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Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Issue 17: It’s your call
February 2012
My First Burns Night
by Chelsea Clarke; photo by Byron Smith
When I learned that P’s & G’s was
hosting a Burns Night, I was excited
about what an “authentic cultural
experience” it would be.
My fiancé, Justin Osmond, and I decided to
move to Edinburgh from Canada for a year. It
was then that I determined to absorb as much
Scottish history and culture as I could during
the short time we would be here. I had never
been to a Burns Night before (even though
they are held in Canada) and I thought, “what
better way to be introduced to this tradition
than right here in Scotland?”
I felt that I would appreciate Burns Night
even more after having journeyed to Ayrshire
with the P’s & G’s International Students Group.
Prior to visiting the poet’s birthplace and
museum, I only had a vague idea of who Burns
was. I was surprised to learn that he was
actually something of a cad, with numerous
mistresses and illegitimate children…
But, although Burns may not have been an
entirely upstanding man (as Neil Stewart
explained in the Immortal Memory address),
there continues to be something about his
life and poetry that captivates, stirs and
fascinates people.
What surpassed my expectations the
most about the P’s & G’s Burns Night were
the fabulously entertaining and articulate
speeches; I hadn’t realized that a “Burns
Supper” was actually a whole evening of
entertainment. Craig Irving’s exuberant
Address to a Haggis kicked the night off to a
great start: as I sat there watching a kilted man
recite a poem in Scots and ceremonially drive
a knife into this world-famous and slightly
scary dish, I felt like I was really in Scotland. It
was so exciting to get to experience this
whole tradition firsthand, in its homeland.
Mike Nicholson’s Toast to the Lassies had
us laughing all the way through at the many
ways in which women bewilder men. He
ended on a touching note that had many of us
tearing up as he shared stories of the women
who have supported him, concluding, “where
would we be without our lassies?” Adrienne
Ferguson’s witty reply (brilliantly delivered
as a poem!) enlightened us with a Scottish
granny’s thoughts on the laddies.
Haggis – served with neeps and tatties,
expertly prepared by Helen Langstaff and the
YF team – turned out to be not so scary after
all. I actually rather enjoyed it! My friends and
family back home will surely be impressed.
Then there was that delightful Scottish dessert,
cranachan… after being introduced to it, I
couldn’t help but partake of two bowls!
At least I worked some of it off in the
rousing ceilidh that followed. Well, I’ll be
honest: for the majority of the songs, we timid
Canadians were content to watch our British
counterparts with bewildered admiration as
they twirled around in what looked to us a
series of very complicated moves. We tried
our hand at a few dances though, and had a lot
fun, despite making a terrible mess of our
group’s Strip the Willow. Joining hands and
singing Rabbie Burns’ famous Auld Lang Syne
seemed the perfect way to end our thoroughly
Scottish evening!
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Called to go
Dean & Elizabeth share something of
their experiences following God’s calling
them to Africa and back to Scotland. Phil &
Ros, on the other hand, went as far as
Stirling!
Pages 4 & 5
If you can’t beat them...
Diana & Rosie are heading towards
ordained ministry – find out here about
their journeys so far. Also meet Donna &
Carol, similarly in training and on placement
at P’s & G’s.
Pages 7 - 9
Inspiration from on high
Page 3
Wormit’s latest adventures
Page 5
When it’s not worked out
Page 6
Latter-day servants
Pages 10&11
Men & beer... need I say more
Page 12
Away they went
Page 12
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Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Editorial
STAFF INTERVIEW:
Well hello there everyone and
welcome to The Blether
by Rosie Benham
Hello and Happy New Year everyone,
even although it is almost March! Another
jam-packed issue this time looking at
listening to God and discerning his calling
on our lives.
I’m sure you’ll find something of
interest in the following pages, after all
our primary purpose is being in
relationship with God. This calling is for
everyone, and inspires us in how we live
our lives – in service to God and others.
For some this may mean formalised
theological training and ordained ministry,
and, as you’ll find out, there are many in
our midst either engaged in or considering
this. For others it may mean moving to
another city or country on mission.
However, for many of us, things can seem
a little more mundane most of the time.
Remember though, with God, all things
are possible. Take a look at page 11 to see
how one woman’s idea blossomed into a
gathering of over a thousand women!
Finally, welcome to Teresa MacMillan
who joined the staff team in November.
And one goodbye: to Julie Bolos on our
writing team – thanks for the great articles!
Enjoy the newspaper and may it
encourage you on your journey with God,
listening to him wherever he is calling you.
The Blether Team
Editor
Writers
Illustrator
Staff Contacts
Proofing
Alison
Alison Dines
Mike Nicholson
Sarah Roberts
Rosie Benham
Neil Stewart
Jake Thomas
Sally Best
Neil Kempsell
Jess Smith
Vanessa Parr
Marjory Horne
Shona Leisk
Julian Dines
We would love your feedback and, of
course, photos for the back page
[email protected]
A Certain Calling
Teresa MacMillan recently joined
the counselling team at P’s & G’s.
Rosie sat down with her to find out
how her life’s journey has brought
her here.
Teresa describes herself as first generation
British, born in Coventry to immigrant parents,
the ninth of 11 children. Her Dutch father and
German mother were both language teachers
and passionate about music, so all the children
were encouraged to play the piano and one
other instrument. Unlike many of her siblings,
Teresa chose not to pursue a career in music,
though she does play flute in Perth Symphony
Orchestra, is part of a woodwind trio and
whenever possible plays with her family.
Childhood was mostly spent in
Wolverhampton, where her father took up a
teaching post at the polytechnic in the midsixties, and Sunday church attendance was a
regular part of the weekly pattern. After she
started her music studies in London, she
visited her older brother who was studying
music in Manchester and discovered that he
had found a new dimension to life through
personal faith in Christ. She immediately knew
she wanted this for herself and that was the
beginning of an exciting journey.
The next step on Teresa’s path took her
to Bible School in Kansas, USA, and on
returning to the UK, she met her husband Don
in Oxford, far from his home on the Isle of
Lewis. They spent their first few years of
marriage planting house churches in areas
throughout England, and moved to Scotland
in 1989. Life in the middle stage was taken up
with bringing up two daughters, while Don
worked in various countries in the IT business.
