St. Andrew's Church, Tongue

There is a good introduction to the village of Tongue, and the surrounding area, on the Mackay Country website here.

The church building was built in 1724, and it is the burial place of the Reay family, chiefs of the Clan Mackay. The old graveyard surrounds the church, and across the stream behind the church, lies the cemetery extension, situated in what used to be the walled garden of the old manse.

The above photo shows the west end of the interior of the sanctuary. The raised gallery at the far end is normally only used by the Countess of Sutherland and her family. However, when more seating is required then other people are welcome to sit there.

Immediately in front of the gallery are two square sitting areas, with bench pew seats round all four edges. I haven't seen these style of 'boxes' in any other churches, but maybe they are more common in this part of Scotland.

The main door is on the south side of the building. On the photo below, you can see the chancel area at the eastern end of the building. To the left is the door leading through to the North hall, where the Sunday's Cool meets. In a similar wing on the south side is the vestry, which is large enough for small meetings.

It is an exciting, but also daunting, prospect as I anticipate becoming the next minister of this ancient and historic place. So many ministers and people have gone before me, and only God knows what lies ahead.

The challenge for us all is to enable other folk to grasp hold of the offer that God makes to each person. You can know God, and speak with Him. You can know his help in your daily life, as well as wholeness and peace in body, spirit, and soul.

The church building at Tongue has provided shelter and comfort for nearly 300 years as the congregation have gathered together within.

Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
(Marty Haugen, b.1950, CH4, 198)

Melness Parish Church

The present church building of Melness Parish Church was opened in 1902, although the building work began some years earlier. It was built by local people, from stone quarried locally, and wood which was shipped in by local Melness boats from Scrabster beside Thurso. You can read more about those early years of Melness Church at the Church pages of the Melness Community website.

The above photo shows the south side and west end of the church interior. The north side is symmetrical. The photo below shows the chancel area of the church, again looking towards the south side. The hymn board shows the hymn numbers we used during the service there last Sunday, after which I was appointed minister-elect for the united congregation of Melness and Tongue.

I will not begin my role as the parish minister there until the Presbytery of Sutherland ordains and inducts me into the parish. That will probably take place at some point during the coming summer.

I am looking forward to getting to know the people, the place, and the history, of Melness, and of Tongue also. It will take time - and during that time the people of the congregation and parish will be getting to know me. It will be an exciting adventure for us all.

Jesus calls each one of us to follow Him. We can only catch glimpses of what the future might hold for us. We are called to move on from the past life that we have known, into the unknown future.

You might be anxious about that prospect, but Jesus promises that He will never leave you nor abandon you. There is a room already prepared for you in the Father's house. Jesus invites you to journey with Him, through the rest of your life, and then onwards with Him in never-ending life.

Elected!

This is just a short post to tell my Blog followers that yesterday, Sunday 25th April 2010, the congregation of Melness and Tongue in Sutherland elected me to be their next minister. They are wonderful folk, and the parish is beautiful.

The date for the ordination service has not yet been decided but it will probably be sometime between mid-July and mid-August. When I know the date, then I'll tell you all.

I shall be posting some photos in due course, but that's all for now.

Melness & Tongue

For almost a year now, I have been trying to hear from the Lord Jesus, where it is that He wants me to become Minister. There have been many possibilities.

Each month, congregations which have a vacancy for a minister publish their adverts in the Church of Scotland's magazine, the Life and Work. Once I had completed my Final Assessment in August 2008, and received my Certificate of Completion, many congregations sent me their Parish Profiles. For other vacancies, I was able to download their Profile from the internet. I also telephoned and emailed some places to ask them for their Profile.

Gradually we narrowed down the number of places we felt we might be called to, from more than 100 to start with, down to 30 or so rural vacancies, down to half a dozen or so that we researched more carefully. Eventually we came down to three vacancies that we thought we might apply to, and once we had visited them all, I sent off my CV and covering letter and waited.

Well actually, with it being only one week to Christmas, it was rather frantic, and so I wasn't hanging around waiting for the post! I was due to start a temporary position at the beginning of January, so there were preparations to make, and then the initial busy few weeks.

Eventually, we began to engage with each of those three congregations, and over the first few months of 2010, we hosted groups of listeners, and went to preach for Nominating Committees. Until at last we reached an agreement on where I would become the Sole Nominee - the one applicant to be recommended to the congregation as their next minister.

It was a tremendously exciting and somewhat nerve-wracking period. The results of the decision-making would determine not only where I would be working for at least the next five years, but would also determine where my wife and I would be living during that same period.

Once we had all decided, there was a delay of more than a fortnight before we could speak openly to our friends and supporters where it was that we hoped to end up. Finally, during this past week, I was able to announce that it was the parish of Melness and Tongue, in Sutherland, where I had been appointed as their Sole Nominee.

The Melness Church is shown in the above photo. It was built by the residents of that crofting community around 100 years ago. St Andrews, Tongue, is shown below. It was built in 1724 and is surrounded by the village's cemetery.

