It is with sadness that we write to let you know that The Rev'd Peter Brand, died last night. 
There will be time in the coming days to pay tribute to Peter, but for now I leave it to Peter himself, who wrote an article for the March 2021 Cornerstone Magazine. We will, of course, provide more information on funeral arrangements once they have been made. 
Our prayers for Sheelagh and the rest of the family. 

Rosie


Peter’s Sermon

"Why some words from Peter? This is the 60th anniversary of my licensing to St Johns as a lay reader, a beginning in a particular style of ministry. It’s a long time and in a way it is one person’s journey of faith, sparked by a visit to a church on a day off . That brings me to my first thought, that chance meetings matter and what is said or done when they happen can influence events and people around us. It took a while before I settled at St John’s. My beginnings here were not the most auspicious - I arrived in snowy Edinburgh on Boxing Day 1956 with the task of finding somewhere to stay and to start a new job on the 27th. I was greeted at the office with chuckles for they were just looking forward to the New Year’s break- how typical of the English not to realise that Scotland was different, a theme which has recurred over the years! And that is my second point - be kind to strangers: you will never know for certain how that will turn out in time.
By 1959 I was well settled into Edinburgh and at St Johns, where I made enquiries about becoming a Lay Reader and was encouraged by Keith Arnold to apply and be trained. This was the beginning of the journey we are still in progress with in the church as a whole. Out of that process arose the three year Training for Ministry courses run by the then Rector, Aeneas Mackintosh with Mrs Salvesen, which I joined in its second cohort. It took some time before I was persuaded by members of the congregation that, perhaps I should look into the ordained path, and I was duly sent to an English ordination discernment course. One of my memories of that period was the interview with the then bishop, shared with Sheelagh, who warned us both that we might well lose friends as a result of my ordination!
One of my first tasks after ordination was to conduct the funeral of the young son of a colleague at work, from which followed the realisation that the non-stipendiary ministry gave openings which might not be available to the stipendiary clergy. A vocation in whatever subject may lead one into being able to be in a place or position which would not have been possible without self-supporting finance. And I found myself tasked as Warden to the Lay Readers of the Diocese. On the way, there have been a number of setbacks and misunderstandings. That too is the nature of journeys. I may have rambled a bit here, but that is also in the nature of a journey, where the process of discovery and change can happen and it has been a great joy to see more and more of the congregation involved in worship. St John’s was and still is a place of prayer, and this is something which is not just exercised by the clergy as an offering on behalf of the people, but something all of us can do for and on behalf of those around us. Dotted about the church are various examples of commemorative gifts: people matter both in a church community and elsewhere. That means too that keeping in touch is important, something which has repeated itself during this pandemic."