Church involvement on a big scale continued
to be key to their lives, and as they grew a
little older and wiser, they found that they
were often involved in counselling people in
their own home. This led to Teresa deciding
to study for a Diploma in Counselling, doing
further training in Couple Counselling and
Supervision — she admits to being “passionate
about marriage” seeing it as one of God’s most
special gifts to us. Her studies continue
as she works towards an honours degree in
Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Before coming to P’s & G’s, she worked
in counselling centres in Perth and in
Teresa
MacMillan
Counsellor
Dunfermline, where she worked for Talk
Matters, which was headed up by Shirley Sim.
The prospect of working with Shirley again
(she’s now our Head of Counselling) was a big
part of the attraction in joining the counselling
service here. Having seen what was achieved
at Talk Matters, Teresa is very excited about
the prospect of being a part of shaping and
expanding the service at P’s & G’s — both for
the congregation, and in making it an important
part of reaching out to meet the needs of
people in the wider community. “God surely
wants the Christian Church to be known as a
place where hurting people can come for
refuge, support and help.”
In common with everyone else who has
joined the staff recently, she loves being part
of such a supportive and welcoming team,
sharing in banter, fun, food and communion
and prayer times together.
When I asked her about God’s leading in
her life, she said that for her “it’s like a gentle
nudge.” Teresa and Don (who has just joined
the staff of CLAN) live in Perthshire but
are planning to move to Edinburgh when
circumstances allow. She loves the outdoors,
Scone Palace grounds being one of her
favourite haunts, but she is looking forward
to living in Edinburgh, to be able to walk to
places (and not have to drive everywhere!),
exploring the city and enjoying the great
wealth of culture available here. To get to
know Teresa and learn more about her you
may have to wait until then, or invite her out
for coffee… when you might find that she
actually learns more about you!
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Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Out of the
Quiet
by Susan Mansfield
Listening to God when there’s a
hubbub all around
Wherever you are right now, stop and listen.
List how many different sounds you can hear.
In a contemporary city, quietness is rare.
Mobile phones, iPods and social networks
mean that most of us carry our own in-built
supply of noise with us.
The prophet Elijah encountered God as a
gentle whisper after the crashing tumult of an
earthquake. Perhaps we too struggle to hear
his voice in the noisy 21st century world. Many
people find that a little quietness can be
helpful in becoming more aware of his
presence and his movements.
At the Reflective Prayer Group, we offer
a chance to experience a contemplative
approach. We don’t sit in silence for hours;
we use scripture, poetry, music, art and much
more, but we do offer a little stillness in a
busy world.
In January, we offered a “Quiet Day”, a
chance to take time out with God at the
beginning of the New Year and consider what
seeds he might be sowing in us. During the
day there were times of rest, pictures and
Upstream
by Neil Stewart; photo by David Jeffrey
A concise look at our theme in the
context of today’s culture. How
does society view Christians who
swim against the tide?
objects to sit with, craft materials to enjoy
and bulbs to plant. There was also plenty of
quietness.
Another way to quieten ourselves is by
walking. When we go for a walk to clear our
heads, we are touching on a long tradition of
meditative walking. Though it sounds
paradoxical, walking helps us to be still.
That’s one of the ideas behind The Passion
Walk, a new project for Easter 2012 which
offers an opportunity to walk the journey of
Good Friday through the city of Edinburgh.
Starting from Greyfriars Kirk, between 11am
and 2pm on Good Friday and Holy Saturday
(April 6th and 7th), walkers will travel at their
own pace with a printed or audio guide which
offers prompts for reflection at significant
locations along the way.
The Passion Walk offers a chance to see
an old story unfold against the backdrop of a
contemporary city. It is an invitation to draw
a little closer to Jesus by reflecting on his
experiences and, in doing so, to notice the
light which he shines into our daily struggles.
By walking with him, in quietness, we may
discover anew something of how he walks
with us.
For more information on The Passion
Walk, see www.passionwalk.org or call
07879 014344. The Reflective Prayer Group
meets on the second and fourth
Mondays of the month at 7:30pm in the
Lower Lounge. For more information email
[email protected].
As I write, a court has ruled that Bideford
Council acted unlawfully in praying at the start
of council meetings. The National Secular
Society described the verdict as “an important
victory for those seeking a secular society”.
If the Society is to be believed, a sense of
calling from something beyond oneself is not
something identified with by the average
Briton. In a sense they are right. The idea
of listening to God in one’s daily life is not
a concept that is discussed regularly in
workplaces nowadays. Prayer is perceived as
something that is practised by a hard core on
Sundays or at formal occasions. Even then, it
is perceived as a one way conversation.
However, whilst to the average person
the idea of listening to God is as relevant to
their daily lives as the discovery of a
sweet shop on the moon, they are
probably inclined to think that they have a
‘destiny’, a ‘vocation’, or perhaps, in the
romantic context, a ‘soulmate’. Therefore
I would contest that the joyless secularist
vision of a rational, but arguably unemotional,
society does not reflect the reality of where
people are. After all, people sing at football
matches, cry at gigs, dance at festivals and
laugh at dark comedy.
We are all emotional beings, with a deep
sense of something beyond ourselves that
impacts our journey through life. C. S. Lewis
described this as a “God-shaped hole”. Oprah
Winfrey once argued that everyone has a
calling, adding “Trust your heart, and success
will come to you”. This philosophy, shared by
many in generations X and Y, believes in a
sense of calling, but would not necessarily
name it as such, nor describe it as coming
from a creator God.
Whilst this is not a Christian worldview, it
is a popular one and shows that human beings
do generally believe in calling and, by
extension, spirituality, despite what the
National Secular Society and others may argue.
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Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Called to love
by Sally Best
Their story covers three continents
and many ‘coincidences’ – Sally
went to find out how Dean &
Elizabeth Norby found love for
God, each other and a deep sense
of calling along the way.
When Dean was licensed in June 2011, he
and Elizabeth became work colleagues once
again. Having first met working with the
humanitarian relief organisation, Medair, in
Sudan they are now respectively Curate and
Counsellor at P’s & G’s. I’m always intrigued
by the paths people have followed, and so it
was a pleasure to meet with Dean and
Elizabeth to get to know them both a little
better. Setting off for my first Blether
interview I hoped to discover more about
God’s calling in their lives. How had they heard
him speak? What tasks had he led them into?
How did they know what God wanted them
to do? And when?
Sudan seemed like a good place to start,
and so I began by asking how they found
themselves as aid workers, far from their
MISSION PARTNER:
Missionary
Mindset
by Phil Boydell
“Calling is the truth that God calls
us to himself so decisively that
everything we are, everything we
do, and everything we have is
invested with a special devotion
and dynamism lived out as a
response to his summons and
service.” Os Guinness – The Call
This definition of ‘calling’ has helped us a lot
over the last few years, partly in thinking and
clarifying our own sense of calling, but also in
helping students think about their lives and
their future direction. It ends up being quite a
big part of what we do!
