Category: Blog Entry

I spent this morning in our Cathedral in Glasgow for the Commissioning of Hilary Moran as the new Provincial President of MU in Scotland. All leadership in the church is difficult – so Hilary deserves the support and prayers of all of us. MU is an organisation of many parts – the MU website is well worth a look. In the days when I struggled daily with parochialism, it seemed to me that the international vision and rootedness in prayer which are part of MU are very important. Meanwhile, this is what I said.

If you want to see it in video

It was the buglers that did it for me. Seemingly every time one prepared to say something, there was another fanfare. But we enjoyed the Lord Mayor of London’s Dinner at the Mansion House for the Bishops. It was a good night out and ++Rowan talked about Dick Whittington and his cat. I didn’t hear him saying anything about the suggestion that cat people are more intelligent than dog people. But I am sure it was there between the lines.

Two things in particular were of interest.

Our host, the Lord Mayor, was very forthright in saying that the trust between the people and the banks had been broken. And it was good to hear that. I listened carefully – but in vain – for anything which suggested that he knew how such trust might be restored.

The other of course is to do with what it is like to wear my Piskie tee-shirt at the heart of such an establishment – or was that Establishment – gathering. There is great personal warmth directed towards us and what we represent – indeed I suspect that many look somewhat longingly at a church which travels light and is edgy, edgy. It’s a different world and I know which one I prefer.

The rains of Tenerife fade from the mind – replaced by the incredible beauty of Oban yesterday where I was pursuing my calling as the apostle of Canon 4. I sat with my back to one of the most incredible views in Europe as we interviewed potential candidates in the Episcopal Election for Argyll and the Isles. On such a day – with the ferries going in and out – who would not want to live and work there.

As always on such occasions, the mind takes the occasional excursion. Vocation is strange stuff. I have been known to startle people by asking either, ‘Do you know what you would die for?’ or ‘Do you experience vocation as a physical sensation?’ And yet at other times, one wears it like old shoes.

One of my friends used to talk about ‘needing your hands pre-drilled’ to work in a certain town in Northern Ireland – which shall be nameless. Lest one might get too stigmata-ish about this, Alison and I are pursing our vocation tomorrow evening at Dinner in the Mansion House with the Lord Mayor of London.

So I got back safely – and very interesting it was. And this is [roughly] what I said

Well we’re off tomorrow for a slight mini-break in the sun – some snoozing and some reading. I have to run the gauntlet of the Cambridge Union en route – defending the cause of ‘religion as a force for good’. If I get a coherent speech written, I’ll let you have a look. Trouble is that I’m not sure I agree with the proposition – faith as a force for good … probably. But religion …. Not so sure. Anyway I hope the lions have had a good feed of Whiskas.

Anyway this brings a temporary halt to a busy period. I sometimes feel like Gilbert’s House of Peers which throughout the years ‘did nothing in particular and did it very well.’

So I took part in the signing of the so-called EMU Partnership Agreement between ourselves, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. Something positive to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. And it’s not just aspiration. We share an increasing amount of training and other interests.

I’ve just spent 24 hours in Dunblane at a meeting of our College of Bishops. It’s complex – so many relationships to work with. But we did get to the end of the Agenda.

I’ve been playing ‘catch-up’ rather ineffectively since the end of the Episcopal Election. Lots of exciting things – including an entire day with the Mission and Ministry Board.

I joined the Buckfast – or was the anti-Buckfast – bandwagon on Thought for the Day after the BBC Scotland programme on Monday. You can read it here.

The Passat passed its MOT. It seemed to need some of its lighting and suspension replaced. But the stop and go arrangements are in good heart – it should reach 200000 miles around the time of General Synod.

And I really did have a catch-up day today. I’m getting close to that point where one could invert the Inbox every day and start from the bottom. But I haven’t had the courage to do it yet.

You’ll read elsewhere about Gregor’s election as the next Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway – congratulations and blessings upon him!

Our Canon 4 process is something of a long haul. But in the end it produces something very important – a bishop with a mandate. As I discovered, you then have to set out and discover what that mandate means in the mind and heart of the diocese – but it’s a starting point and a good one.

If you want to find out what I said at the Eucharist, you can read it here.

And the extraordinary media interest – very difficult for the candidates and particularly for Alison. They dealt with it with grace and patience. Lorna, our excellent Communications Officer, put in a tough couple of days. In the end, we decided that this was an opportunity for us to talk about our church, its values and character. People in the church are sometimes ‘iffy’ about journalists and I have been less than happy about some my contacts recently. But I spoke yesterday to Sky, BBC, STV, Scotland on Sunday. In every case, I was asked sensible questions and given the chance to say what I needed to say. Thank-you.

Just back from two days with our clergy in a nice hotel in Kinross. We’ve been looking at the possibility of a balanced clerical lifestyle. As I think about that, I can’t decide whether it is an oxymoron or not. I’ve always believed that there is in the clerical lifestyle much inherent balance – it’s just that people of passionate commitment tend not to be all that balanced about anything.

Anyway, we did a bit of that .. some great music… were scared witless about diet and exercise .. and looked at the clergy-vestry relationship

And lurking around in the background is the current debate about clergy being bullied. Have I known clergy to be bullied? Yes. Have I known clergy experience abusive relationships in a congregation – short of bullying? Yes. And of course I have been in situations where clergy have acted in ways very close to bullying.

I can’t say that I fully understand how or why this happens. But clearly to have passionate or idealistic people functioning in a situation where boundaries and expectations are not clear leaves everybody vulnerable. That’s why we are putting considerable emphasis on the need to provide training and clergy and vestry members together.

Yesterday we reached another stage in the process of electing a new bishop for the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway. The Electoral Synod met the candidates – next week the Synod returns to consider and vote.

You may be interested in what I said at the Eucharist at the beginning of the day. It tells you a bit about what I think about our Canon 4 process where the candidates speak for themselves – and about the tendency of church processes to invoke the Spirit ….