Glasgow Churches Together

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Archbishop Conti presided at the annual ecumenical Vespers, held by the Archdiocese of Glasgow in St Joseph’s, Tollcross, on 19 April, writes Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick.

Rt Rev Bill Hewitt

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Bill Hewitt, preached the reflection.

Glasgow Churches Together was represented by, among others, the Moderator of Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland, Rt. Rev. Bill Ferguson, and Dr Angus Kerr, the Clerk to the Presbytery; Rev Derek Bibb and Rev Alan Anderson of the Methodist Union; and Major Steve Huyton of the Salvation Army. We were also pleased to welcome Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, who was in Glasgow for a meeting of the North West Triangle (Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast).

St Joseph’s choir joined the St. Mungo Singers, under their conductors Dr Noel Donnelly and Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick, to provide the music support for the service.

Mr Hewitt gave an inspiring and challenging reflection, after thanking Archbishop Conti for the invitation to preach and noting the Archbishop’s contribution to the cause of ecumenism.

Beginning his reflection, the Moderator acknowledged that the Church was going through a difficult time, and this could be seen in the debates before the General Assembly. However if we felt disheartened, then the reading from Hebrews offered words of encouragement as it pointed to our relationship with Christ.  Later in the same chapter of Hebrews, there is a quotation from Ezekiel about the Lord giving his people a new heart.  We need to be emptied of ourselves so that we can be filled with the Spirit of Christ.

God’s choice is based on what we are inside.  He has expectations of us and we need to look upwards.  Today the idea of conquest is a strange one for us but we are called to conquer ourselves first and then go out into the world. He quoted Cardinal Murphy O’Connor who warned against false pessimism and made the point that society cannot afford to exclude Christians.

After the reflection, Dr. Donnelly played a gentle harp piece as we meditated on the Moderator’s words, then all joined in the singing of the Magnificat to the tune of “Amazing Grace”.  After the Intercessions, the St. Mungo Singers added some Easter colour to the service with the singing of Lotti’s setting of Regina Coeli.

The Vespers ended with a joint blessing by Archbishop Conti and the Moderator, a sung blessing (“God to enfold you” by John Bell) and the closing hymn, “Before we end our day, O Lord”, the words of which are attributed to St Bernard.

• Full report at St Mungo Music.