The definition has reminded us that God
homes in Minnesota, USA, and Aberdeen. And
they had remarkably similar stories to tell!
Both were moved by the plight of the
Kurds in Turkey, both had connections to
Medair through friends from Youth With a
Mission (YWAM) and both were transferred
at the last moment to work in Southern Sudan
– Elizabeth as a Nurse and Dean as a Civil
Engineer. In retrospect it is easy to comment
that these were more than mere coincidences,
especially hearing that they were engaged just
a few months after their return.
her words, “With God nothing is wasted”. And
yet I am also struck by the simple practicality
of this early calling. They saw a need and a
way to respond, and then did so.
With God nothing is
wasted
To add to the coincidences, Elizabeth
describes having studied the Nuer tribe, whom
they lived amongst, as part of a social
anthropology course, taken during her time
studying to be a nurse here in Edinburgh. In
Dean and Elizabeth stayed in Sudan for a
year, a time they describe as brief but
significant. They left hoping and even
expecting to return. Three children, Ben,
Miriam and Andrew, changed their immediate
plans, but they still describe having a heart for
Africa and wonder what the future may bring.
According to Dean, when they married,
they also expected that one day he would
become a minister, however they were happy
to allow this to unfold slowly. I asked Dean a
little more about the thoughts and events that
finally triggered the change. Although I’m not
sure Dean would describe it as a change,
instead calling it a “natural progression” from
his existing ministry within the workplace.
After several confirmations from people
they knew, plus a minister they had never
met, but who felt prompted to encourage them
to consider ministry, they began to investigate
seminaries in the US, and New College, here
in Edinburgh. Consequently, Dean began
calls us first to himself, not primarily to ‘do’
something. This then gives meaning to the
rest of what we do and guards against us
making ‘gods’ of particular things we do. It
also reminds us that there is not one squareinch of our life that is separate from God’s
calling. This is God’s world, he made it all, and
as such everything we do within it from
washing the dishes, to childcare, to paid
employment or leading a bible study at church,
has spiritual significance. Paul says that
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for human
masters.” “Whatever” – there is no sacredsecular divide in that!
For us personally, we have come back to
this sense of being called fundamentally to
Christ and our primary calling is to live out
that reality and work out what it means in
every inch of life. Beyond this, Os Guinness
describes a secondary ‘specific’ calling, which
in our cases was a call to mission almost
10 years ago. For us this sense of specific calling
emerged through a number of ways – a deep
passion for what we do, a sense of an ‘open
door’, a clear sense of confirmation from those
around us, and the sense that what we did
made a difference – we were to some extent
‘gifted’’ for this work. Specific calling is tricky,
we are very aware that our journey has been
a bit easier than some find it – but there has
been a lot of uncertainty along the way. As
Christians we love the idea of being certain in
our ‘specific’ calling, but life very rarely offers
up certainty to us. The Christian life is a lot
more about ‘trust’ in our covenant God in the
midst of uncertainty. However, we are
convinced that helping people see how they
can live out their faith in every inch of life is
vitally important if the kingdom of God is to
flavour our businesses, our workplaces, our
homes and our church communities.
Elizabeth doing a nutritional survey in Sudan
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Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
full-time study alongside full-time work
and Elizabeth laughingly recounts making
appointments in the middle of the night to
see one another! They also speak warmly of
the encouragement and support they received
from friends at St. Mungo’s Church, where they
were worshipping. When Dean’s study drew
to a close, he applied for the job as Associate
Minister at St. Thomas’, Corstorphine.
Returning to work after some time as a
full-time mum, Elizabeth spent five years as a
nurse specializing in the care of stroke patients
with the charity Chest, Heart and Stroke
Scotland. Change was ahead for her too as
she studied for a Diploma in Christian
Counselling with Vital Connections. Now part
of the Counselling Team at P’s & G’s, Elizabeth
has been with us longer than Dean! Elizabeth
is still exploring where this may lead and how
her nursing and counselling skills might thread
together to address the health needs of the
whole-person. She describes her current
journey as a tentative exploration.
willing to wait,
willing to seek God
and willing to allow
things to unfold
Identification
by Wormit
I passed some birdwatchers the other day. I
got the impression they had been standing
still for hours. Silent together. Watching and
waiting. Holding on for a glimpse of some
speckle-backed something or other. Patience
and dedication way beyond anything I could
muster. I find that their level of knowledge
can reach worryingly detailed levels. It’s not
just that they can spot the smallest of
distinguishing marks or see some behaviour
in flight which enables them to make
immediate identification; they know the
sounds as well. The songs, the calls, and even
the meanings of the different ones they hear;
an alarm call here, a courting call there. Each
call a clear message.
I’ve been reading about God’s call. There’s
no comparison with our feathered friends.
Life would be much easier if he just made a
noise or two, which could be set out in a
guidebook. Then when you hear the call, there
Dean adds how a lack of clarity can often
be the trickiest part of feeling called. What is
it that I should do? And yet, neither Dean nor
Elizabeth seem discomfited. Neither appears
impatient to rush into the task or frantic to
establish where the goal post lies. Rather, as
with Dean’s long felt vocation as an ordained
minister, Elizabeth seems willing to wait,
willing to seek God and willing to allow things
to unfold. In the end, I think this is because
they both feel called to a relationship rather
than a vocation. This allows them to wait on
God, acting, often decisively, but in his timing.
When really probed about the whats and
hows and whens, Dean and Elizabeth suggest
that in order to decide what to do we should
look at what we are already doing. We should
consider what ‘makes the current flow’ for us
and follow our passions. We should listen to
others and be encouraged when they affirm
what we might be thinking. Dean highlights
that this is something that the Network Course
is good at helping us to do.
The day after our meeting, having reflected
on our discussions Dean emailed this quote
from Father Pedro Arrupe “Nothing is more
practical than finding God. That is, than falling
in love in quite an absolute, final way. What
you are in love with, what seizes Y???our
imagination, will affect everything… Fall in love,
stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
would be a quick look at the index and you’ve
got it. You’d know what it meant. No
confusion.
But it’s not nearly that straightforward is
it? God’s call can be clear for some and not for
others. It can seem to ring as clear as a bell for
a time and then disappear in a fuzz of
interference. It can be confusing, suggesting
a direction that turns out to be less than
I agree and hope I am slowly learning that
I am not called primarily to do something, but
to love a great someone. I hope out of that he
will involve me excitingly in his work.
