Precious with her mum, Florence

Right Reverend John Christie will address over 2,000 Church of Scotland Guild members at their annual meeting in Dundee’s Caird Hall.

The Moderator will base his speech on the Guild’s key theme for the 2010-11 session, “called to love mercy”.

And he voiced his bitter disappointment at Home Secretary Theresa May, after she refused to intervene in the Mhango’s case following a joint letter from himself, Alex Salmond and Cardinal Keith O’Brien: “There are certainly for the three of us, and many others, good reasons for them to be allowed to stay in Scotland.

“This is an opportunity for compassionate love and it would be disappointing, to say the least, if the they are deported.

“The New Testament is full of examples between the tension of the law, and grace and compassion. In these set of exceptional circumstances I believe grace and compassion should prevail.”

After Florence left her violent and abusive husband, the pair no longer had the right to stay in the UK.

Precious, 10, and her mother lost an immigration appeal at the High Court in London and were ordered to return to Malawi in July.

The family, who were staying in Cranhill in Glasgow, hope to appeal against the deportation ruling, but could now be removed at any time.

It is hoped that the Guild, staunch campaigners against injustices such as human trafficking and domestic abuse, will add their support to the battle to keep the two Malawian asylum seekers in Scotland.

National convener Helen-May Bayne is expected to announce that Guild members raised almost £1 million last year, including funds for congregations and work outwith the Church.

• Full story at the Church of Scotland.

Our Lady of the Missions Primary School choir

Primary six and seven pupils from Our Lady of the Missions (OLM) Primary School in East Renfrewshire will sing in the pre-event leading up to the Papal Mass in Bellahouston Park on September 16.

Around 40 youngsters from the Thornliebank Catholic primary will take to the stage at about 3pm before Pope Benedict XVI addresses the public in a Mass at around 5.30pm.

Choir leader and teacher Wendy Collins said she hopes the other performers at the event will enjoy the choir’s rendition of the Ninian Cantata.

The choir was asked to sing for the Pope following a performance at the Children’s Cantata at St Mungo’s Church in Glasgow in May – a Glasgow Churches Together event – which was seen by senior church officials.

Head teacher Charlie Jamieson said the school was “honoured and delighted” to be involved with the Papal visit.

• Full story at the Evening Times.

Participants are:

• Balshagray Victoria Park Church – This prominent B-listed building was involved in an architectural competition in 1907.
• Barony Hall – Magnificent Victorian Gothic Revival church.
• Colston Wellpark Parish Church – Bold hammerbeam roof and magnificent stained glass windows.
• Fotheringay Centre at Hutchesons Grammar School – The result of a unique partnership.
• Glasgow Cathedral – Contains tomb of St. Mungo and fine stained glass.
• Glasgow Evangelical Church – Lavish Italianate façade and beautiful stained glass.
• Govan and Linthouse Parish – Govan Cross Building – B-listed. Gothic style.
• Govan and Linthouse Parish – Govan Old Church – Early English with details from Pluscarden Abbey.
• Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Luke – Inspired by the design of Dunblane Cathedral.
• Hyndland Parish Church – A-listed church with a mediæval layout.
• Kelvin Stevenson Memorial Church – Delightful carvings of birds and beasts.
• Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church – Modelled on Sainte Chapelle in Paris – contains some of the finest stained glass in the country
• Lansdowne and Cottiers – Illustrated Lecture on magnificent stained glass windows.
• Lansdowne Church – The most striking gothic revival church in Glasgow.
• Linthouse Building, Govan and Linthouse Parish – Façade is a blend of classical and Arts & Crafts
• Lodging House Mission – Italian Palazzo style with giant Doric pilasters.
• The Mackintosh Church – The Mackintosh Society’s international headquarters.
• Mosspark Parish Church – Gothic style with Art Nouveau touches.
• Our Lady of Good Counsel Church – A church is full of surprises.
• Ramshorn Theatre and Graveyard – One of the most unusual small theatres in Glasgow.
• Shettleston Old Parish Church – Some very fine stained glass windows.
• South Shawlands Parish Church – Bright sanctuary with light wood and unusual pillar-less cantilevered gallery.
• St Aloysius Church – Fine late renaissance style church.
• St Andrews in the Square – One of the top six classical churches in the UK
• St Bride’s Church – Beautiful stained glass windows and a marble altar with mosaic work.
• St Clare’s R.C. Church – St Clare’s was completed in 1966 at a cost of £75000.
• St George’s Tron Church – Interior completely renovated in 2008/9
• St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral – Breathtaking murals by Gwyneth Leech.
• St Mungo’s Church – Early French Gothic.
• St Vincent Street Church – Thomson’s only surviving operational church.
• United Reformed Church – Built of red sandstone with a marble baptistry.
• Wellington Church – Classical exterior with impressive portico.

Parish priest Fr Joe Sullivan provided them with a moving account of ten years ministering in the city’s East End. In an intriguing talk, titled ‘The Coby Ziggy Fleet meets Heterodox Augustinianism’, he explored how his own theological studies related to the nitty-gritty of life for young people in an economically deprived Glasgow estate.

The Coby Ziggy Fleet is one of the gangs which many young people drift towards in more deprived areas. Fr Sullivan’s constant refrain to them is simple: “You are not rubbish”. Rather than abandoning the poor, as so many other sectors of society have done, the Church is called to be alongside people on the margins.

The visit to Ruchazie was part of the ‘Visions for the Future’ International Theological Summer School hosted by Scottish Churches House in Dunblane.

Twenty-two participants from 14 countries took part in the two-week study visit which included trips to Edinburgh, St Andrews, New Lanark, Paisley and Iona, as well as Glasgow.