I will lead worship in both of the churches next Sunday, April 25th 2010. Immediately afterwards the congregation will vote Yes or No to decide whether they will accept the recommendation of their Nominating Committee and appoint me as their minister-elect. If they do, then it will be over to the Presbytery of Sutherland to approve the appointment and make arrangements for the ordination, probably sometime during the summer.

It has been a long journey since early 2004, when I applied to train for the ministry. Only a few hurdles remain, which if successfully cleared, will result in me reaching that new beginning that lies ahead.

I hope that those of you who have journeyed with me along some or all of the route will have taken inspiration from the way in which God has led me along the way.

May you also know the calling of God on your lives, and reach your destination too.

Volcano - nearer than we thought

When I wrote on Monday about 'Whatever Next?' I did not for a moment expect such a dramatic event to occur so soon as the closing of UK airspace due to volcanic activity.

Although the city of Edinburgh where I live is dotted with the rocky plugs of long-extinct volcanoes, such as Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle Rock, it is normally only in novels such as Moonseed by Stephen Baxter that the city experiences the impact of unexpected volcanic activity.

But yesterday evening, I certainly noticed the impact. The distant roar of aircraft arriving and leaving from Edinburgh Airport was missing from the usual traffic noise. My neighbours were sitting in their back garden, enjoying the evening sunshine, and the unusually peaceful evening.

The volcano that has caused so much disruption, even in Edinburgh, as located far away, in Iceland. It must be a dreadful situation for the people of Iceland who have had to leave their homes, or who have been affected seriously by the ash or floods.

The situation reminds me of the time I lived in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The dormant volcano of Keelung mountain lies just outside the city and some friends of mine were kind enough to take me on a tour.

In the photo above you can see the crater that has been carved out over the years by the active steam vent. The photo to the right shows my foot beside one of the bubbling mud puddles right next to the track. The photo below shows me standing beside one of the smaller steam vents that could be reached from the track.



The Keelung volcano is a minor attraction in comparison to the volcanism of Iceland or Yellowstone in the USA. My visit to Keelung in the year 2000 reminded me of my visit to Yellowstone with my parents in 1969, and the recent TV documentaries on the super-volcano there. If Yellowstone erupted again, as it has in the past, then the whole of the USA would be devastated.

With our abilities to dominate the landscape, and fly at will across the globe, we tend to forget the unthinking violence of the earth beneath our feet. The people of Yushi in China's Qinghai province this week have suffered the destruction of their city, with hundreds of deaths and thousands of people injured. And it was only in January that 250,000 people died in the earthquake in Haiti, with further deaths the next month in Chile.

Life is short, and can come suddenly to an unexpected end. Jesus invites you to get to know Him now, before it is too late. By his resurrection from death, Jesus showed that his offer of eternal life was not wishful thinking. Life with Him is worth the living, even before we reach that heavenly gateway.

Whatever Next?

When something astonishing happens, one of the phrases we often use to express our amazement is, “Whatever next?”

Our expectations have been blown away, and we don’t know what to expect next. As the announcer used to say at the beginning of each Stingray puppet show, “Anything can happen in the next half-hour.”

The Easter Story is just such an astonishing event. The first disciples were blown away. They couldn’t take it in. They had to go and see the empty tomb for themselves. They had to see the empty grave-clothes lying there undisturbed. Cleopas and his friend had to sit down to eat with the risen Jesus, before they recognised him.

The disciples in the Upper Room back in Jerusalem thought Jesus was a ghost, until he asked for some fish and ate it before their astonished eyes. Thomas had to touch the scars in Jesus’ hands, and put his finger into the spear wound in Jesus’ side, before he would believe it really was Jesus.

But then Thomas declared, “My Lord and my God.”

Thomas was a real sceptic. He wasn’t going to take anyone else’s word for it. He may have been slow, but when he got there, he knew the significance of what he was seeing and touching.

“My Lord and my God.”

Paul was arresting and attacking the Christians, but Jesus appeared to him, and Paul was stopped in his tracks.

How embarrassing can you get? Here you are - the chief investigator for the Jewish Chief Priests - chasing down these pesky disciples of Jesus, when - Bam! You are confronted with the risen Jesus.

Instead of hiding away in a dark room and staying silent - Paul goes straight to the market place and starts telling everyone that Jesus really is the Messiah. Paul knows - He met Jesus - risen from the dead!

The apostle Paul continues the story in his letter to the Corinthians, written only 20 years after that first Easter.

Paul writes that Jesus met with a wide range of people over a period of 40 days after he rose from the grave. Paul records that one time Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at the same occasion.

Paul says most of those 500 were still alive, some 20 years later. The Corinthians could track them down, and check out Paul’s story. But why would he lie. He had already changed sides from Jewish to Christian. Paul was committed.

Paul was arrested by the Romans, because at that time it was illegal to be a Christian. Roman citizens had to acknowledge that the Emperor was divine, that he was God. Christians refused. Thousands of them were tortured, fed live to the wild animals in the circus, or burned alive.

But why would they give up this life for nothing?