Fall in love, stay in
love and it will decide
everything
Dean in Akobo, Sudan
satisfying. And at other times it’s just not
there; there’s a big booming silence.
I don’t know what the answer is but maybe
the twitchers have got it right. Watching and
waiting and listening are all part of the package.
Taking time. Eyes open to catch a glimpse of
something that’s a distinguishing mark.
Something that’s just enough to allow clear
identification.
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Called off
by Jake Thomas
This is a depressing reality for
many and, for those of us who are
Christians, it is something we have
to get our head around.
Rightly or wrongly, what we do for a living is
often how we define each other and ourselves:
scientist, lawyer, teacher, nurse etc. Just
because we are Christians doesn’t mean we
won’t fall into the same trap that society
measures people by: the job you do, the house
you live in, the car you drive or how much
money you earn. Upon meeting someone for
the first time and having asked their name,
the second question that we usually ask is
“what do you do for a living?”
In the current economic climate, it is
becoming more common to hear the
words “unemployed” or “just been made
redundant”. Having taken voluntary
redundancy in April last year, and not being in
paid employment, it has been something I have
been wrestling with.
My own answers to the question of “what
I do” have ranged from “full-time househusband” (which gets some raised eyebrows),
to “taking a sabbatical”, or “taking some
time out” and “having a mid-life crisis”.
I therefore sought out two other men,
Colin Gough and Conor Snowden, who
also have the responsibility of young
families (three children each) who are facing
redundancy. I was keen to find out how this
has affected their relationship with God and
what impact unemployment, or the threat of
redundancy, has had on their faith and their
day-to-day lives.
Colin has been in marketing for 25 years
and has had first-hand experience of
redundancy several times, but on each occasion
it has happened, another job would be just
around the corner. While some might say this
was coincidence or luck, Colin is adamant that
it was God who was the provider. “Whenever
I needed a job, one would appear – God always
sorted something out”.
why is God not
answering my prayers?
Colin has a down-to-earth faith, having
being brought up in a strong Christian family
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
– “I was a Christian in my mother’s womb!”
When he was made redundant just over three
years ago, he expected to find something
quickly, but this time there was no job “just
round the corner” and he has been out of
work for much longer than he would have
thought possible. The financial pressures
have been difficult but there is also the
inevitable question of “why is God not
answering my prayers?”
God has always been in
control, even when he
seems to be silent
For many, this period could lead to
depression as well as wondering where God
is. However, Colin is remarkably frank and
upbeat while acknowledging that things have
been far from easy. “God has always been in
control, even when he seems to be silent.
Three years may seem like a long time in the
here and now, but you have to look at the
bigger picture and put it in the perspective of
eternity. I have to accept that God is in this
situation even when I can’t hear him… and we
never know what is just around the corner.
God has provided for me through family and
friends, which has been a real blessing”. “But
you must have had some low points along
the way?” I asked. “Of course – it hasn’t been
easy, but I had an incredible experience where
I met with the Holy Spirit and, without wanting
to sound trite, I had a very real and personal
sense of his peace and assurance. This has
really helped me put my trust in
God and know that it is he, and not me, who is
in control.”
You cannot fail to be impressed and
encouraged by this attitude, although I suspect
that Conor, sitting next to me, will be hoping
that his experience will be a little different!
Conor’s working week is split between two
part-time jobs – working as an elected
representative for Edinburgh Council as a
Liberal Democrat and for the British Council.
He has decided not to seek re-election to
the Council on 5th May, while his other job
with the British Council will be coming to an
end in the summer due to the cut-backs in the
public sector. He is looking for a fresh
challenge, hoping to find a job within the same
organisation, the British Council, but looking
to head somewhere overseas, seeing it as an
ideal opportunity for his family to experience
another culture at a time when they are young
and mobile.
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However, these jobs are few and far
between at the best of times and, given that
he has yet to find a job, he understatedly tells
me that this is “a bit of a worry”. He has found
it strange to be in a period of such uncertainty.
“At Christmas we usually plan or think about
things happening in the next year – holidays,
birthdays etc. but this is the first time in my
married life when there is very little that we
can actually plan for, as we have no idea where
we will be in the summer.”
Facing the prospect of going from two
jobs to none in a short space of time, and
therefore being unemployed with no income,
it is with a wry smile that he tells me “God has
given me peace. If I weren’t a Christian, I would
be stressed and depressed. But, I believe that
God is in control of it all, even if we don’t
always feel it. God does provide – maybe not
everything you might want, but what you need
is what you have.”
God does provide…
what you need
is what you have
Speaking to both Conor and Colin, I was
struck by their calmness and composure as
well as their sense of humour in uncertain
times. Colin said that “just because we are
Christians doesn’t make us immune to all the
bad stuff that happens to everyone else, but
God is in control of the situation and we can
put our trust in him”. As I reflected on what
they’d been saying, and as I listen to myself
shouting at the kids in the morning, looking
for lost socks, shoes and homework that
hasn’t been done, in the carnage and chaos of
the school-run, I concluded that Forest Gump
was right: life is never predictable – you never
know quite what lies around the corner.
just because we are
Christians doesn’t
make us immune
7
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Early Morning Call
by Sarah Roberts; photo by David Jeffrey
As well as holding down a full-time
job in an Edinburgh legal firm,
Diana Hall is training for ordination
with the Scottish Episcopal Church
(SEC). Sarah caught up with her to
find out more.
It’s still dark at half past seven on the cold
January morning that I’m meeting with Diana
Hall. I have literally just tumbled out of bed
and jumped on my bike, and as I burst into the
coffee shop (late, of course, my excuses
rushing out of my mouth as fast as I can
unravel myself from my cycling gear) I am
met by a calm, composed Diana who gives
the impression that, despite the fact that the
sun hasn’t risen, she is half way through her
day already. And that’s because she is! Fitting
in theological study and vocational exploration
around work means that it is not unusual for
her day to start at half past five in the morning.
Diana’s call to ordination is impossible to
separate from her story of conversion and,
throughout our time together, I am struck
again and again by how quickly things have
unfolded for her. “I’ve only been a Christian
since 2007!” Diana reveals and she begins by
telling me her story. During a difficult time in
her life Diana did an Alpha course in early
2007 but “I was so convinced that Christianity
wasn’t for me,” she says, “that I threw the
Bible I’d bought in the skip!”
