Lots of interesting things this weekend – the secret gardens of the Royal Mile have become a major tourist attraction. Blogstead surely can’t be far behind.
But it’s also been one of those weekends where a number of things gathered together around the same theme. Our St Ninian’s Cathedral in Perth held an Open Day on Saturday with a special welcome for the Provost and other public representatives on Saturday morning. And I said a few things about the confidence which I hope we are discovering as a church – working with others to serve the whole community. Strangely the same theme appeared when I went to St John’s, Forfar on Sunday morning where our congregation was hosting the Service for the Kirkin’ of the Council. It’s not often that these services are held in SEC churches – a recognition that our people there used the opportunity of Forfar Gala Week to make their church visible in the community. In the sermon, I began by saying to the Provost that their presence ‘honours us and changes us’ – meaning that here again we are discovering a new confidence about being a church for the whole community.
And finally, as if all those excitements weren’t enough, we went off to Bishop Bob’s Cathedral in Aberdeen for the Ordination of Samantha. It was a great evening. The ordination sermon was something like this. And those of us who like to get self-indulgently misty-eyed at these things had a great time.