22 January 2026 There have been two interesting surveys conducted recently. The first was called, ‘Grateful Britain’ and it was undertaken by the Policy Institute of King’s College, London. In October 2025, 2050 people were surveyed. Their belief in God and experience of transcendence were plotted. There were some interesting results from young people. About one quarter of the total sample (27%) said that they had an experience of awe and wonder at the universe or in nature at least once a week. This rose to 36% for the youngest group of people (18-34 year olds). The study also found out something remarkable about belief in God. 51% of the 18-34 age group was most likely to say that they believed in God to some extent. This compared with 33% of 35-49 year olds, 30% of 35-49 year olds, 30% of 50-64 year olds and 41% of people aged 65-plus. The second survey was undertaken by SPCK, the Christian publisher. It found that the total sales of Bibles in the UK ...
Posts
21 January 2026 St. Paul not only said, ‘There is one body and one Spirit.’ He also said that we should make every effort ‘to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’. (Ephesians 4;3) The bond of peace is what we read about in the Gospel of St. John where Jesus says something very significant about the crucifixion. ‘I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ (St. John 12;32) His ministry makes people one through the power of his unifying ‘one Spirit’. It is beautifully summarised in his letter to Colossians. ‘Through Christ, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross’. (Colossians 1;20) The ministry of Christ is a ministry of love which is prepared to suffer and die for the other, exercising a ministry of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace-making. Celebrating the unity which is established in our baptism ...
20 January 2026 ‘There is one body.’ says St. Paul. We are all united across our parish and denominational boundaries through our baptism into Christ. We do nothing to deserve this. It is a gift of God’s grace. And it is the life of Christ living within us which creates this one body. And as Martin Luther famously wrote, it is through our baptism that we become priests. Christ, of course, is our High Priest but as Peter says we are called ‘to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Peter 2;5) St. Paul highlights the gifts given to the Church ‘that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers’. (Ephesians 4;11) And these gifts were given for two reasons. Firstly, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. All our gifts are given to enable others to minister too. ‘I have been crucified with Christ.’ says St. Paul, ‘and it is no longer I who live, but it is...
19 January 2026 Yesterday, over a hundred people worshipped together in Pittenweem Kirk. This was the third Sunday of the new union between Pittenweem and St. Ayle. On this occasion, we were joined by the local Episcopalian congregation, St. John’s. When the kirk at Pittenweem united with their neighbours in Cellardyke and Anstruther, they took with them this very precious relationship. It is a distinctive gift – a significant ecumenical dimension which enlarges our vision of the Church and inspires us to look beyond our own natural boundaries. For many people in the Kirk, the Radical Action Plan which was agreed in 2019 has brought a lot of turmoil in terms of readjustment, impacted by the Covid virus and the delays in reaching agreement across the different parishes. It has been a negative experience in some respects but in one major respect it has been very positive. It has encouraged parishes to look beyond their historic boundaries and to reconne...
18 January 2026 Dawn was breaking on my way home from the East Sands where I was a lone walker. At the foot of the brae, heading up to town from the Kinnessburn, I saw a robin on top of a stone wall bordering the garden. I stood still. The robin came towards me and stopped at the edge of the wall. He was looking at me. Was he longing for some food in very wintry weather? I wished I had brought some meal worms but I was empty-handed. The robin turned at right angles onto a wooden fence and continued to walk. I did too. The ‘City of Haarlem’ is sitting outside my study door. I put the thirty-sixth hyacinth bulb in a glass jar of water to see its white roots grow. It is growing much faster than the bulbs planted in soil and sitting in the cooler environment of the front porch. As you can see in the photograph, the ‘City of Haarlem’ is yellow and blooming beautifully. Whilst it is not as fulsome as it would have been if it had been planted in soil, i...
17 January 2026 The book of Proverbs is a treasure chest of wisdom. Some say it was written by King Solomon probably to add an authority to them which is unnecessary because this wisdom literature speaks for itself and has an authority all of its own. Consider these two proverbs. The first is to be found in Proverbs 6;16-19. ‘There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.’ The first six are hated by God. They include pride, deceit and violence. We agree. They are bad, very bad. But the seventh is an abomination to the Lord. And what’s that? ‘One who sows discord in a family.’ The unity of a family, a community, the Church is to be treasured more than anything else. It is disunity which is an abomination – and yet, unity...
16 January 2026 The ‘Five Marks of Mission’ have dominated the life of the Kirk since the Radical Action Plan was accepted by the General Assembly in 2019. They have been used as an instrument to measure not only the health of a congregation but also the retention of its buildings. The five marks are all active – to proclaim, to teach, to respond, to seek to transform, to strive to safeguard. There are two areas of the life of the Church which are not often highlighted as they should be. They are even more important. The first is public worship. There is a reference in the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ to proclamation of the Gospel and to baptism but nothing is said about the commitment to worship with fellow Christians week by week. So much so that this aspect of church life is not considered sufficient to retain a church building. Isn’t it the case that the proclamation of the Word which has been happening in our kirks without fail for almost five centuries is a...