The tablet will be distributed to the neighbouring houses of All Saints next week as we go carol singing up the street, there was some discussion about whether the tablet or the singing would be most appreciated!

Will people be sick of hearing Slade scream ‘Merry Christmas’ and not want to hear ‘tidings of comfort and joy’, or will it be just the thing to put them in the Christmas spirit?

Will people drop the pretty bag straight in the bin dubious about what it contains, or be touched by the gift and tell their friends and family about it?

Will the wooden angel become an annual addition to their Christmas tree, a tag added to someone elses gift, or kindling for the fire?

Will the bright colours warm their hearts or make them think ‘humbug’?

Will the ring on their bell or knock on their door, disturb their evening or make it?

Outreach and mission usually require a leap of faith, we don’t know what people’s response will be, but we are walking in well trodden footsteps.  Even God didn’t know what the response would be when the Christ Child was gifted to the world to show just how precious and loved we are.  God had previously tried and received a cool reception, however, God still went ahead and so will we.  We aren’t selling anything, collecting for anything or even telling them about our Christmas services (unless they ask) we are just going to spread the love and joy of the season by freely giving them a surprise gift – after all isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

If you would like to join in with the singing and for some ‘adult’ hot chocolate to warm us up afterwards, then be at the church on Tuesday at 7.15pm.

I haven’t had time yet since we came back from holiday to do a proper shop, so after Mass this morning I popped across the road to M&S (there is a M&S food shop virtually beside both my churches) to get something for dinner tonight.

I approached the till and after the hello I was greeted with a question.

P – ‘Can I ask an ignorant question?’

Me – ‘I doubt you are any more or less ignorant than me, ask away?’

P – ‘Er … that’, she points to her neck, ‘err thing, does it mean you are a minister.’

Me – Suppressing the temptation to say, well actually I am a priest.  ‘Yes, All Saints, Scottish Episcopal Church, just across the road.’

P – ‘Oh!  What’s the difference between that and the normal church?’

Me – ‘Depends what you call the normal church.’

We stood there as she rang through my shopping discussing the differences between churches, D on the next checkout joined in curious about why I wasn’t a ‘old man’, his words not mine.  After a while other people started to arrive to pay for their shopping so D went back to his till and P told me how much my bill was.

As I picked up my shopping to leave P said: ‘I am a Catholic, haven’t been for a while, might give it another go.’

Me – ‘Good, let me know how you get on.’

Now she isn’t going to join All Saints, but she is maybe going to return back to her own church.  Would she have even been thinking of doing that if I had whipped out my collar before popping in for something for dinner, oh and a maple and pecan yum yum?

I should be and I really want to be, however with Mass a funeral visit, a pastoral visit, baptism preparation and Sunday’s service sheet (nearly forgot about the dry rot man!) to sort out the delights of Inchailleach Island on Loch Lomond with the Sunday School is going to have to pass me by.  The name of the island means the island of cowled women or nuns, and probably derives from 717AD when the missionary, St Kentigema arrived from Ireland and settled on the island. In the 12th century a church was built dedicated to her memory, it was replaced by St Michael’s church in the 14th century.

I hope those who do go have a great time and take lots of photos.

Like foreboding of death, dusk veils the land;
it covers the valley with swarthy raiments.
The soul, which aspires to lofty heights
is made uneasy in the face of its flight
through darkness and horror.
There you shine,
Oh loveliest of stars;
you send forth your gentle light from afar.
Your dear ray parts the gloomy dusk;
and, kindheartedly, you point the way out of the valley.
Oh you, my lovely evening star,
I have always greeted you so gladly.
From the heart which she never betrayed greet her, when she passes by you-
when she hovers over the valley of earth,
to become, yonder, a blessed angel.

BB Band

The sun shone and people flocked to barter and buy;

She got just what she wanted

to play games;

William Tell?

To guess the dogs name;

What's in a name?

as well as buy raffle tickets – drink tea and look at flowers – this is only a small selection of the display.

Garden of Eden

Pillar of Fire and Smoke

Jesus Light of the World

Cup Runneth Over

Finally the story Sea of Galilee that caused me so much grief, I wonder if Peter felt the same when he couldn’t walk on it.

Jesus Calming the Storm

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard, organising it; baking and making; buying and selling; donating and counting; dressing up and erecting gazebos; painting faces and chasing ping pong balls; washing dishes and making tea; spinning drums and playing different drums; inviting friends and gifting raffle prizes; setting out and tidying up; nurturing plants and manning stalls; and all the other jobs that went on that without the day wouldn’t have run half as smoothly.