Soon after, she decided to give church
one final chance and she tells me of an evening
service she went to in Pollock Halls. “I basically
thought ‘I’ll go one last time to church to
prove that it’s all nonsense’ and I sat right
beside the doors so that I could make a quick
escape!” Sitting beside her, however, was
someone whom Diana had got to know from
the Alpha course and the conversation they
had led to Diana signing up for the next Alpha.
“I then became a Christian really quickly,”
Diana recounts, “because actually I’d been
searching long and hard for a while.”
Her decision to become a Christian in May
2007 turned Diana’s world upside down – “in
a good way!” she adds. From working long
hours six days a week as a lawyer, and on a
clear promotional route, Diana began to
question her chosen lifestyle. “My world view
changed,” she tells me, “and I began to wonder
if climbing the greasy pole and earning lots of
money was right for me.”
My world view
changed
But isn’t that a big leap to ordination, I
wonder? Diana continues, “I found myself
saying to God, ‘I need a new job’ and the idea
of ordination just surfaced in my head.” Diana
admits feeling a mixture of terror, excitement
and denial but all the while a clear sense of
needing to explore what God might be saying.
“I did a Retreat in Daily Life,” she tells me, “and
that was a really safe space to let thoughts
surface knowing that I could walk away
without having to tell anyone else.” Diana also
began reading passages from the Bible about
calling, “and all the while I was asking God to
get me out of my job!”
Aware that she was a very new Christian,
Diana took an opportunity in 2008 to spend a
year at the Abernethy Outdoor Centre in
Ardeonaig. “It meant I could broaden my
experience, live in a rural area and try out
different areas of ministry,” Diana explains. “I
then began speaking to a couple of friends
about what was going on for me and they
were very affirming.”
On her return to Edinburgh, Diana began
part-time work as a lawyer alongside a long
distance theology course run by St. John’s
College, Nottingham. “I found this really
helpful,” she tells me, “and it got to the point
where I felt like the call to ordination kept
tapping me on the shoulder in a way that I
couldn’t ignore any more.”
It was at this stage that Diana spoke to
Dave Richards and the formal process of
exploration began by meeting with Marion
Chatterley, the Diocesan Director of
Ordinands. “Marion highlighted to me that
ordination would be into the whole church
rather than into P’s & G’s,” Diana says. “She
encouraged me to visit a wide range of
Episcopal churches to get a sense of the
diversity of the SEC, and recommended some
reading as well as creating space to reflect.”
Diana describes her journey of exploration
as a “constant rounding experience” and, as
she looks back, she can see how things have
unfolded. “It’s been frustrating at times
though,” she admits, “and although I’ve been a
Christian for a short time it still feels like it
has been a slow process. At the start of last
year I wasn’t sure if selection and training was
ever going to happen so I basically went full
time in my job. The very next day a selection
panel place became available!” It took about a
year from the time she started seeing Marion
until being recommended by the Scottish
Provincial Panel in April 2011 and the English
equivalent (Bishops’ Advisory Panel) in
September 2011.
The training Diana refers to is a three year
course run by TISEC (Theological Institute of
the Scottish Episcopal Church) and accredited
by York St John University which trains
ordinands and lay readers within the Scottish
Episcopal Church. In addition to theological
training and ongoing reflection on the call to
the ministry, there are residential weekends,
regular meetings with the Diocesan Advisor,
a summer school and a placement each year
from Epiphany to Easter. “It’s a demanding
schedule,” Diana acknowledges, “and there are
times when I do wonder if I can manage it
alongside full-time work – especially when
essay deadlines are looming!”
I ask Diana how as a church family we can
support her. “Pray!” she answers, “My home
group has been great – even though I can’t
get there very often I know they are there
for me and praying for me which means a lot.”
Find out what makes
you sing
Any advice for others who might be
wondering about God’s call? “Find out what
makes you sing,” Diana says, “and discover
who God has made you to be – it’s all about
the exploration, even if ordination isn’t right.”
As our conversation draws to a close just
before nine o’clock (Diana still has a full day’s
work at the law firm ahead of her) I feel really
encouraged by God’s call in her life. She has
wisdom and depth, as well as a sense of hope
about the future of the church. That God
continues to call people in this way fills me
with hope too and I get on my bike with a
fresh desire to discover my own song. But
right now? I feel the call back to bed…
8
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Stepping into the Unknown
by Sarah Roberts; photo by David Jeffrey
Rosie Addis has an obvious flair for
interpreting into British Sign
Language. Why then has she
decided to undertake such a radical
career change as the journey to
ordination?
Rosie Addis is not just a familiar figure in
P’s & G’s; around Edinburgh and even further
afield, she is well known and respected as
an interpreter for deaf people and, if you’ve
ever seen her in action during a theatrical
performance, you will know what a talented
woman she is. So why change all this and to
train towards ordination?
Rosie smiles as I ask her this. “That’s exactly
what a lot of people have said over the years.”
she tells me, “I had been sitting with this
feeling about ordination for around ten years
but it seemed like people were thinking,
‘you’ve got these specific gifts for this
specialist job and you’ve got to do it because
no one else could.’”
And so Rosie continued to sign but the
sense of potential call to the ministry did not
go away. During those ten years she was
actively involved in P’s & G’s, including leading
a home group, but all the while feeling that
her leadership potential was not really being
fully realised. “Within a church like P’s & G’s,”
Rosie explains, “there are so many talented
people that it can be hard to gain actual
leadership experience.”
This changed for Rosie when in 2009 she
was voted onto Vestry. “Suddenly it felt like
people within the church started to see my
leadership qualities,” Rosie tells me, “and this
gave me confidence, but more than that,
people saw the potential in me and that was
really affirming.” Having previously done the
Network Course Rosie knew that her gifts
included prophesy, teaching and leading and
it was her husband Reuben who said on the
way back from Spring Harvest in April 2010,
“you should go for ordination.”
Like Diana ( see page 7 ), Rosie began
meeting with Marion Chatterley and was
encouraged to undertake a year of
discernment. This was not just about Rosie’s
calling, however, as she explains: “We also
went to sessions with Marion as a couple and
as a family,” (Rosie and Reuben have Emily, 11,
and Sam, 9) “because this will affect all of us
and it was really important to hear how the
children felt about it.” During the year Rosie
had an opportunity to see the Scottish
Episcopal Church in all its breadth and she
soon realised that “the Episcopal Church is
not P’s & G’s!”
Following a fairly quick and
straightforward discernment period Rosie
went before the Scottish Panel in January 2011.
