essential themes of Christian belief for meditation
through a wealth of Biblical texts from both the Old and New Testament. Grech
weaves the various theological strands together to trace the contours of a
contemplative and dynamic Christian spirituality that is as relevant today as it
was to the early Church.
‘Praying with the Earth:
A Prayerbook for Peace’
by John Philip Newell
9781848250499 £10.99
In this book Philip Newell articulates the longings
for peace that are close to the heart of the world’s
spiritual traditions. Beautiful prayers are provided
for each morning and evening of the week, calling
us back to the fundamentals of Jesus’ words in
the Beatitudes. For prayer alone or with others,
these richly illustrated, simple liturgies invite us to
live as those whose hearts yearn for peace.
33
‘Images of God’
by Marie-Helene Duval, illustrated by Barbara Nascimbeni
9780802853912 £9.99
Although this book is described as ‘for young children’ its delightful illustrations
and simple yet profound text have much to offer people of any age. Each page
takes an image of God and illustrates it with a few words and a full-page picture.
Some images are very familiar, ‘God is Breath’, ‘God is Justice’ etc, whilst others
are less obvious. This is a book to use for reflection and meditation, and would
make a delightful gift.
Peace and Justice Centre
One of the Peace and Justice Centre’s central concerns over the thirty years of
its existence has been the international trade in armaments, and the
misdirection of resources that it represents. When there is so much need for
action against poverty and for a sustainable environment, it is shocking that so
much skill and so much money should be devoted to instruments of destruction.
Intolerable though it may be, however, efforts to end this scandal face huge
difficulties. Powerful interests support the status quo, as was demonstrated
when BAe Systems managed to halt the Serious Fraud Office’s inquiry into
alleged corruption over deals with Saudi Arabia. Our Government, like others,
actively promotes arms sales, assuring us that such sales are carefully
monitored. Maybe.
34
Equally intractable is the fact that it is an international problem: pretty well every
advanced nation is involved. So it is encouraging that at last a serious effort is
being made to establish an Arms Trade Treaty. An initial stage was completed in
March this year, and more progress is promised by July. There will be intense
lobbying to get any proposals watered down, but there is now an unprecedented
level of public concern about what, for example, the authorities in Libya and
Syria feel entitled to do to control their populations, and this should do
something to stiffen the resolve of the negotiators.
The Peace and Justice Centre will do its best to keep its supporters informed
about how things are going.
Geoffrey Carnall (Secretary)
One World Shop
As the summer season gets under way we have noticed an increasing number
of overseas visitors and tourists coming in to the shop from countries like
Greece, Norway, Holland and America. A good number of them are well aware
of fair trade in their own countries and are very interested in our work here.
It’s also wedding season! The shop has
a wide range of fair trade gifts for the
home, such as duvet sets, rugs and
cushions from India, black pottery
kitchenware from Columbia, wine
glasses and tumblers from Bolivia and
much more. We also encourage couples
to consider having a Wedding List from
the One World Shop and provide a special service where guests can purchase
gifts over the ‘phone which we wrap and deliver directly to the couple. We also
have some attractive new summer accessories such as bags, jewellery and light
silk scarves to go with that special outfit.
The shop will be attending lots of special
events this summer including SOLAS
(24-26 June). SOLAS is a wonderful
weekend Arts Festival based at Wiston
near Biggar, with music, comedy, children’s activities and plenty of debate, all
based on the Christian Tradition. www.solasfestival.co.uk.
35
Don’t forget Fathers’ Day on 19th June, when we will have a special display of
gifts for dad and if you like World Music, check out our extensive range from
the Putumayo label. We will soon set up a listening post on our website with
examples of our best-selling CDs. We look forward to seeing you in the shop.
Rachel Farey, Business Manager
From Together: Emerging Together
About 20 brave souls from all three Together churches came out on the first
really sunny Saturday of the year to the Undercroft at St Andrew's and St
George's West to discuss one of our key aims in Together: Emerging or New
forms of Church.
It was incredibly encouraging to see a wide range of people joining in on this day
with all sorts of experience, knowledge and talents. And as was pointed out on
the day, this is one of our greatest assets. Not just people willing to give their
time, but people with skills, interests and involvement in all sorts of issues
outwith the church who can feed in these talents to help us move forward. Ideas
that came out of the day ranged from setting up a 'ladies who lunch club' to
ways to integrate with the local residential community.
36
The day was expertly run by Norman Smith from Granton Parish Church who is
also the Mission Convenor of Presbytery and our thanks go to him for all his
help. A combination of short talks drawing on his and communal experience
mixed with group activities and discussions was the order of the day.
More on this issue will be appearing in the coming weeks and months, and
hopefully some of the initiatives discussed may crystalise into ideas which can
be taken forward in the future. Keep a look out for a more in depth article in
June's edition of Togetherness.
Joe Evans
St Aidan’s and St Thomas’s
within the wardrobe
A message from Canon Wishwash
Building? What do we mean by building? Is it merely
bricks and mortar, plexiglass and toilets, or it is vision,
stewardship and hope for the future? Well, that depends
upon the building, doesn’t it, and upon the intention of
the builder. Open your hearts as well as your bank
accounts. Remember that every construction is also a
destruction, and that all giving is receiving.
News from the Altogether
There is no truth in the rumour that Victor Strain has taken out a super-injunction
forbidding all mention of his liaison with the Happy-Clappy Trio. “I have never
denied that Anthem Flo, Amazing Grace and Peterborough Cath were good
friends”, he said.
