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This is the anniversary of the Consecration of Samuel Seabury in 1784. He was the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and was consecrated by the Scottish bishops.

When you visit our churches, you will find this picture displayed in many of the porches – along with the other iconic picture – the Baptism at Stonehaven Gaol. The Scottish Episcopal Church has a remarkably clear picture of the Anglican Communion – that was obvious in the debate on the Anglican Covenant,

There is some basis for saying that the Anglican Communion as we know it started here. Not the ‘Church of England abroad’ but the Communion of provinces practising autonomy with interdependence. And of course it means that some of our strongest links to this day are with The Episcopal Church – another request for an exchange today

Back to see the Oncologiist on Thursday – after allowing five or six weeks for my internals to recover from the radiotherapy. I don’t think that Oncologists as a breed really do effusive. And it would be scary if they did. But this one affirmed a ‘doing well’ verdict with a flicker of a smile.

It’s hard to know really. A lot of technology – considerable exercise – a flirtation with diet – and of course the prayers for which thank-you.

So the journey continues and the response to the question , ‘How are you?’ will for the foreseeable future remain, ‘Well so far’

Not very exciting, you might think. But actually .. really important.

We’ve been wanting to work with Vestries for a while so we are experimenting with a pattern in which we bring together two Vestries and their clergy for some training. We launched that in Crieff today with Vestries from Auchterarder and Muthill and from the Strathearn Grouping of Crieff, Comrie and Lochearnhead.

So what did we do?

Inevitably some of it was about governance and accountability. Vestries now function in a culture of financial and trustee accountability which is daunting for some – but which ensures that the business and financial life of our congregations are carried out to the highest standards we can manage.

We also looked at the role of Vestries in the context of our desire to be missional in our diocesan life and in the lives of our congregations. We have continued to develop Casting the Net as the initiative or movement through which we express that aspiration to be missional. So we are trying to ensure that our Vestries see this as part of their responsibility. For some time, the meetings of our Standing Committee have prioritised mission – dealing with that before they deal with routine but no less important business.

And we looked at the canonical basis for the work of Vestries – the way in which Canon 60 defines the relationship between Vestries and Rectors, in my experience, this is an area full of misunderstanding. The better our shared understanding of that relationship, the more creative will be the shared ministry of clergy and Vestries.

It’s been good today, The resource in experience and commitment which is available to our church through the membership of our Vestries is remarkable. We shall now reflect on how to develop this important strand of our work.

I spent last weekend on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Clyde with my colleague Bishop Nigel of Brechin and all three years of our students who are in training for priesthood. If you haven’t visited the College of the Holy Spirit and the Cathedral of the Isles, you have missed a treat. The buildings are beautiful – an expression in stone of the Scottish Episcopal Church. David Todd creates a wonderfully hospitable atmosphere and the rhythm of the Offices is faithfully maintained,

Our time with the students is part of our movement towards patterns of training which are more focused on formation – and in bringing the bishops more directly into the training process. For us, the students were a real encouragement – diverse in background and experience but passionate in their commitment and calling.

Bishop Nigel and I enjoyed our weekend!

I find myself part of many groups – one of the most interesting calls itself rather alarmingly ‘Religious Leaders of Scotland’. The reality is a group brought together by Interfaith Scotland and made up of leaders of Christian churches with a wide range of other faith groups. You will know from my comments about the meeting of Primates of the Churches of the Porvoo Communion that I think that diverse groups like this are always at risk of falling back on a ‘nodding and smiling’ relationship. Everybody needs to work hard to get to a point at which issues that really matter can be discussed.

Today’s meeting was about a visit to the Scottish Parliament to discuss the ‘future of religion in 21st century Scotland’ – which became a conversation about the place of faith communities and religious expression in post-referendum Scotland, whichever way the vote goes. It was useful and there was some real engagement. But there are difficulties and complexities which need to be teased out. For example, I and some of the faith leaders are supporters of the concept of a secular society. That’s because secular society protects important freedoms and ensures a proper separation between church and state or, more exactly, between legislature, judiciary and church. But the arguments of the secularisers who wish to squeeze all faith out of society and its institutions are very different.

We need some very careful discussion about the future. Today’s meeting provided some of the contacts which will help to carry that forward.

We are doing a lot of work on our training at present – particularly in respect of what we call formation. It’s the process of forming or shaping a person – spiritually, professionally and personally – to enable them to minister creatively, effectively and safely. I’m looking forward to spending this coming weekend on Cumbrae with all of our ordinands and with Bishop Nigel exploring just what that means.

We’ve been very taken with these words of Pope Francis from his Address to the Bishops of Brazil:

It is important to devise and ensure a suitable formation
One which will provide persons able to step into the night
Without being overcome by the darkness and losing their bearings;
Able to listen to people’s dreams without being seduced
And to share their disappointments without losing hope and becoming bitter;
Able to sympathise with the brokenness of others without losing their own strength and vitality

I’ve seen a lot of clergy pain – the pain of people who set out on the journey of ministry with faith, hope, passion and idealism. Yet somehow their spiritual well-being was devoured by it.

As I think about this, I reflect of course on what Jesus said about losing and saving your life. And there are some spiritual paradoxes in there.

I often try to help people to practise what I call ‘appropriate assertiveness’ – the ability to say what needs to be said firmly and clearly yet without giving offence or engendering hostility. I suspect that there is also appropriate detachment. And appropriate spiritual focus for those who risk stepping into the dark with others.

