Following hot on the heals of the Rededication Service on Saturday, St Columba’s, Brora saw its first Sunday Service in a long while last Sunday at which Deacon Don was welcomed and read his Licence as Curate in Brora. James preached and Simon played the keyboard and tea, biscuits and chat followed.
78 people from Brora, from many faith communities and from across Sutherland, Caithness, Ross-shire, Inverness, Moray and as far afield as Linlithgow and Kelso, were shoehorned into St Columba’s Brora today for a service of Rededication and the Licensing of James as Priest-in-Charge. A very special occasion as it marks the start of a new chapter in St Columba’s 110 year history after more than two and a half years closure as a result of a fire in December 2016.
Bishop Mark spoke movingly of his struggle to discern the will of the Spirit in relation to St Columba’s and how he had been guided towards an exiting new witness with St Columba’s as a place where all are welcome, a place of Godliness.
At the end of the Service, Bishop Mark introduced the clergy team who will minister in and around St Columba’s:
Rev James Currall (Priest-in-Charge), Rev Don Grant (Assistant Curate) and Rev Simon Scott (Assistant Priest),. He then invited everyone to stay and enjoy refreshments and fellowship, both of which are part of Godliness, as much as worship and praise.
After the 50 years of Exile in Babylon, the people of Israel are permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, as a result of an edict of the Persian King Cyrus in 538 BCE.
“Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2-4)
King Cyrus asks everyone, whether or not they worship the same God, to assist in the effort and contribute gifts in kind. The return begins forthwith. However the work of rebuilding is halted by the hostility of the Samaritans and doesn’t actually get going until the reign of King Darius I. Darius orders a search of the archive and finds King Cyrus’s edict and not only silences all opposition, but also commands the rebel kings and governors to assist in every way.
Since April, when I became responsible to getting the repaired ‘tin tabernacle’ that is St Columba’s, ready for use again, I have been struck by the generosity of so many individuals and Churches in providing for us so much of what is needed for a Church to function. All this has happened much as indicated in the edicts of Cyrus and Darius, but without any edict – just sheer generosity and love.
I was reminded of the Return from Exile and the Edict of Cyrus, when I was visiting someone on Monday this week, who asked me to read a passage for her. I reached for the readings for the daily Eucharist. The Old Testament reading for Monday was Ezra 1:1-6 (the passage from which the quote above is taken).
Later on I reflected on how often passages proscribed in our lectionaries for particular days or occasions have an unnerving habit of speaking directly to a present situation or concern. For me this is one of the joys of using a lectionary, we don’t choose which passages to read, removing from us the temptation to read just the bits we like or want to preach on. This allows God to speak directly to us through the pages for Holy Scripture, guiding us to helpful or cautionary verses at exactly the time when we need to hear them.
Anyway back to the People of Israel and the People of Brora. Edict or no edict the various tribes and kingdoms in the Persian Empire did contribute to the rebuilding of the Temple in the years leading up to its reopening in 515 BCE and the People of Israel were very grateful for all the help they received. In the five months that I have been working with others to ready St Columba’s for its rededication this weekend, we have all been touched by the amazing generosity of individuals and fellow Christian communities of different denominations for the help they have given to re-equip our Tin Tabernacle, we like the people of Israel give hearty thanks (though animal sacrifices are not part of the rededication).
Blessings
James
Today, St Peter and the Holy Rood in Thurso was packed with people from Caithness, from across our Diocese, from elsewhere in Scotland, from England and from even further afield.
So many people gave of themselves to make Ellie’s ordination as Priest a splendid occasion: stunning flowers, splendid music and singing, generous welcome, sumptuous food and drink, fine preaching, and efficient choreography of a large number of servers, visiting clergy, and so on. So much planning and preparation by members of the congregations, so much planning and preparation by the Bishop and his chaplain, so much planning and travelling by the people from many areas of the life of our church, our community and Ellie’s family, friends and colleagues past and present.
But what was it all about? Obviously it was a significant event in the life of these congregations, who haven’t seen an ordination in either of their buildings for quite a while. It was a significant event in the life of the diocese which has nurtured Ellie’s vocation over the past five or six years. It was a significant event for Ellie’s family who were all assembled in a way that perhaps they rarely manage. And it was a significant event for Ellie herself after a period of years of journeying. But more importantly than all of these, it was an act of praise, worship and thanksgiving to God for his goodness to us, his work amongst us and our witness of that to each other.
