Blog on the Learig

  29 March 2026 An elder expressed concern about the increase in ‘Giving to Grow’ payments. The increase was noticeable. ‘I think other congregations are facing the same situation of increased payments.’ I replied. ‘But that doesn’t make it good.’ he concluded. I said no more. But I did remember life in my first charge. In those days, we made a ‘Mission and Service’ payment to benefit central funds and the work of various departments – Education, Social Responsibility, Overseas Council etc. Like ‘Mission to Grow’, the sums increased year by year. It was my youthful perception that it was a source of pride that the congregation’s allocation increased for it meant something significant was happening – the congregation was increasing its weekly contribution to the offering plate. More significantly, Kirk Sessions and Congregational Boards were encouraged to add more to their annual payments. One of the most regular contributors was the Guild. In Forth:St. Paul’s this amounted ...

  28 March 2026 – From My Diary 1996 Parish visiting is still dominated by the massacre at Dunblane. A son thought the tragedy speeded up his father’s demise. An old woman had difficulty sleeping. A child told me about soft toys in his classroom which came from across the globe.   They were invited to choose one, cuddle it and think about   those affected by the tragedy. I visited an older woman returned from hospital. ‘I will have more peace dead.’ she said. Another gave me £100 for the refurbishment of the organ. ‘Do you remember the hundred pounds which you gave me from the kirk fund when I needed it?’ she asked. I didn’t. ‘Well, I dinnae want to dee without payin’ it back. I’ve been saving up.’ An old man in hospital told me, ‘I’m the happiest I have ever been.’ It was surprising because of his failing health. ‘Why are you so happy?’ I asked. He replied with a rare simplicity, ‘Christ, my Saviour!’ He wrote hymns for personal devotion. Thirty people sat down a...

  27 March 2026 ‘ O God, from my youth you have taught me and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, so not forsake me until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.’ I read these words from Psalm 71 at a recent funeral. The deceased was 101 years old – and when I last saw her she looked thirty years younger than her age. She loved to dance. I am sure that helped but she also loved to worship God. And did so from her youth. There is something very noble about someone who has quietly dedicated their life to God in simple things like regular attendance at her local parish church for she witnesses to   a faithfulness which has nourished her inner life   from youth to old age. There must be something very satisfying about reaching old age and grey hairs and sharing a faith which spans a century and more. For even in old age, the Psalmist has a ministry to proclaim God’s might to all the generations to com...

  26 March 2026 Sophie Winkleman and David James have written a short article entitled, ‘Paper Chase’ with the subtitle, ‘Textbooks will always beat screens.’ Online learning certainly seems to be more immediately attractive with its vast range of resources and media. The authors share two studies with the reader. ‘Research has shown that students learning online spend as much as 39 minutes out of every hour off task.’ They don’t give us an equivalence for textbook students. But wasting two-thirds of your study time is a lot of time. The second relates to an experiment with 3,000 pupils who were involved in the PISA tests in maths, science and reading. Over three months, half did all their work on paper and half did all their work on computer.   What happened? ‘At the end, the paper-based group scored 20 points higher than the one working on screens – the equivalent of half a year’s extra schooling.’ Somehow, the tactile nature   of the book is attractive. It offe...

  25 March 2026 Jesus espouses the way of the peace-maker. The cross is all about self-giving love and non-violent resistance. In this, he embodies a truth of profound significance. Evil is overcome by good. In our daily lives, we are always suspicious of people who resort to force in order to make their point or win their argument. If they embodied the truth would this be necessary? The truth is its own defence. So where are you on this spectrum? Are you a pacifist? Or do you think that there is such a thing as a just war? Perhaps it is the lesser of two or more evils? Pacifists don’t think that those who justify war take the example of Jesus seriously enough. Those who justify war don’t think the pacifists take sin seriously enough. What do you think? How is this tension resolved. In his splendid book, ‘Ancient Wisdom, Modern World’, the Dalai Lama makes the point that ‘genuine, lasting world peace will only be possible as a result of each of us making an effort interna...

  24 March 2026 I have just received a newsletter from a charge in another Presbytery which is vacant but does not have the right to call a minister. Inside, there was some detail about their inability to pay for a locum after April. This is because of the General Assembly's decision to withdraw the Vacancy Allowance in these circumstances. As a result of this, the services which should have had a celebration of the Sacrament had been changed to services in which the Sacrament was not celebrated because the charge had no access to a minister.  This concerned me for three reasons. Firstly, in withdrawing the Vacancy Allowance, did the General Assembly make financial provision to pay for a minister to celebrate the Sacrament in these situations? Secondly, accessibility to the Sacrament should not be dependent on a congregation's ability to pay. Why should wealthy congregations receive such means of grace and others be denied it? Thirdly, in the Scots Confession (1...