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I should I have put this article in ages ago – published on the Sunday after Christmas.

In the BBC in Dundee this morning at 0722. Dark, wet and bleak it was. On the other hand, one of the things which still lights me up is the presence of the BBC’s analogue clock which moves second by second as you try to get the timing exactly right! It gives me that feeling of being in the presence of Lord Reith.

This is what I said

One of the times when I still miss parish ministry. Why? Because as a bishop I miss the build up – and that takes all kinds of forms. I was away for various things in December. So I lost the rhythm of Advent, which is my favourite season of all. And I don’t get to do the unending round of Nativity Plays, Carol Services and Senior Citizens’ Christmas Dinners. So I’m liturgically parachuted into Christmas.

This year as usual, I enjoyed being part of the Midnight Eucharist in our Cathedral and on Christmas morning I went to our congregation at St John’s, Forfar.

Here is the Sermon

We gathered today in St Ninian’s Cathedral to say our farewells to Bishop Michael Hare Duke. He was bishop in this diocese for 25 years and exercised significant influence beyond that.

Here is his obituary

Inevitably – since it was the funeral of the bishop – I did some reflecting on it all while we were in church together.. And two things in particular seemed important,

The first was that we had a proper funeral liturgy – a Eucharist, some wonderful music, reflection on Michael’s life and proclamation of resurrection hope,

That’s important because our funeral rites are under considerable pressure – pressure to have a small funeral service for close family followed later in the same day by a Memorial Service. I am entirely opposed to that. Memorial Services have their place – removed at some distance from the time of death, But they are no substitute for a funeral service with its sense of progression – and its combination of support for the bereaved, thanksgiving for a life and faith-filled proclamation of resurrection hope.

My second reflection was about the nature of episcopal ministry and the mixed feelings with it engenders. I suspect that it is difficult to the point of impossible to exercise authority in the church – however carefully and pastorally – without experiencing conflict.

It was a worthy send-off – a good expression of the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral strengths of our church – a worthy response to a remarkable ministry

I visited our congregations at Holy Trinity, Dunfermline, and St Margaret’s, Rosyth, last Sunday. Last Sunday was all about John the Baptist – one of my favourites.

And this is what I said

You may have noticed that I haven’t been visible here for a little while. Sometimes stuff crowds the diary and makes me lose the rhythm. Four days of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion in London – mainly focused on the appointment of a new Secretary General – immediately followed by a trip to Ireland to conduct the wedding of a friend’s daughter – left me struggling to cope with the everyday

But in the midst of trivial round and common task there were some really significant moments of hope. One was a my meeting with the Vestries of our Central Fife Group in Glenrothes in Fife.

Two and a half years ago, these three congregations received Revd Thomas Brauer as Priest in Charge after a period of three years in which it was impossible to find a priest to go there in ministry. At that point, there was very little hope. These are challenging places for our church – post-industrial Fife – but it is very important that we sustain a presence here.

My visit last week arose because Thomas is about to become our Diocesan Missioner – and yet news of his departure didn’t plunge them into renewed despair. The reason is to do with a pattern of ministry which is becoming common across our church.

We don’t endlessly extend groupings of congregations – our culture is too independent for that. Instead we attempt to establish or recognise some ministry in each of the congregations and then to link them together – partly through the ministry of a priest who exercise oversight, encourages, trains and supports. So each of the congregations – in Lochgelly. Leven and Glenrothes – has a person around whom ministry can grow. That includes a stipendiary priest, a licensed Lay Reader, one or two retired clergy and a Lay Reader in training,

I ask myself how this differs from the patterns of Local Collaborative Ministry which were being promoted when I came to Scotland ten years ago. Well it’s probably more opportunistic than doctrinaire. We make the most of the talents and skills which are available but don’t have a fixed pattern. We have a clear understanding of the complementary of ministries of clergy and laity – not seeming to promote one at the expense of the other.

I went back up the M90 in foul weather but with a metaphorical spring in my step.

I take a look at the Church of Ireland Gazette most weeks. I was interested this week to see Canon Ian Poulton – who is Rector of a group of parishes in the rural South – questioning the wisdom of the Church of Ireland’s current review of dioceses and episcopal ministry.