That was the real focus. What it was not about was any individual, no matter what their role in the proceedings or in the Church more generally being any more important than any other. Everyone who was involved in the planning, in the preparation, as a guest or with a particular role to perform in the service or the celebrations afterwards, came to that service (as to the one in Inverness Cathedral last week) as an individual – a son or daughter of God. Each with a story of their own, each with their own sorrows and pain, each with their own hopes and joys. In that we are all equal and equally valued by God as beloved children.
Today saw the Ordination to the Diaconate of not one, not two, but three people. Inverness Cathedral hasn’t seen that number of Ordinations in a single day for many many a long year.
Congratulations to Don Grant, Katrina O’Neill and Kathryn Sanderson.
May God richly bless them and those that they serve in Ministry.
A few things have occurred over the past few weeks which speak of new beginnings.When I was at school or working in the University of Glasgow, this time of year was always a new beginning as a new academic year started, but since then as the summer starts to fade and there are the first signs of autumn, I have tended to reflect on endings rather than beginnings in September.
So what of these new beginnings? After a couple of year planning, the Dornoch Men’s Shed has finally become a reality and will be formally opening on 5th October. The work has been carried out by a group of men, none of whom are in their first flush of youth, but who have found new life in this project which has given a number of men a new less socially isolated focus. St Columba’s in Brora will be rededicated and open again for regular worship on 28th September, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of a devastating fire in late 2016 (see below for details). A member of the Tain congregation celebrated her 69th birthday by reaffirming her Baptism in a lovely service and picnic attended by 30 people from seven different congregations/fellowships on Shandwick beach last Sunday afternoon. In that service we prayed:
God of mercy and love,
new birth by water and the Spirit is your gift,
a gift none can take away;
grant that your servants may grow
into the fullness of the stature of Christ.
Fill them with the joy of your presence.
Increase in them the fruit of your Spirit:
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of love, patience and gentleness,
the spirit of wonder and true holiness.
Finally, this is the season for Ordinations. New beginnings in Ministry for Don, Katrina and Kathryn as they are ordained to the Diaconate on 14th September in the Cathedral and Ellie as she is ordained to the Presbyterate on 21th September in St Peter and the Holy Rood in Thurso. As Bishop Mark lays hands on each of those to be ordained Deacon, he will say:
Pour now upon her/him your Spirit
and make her/him a deacon in your Church,
to proclaim your love in word and deed.
As our Master Jesus washed the disciples’ feet,
may your servant follow that example.
May N. be holy, disciplined and sincere;
may her/his words declare your truth,
that her/his life may shine with
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a new beginning! May God bless all these new beginnings, as people at various stages in their lives find new beginnings: in the Men’s Shed project; in Worship, fellowship and peace in the refurbished and rededicated St Columba’s; in a reaffirmation of their faith in a joyous celebration and in a new life in active participation in the Ministry of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Blessings
James
St Columba’s Episcopal
Church Brora
Service of Rededication
3.00pm on Saturday 28th September
Everyone is most welcome to join us to celebrate the start of this new chapter in the story of St Columba’s which began almost exactly 110 years ago.
The service will be followed by refreshments and marks the reopening of the church for regular worship, after refurbishment following the fire which temporarily closed it in December 2016.
The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham has been a focus of pilgrimage and devotion since 1922.
We have an intention to establish a ‘local cell’ of The Society of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness.
Members of the Society are asked to say the Angelus each day.
If you are interested in being part of this exciting new venture, please contact the Rev Simon Scott by email: ihssimonscott@gmail.com or by phone on 01408 633614
Congregations from across the diocese are being invited and encouraged to come to this unique celebration.
“Her reminiscences of childhood near London during World War II in the care of her beloved aunts D and E are written with warmth and wit. Her strong faith, and the love and support of her aunts allowed her to develop an interesting and fulfilled life. The book also gives an insight into interesting historical details about schooling and nurse training over sixty years ago.“
Scottish Episcopal Church - Dornoch, Lairg, Brora, Tain & Tongue 