Oh and mustn’t forget the most important vote of thanks of all to God for providing just the right weather and the spirit of fun and fellowship.

Why not head over this way to All Saints Flower Festival from 10am till 4pm and Summer Fair in the morning.

At the Summer Fair there are tables laden with goodies for you to buy, cakes, bric-a-brac, toys, etc, if you aren’t a shopaholic and get your kicks in other ways there will also be lots of fun with games, competitions, lucky dips pile on top of that the numerous opportunities to win something with the tombola, several different raffles and an auction and the chance to sit and have a cup of tea and a scone why would you go anywhere else?

Ahhhh but there is somewhere else to go, leave the halls and the excitement under the gazebos in the grounds and head into the cool of the church, if the day is as hot as today it will be a pleasant respite.  The church is looking stunning, take your time to wander round, or have a go at the quiz and try to match Bible scene to the flower arrangements.

See you there.

The meditations and Compline during the first part of the week set the scene, as Jesus flitted in and out of Jerusalem.

Maundy Thursday, at All Saints, saw foot washing and as the altar was stripped an atmosphere so heavy with prayer that I was hesitate that I might break it by reading the Gospel to begin the Vigil, I needn’t have been.

The Children’s Service, at All Saints, on Good Friday was a joy and the children of the church made a fantastic job of their first Easter garden.  It is a service I always enjoy and having the opportunity this year did something slightly different, which worked a treat.  While the Stations of the Cross over at St Andrew’s was only marred by me placing my laptop on the carpet not realizing how plush it was, and hence at station 7 the laptop overheated and we had to continue with words alone until station 10.  In the evening it was a trip down to Bearsden Cross Church of Scotland were I was leading the Ecumenical Service I was slightly apprehensive about what I was going to do, not knowing how it might be received, it turned out I didn’t need to worry at all, they got it and more than one tear was shed.

Holy Saturday came along and the churches were decorated wonderfully by both groups of ladies, then in the evening ‘The Protecting Veil’ was finally unveiled.  An Easter Vigil was something new to All Saints and so I decided to take the opportunity to approach it from a slightly different angle.  Using John Tavener’s music ‘The Protecting Veil’ as a backdrop we meditated on the sorrow of Mary before turning to the joy of Easter with fire and light, it turned out to be powerful stuff especially the live music played by Sarah Harrington who is a cellist with the Scottish Opera, and Mary Stott’s reading of ‘Mother of Tears’ by Marie L Weldon.  If you are unfamiliar with this poem you will find it here.

Easter Day dawned to rain!  Nevertheless there were those who turned out to proclaim the risen Christ at the Preaching Brae in Milngavie (no not a place for the Covenanters, but rather for the cotton mill workers before they had a church) for an early morning service followed by rolling eggs down the hill before breakfast – I did manage a quick bacon roll before dashing back to All Saints for the 8am.  Back to St Andrew’s, the sun now shinning, and the biggest Sunday morning congregation I have seen there.  Included in their number was ‘J’ someone who had come along to ‘The Protecting Veil’ the night before at All Saints and had been on the phone to me later that evening asking about the Easter services, he had also turned up at the Preaching Brae, God is good.  Then it was back to All Saints to do it all again but differently!  With the Paschal Candle having been lit the night before it was processed round the church as the choir sung a version of the Excultet, here the children sprinkled the congregation with the water from the font using last weeks palm branches, and as is the custom at All Saints, everyone placed a flower in what had been a bare wooden cross the week before.  In a change to previous years however the cross was then processed out of the church, as Thine Be The Glory was sung with great vigor, to take its place in the garden as a witness to the risen Christ for all those who pass by.  The service was followed by  frantic rush by the children as they tried to find all the hidden eggs and more egg rolling.

All Saints - Easter Cross 2010

I was deeply touched when at the end of the service I was presented with a bouquet,  for me it had all been a joy and a privilege but on this my first Holy Week and Easter it was also good to know that the right note had been hit.  And while the flowers were for me, when I arrived home with them Hubby appreciated them too, for it let him know that although he hadn’t got to see me for a week it had all been worthwhile.

I also want the world to know that I couldn’t have done it without a host of people, those who read, led, decorated, sang, played (instruments), cooked, attended, built boxes, shifted furniture and encouraged – thank you one and all.