The Coalition of St Aidan’s and St Thomas’s has issued an official denial that
there is any disagreement between them on important matters. Seth the
Preacher told our reporter: “True I described those who want to replace NIV with
AV [Authorised Version of 1611] as a bunch of toffee-nosed, obscurantist
dinosaurs but all that is behind us now”. Meanwhile Fr Chasuble-Tabot (High as
a Kite) explained that his description of those who dislike the King James
Version as “tone-deaf illiterates, probably from Essex” was meant as a jest: he
apologises for any offence that may have been taken where none was intended.
37
Around the Precincts
Summer holiday reading. “A statistical analysis of the Book of Numbers” by the
Rev Counter.
For Sale or recycle: Tram lines. Any offer reasonable considered. Free to a good
home. Purchaser to provide carriage.
Hymns for a New Dawn
Suitable for the inception of a new building project
(Verse 1 previously published. Verse 2 specially commissioned for 2011)
The Church’s one foundation is sliding down the hill,
Her bank account is empty, the dry rot roams at will.
The prayers are sanctimonious, the choir is singing flat,
But every year on Gift Day we pass around the hat.
But now the plans are ready and may well come to pass:
New offices; new toilets; a Hall made all of glass;
An eco-friendly boiler. The architect has said:
“We’ll make the Tower of Babel look like a garden shed.”
Letters
Dear Editor,
I currently have the contract for building new Public Conveniences in Princes
Street Gardens. Would you like me to discuss with me the possibility of including
a small chapel in the designs? This would work out cheaper for you than
installing adequate toilet facilities in your church. I am already accustomed to
use stained – or at least frosted – glass.
Yours,
Moab Washpot.
Dear Sir or Madam,
You’ll no doubt have seen in the press that the
Hierarchy has ordered us all to eat fish on
Fridays again. May I suggest you take this with
a pinch of salt, some brown sauce and a poke of
chips.
Fr Declan O’Murphy
PS. If anyone wants to borrow my copy of “Concerning the Eating of Fish” by
Desiderius Erasmus, you know where to find me.
38
Notes
We are looking for a suitable theme song for the Retreat in Life. Does anyone
have a copy (words and music) of “I’m walking backwards to Christmas”? Or
could your hymnodist write us a “Backwards, Christian Soldiers”?
One for the album
Low Sunday at St John’s – the wonderfully named Boggart’s Breakfast Morris
Team got to know one of our Vergers quite well during their weekend stay in the
hall (they were taking part in the Beltane festivities). Makes a change from his
usual Verger’s robe don’t you think?
39
Readings & Rotas
Sunday Readings
June 5th
10.30am
6.00pm
Ascension Sunday
Acts 1 v1-11; Ephesians 1 v15-23; Luke 24 v44-53
2 Kings 2 v1-15; Revelation 5
June 12th
9.30am
10.30am
6.00pm
Pentecost
Genesis 11 v1-9; Acts 10 v34-48
Acts 2 v1-21; 1 Corinthians 12 v3-13; John 20 v19-23
Joel 2, v21-32; Acts 2 v14-21
June 19th Trinity
9.30am
Exodus 3 v1-6, v13-15; John 17 v1-11
10.30am Isaiah 40 v12-17, v27-31; 2 Corinthians 13 v11-13;
Matthew 28 v16-20
6.00pm
Isaiah 6 v1-8; John 16 v5-15
June 26th
9.30am
Deuteronomy 15 v1-11; Acts 27 v33-44
10.30am Genesis 22 v1-14; Romans 6 v12-23; Matthew 10 v40-42
6.00pm
1 Samuel 28 v3-19; Luke 17 v20-37
July 3rd
10.30am
6.00pm
Genesis 24 v34-38, v42-49, v58-67; Romans 7 v15-25;
Matthew 11 v16-19, v25-30
Job 42 v1-6; 1 Peter 1 v3-12; Eve St Thomas (Said)
July 10th
9.30am
Deuteronomy 28 v1-14; Acts 28 v17-31
10.30am Genesis 25 v19-34; Romans 8 v1-11; Matthew 13 v1-9, v18-23
6.00pm
2 Samuel 7 v18-29; Luke 19 v1-20, 8
40
July 17th
9.30am
Deuteronomy 30 v1-10; 1 Peter 3 v8-18
10.30am Genesis 28 v10-19; Romans 8 v12-25; Matthew 13 v24-30, 36-43
6.00pm
1 Kings 2 v10-12; 3 v16-28; Acts 4 v1-22
July 24th
9.30am
Song of Solomon 2; 1 Peter 4 v7-14
10.30am Genesis 29 v15-28; Romans 8 v26-39; Matthew 13 v31-33, v44-52
6.00pm
Deuteronomy 30 v11-20; Mark 5 v21-43; Eve St James
July 31st
9.30am
Song of Solomon 5 v2-16; 2 Peter 1 v1-15
10.30am Genesis32 v22-31; Romans 9 v1-5; Matthew 14 v13-21
6.00pm
1 Kings 10 v1-13; Acts 13 v1-13
Coffee Rota
June 5th
12th
19th
26th
M Warrack; S Brand; M Brewer
H Tait; V Lobban; J McMutrie
A Horsfall; C McArthur; S Kilbey
E Yeo; L Darke; J McLeod
July 3rd
10th
17th
24th
31st
M Currie; C McNaughton; W Wyse
J Hill; J Rennie; M Brewer
H Tait; V Lobban; S Kilbey
G Edgar; L Darke; C McArthur
S Brand; A Usher; P Walliker
Volunteers are always welcome –
please contact Sheelagh Brand on 0131 339 4406
41
The Easter Mural
The Easter mural depicts hope personified (looking rather like an Arab youth)
risen from the tomb and in whose path green shoots are appearing from the arid
ground. The other tombs, also depicting buried hopes, might also crack open…?
The last word…
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the
final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is
stronger than evil triumphant. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
42