Things then really started moving fast as Rosie
recounts: “I got an email with my name on the
preaching rota and assumed it was a mistake
but Dave emailed back to say, ‘you’re an
ordinand elect now – you can preach!’” Eolene
Boyd-MacMillan offered to critique Rosie’s
preaching and she found this support really
helpful.
That really was God at
work!
Summary Execution
by Emma Jamieson; photo by David Jeffrey
In this series, we ask a P’s & G’s
theologian to explore our topic in
summary form – as if there were a
gun to their head!
A few weeks ago in his sermon, Jason Curtis
stated that those who felt a calling to lead the
church were to “get ready to die.” Sitting in
the balcony as a final year Divinity student
and currently exploring my own calling, I felt
pinned to my seat.
Exploring ‘the call’ can sound like a pious
response of a final year student trying to
scrape an answer together to the question
“So what are you going to do with a Divinity
degree?” Yet the fact is we are all called into
ministry within the church: our God is a
missionary God, Jesus embodied that mission
on earth, and the church now continues it.
John Pritchard’s The Life and Work of a
Priest summarises the different aspects of
ordained ministry under three headings: The
Glory of God, The Pain of the World and The
Renewal of the Church. While written for
those specifically exploring a call to ordination,
it is certainly not exclusive. We can all
recognise elements of this in our every day
journey with God. Maybe you long to honour
and glorify God in your life, maybe seeing
conflict and starvation around the world or
closer to home fills you with a pain unrelated
to your own circumstances, or maybe you’re
frustrated with the apathy towards the church
and long to see it reclaim a role as salt and
light in society.
Listening to God and understanding where
he is calling you to be is no easy task. Some
of us may be called to full-time ministry,
others will feel called to their family, a specific
career, job, vocation, study, mission abroad…
But above all, Pritchard states that we are all
first and foremost called to a life of holiness.
By spending more time with our holy God,
we are able to hear his call on our life more
clearly – a daunting, yet joyful, task.
9
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
In amongst the exploration of her
potential call Rosie still had to sort out the
matter of theological training. “That really was
God at work!” she tells me. Out of the blue in
April 2011 Rosie heard that there was funding
available for her to study theology at New
College. The trouble was she had missed all
the UCAS deadlines plus she needed an
academic reference. “That same day,” Rosie
recounts, “Eolene emailed to say ‘if you ever
need an academic reference...’! And suddenly
the university didn’t mind about deadlines!”
Taking a step of faith, Rosie accepted her New
College place before attending the Bishops’
Advisory Panel in England in June 2011, a
decision which was soon confirmed as the
right one.
Rosie also has to undergo TISEC training
but she is just doing the vocational part of
the course which involves exploring the
intricate workings of the Episcopal Church
and learning about all that is involved in
leading worship. And then there’s her yearly
placement. “I’m at Old St. Paul’s right now,”
she tells me, “which is very different to
P’s & G’s.” Last week Rosie served in the role
of sub-deacon at the Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament. “I found myself prostrating in front
of the Eucharist Wafer, thinking ‘what am I
doing?’” she laughs, “But then I realised that
my presence there was helping others to enter
into worship and I felt really moved.”
On completion of her training Rosie will
In Training
by Sarah Roberts
In the same way that both Diana
and Rosie are on placements at
other churches until Easter, we at
P’s & G’s are also hosting two
women in training this term.
Donna Cooper’s home church is St. David’s
Pilton, a small congregation situated in an
urban priority part of Edinburgh where poverty
and drugs are very real issues and where
church does not feel relevant to most people.
She is keen for the time at P’s & G’s to give her
a taste of a wide variety of programmes and
groups so that she can take these ideas back
to her own congregation which she feels
committed to in the long term.
When I ask Donna about her journey
be ready for a curacy in 2014. Does she have
any doubts? “Yes, lots!” she admits. “I do
wonder about those ten years of not doing
anything about my call and I have loads of
questions: Maybe I’ve got this wrong? Why
didn’t people see it in me before?” There are
challenges too, of course. “It requires a lot of
organisation at home – in a way, we’re being
called as a family.”
space to reflect and to
explore God’s call
When their children were born both
Reuben and Rosie each worked part time
giving them space to reflect and to explore
God’s call for them. “Now that I am training,
whilst Reuben can take on a bit more of the
childcare, I still need to earn my share of our
income – it’s a family effort!” Rosie continues
to sign for theatre performances and she is
also an assessor for the Disabled Students
Allowance which means that evenings can be
long. “There are times,” Rosie confesses,
“where at ten in the evening I don’t want to
read a book about theology, I just want to go
to bed!”
It’s not just their immediate family
supporting Rosie. “We’ve felt very much loved
by our church family,” Rosie tells me, “and
people have been so generous and thoughtful
which has meant a lot. Although I have been at
towards ordination she says, “I still can’t quite
believe that God has chosen this journey for
me! But I have told God that I will walk this
path until someone says this is the wrong
way. So far, to my constant surprise, everyone
has agreed that this is the right way!”
Carol Latimer hails from Aberdour and is
training with TISEC to become a lay reader.
Her home church is St. Peter’s, Kirkcaldy, which
is involved in the St. Andrews, Dunkeld and
Dunblane Diocesan Mission Programme,
‘Casting the Net’. She is casting her own net
here at P’s & G’s for ideas on how to draw
more families into St. Peter’s and how to help
young people in particular let Christ be at the
centre of their lives, as well as offer them
opportunities for worship that suit their
lifestyle. Carol says that, although she had felt
nudged towards ministry for several years,
she was given a hefty spiritual push last
autumn and suddenly found herself doing the
P’s & G’s for 19 years I know so many more
people now!”
God uses everyone
Does Rosie have any advice to offer to
others? “Everyone should be asking, ‘what is
my call?’” she replies. “It’s not about how old
you are either. Don’t write yourself off – God
uses everyone.” In fact for Rosie being a bit
older is an advantage: “I’m going to be dealing
with some really difficult pastoral situations,”
she reflects, “and I think maturity and life
experience will help in that. Being a priest is
about being there for people in their really
tough times.”
Meeting with Rosie between her New
College lectures and a Vestry prayer meeting
fills me once again with an overwhelming
sense of hope for the future of the church.
Rosie’s story is a reminder that it is God who
does the calling and all we need to do is to
listen and be ready. As Rosie reflects on the
risk she has taken – stepping from a career
that she loves, where she has respect and
status, into the unknown – I can see in her a
sense of excitement and a deep assurance
that God is with her in it all. It makes me feel
excited about venturing into the unknown
too and it is so encouraging to know that
when we respond to God’s call, whatever that
may be, there are others who have gone
that way before.
