Author: Lucy Llewellyn

Friends,

This Sunday we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. This is always a very special occasion as parents bring their child into the church and promise to raise her in the Christian faith with the support and prayers of her Godparents and the congregation. But it is always important to remember that this is a sacrament of grace, a gift from God and that baptism is not something we do for God but a celebration of what God has already done for us in Christ. I am especially pleased to baptise Matilda as I married her parents two years ago, a reminder of how long I’ve been at St. Columba’s. I hope that Matilda and all children baptised into the church will find a welcome and a church family to join wherever in the world life takes them.

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Friends,

Every now and again I say that I’m going to give up social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I sometimes find myself drawn into pointless arguments about politics, the Church, the constitution or whatever, with people who are not interested in any point of view but their own and certainly don’t want to have a reasoned discussion. But having said that Facebook is a good way of maintaining contact with cousins and old friends and although I might not be ‘phoning or writing to them every week, thanks to Facebook I know what they and their children are doing. Later than everyone else I’ve also been persuaded to join Whatsapp which is another useful way to keep in touch. One of the people I enjoy following on Twitter is Eduard Habsbsing, Hungarian ambassador to the Vatican. He recently invited his followers to post photographs of the church in which they were baptised and many responded with beautiful pictures of churches all over the world. Unfortunately I did not have a good picture of St. Ninians Old Parish Church in Stirling which I could contribute but as it is the church where my parents were married, where I was baptised and where many of my family are buried in the churchyard it is a place for which I have great affection.

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This week congregation members met to continue the thinking initiated by the Congregational Away Day in September 2023. Specifically, how can we build awareness and connections between our Sunday congregation (members and visitors) and the many hundreds of people (young and old) who cross the threshold of our building almost every week of the year. In the light of those discussions, the following might be of interest – it originally appeared in Revd David Donald Scott’s, Blog on the Learig.

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The Royal Albert Hall is one of St Columba’s famous, neighbouring landmarks, currently hosting the Proms, gathering its musicians and audiences from near and far. This week retired Church of Scotland minister, Revd Tom Gordon blogged on a musical theme, sharing three quotes to make us think and smile.

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Dear Friends,

St. Columba’s is unusual – we all know that – but unusual in that it is one of only a handful of Church of Scotland churches to celebrate the Lord’s Supper weekly. I’m told that this came about because a previous minister rightly thought that there should be provision for those members who travel a distance to church and might not always be present at the quarterly communions. Some churches celebrate the sacrament monthly while others maintain the tradition with which I grew up of a twice yearly celebration, preceded by a preparatory service on Friday evening and followed by a thanksgiving service on Sunday afternoon. It was a radical step when our minister introduced an additional celebration on Easter Day! Members of other denominations often ask why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper so infrequently – is it because we don’t think Communion is important? But of course nothing could be further from the truth and the answer lies deep in the history of the church.

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Dear Friends,

The ancient kings of Israel were called to be the shepherds of their people and David had actually gone from shepherd boy to king, arriving at the high office to which God called him. But as we will read in our Old Testament lesson from 2 Samuel 11 this week, once he became king and had freedom to behave as he wished, his actions which had previously protected his people now resulted in the suffering and even death of other people. As the all-powerful king he ceased to think how his actions impacted others and put his own desires first.

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The Gospel reading set for this Sunday includes Jesus inviting his disciples: “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat (Mark 6:31-2).

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Friends,

It was a huge honour to be invited to the recent ordination of Monsignor James Curry as Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and titular Bishop of Ramsbiria. It fills me with joy that whatever the differences between our denominations we can share these special occasions and I was delighted to be able to wish “Father Jim” well as he embarks on this new phase of his ministry. The invitation to attend the service in Westminster Cathedral and the party afterwards came from Cardinal Nichols, the envelope looking very official, complete with his coat of arms, and I must confess that I’ve never lost the sense of excitement I had as a youngster when an unexpected and important-looking letter arrives.

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Friends,

Some years ago, at one of the Early/Family Services, held in the London Scottish Regimental Chapel, it was our custom to ask, before the prayers, if there was anything people would like to give special thanks for, or any situation/person we would particularly like to pray for. Teachers, holidays, ice-cream, the World Cup, Wimbledon, grandparents and siblings all figured. Memorably, on one occasion, one young voice responded: “Pray that Mr Trump doesn’t visit Britain.” There was a collective in-take of breath, as we considered this very specific petition; a public airing of what was clearly domestic/parental politics. The response was given: “I am not sure how God will answer that prayer, but perhaps we could remember: Politicians should never be above our criticism, or beneath our prayers.” Our young companion looked unconvinced.

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Friends,

I received the recent gift of an exquisitely crafted cross, from craft group member Gillian Buchanan. It is created using the lace-making technique of tatting. This was definitely new to me – further research informed, tatting uses “a series of knots and loops to create a particularly durable type of lace, perfect for motifs and edgings. Becoming very popular in Europe in the early 19th Century, it goes by many names… The American’s call it tatting, the French, frivolet, the Italian’s, chiacchierino and the German’s, schiffchenarbeit, which charmingly translates to “work of the little boat” referring to the boat shaped shuttle used to create it!”

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