Palm Sunday – 28th March

8am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

9.15am – St Andrew’s – Palm Procession and Sung Eucharist

with Reading of the Passion Narrative

11am – All Saints – Palm Procession and Sung Eucharist

with Reading of the Passion Narrative

6.30pm – All Saints – The Cross Of Christ

(for those of you unfamiliar with this service

it is the Holy Week version of Lessons and Carols)

Monday – 29th March

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Anointing at Bethany – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Tuesday – 30th March

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Cleansing of the Temple – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service (led by St Andrew’s)

Wednesday – 31st March

10am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Fig Tree – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Maundy Thursday – 1st April

10am – St Andrew’s Said Eucharist

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – Sung Eucharist with Foot Washing,

Stripping of the Altar and Vigil

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service including Communion

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Good Friday – 2nd April

11am – All Saints – Children’s Service for Good Friday

2pm – St Andrew’s – Stations of the Cross

Both at 7.30pm

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service (led by All Saints)

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Holy Saturday – 3rd April

6.30pm – All Saints – The Protecting Veil

(Reflective service of words, images and the music of John Tavener

with the Lighting of the Paschal Candle)

Easter Day – 4th April

7am – The Preaching Brae, Milngavie – Dawn Service (led by St Andrew’s)

8am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

9.15am – Sung Eucharist with

Lighting of the Paschal Candle and Renewal of Baptismal Vows

11am – All Saints – Sung Eucharist

with Welcoming of the Light and Renewal of Baptismal Vows

6.30pm – All Saints – Night Prayer

All Saints The Protecting Veil for Easter Eve will be on April 3rd at 7.30pm.

Some of it was recorded so I will post a link to YouTube once I know it is there.

The Organist had an opportunity to join her Husband, who plays with the SNO, in Paris for the weekend, so understandably she grabbed it.  The question was how where we going to fill the gap, well we could have got hold of a very fine organist indeed, however it was decided that rather than using him on this occasion we should use the talent right here among us.  We are fortunate indeed in having a large number of professional musicians in the congregation so ‘Angel Voices Ever Singing’, among other things, was accomplanied by a string quartet, while elsewhere the melodic tone of the clarinet drifted out over the congregation.  Thank you all of you for sharing your gift of music with us this morning.

If you would like a glimpse at what you missed then why not come along next Sunday at 1pm when some of our musicians will be putting on a concert to raise monies to go to Haiti.

This and Hubby’s post has resurrected an old idea – the Rectory Kitchen Blog is back you will find it here.

However the boxty that was supposed to happen afterwards didn’t due to a mistake I made in the recipe and not having time to make up another batch, didn’t stop them quaffing the prosecco though!

The crib is now gone and the church returns back to his pre-Christmas days, the carols are over as we get ready to turn to Lent, and for a short while we rest and absorb the lessons of the seasons past in the comfort of ordinary time.

The speaker was the Very Revd Sheilagh Kesting who was the first female cleric to be Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 2007 and is now Secretary of the Committee on Ecumenical Relations in the Church of Scotland.  She spoke mainly about the role that Baptism can play in uniting churches, which I struggled with chiefly because even within the SEC there is not a consensus on what Baptism confers upon the Baptized.  She also spoke primarily about the relationship between the CoS and RC’s and their current dialogue, which personally I felt slightly missed the focus of this week.  Nevertheless she spoke with conviction (although I did feel her overuse of the word exercise actually showed a lack of said conviction) and she gave us a lot to ponder on.  Will a Roman Catholic priest ever do a Baptism in a Baptist Church?

The eye opener was the age profile of those who attended.  The small group for All Saints brought the average age of the hall down, I really hadn’t expected that.  That got me to thinking, are younger people less interested in Church Unity, or just not interested in listening to someone talk about it while they eat cold meats and various salads in a Church Hall?  And if the Unity Supper had been pizza’s with a different kind of presentation on Church unity would the people who had attended last night not have come along while the group from All Saints (I know they would still go out for a pizza) looked over-the-hill?

For the first time since I was a child and used to put on my brownie uniform and go to the war memorial in the village were we grew up with all the other brownies and scouts, it felt like something bigger than a bit slotted into the service.  Both Milngavie and Bearsden have Ecumenical Services at their respective War Memorials, but I couldn’t be at both and practicalities meant it made more sense to be at Bearsden Cross.