We’ve had one or two abortive attempts to do this in the past. I’ve never had much enthusiasm for it in Scotland. That’s partly because experience tells me that this is an area in which one can invest much time and effort in all sorts of plans only to see them taken apart on the floor of General Synod. I also haven’t worked out how one can embark on something which seems to look sensible and in the interests of good governance without it beginning to feel in practice like the management of decline.

But there is another reason – which is to do with the way in which we think about and practice episcopal ministry at present in our church. There are many traditional pictures of what a bishop is for – pastor to the clergy; leader of mission; focus of unity; teacher and guardian of the faith. There are some internal conflicts about the role – most obviously the well-known pastor-manager bind.

In Scotland, we’ve been moving towards a greater emphasis on the bishop as Leader of Mission. That understanding has been reflected in our Whole Church Mission and Ministry Policy which sees the missional energy of the church as located in the diocese under the leadership of the bishop.

It seems to me that the understanding of the role and ministry of the bishop makes us more growth orientated and less likely to want to prioritise what looks like a move to efficiency and rationalisation. The bishop is the encourager of clergy and congregations .. attempts to develop a sense of strategic direction … ensures that there is training and resourcing for ministry.

I think it also means that the bishop has a role in the interface between the church and the world If you look around our church you can see that role being worked out in terms of media profile. As larger churches decline, we are becoming more ‘mainstream’ in terms of our visibility in local communities. In some places, our bishops are being seen as leaders of the Christian community which ways which are almost post-denominational.

I have a feeling that it is this kind of episcopal ministry which Canon Ian Poulton is asking for. It’s hard to plan. It grows in response to the gifts of individuals and the opportunities which context provides.

We had one of those good evenings yesterday at Birnam.

The congregations at St Mary’s, Birnam, and St Columba’s, Stanley, gathered to welcome their new Rector, Revd Shona Boardman. I don’t often preach at Institutions – but I did at this one. This is part of what I said

In our church, we’ve been giving a great deal of thought to the way in which we select people for ministry – and we are encouraged by the number of people who are coming forward. What matters is vocation – the ability of a person to articulate the call of God in their life. But beyond that come character and temperament – for it is character and temperament which are the vessel which holds the gift of calling. Peter exhibits that wonderful tension between success and failure – between faith and doubt. And I think that’s probably what we look for in those who are ordained – a determination to try something which is difficult, trusting in the power of God; a very human willingness to recognise that what we are undertaking is difficult; a readiness to be caught and upheld by the love of a God who recognises our weakness and yet yearns to lift us up to do his well and build his kingdom.

And you can read it all here

Shona’s appointment to this new grouping marks the first stage in the reorganisation of our congregations to the north of Perth – along the length of the A9. The new Birnam and Stanley group looks south – towards Perth – and into the cluster of villages which are seeing growth of population. The second stage of the reorganisation takes effect when Revd Liz Baker is instituted as Rector of the Highland Perthshire Group – Pitlochry, Kilmaveonaig, Strathtay and Kinloch Rannoch – in January. It’s taken a while but it’s about deploying our resources to best effect – and we’ve been able to move to two full-time clergy.

I’ve just been to the launch of the Report of the Smith Commission – setting out the agreement reached by Scotland’s political parties and politicians at Westminster on further devolution for the Scottish Parliament,

Why was I there? We were given the opportunity of making a submission to the Commission – which we did. It’s part of our commitment to being part of public discourse in Scotland. I was interested to find many representatives of the voluntary, social and community sectors also in attendance. So I was able to make some useful contacts.

And the outcome? It’s impressive that this agreement has been reached in five weeks. Where I come from they would still be arguing about the shape of the table. It’s a substantial agreement which will greatly enhance the status and authority of the Scottish Parliament.

Most impressive was the way the Scottish politicians spoke – warm tributes to Lord Smith of Kelvin and strong endorsement of the agreement reached. Yet they were not afraid also to say what they would have liked to see in the agreement and didn’t get.

That’s mature politics and to be celebrated.

We really enjoyed having the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs Caroline Welby with us on Monday and Tuesday. They stayed with us at Blogstead – noting the quietness and lack of light pollution compared with normal life in Lambeth.

More follows – this was taken at St Andrews, St Andrews