Blog on the Learig

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September 16, 2026

17 September 2026 Many years ago, we visited Whitby. I remember the magnificent ruins of the abbey and the parish church, the clifftops, the rugged coastline and the sea. Our children don’t remember much of this. They associated Whitby with Bram Stoker and his novel, ‘Dracula’. But, for me, it was the church and the fascinating story of Aidan, Hilda and Bede which preceded the vampire, Stoker’s visit to Whitby and even the ancient ruins of the abbey. For Hilda was born in 614 AD and died n 680AD at the age of sixty-six. Her life has been recorded by the historian, Bede. Bede was only seven years old when Hilda died. When he grew up, he became a priest and was ordained by John of Beverley, one of the monks who had lived in the monastery under Abbess Hilda. His history includes a chapter about Abbess Hilda. It was written in 731AD, four years before he died. By this time, Bede was fifty-nine years old. Hilda had been dead for fifty-two years. Memories were still fresh. His ...

September 15, 2026

16 September 2026 Some ministers are like fire-crackers. Others offer what Hovda calls ‘a running commentary which covers the ritual action like a heavy and almost impenetrable syrup.’ He reflects, ‘Presiding in liturgy … requires a kind of modest prayerfulness that is heavy on awe and mystery, light on answers and recipes.’ The Kirk is strong on what it doesn’t know about God. The Word of God is contained in the Scriptures. Office-bearers have ‘liberty of opinion’. There is a silence between Word and Scripture, substance and the Faith, broken bread and the Body of Christ. God is there in what RS Thomas calls the ‘interstices in our knowledge’. Our life has been constrained by the ’Five Marks of Mission’ which say nothing about worship. They have become a measure of growth - success and failure. But growth belongs to God, as Paul says and in the parable of the seed growing secretly, the farmer is puzzled. Jesus says, ‘He know...

September 14, 2026

15 September 2026 In the Nordic chapel at Carberry built in 1965, two-thirds of the church is outside in the parkland. A huge wooden cross is located at what could be the high altar. The East side is full of glass. The West has Renaissance balusters reminiscent of the chapel in Falkland Palace. Surprisingly, Colin Day repurposed eighteenth century box pews. Young people loved playing with the doors until the service started, the lights were dimmed and the double-whammy of the illuminated cross - joyful play to awesome silence and stillness. Day knew that to be contemporary you needed to be rooted in your past. It is a rich landscape which gives perspective and depth to all our new initiatives. The interplay of past and present, inside and out, the striking symbolism of a wooden cross benefit from silence and stillness.

September 13, 2026

14 September 2026 Following Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church produced a three year lectionary replacing an annual cycle which surprisingly enough didn’t include the Old Testament. The American Presbyterians incorporated a version of this lectionary into their ‘Worship Book’ (1970) and Common Order (1994) embraced it too. It was a remarkable ecumenical achievement. There are deficiencies expressed by those who adhere to the Directory’s suggestion that ‘ordinarily, where the reading in either Testament endeth on one Lord’s day, it is to begin the next.’ But the Kirk allows ministers freedom to enter and exit the lectionary at will. The influence of deepening ecumenical relations increased the observance of the Christian Year. This has brought colour, focus and joy to Sunday worship. Candles are lit in Advent Wreaths and Paschal Candles. Seasonal pulpit falls, stoles, banners and art utilize artistic gifts. As Rom...

September 12, 2026

13 September 2026 When Gilleasbuig Macmillan became minister at St. Giles, busloads of visitors would gather in ‘a competitive cacophony centred on the crossing’. He wished to do something to emphasise that it was a sacred place. His solution was the ‘promotion of the crossing as the place for the ‘Holy Table’. In this he was following the Reformers in reducing the chancel to zero and gathering the people around the Table. It is such a simple concept and one which transfers to any liturgical space. The Scoto-Catholic reorientation of our kirks created two rooms – a nave and a chancel instead of one. It is now a challenged model. Ministers are trying to escape the chancel leaving their robes and pulpit behind. It has become a redundant symbol through amplification and smaller congregations. We should redesign our kirks with what David Fergusson calls a restated aesthetic ‘in forms of simplicity, sobriety and measure’, centred on the Table in on...

September 11, 2026

12 September 2026 Knox said four times a year and the Directory suggested frequently. There may be few celebrating the Sacrament every week but many more have expanded Knox to include Christmas and Easter, before and after the main act of worship, in informal settings like the hall or even outside. In 1992, the Kirk passed an Act permitting baptised children to take communion. When Kirk Sessions have agreed, the children have responded by exercising their own ministry and changed the dynamic of the Sacrament making it less formal, more joyful but equally awesome. Twenty-five years later, a survey was taken and revealed that only 6% of the under 18s who were associated with our congregations were receiving the Sacrament. At the same time, the General Assembly was informed that 55% of our congregations had fewer than 20 children. In 2008, there was a series of roadshows to discuss the Sacrament. There were ‘serious causes of disquie...