Now anyone that knows the area will know the cross is quite a major route, even on a Sunday morning.  However, they shut off the roads de-touring the traffic down the quiet back street as a couple of hundred people gathered together in the bright Autumn sun to remember those lost long ago and those still being lost today through the horrors of war.  The strains of ‘Nimrod’ gathered the stragglers before prayers were said, Bible readings read, the last post and reveille sandwiched the two minutes silence, and wreaths were laid.  After in the Church a solo voice sung out ‘Make Me A Channel of Your Peace’, calling us to the heart of the Eucharist.  Don’t make us ostriches, burying our heads in the sand but make us channels of your peace Lord, bringing peace to the hearts of people even if they are suffering in the fields of conflict, let us spread your love, declare your hope and proclaim that faith can heal the deepest darkest sorrows.  I have always struggled with Remembrance Sunday in church mainly because no matter what I tried there was always a sense of tension around with no amount of explaining or personal stories being able to change it from an act of glorification to one of remembrance for some.

This year there was a real sense of purpose as a community joined together in and act of dignified remembrance.  A very good day.

Now don’t get me wrong with what I am about to say, there seems to be a lot going on and apparently the events are well supported.  Also I am all for sharing ideas and I don’t get all precious about my ideas and am more than happy for other people to use them if they think they might work, however …

I had taken along my idea about doing something for next years International Peace Day which I blogged about here.  The idea was met with great enthusiasm, good stuff I thought.  Then the dreaded question as to where it might be held was asked.  A moments silence before I replied All Saints would be happy to host it due to our position at the Cross with its shops and lots of people passing by.  I was also aware that several other things were in the pipeline that weren’t going to be held at All Saints, one of them despite being at the end of this month still wasn’t organised and I didn’t want this idea to end up getting lost and another year passing by with nothing done about it.

How disappointed I was to then hear the inital ’good, that’s sorted’; quickly change to well we could also hold it in this church and that church and the best one in response to my suggestion that one thing that could be done was people could come in and light a candle was: ”Well we can always get candles and can hold it too, we don’t just need to do it at one place.”   Well no we don’t, but it is hardly an ecumenical venture when the same thing is happening at three or four churches in an area of around 1 square mile!  We shall see what transpires.

Also not so good in the fact that the front door refused to close after the last person left so Hubby and I were out fixing it late last night.

But all in all the good outweighed the bad, so a good first meeting.

After the panic mid-week about the paper work for my institution not being in place by yesterday every bit of paper was there and duly signed.  Through various routes from Lenzie – where the Electoral Synod to start the process of finding a new Bishop for the diocese had taken place in the morning - just about everyone who had planned to get from one place to the other had arrived on time, to an already packed church.  The atmosphere was one of great joy and all around the congregation I could see friends old, new and yet to be discovered.  On a personal note I was delighted that the Dean was conducting the service and that Rev Ruth, purple hair restored - well purple stripes which is a new innovation - travelled across from the East to preach.  Despite her angst over the sermon, it was a belter, and was still being talked about this morning; great news for her, but no so great for me as it meant that I had a lot to live up to. 

A lot of people had put in a lot of hard work to make the day such a success, both with the forward planning, the preparation and doing various jobs on the day, I am grateful to each and every one of them.

This morning saw Back to Church Sunday in both congregations, I felt just like the people who had been invited, for despite leading services for many a year it is always slightly different in each congregation and it is those differences that trip up we clerics, so it all felt a bit new.  I now have recent first hand experience of juggling hymn books and not being quite sure what is going to happen next!  I am assured that there were B2CS attendees in both congregations and while most congregations are doing it next week, I want to put in my claim for having the most unusual B2CS visitor already - a Storm Trooper, complete with mask! 

I got through it all, despite the attempts of a microphone with a flat battery in one place and a microphone with a mind of its own in the other.  It is a bit of a relief to be honest, it was this morning rather than yesterday that I had been most nervous about.  Yesterday I was being done to and just had to remember to turn up, say a few lines, lead the intercessions and administer the bread, today I was the one doing the doing, as it where.  Both congregations have made me so welcome, however, that the nerves weren’t allowed the space to multiply, and along with the gifts of ministry that I was presented with yesterday – including the most glorious stole that was being coveting by several clergy colleagues – this morning the Sunday School at All Saints presented me with a friendship bracelet which will remain a very special gift even when I have to take it off my wrist.

So the beginning is over, now with a diary full of meetings this week the work that God called me here to do kicks in, for I am certain God has placed me just were I am to be and has great things in store.  Over the coming days, weeks maybe even months God’s plan will make itself clear and a vision will emerge, I look forward to the challenges and joys that lie ahead, with two congregations who seem ready and willing to take up the baton and explore the new chapter of their lives whose first page has now been written.

Over the coming weeks when I have the time I will try and get some pictures of the churches and make up a page for each of them but for now you can find out about them if you wish at their joint website which is here.