TISEC course. “If we are where we are supposed
to be,” Carol tells me, “God will give us what
we need each day to complete the task.”
It is great that P’s & G’s offers placements
to people in training but it is also a chance for
us to learn about what God is doing in other
parts of the wider church so do take the
opportunity to chat with them over the next
few weeks – Carol and Donna would both be
delighted to meet you!
Carol & Donna
10
Late Call
by Christine Deponio; photos by P. Deponio
Is calling a young person’s thing or
are we still useful in the later stages
of life? Does God still talk to us
when our hearing’s going?!
Myra Martin
I believe God’s
plan is for the whole
of our lives. Our
division into work /
retirement
is
artificial. Phil.1:6
reminds us that “…he
who began a good
work in you will carry it on to completion…”
God’s plan is for the
whole of our lives
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
What retirement gives is time – time to
do new things, like daytime Spanish courses,
Art courses and lectures; time for people, for
hospitality; time to volunteer, for Babies &
Toddlers, the One World shop; time to read,
embroider, for theatre, concerts, films, travel…
It also gives opportunities to make use of
past experience in new ways. For me,
experience of social work / counselling, being
a chaplain’s wife in boarding schools, being
in a parish, led to an invitation to be a
chaplain to ministers in the Edinburgh
presbytery of the Church of Scotland. So, I’ve
had five stimulating years seeing fifteen
people regularly.
Fortunately, many of these activities can
be combined with walking, which helps keep
the stiffness of old age at bay!
Pauline Hurst
Being a person who has
plenty of energy made
me wonder if I’d enjoy
retirement. I need structure
to my day and hated the
thought of drifting through
life. But no need to worry!
Friends, ex-work colleagues
Discovering
Together
Fair shout
by Sarah Roberts
Fairtrade fortnight starts 27th
February – what better time to
remember our call to act justly?
Diana and Rosie are both well on their way
on the journey to ordination but there are a
significant number of others within P’s & G’s
who are also exploring a sense of vocation
to ordained ministry.
Knowing that the exploration stage can
be an exciting and exhilarating, yet also a
bewildering and vulnerable experience,
Vanessa Parr and Fiona Baker (who has
coordinated several ‘Discerning your Calling
to Ministry’ courses in the US) are facilitating
the Discover Group. Meeting once or twice a
term the group aims to support and encourage
those under 40 who are discerning God’s call.
The group participants are all at very different
stages of their journey: some are in the
process of putting themselves forward for
ordination, some are tentatively beginning and
others just have a sense that they need to
explore ‘something’. If you are wondering
about exploring a potential call to ordination,
regardless of your age and stage, any of the
clergy team would be delighted to chat.
by Jenny Heyward
‘I, the LORD, have called you and given you
power to see that justice is done on earth.’
Isaiah 42:6 (GNB)
Seeing that justice is done on earth can
start locally, in your home, workplace and
school by choosing to pack a Fairtrade banana
in your lunchbox or when you grab a Fairtrade
coffee before getting on the bus. Fairtrade is
all about providing a fair deal (that is, justice)
for the people who produce the goods that
we consume. This means paying workers well
and investing in communities. The great thing
is that consumer power has wrought a real
change in recent years; Fairtrade-certified
goods are now widely available in high-street
stores, as well as in specialist shops and at the
Fairtrade stall in church.
P’s & G’s members have already done a lot
to respond to this call. The 90kg challenge
(which sets out to sell 90 bags of Fairtrade
rice) was a massive success earlier this year,
and family came up with projects galore that
could keep me occupied ad nauseam!
God by no means
pensions people off
from serving him
One of the beauties of retirement is being
able to choose what to do, and another is
discovering that God by no means pensions
people off from serving him when they reach
a certain age! Church-wise I’ve had more time
to be involved with Global Focus and P’s & G’s
mission partners as well as take an active role
in the 9 am service – particularly during our
journeying between church, 40 York Place and
back again. And it’s good to have time just to
be available… I’ve had great fun being part of
“once-off” projects – from focus groups on
the Psalms with non-church students to
helping set up and run Festival Fringe events.
And personally – I’ve indulged my love of
walking; have discovered the Pentlands; made
many new friends; volunteered with the
Friends of Edinburgh Prison; and yes… have
meaning that enough money was raised to
send a Malawian child to school. Not only
was the 90kg challenge met, but people also
donated a total of £40. The Fairtrade Group
recently received a letter from Just Trading
Scotland, which runs the 90kg challenge,
saying a big thank you for the generosity of
the P’s & G’s congregation. They wrote that the
extra donations would be re-directed to the
Malawian farmers to invest in education and
farming tools.
As Fairtrade fortnight commences, it’s
important to remember the call in Isaiah to act
justly. There will be events going on all over
the city, including activities in schools and an
event on Saturday 3rd March, run by the Balerno
Fair Trade group. There will also be a stall in
church after each service on the 4th March,
which will be selling a range of Fairtrade
products, including baking kits, and there will
even be some homemade baking to sample!
And, of course, it’s important to remember
that the call to act justly goes beyond a set
Fairtrade fortnight. As individuals why don’t
we make this year a time to listen and respond
to the call to act justly and to seek out Fairtrade
and local produce? Let’s also act collectively;
look out for more events to be happening in
church over the next year.
11
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
time left for family and grandchildren and
holidays!
Marjory Vander Steen
Being 60+, with
health, energy and time
is a gift. It’s a privilege
to be ‘available’ – and
not just to jump on a
bus with my free pass!
Now there is no longer
a set routine, I rely on
God’s
promptings
more to structure my day.
rely on God’s
promptings
With a background in language teaching,
working with the International Students and
multi-racial B’s & T’s is very stimulating.
Attempting ‘new’ things is challenging but
rewarding e.g. starting to volunteer with the
MS Society, helping with Marriage Course
catering (especially scary when you discover
the church ovens are out of action!), playing
keyboard once a month in a small church (a
real joy and it keeps me practising!)
It’s always good to have a goal - mine this
year is to complete my last two mainland
‘Munros’. A weekly visit to my 94 year old
mother in Glasgow, still living on her own,
always reminds me that no matter what our
stage in life, if we’re in it with God, it’s always
an exciting adventure.
Carolyn & Sandy Millar
It is now almost twenty years since we
were both heavily involved in church life, I as
the church secretary and Sandy as the Vestry
Finance Co-ordinator. Life moves on and we
may now be called to be less or differently
involved but God does not expect retirement.
