The Rt Rev Dr Gregor Duncan, Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway took part in a service to mark the anniversary of the bin lorry tragedy in Glasgow’s city centre last December. The service was organised by Glasgow Churches Together. Bishop Gregor preached the sermon. In the BBC live coverage of the service, it was reported that ‘Bishop says events on Queen Street a year ago were an accident waiting to happen and said it was “pointless and meaningless – a consequence of human folly and irresponsibility”.’
Bishop Gregor also said “Christians believe that the God who became flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, in Jesus Christ, the God of Christmastide, continues in our midst. God is to be found in the people who ran to help in George Square, who ran towards the mayhem. God is to be found in the efforts of the people who staff our emergency services. God is to be found in every act of compassion and of solidarity and of love, in every tear that is shed, in every moment of heart-rending grief, in the long winter of numbness and of pain and of loss. God is there, whether we can find it in us to find God there or not, or to believe that God is there or not. God is there to take our anger, our disbelief, our forsakenness, our outrage that the world is like this, if that is all we can do. And often it is all we can do, as the psalmists often show us: Why stand so far off, O Lord… God is there in our efforts to reduce the chances of such a thing ever happening again in our city. And God will be there when we fail and other, as yet unforeseen, accidents happen. God is there. God is here. God is God with us.
“God is God with us. Many people of faith, and not only Christians, experience this to be true, even, maybe even especially, in the darkest times of life. We hope and pray that this service, in a loving if inevitably small way, and in the midst of suffering and heartbreak, may help to keep that perspective alive and visible, whilst fully realising that for those whose lives were torn apart in our city centre a year ago the grief and the loss and the questioning will continue.”
The full sermon preached by Bishop Gregor at the service can be read here, and a reflection by Bishop Gregor on the tragedy a year on in The Herald newspaper can be read here.
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The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, considers the real story of Christmas. Watch the video here.
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The December edition of Inspires Magazine is now available. To subscribe, please visit http://www.scotland.anglican.org/who-we-are/publications/inspires/
This edition features articles on the liturgy of Advent, a Christian Aid response to the refugee crisis, finding a measure of meaning in the aftermath of a public tragedy, and the work of Waverley Care in Scotland.
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On 22 November, the Rev William Neill was ordained Deacon by the Rt Rev Dr Nigel Peyton, Bishop of Brechin at St Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee, and was appointed Assistant Curate at St Mary’s, Broughty Ferry.
The Rev Andrew Reid was appointed Rector at St Peter’s, Musselburgh on 28 November 2015.
The Rev Timothy Cole has been appointed Rector of Christ Church, Georgetown, Washington D.C. Most recently Timothy Cole has been Assistant Chaplain General to the Army Recruiting and Training Division, Queen’s Honorary Chaplain, and Armed Forces Chaplaincy representative to the Scottish Episcopal Church. Formerly he trained for ministry and served in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
On 1 December 2015 the Rev Jane Nelson was appointed Priest in Charge at St Drostan’s, Tarfside.
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A video of the Scottish Episcopal Institute Launch Service is now available to view on the Scottish Episcopal Institute webpage: http://www.scotland.anglican.org/who-we-are/vocation-and-ministry/sei/
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The Church in Society and Global Partnerships Committees of the Scottish Episcopal Church are supporting an initiative from the Joint Public Issues Team to raise awareness of the ‘Enough’ report, which challenges Benefit cuts. Details of the initiative to send one more Christmas card can be found here.
On commenting on the ‘Enough’ report, The Rt Rev Dr John Armes, Bishop of Edinburgh (who represents the College of Bishops on the Church in Society Committee) says “This report makes very clear that UK Government benefit cuts are not working. Far from encouraging adults back to work they threaten, instead, the health and well-being of families with children. This is a moral issue and it undermines the principle on which the Welfare State was founded, namely that people should have sufficient benefits to meet their basic needs. I would appeal to the UK government to pay attention to this report and to reconsider its policies in the light of the evidence that their cuts are causing the weakest and poorest in our nation undue suffering.’
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A new booklet ‘CAIRing for Scotland’ has recently been launched to highlight the work of interfaith relations in Scotland. Copies of the booklet have been sent to each of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The booklet records the 14 year history of CAIRS (Churches Agency for Interfaith Relations in Scotland) and features the following: Scotland A Diverse Nation; The Churches and Interfaith: Scottish Churches and Developments in Interfaith Relations; Ecumenical Collaboration (CAIRS); The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ); A Christian/Muslim Forum; Local Interfaith Groups; The Scottish Interfaith Council; Religious Leaders of Scotland; a conclusion followed by 3 personal testimonies (Dominic Ind – Episcopalian; Andrew Sarle – Presbyterian; Isabel Smyth – Roman Catholic).
The Rev Dominic Ind, a key contributor to the booklet says “What might touch you about the story told in CAIRing for Scotland is that it is a genuinely good news story. We hear much negativity in places such as the Middle East and often religion is percieved as a negative force whether that is in Jerusalem or much closer to home here in Scotland. This is a story of religion bringing people together, creating community and being a force for good. The Church has played a key role and offered Good News about a man who proclaimed peace and reconcilliation. We as Episcopalians may take some pride in our role, that often we have been at the forefront of developing interfaith work in Scotland. It is good news for us; good news for the Church in Scotland and indeed, good news for people of all faiths or none, who make up Scottish society.”
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The Porvoo Declaration commits the churches which have signed it ‘to share a common life’ and ‘to pray for and with one another’. An important way of doing this is to pray through the year for the Porvoo churches and their Dioceses.
The electronic Prayer Diary is a list of Porvoo Communion Dioceses or churches covering each Sunday of the year, mindful of the many calls upon compilers of intercessions, and the environmental and production costs of printing a more elaborate list.
To download the Prayer Diary for 2016, visit the Porvoo Communion website: http://www.porvoocommunion.org/resources/prayer-diary/
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