Category: News

Dear Friends,

I love the cinema and thoroughly enjoyed “Belfast”, directed by Kenneth Branagh and based partly on his childhood in that city at the beginning of “The Troubles” in the 1960’s. Very cleverly the film begins with colour shots of the vibrant city of Belfast today and then the main story is filmed in black and white. Perhaps our memories are black and white. This is a film about a particular time and place but I suspect has a universal appeal with its themes of community and belonging.

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Racial Justice Sunday: “What’s it got to do with me?”

Sunday 13th February is Racial Justice Sunday.

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When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep its pillars steady. Psalm 75:3

Friends,

Our newsletter this week borrows from the wisdoms of retired Church of Scotland minister and writer, Revd Tom Gordon.

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Friends,

Today, the 27th of January, marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. Hence, the date is chosen to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) – an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

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The Very Reverend Dr John Hedley McIndoe MA BD STM DD.

Friends,

Last weekend we received sad news that John McIndoe, minister of St Columba’s l/w St Andrew’s, Newcastle (1988 – 2000) and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (1996), died peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Glasgow. He had been admitted on Boxing Day after a significant deterioration in his health and daughters Margot and Jenni were with him. (We will communicate funeral arrangements when we have them.)

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Friends,

It still feels like early in a new year, with people continuing to greet with, Happy New Year, and ongoing chat about new year resolutions. So, two pieces sent to me recently, for consideration. Firstly, a sort of “recitation of resolutions” from Mother Teresa (circulated by the Congregational prayer Group – thank you.)

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The Gate of the Year

Friends,

A very Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. In the first newsletter of 2022, standing on a metaphorical vantage point, let us take a moment to recollect both things passed and things yet to come.

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Friends,

In Jo Swinney’s, The Whole Christmas Story (our Advent study book choice) she writes about Christmas carol services: “The familiar readings, melodies and prayers tether me to the heart of the festivities; a baby born to be the saviour of the world.” For many, music is integral to making, or awakening, Christmas – think Salvation Army brass bands on a street corner, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” on the radio, or the carols that we sing in this season.

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Friends,

This Sunday we welcome visitors to St Columba’s who are celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Colin Rae Brown (CRB), born on the 19th December 1821. Those attending are representing the Burns Club of London, the Greenock Burns Club, (known as The Mother Club, because it is the oldest Burns Club in the world, founded 21st July 1801, the fifth anniversary of the death of Robert Burns), and the Robert Burns World Federation. A series of commemorative events are being held this weekend, culminating in the laying of wreaths at CRB’s grave in Highgate Cemetery on Sunday afternoon.

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Friends,

This week I received a poem, with the invitation to share it. Its author is Peter Millar. Starting from his time working with the Church of South India, he began to compose a Christmas poem each year.

From the start, the poem went to people of different faiths and to many who were exploring the human journey in general. The poems continued first when Peter returned to Scotland, later when he was part of the ecumenical and visionary Wellspring Community in Australia, during his years working with the Iona Community on Iona, and after his wife Dorothy’s very sudden death early in 2001. Over the years the poems have linked him to many people, near his home and far from it.

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St Columba depicting coverting the Picts in a painting by William Brassey Hole.

Friends,

The 7th of December 521, is considered to be the birthday of St Columba, so we are approaching his 1500th anniversary. The following article first appeared in the Scotsman on 9th June 2021 and is shared with St Columba’s with the permission of its author, Professor Ian Bradley.

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When we bless the cup of blessing,
is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ?
When we break the bread,
is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ? I Corinthians 10: 16

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Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. Psalm 135:3

This Sunday, marked by some congregations as Christ the King Sunday, is the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, concluding the twelve-month cycle of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity.

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Friends,

Early in my ministry I conducted the funeral of an old man whose brother had been  killed in the First World War, bringing home to me the fact that that terrible conflict  was not ancient history. In fact, when I was at school there were still men living who had served in World War One, including my grandfather and I regret that I did not ask more questions and learn first-hand from their experience. Later I did speak to my great aunt about her time working in a munitions factory near Dumfries. It was hard work and dangerous but thankfully she survived and lived to be 105. Anyone who served in the Second World War is at least 95 today so I always encourage children and young people if they know someone who lived through that war and is willing to speak about it, to ask questions and learn from them about the reality of war, on the frontline and at the home front.

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