There is always something do be done, it is a
question of finding what he wants us to do.
We both help with the Newcomers
Evenings and serve on the Welcome Desk.
We are also on the reading / prayer rota for
the 9 am service. Sandy is involved with a
home group and I organise the catering team
for the Marriage Courses and other one-off
meals, I also organise the flower rota and
Christmas decoration teams. If the Queen,
who is somewhat older than we are, is still
working in the service of this country, how
can we do any less in the service of our Lord!
God does not expect
retirement
A woman walking with God
by Janette & Ronnie Kerr
Although Carole doesn’t
particularly like women’s events,
six years ago she found herself
called to instigate one in Scotland.
The conference now draws almost
1200 women!
When it comes to acting on a spiritual impulse,
Carole Gordon doesn’t just talk the talk, she
walks the walk. Carole, familiar to many at
P’s & G’s as an unflappable catering organiser,
has been instrumental in helping to establish
Scotland’s biggest Christian gathering of
women.
Women Walking with God is an annual
event that draws over a thousand delegates
from across the county, offering biblical
teaching, worship and ministry in a relaxed
environment and, without Carole’s vision, it
might never have become a reality.
Although Carole had never been
particularly enthusiastic about women’s
events, a visit to Focus Fest in Belfast with
her friend Katy Backler in 2005 overthrew
her expectations. She was quickly caught up
in the sense of fun as she found herself in an
auditorium with grandmothers, mums and
daughters all listening attentively to the Bible
being taught.
Carole was keenly struck by a real sense
of God being present in the worship – it was,
she remembers, one of those times when
heaven touches earth.
Carole and Katy enjoyed the event so
much when they returned the following year
that they found themselves agreeing: “We
could do something like this in Scotland.”
On returning home, they began seeking the
wisdom of other women they knew well.
An awareness grew that Scotland was well
resourced and capable of supporting
such an event.
God spoke very clearly
to me
“God spoke very clearly to me,” recalls
Carole, “saying that this was something we
could really do in Scotland and it’s amazing
what God can do if we follow the prompt he
gives us.”
Carole says she is overwhelmed when she
thinks that God has used her in something
that has impacted on so many lives, “God has
used our lack of experience. We wanted God
to use us, stretch us, but we wanted to be
faithful in what he had called us to do.
“There was a desire to do the best that we
could, therefore, details mattered, so that the
women coming firstly had a sense of God’s
presence and then had a great day out.
“At the core of WWWG is a desire to reach
women in church communities so that they
will leave inspired and encouraged to reach
out to their local communities. We want the
event to be like a well, where the women can
‘drink’ deeply and go away filled up.”
www.womenwalkingwithgod.co.uk
it’s amazing what God
can do if we follow the
prompt he gives us
12
Manifesto
by John White
John gives the Blether a one-time,
all-access view to the behind the
scenes working of Manifesto
(P’s & G’s men’s group).
It has come to my attention that many females
have been asking about what goes on during
a Manifesto event. So pour yourself a cup of
Lady Grey, find a nice chair in front of a roaring
fire and grab a couple of those nice biscuits
that you hide from the kids. Let me paint a
picture for you of our last event – the Beer
and Carols Night.
Imagine the city centre lit up for Christmas
with holiday shoppers bustling to and fro
trying to find those last minute gifts. Now,
imagine a man sashaying down the street with
a confident swagger. Passers-by have a strange
feeling of hope sweep over them, some just
cry softly to themselves as they bask in his
radiance. The man walking down the street is
none other than Manifesto’s own Neil Stewart.
But, he has transformed himself into the
Chilled
convention
by M. Brett & C. Burrows; photo J. Kelly
“Truly a retreat: sleeping, eating,
singing, prayer – I met God on this
retreat. It was a wonderful
weekend!” Jackie Kelly
Issue 17: It’s your call | February 2012
Carolmeister by wearing the most stunning
red trousers!
As he arrives at the church he is greeted
warmly by a cup of hot mulled apple juice and
a mince pie. On this night, 150 men of all ages
show up and are greeted in the same fashion.
The have all come out on this windy Scottish
night for the same thing: the promise of beer,
carols and a hog roast. As men find their seats,
they are greeted and given their first beer – it
is a hopped lager that goes well with the
cheese. As the night progresses three more
beers are presented, all tasty and paired well
(except for the one cheese that everyone
hated). The hog roast fills the belly of the
men, as the banter grows louder.
Towards the end of the night Dave
Richards take the stage, you can tell he has
stood there before but maybe not with beer
coursing through his veins! He explains in an
acceptable fashion that Christmas is all about
For the second year in a row, a group of
students escaped from lectures for an
encouraging weekend away together in
January. The venue was the Well Road Centre
in Moffat, a Victorian house with plenty of
space to sleep, eat, chill out and meet together.
The weekend began with mulled cider,
dinner and our first worship session, which,
with a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere,
set the tone for what was to come. Saturday
morning was our main time of teaching with
Will Kelly heading up two sessions about
discipleship in our context as students
Jesus, which is good, as Manifesto is a place
for men to have fun and get to know Jesus.
But, this isn’t like another night where Dave
finishes his talk and we sing Be Thou My Vision
while prayer is offered. Ohhh no, this night is
different!
Neil takes the stage again looking like
Santa Claus from the waist down. He leads
these jolly souls in a entertaining version of
the 12 Days of Christmas. The night is over,
but the men linger to chat and compare scars.
It’s been another great Manifesto event.
Manifesto At The Movies will have been on
the 21st of February by the time you read this
– I’m sure it will have been just as good.
However, I see you have finished your cup of
Lady Grey and the fire is dying down. I bid
you farewell.
and also as young adults. Following a healthy
lunch, some took the opportunity to explore
Moffat and its beautiful surroundings, whilst
others chose to stay and work or chat. The
evening entertainment was a murder mystery
dinner with an all-star cast. Throughout the
meal, the tables sifted through the web of
lies that were laid out before them. People
drifted to bed slowly during a couple of films
and an impromptu theological debate.
Whether the time is spent discussing faith,
worshiping together, sharing a meal, getting
to know new people or just having fun,
weekends away are always a time where a
community grows. This is especially important
for students, who can struggle to find a place
within a big church. Will’s teaching encouraged
us to be aware of the opportunities to disciple
to those around us in all parts of our lives and
challenged us to use those opportunities well.
Vanessa brought our time together to
a close on Sunday with an intimate
communion service and there was a great
feeling of fellowship and care as we prayed
for each other.