Blog on the Learig

  11 September 2026 Peter Sparkes is the Chief Executive of the RNLI. Recently, the charity became the subject of verbal and physical abuse because it was involved in the rescue of some migrants crossing the English Channel in small   boats.   Protesters hidden behind balaclavas and laptops turned their anger on the charity. There are four important things to remember about the RNLI. Firstly, throughout its 200 year history, the RNLI lifeboats have been manned by volunteers. The people who are involved in these rescues at sea are not paid for the work they do. ‘They selflessly give up their time to keep others safe.’ said Sparkes. Secondly, the RNLI is available to rescue anyone and they have done this in all weathers, in war and peace. They have ‘selflessly dedicated themselves to rescuing people they have never met before, without judgement, fear or favour’. Thirdly, they are an apolitical organisation. They do not choose sides. They respond to the calls which t...

  10 September 2026 Participation in worship has expanded enormously from a rota of readers to   worship groups. This has been greatly facilitated by photocopiers and printers and the provision of orders of worship which often contain additional responsive material. The Kirk has made enormous efforts to provide training for Worship Leaders in schemes like ‘Weaving Worship’ and backed it up   with online resources like ‘Starters for Sunday’. More modest, local arrangements   need to be made in preparing people to read the Word and lead the intercessions. Some read poorly and some without understanding. This requires attention. For reading the Word is proclamation.   It reveals the work of God in Christ through   the presence of his Holy Spirit. It facilitates an encounter with God. In Peter Brook’s, ‘The Empty Space’, he invites a student actor to read. Usually he and his peers would clown around. Not this time. It is a passage about the holocaust. T...

  9 September 2026 It is a long time since we took our record-players down to the kirk for the Watchnight service in 1984 to play Geldof’s, ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’.   And three years later to show the children Elizabeth Laird’s retelling of the Christmas Story illustrated with Ethiopia’s beautiful iconography. Cassettes of the service were distributed to housebound people. Videos and DVDs were shown periodically. By 1999, the Panel on Worship was referring to ‘multi-media worship’ as ‘highly relevant’. In 2007, CARTA proposed a paper to help Kirk Sessions discuss the issue of screens. Whilst Covid abolished the uplifting of the offering, the Great Entry and the common cup, the Kirk   creatively used the internet to make   connections which have continued apace. With the arrival of AI, Pope Leo counselled his priests to exercise their own brain and share their faith which a machine cannot do. Despite its wonders, the screen cannot replicate the intimacy ...