They were convinced it wasn’t for nothing. Jesus had come from God, convinced them he was God, and invited them to come with Him. They were convinced. Death wasn’t the end. It was the beginning. So there was no need to fear death, except for the pain of dying itself - and that wouldn’t be for long.

Jesus told the respectful criminal, who was crucified on the Cross next to Jesus, that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.
Some people today mock the suggestion that there could be life after death. They mock the idea that there could be a God.

Over 80% of the British population believe in some kind of God. Scientists have recently come to the conclusion that in all their studies of the universe, they can only account for 4% of the total energy and mass of the universe. The other 96% is unknown.

Now if you don’t know about 96% of the universe, it’s pretty ridiculous to say, “There is no God.”

You can’t see the air, but you can breathe it.

Water is a pure clear liquid, unless you cool it when it becomes solid ice, or heat it when it turns into invisible steam.

Heat and light pass through your solid glass windows.
Invisible electrons carry electricity along solid copper wires.
Mobile phone signals pass through solid walls.

Scientists don’t know why matter has got mass.
They are still trying to find the God Particle.

I am confident that the claims of the New Testament are true.
When I pray with God, I have learned to hear his whispering voice.
When God tells me he is going to do something, it happens.

You can Try Praying for yourself. God is waiting to hear from you.
You can download a Try Praying booklet from the Try Praying website.

Jesus told his disciples that his Father had plenty of rooms in his house, and that he was going to come back and take them there.

The invitation wasn’t just for his twelve closest friends. It was for everyone who would put their trust in Jesus and follow Him.

God’s offer is open to you, and to all of your loved ones. God is trustworthy and faithful. He keeps his promises.

He is gracious and merciful. He gives us eternal life even although we don’t deserve it. He forgives our sins, even those we are not aware of. He washes away our guilt and sin, and invites us in.

All of us. Not just the people you think are nicer than you are. Even you, with all your shortcomings, and weaknesses. He invites you.

Your room is already waiting. Waiting for you to check in.
Some of our number are there already. I can’t wait for my turn.

What will it be like? Jesus told us already. The Kingdom of heaven is like a feast.

Come - for all is now ready.

Good News - shhhh

Ministers get told a lot of secrets, and the important thing about a secret is that it must be kept secret. You can't even tell anybody what it is that's secret!

Ministers are also charged with sharing the Good News. It's not a secret! It's a public offer, open to everybody. It would be unfair to keep it secret.

It's a tricky balancing act. I have to talk enough with people so that they will continue to listen when I start talking about the Good News. But I mustn't talk so much that I inadvertently give away a clue about someone's big secret.

This means that the safest subject about which to talk - is about me! I do want to hear from the person I am talking with, but they mustn't feel like I am conducting an interrogation. If I want them to tell me about themself, then I must be prepared to begin by talking about me.

At the moment I have a secret of my own. It is good news about me. But I mustn't talk about it!

This makes conversation rather more difficult than usual. It is easier with people who don't know me at all, because normally they don't ask me questions about the subject that is secret.

However, in a few days time, I should be able to speak about my secret. Which will be good, because as you can tell, I am finding it quite hard to keep it a secret!

Cross

There is a sense of anti-climax this week. The cross is empty, the tomb is empty, and now the party is over.

The holiday weekend is behind us. Life gets back to normal. The exciting events of the past week return again to the history cupboard, until we take them out again next year.

But we can't shut God up in a cupboard. Jesus was not confined by the grave-clothes, or by the stone over the entrance. He met with the disciples in the Upper Room, even although the door was locked and barred.

God's offer of forgiveness for the past, and eternal life for the future, remains out in the open. It is a life-long offer without any time limits, with no closing date.

If your life is ordinary, normal, dull, drab, then take another look at the life of Jesus, and of his disciples. Those lives were anything but ordinary, normal, dull, or drab.

You too can share that abundant life that Jesus offers every one of his followers. It is a life of power, of purpose, and of peace. It is not an easy life, but it is a fulfilling and satisfying life. Jesus has a place prepared already, just for you. Come and get it.

The cross is empty, the tomb is empty, and life is full!

Easter Celebration

I really enjoyed leading worship this morning. The Sunday School did a great job with their Easter Play, and the congregation were in fine voice with their singing.

It was the first time I had led a complete Easter Sunday service. It was very special.

When I was preparing my sermon, I know I wanted to keep it short and sweet. It was to be a positive message, inviting people to join in the eternal party in Jesus' home.

It also needed to be based on the Easter Story and to help people see the relevance of that in their everyday lives in the present day.

And I wanted it to be very personal, so that the individual people in the congregation would be drawn into the story, feel part of it, and engage with Jesus themselves. You can read it for yourself on my Lenten Blog.

The church was pretty full. There were clearly a lot of visitors there who had come to be with their friends and family during this Easter weekend.

There were many parents and grandparents too, present to support and watch their children and grandchildren. There were even a few babies in for the fun!

All in all, it was a wonderful celebration of Jesus' Resurrection from death. The darkness of Holy Week is replaced by a burst of intense light as the glory of God's Son is revealed in all his majesty.

Jesus, my Lord, is risen indeed. I will sing praise to Him forever!