So back in the sultry climate of Scotland in late October, I’ve been twice with our congregation at St Mary’s, Aberfoyle. It’s a beautiful place in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. St Mary’s completed the creation of its MAP (Mission Action Plan) in January 2012. Our pattern is that I go back to the congregation at this mid point to review and to encourage.

So I went and spent part of Wednesday afternoon and evening with them. We began with my usual excursion into the community with some members of the congregation. We visited the Search and Rescue, the Woollen Mills, the garage and anybody else up the street who was prepared to talk to us. And back at the church, we had presentations about the place of Aberfoyle in the National Park and about the potential of pilgrimage routes in Scotland. Then we shared a meal together and I had a meeting with the Vestry.

Reviewing the Mission Action Plan sounds a bit ‘tick box’ and I’m not sure that that kind of exercise is the best contribution I can make. I think it’s probably better to head off up the main street in a determined effort to live what is our aspiration – to help a small and very faithful congregation to transcend the obvious challenges of age profile and size and to live on a bigger map.

On Sunday morning, Alison and I went back to share in worship. I did some more encouraging – a visitor from one of our congregations in Edinburgh was astonished to find that Mission Planning is under way here too. The message is very simple. The loving restoration of St Mary’s was a statement that the Episcopal congregation is here to stay for another generation or two … and the Mission Plan attempts to answer the question ‘What is this congregation called to be and to do?’

And then we are invited to lunch. People care deeply about their church. They are incredibly warm and hospitable. And there will be a future …

‘Can we stop on the way to the airport to see the Northern Lights?’ asked one of my companions in the taxi this morning. It was 4.45 am and raining – so it was never likely. The airport here stands in relation to Reykjavik as Glenrothes does to Edinburgh – expect that the space in between is utterly empty.

We sat round the table all day yesterday – Primates of the churches of Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and Portugal. And gradually themes with some kind of commonality began to emerge. There is the movement towards the disestablishment of the state churches of Scandinavia and the challenge of diminishing tax revenues. In one way or another, we are all facing the movement from being more or less established (well not at all in our case) churches of membership to being churches of discipleship. We talked of the impact of hard economic times – particularly in Ireland, Portugal and the Baltic Republics – and the effect of that on church life and congregations.

We went to lunch in the British Embassy and looked in vain for photos of the Cod Wars – and were entertained by the Icelandic Church.

I often wonder about these kind of meetings – which take time and resources. This was better than most – some real connection and possibility for the future.

It’s back to work today – which means a brief trip to Iceland for a meeting of the Primates of the churches of the Porvoo Communion. Last time I was here, it was midsummer and there was no night. This time I am hoping for a sight of the northern lights – but maybe you need to be outside the city.

The Porvoo Communion links together the Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia with the Anglican Churches of the British Isles and the Episcopal Churches of Spain and Portugal. It’s an important piece of ecumenical infrastructure but I’m not quite sure.. But then churches are strange things and I’ve just had the most interesting evening of real connection with colleagues in the Scandinavian churches. Archbishop Justin is here – on an overnight between his visit to GAFCON in Nairobi and the baptism of Prince George on Wednesday. He preached a challenging sermon this evening about the connection between a prayerful church and the passion for justice.

But for now it’s back to the northern lights.

While we were in Ireland, we said farewell to Canon Tom McGonigle who died aged 91. Tom was a contemporary of my parents in Trinity College, Dublin. Ordained before I was born, he and Doreen came to be part of our congregation in Seagoe on his retirement in 1988 and we greatly enjoyed their friendship. Tom’s long journey in faithful ministry included two separate spells as Rector of Magherafelt and a period as Rector of the large parish of St Mark’s, Portadown.

Tom was born in Donegal. After we left Seagoe, we continued to see them in Donegal. Gradually there grew up the tradition of an annual lunch in Donegal – the menu was unvarying because it was Tom’s favourite of salmon followed by apple pie. On the day he died, it happened that we had lunch with friends who knew him well and, by coincidence, the menu was ….

Tom embodied most of what was important in the tradition of clergy pastoral ministry in the Church of Ireland. He had great wisdom wrapped up in even greater compassion. He trained curates by the dozen. I have no idea how many but I can hear him in his generosity saying that ‘there was never a bad one’. And throughout it all Doreen was faithfully and supportively by his side.

One of those curates said to me that Tom’s advice was, ‘Whatever else you do, do 30 visits a week’
That’s the tradition of ministry in which I was raised – in a large parish, it’s a hard slog because the ministry of the priest is the ministry of the parish. I don’t think I would have passed muster as one of Tom’s curates. I doubt if I ever managed more than 20.

That pattern of ministry also expressed what now seems like a far-off confidence in the solidity and durability of the church. Everybody belonged somewhere and that belonging was expressed in all sorts of ways – spiritual, cultural, social. It’s a long way from where we are now – when we expect clergy to be prayerful pastors but also missional leaders, teachers and trainers with an entrepreneurial gleam in the eye.

What I most admired in Tom was the fact that his generosity could make the stretch between his times and mine. In more fluid and difficult times, he could see that we were striving to find new patterns of ministry for new times. I was always grateful for his support and for the fact that he understood ….

On the cover of the Order of Service, below his name was the word ‘priest’ and we gave thanks together for him. As always in these moments, these words floated into my mind:

‘There stands he at no earthly altar
Clothed in white raiment on that golden floor
Where love is perfect and no foot can falter
God’s priest for evermore’