Blog on the Learig

  6 April 2026 Sarah Mullaly made history recently by becoming the first woman to be enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury. She had already reached the top of the nursing profession and now she celebrated this extraordinary calling. The service took place on the Feast of the Annunciation and the new Archbishop took as the text for her sermon the words which the angel addressed to Mary to reassure her. ‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’ She remembered her teenage self ‘who put her faith in God and made a commitment to follow Jesus’ adding ‘I could never have imagined the future that lay ahead and certainly not the ministry to which I am called.’ Mullaly has broken the stained-glass ceiling in the Church of England. It was Dr. Alison Elliot who broke it in the Church of Scotland. As an ordained elder, she became the first woman to be Moderator of the General Assembly in 2004. And before that, who was the first woman to be ordained as an elder within the Kirk on ...

  5 April   2026 – From my Diary 1996 On Easter Day, we had two services at Logie Kirk. Around forty people attended a celebration of the Sacrament at 10am and we had a packed church for   the family service at 11-30am. There were two baptisms and we were visited by the Logie Lambs. During the service we lit the Paschal Candle. This year, we took the flame from the little candle which we lit on Mothering Sunday to remember the victims who suffered as a consequence of the tragedy at Dunblane. The candle of suffering lit the candle of hope. The family   decorated Easter eggs and rolled them at the University campus. We had lots of salt for the eggs, enjoyed the ducks in Airthrey Loch and the rabbits on the embankment. Colin fell into the water and found the skull of a rat or a duck or …? Lots of laughter and life! By the end of the day, I had three funerals to attend to. A, who was one of the first people to have a successful heart transplant, was off to Papwor...

  4 April 2026 When I was a student studying theology at New College, Edinburgh, I would often wander up to Thins Bookshop on South Bridge Street. It is now called Blackwell’s. As well as new books there was a selection of second hand books too, handy for impoverished students. One day in 1977, I spotted a very small book. It was no bigger than 7cm by 11cm. It was quite thin. The print was very small. It contained the book of Psalms from the Authorised Version of the Bible. I decided to buy it for the princely sum of 10p. This tiny book has been the companion of my ministry. More often than not and certainly when I was visiting hospital, nursing home, the bedside of a dying member of the congregation, I would slip it into my pocket. It found a contented home there and no-one knew of its existence until I took it out. On Good Friday, I was visiting a Nursing Home. I pulled out my Psalm Book and decided to read verses from Psalm 118. ‘The Lord is my strength and song, and is ...

  3 April 2026 – Good Friday   Betsy and her sister, Corrie ten Boom   were imprisoned   in Ravensbruck concentration camp during the Second World War. Betsy was weakened by the rigours of the   camp. She had little strength to undertake   the manual labour which was their daily obligation. As a result, Betsy was beaten mercilessly by the female guard   for her mistaken idleness. In her humility, she took it in good spirit and this only maddened the guard who began to imitate her and humiliate her.   ‘That’s me alright.’ she said. ‘But you’d better let me totter along with my little spoonful or I’ll have to stop altogether!’ The guard’s plump cheeks went crimson. ‘I’ll decide who’s to stop!’ And snatching the leather whip from her belt, she slashed Betsie across the chest and the neck. Corrie seized the shovel and rushed to her sister’s attacker. Betsie quickly stepped in front of her before anyone else could see what was happening. Corrie...

  2 April 2026 – Maundy Thursday Jesus stimulates our imagination throughout the drama   of the Last Supper. Food and drink and the exercise of hospitality characterises his ministry. The table is the place where people are befriended, loved and changed. The central feature of our celebration is what we call ’The Action’ where the minister pointedly raises the bread to full view and breaks it and lifts the cup and repeats the memorable words of Jesus. As well as the drama of the action, there is the imaginative association which Jesus makes with the bread and the wine. ‘This is my body which is broken for you.’ he says . ‘This is my blood which is shed for you!’ Note that the pouring of the wine like the pouring of Christ’s blood is not just for church members.   ‘It is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’ says Jesus. This word ‘many’, in its Semitic use,   really means ‘everyone’! So the Sacrament of Holy Communion is not simply a mark of the...

  1 April 2026 This is not an April Fool. But if you walk into the main library in Oslo (and, by the way, there are twenty-three libraries in the capital) you will discover no less than 1,100 chairs for people to read their books. Everyone is full! Can you imagine that in Scotland? Our reforming forebears were keen on reading. They not only wanted the Bible to be translated into English but they wanted everyone and children, in particular, to be able to read so that they could absorb the good news of Christ, his ministry, his passion and resurrection. They were successful although it took time to establish schools in every parish. And when the Kirk handed over its schools to the government in the late Victorian era, they handed over an inheritance which has blossomed save in one essential, the gospel which has been squeezed out of our schools ever since. The Norwegian government made a big mistake. In 2016, every child who started school was given an i-pad without any paren...