Midway through the course, the students were joined by Archbishop Mario Conti, Rt Rev John Christie, Moderator of the General Assembly, Bishop David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and theologian Elizabeth Templeton for a panel discussion.

Referring to the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Ecumenical Missionary Conference, the Moderator said: “You are blessed when you can teach people how to cooperate, not compete”. Bishop Chillingworth, recalling his experience in Northern Ireland, called for “absolute consistency in the search for truth, while remaining open to people”. Borrowing the motto of the Knights of Malta, ‘Defence of Truth — Service of the Poor’, Archbishop Conti warned against the “heresies” of resignation and fatalism in an increasingly “post-Christian” world.

• Full story in the August 2010 edition of Flourish.

Pope Benedict XVI

Thousands more are expected to line the route of the Pope’s motorcade through Edinburgh earlier in the day.

On the following day he will fly to London and will take part in ecumenical prayers in Westminster Abbey.

Pastoral resouces for Roman Catholics can be found at BeingCatholic.org. There’s further information at the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and The Papal Visit, and a news monitor at Scottish Christian.

Metropolitan Filaret and Cardinal Erdo (Photo by Michele Carloni)

A photo of the event was printed with the title “Europe’s Brothers.”

The embrace between the two high-level representatives was a highlight of the 31st Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, an annual event sponsored by the Catholic Communion and Liberation Movement in Rimini, Italy.

The cardinal and metropolitan made their embrace of unity as they joined in a debate on the topic “Can An Educated Man, a European of Our Days, Actually Believe in the Divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ?”

Cardinal Erdo is the archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, and the president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE). Filaret is the metropolitan of Minsk and Sluzk and Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus.

The Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches are already united in their common stance on many issues affecting Europe: challenges to life and family and religious freedom among them. Recently, an apostolic nunciature was opened in Moscow, and there is ever greater insistence on a meeting between Benedict XVI and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

To this end, Metropolitan Filaret said that “the time is ripe for a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch. It might even be possible in 2011; in principle I see no obstacles,”

“We have been in dialogue with the Catholic Church for some time, at times with moments of exhilaration, at others with a fall in tensions,” he added. “Now we are in a moment of stability, but between us, we, the parties, are open to dialogue. I hope this atmosphere will continue.”

Cardinal Erdo pointed to Catholic-Orthodox union in dogmatic issues. “Hence, for me,” he said, “the circumstance that we are not in full and complete communion is a physical pain.”

The cardinal and metropolitan considered the debate topic on Christ’s divinity, a theme drawn from notes of the novel “Demons” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It reflects a question among the European elite of the 1860s, which returns with burning timeliness.

Filaret observed that “Europe is completely changed; European man has changed to the point of being irreconcilable. However, the question is always the same.”

He reflected on the doubts plaguing Europeans of our day and suggested a “lively conscience” to overcome them — a conscience that “does not grow silent, but that sets afire the lies that deceive the heart, and unmasks the sin that besieges the soul.”

“We must pray so that the Lord will help our faith because everything is possible for one who believes,” the metropolitan concluded.

For his part, Cardinal Erdo pointed to the contradictions in contemporary European intellectuals.

He suggested that a “trite atheism” and the “famous historical and dialectical materialism of traditional Marxism” do not seem attractive. But, pantheism is fashionable, he proposed.

“If the man of today asks himself seriously the question on the existence of God, absolute, transcendent and personal, he must investigate also the possibility of communion between God and man that took place in Jesus Christ,” the cardinal said.

“God is only one, and only one is the mediator between God and men: the man Jesus Christ,” stressed Cardinal Erdo. Because of this, “we must be messengers and missionaries of the new evangelization of Europe. We must be united with our other Christian brothers, because unity can reinforce our testimony.”

• Full story at Zenit.

Glasgow Gospel DVD cover

Jamie Stuart, 89, from the East End will travel to Nashville on Tuesday to narrate A Celtic Christmas Concert, which is being recorded for America’s most watched faith TV channel Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN).

It will go out over Christmas on the channel which can be seen on cable around the world.

Organisers had read Jamie’s book, The Glasgow Gospel, which offers a Glaswegian take on some of the gospel stories and invited him to America.

Jamie, an elder at High Carntyne Church, said: “I’m compering the whole event and giving presentations on the Glasgow Bible. I’m very excited. They seem to have fallen in love with it and I reckon it will fit in with the Celtic Christmas idea”

The Glasgow Bible is a compilation of Jamie’s books, The Glasgow Gospel and two volumes of Auld Testement Tales, and has sold more than 150,000 copies around the world.

• Full story at the Glasgow Evening Times.

But Garthamlock and Craigend East Parish Church on Porchester Street is one of two new rejuvenated churches to open its doors in the fast regenerating areas of the city along with St George’s and St Peter’s Church, on Sunday. Both churches built to replace the original buildings are a symbol of the Kirk’s commitment to ministry throughout.

With light and airy surrounding it is only when you enter the main hall and notice the main window with its panes separated by the shape of the cross that you realise that Garthamlock and Craigend East Parish Church is a place of worship.

Rev Dr Val Duff, minister of the church for the last 14 years, said she and her congregation are looking forward to new and exciting times ahead with their new church. Dr Duff sees their new church building as a symbol of the regeneration of the area and the Kirk’s commitment to the neighbourhood.

Dr Duff said: “Garthamlock itself is undergoing huge changes and the whole area is being regenerated. In a time of church cutbacks this is hugely exciting and the new church building is a symbol of the regeneration of not just of Garthamlock and Craigend Parish Church but the whole community. The old church was a product of its day built more than 50 years ago but our new building is the next stage of the church’s life and we are looking forward to its future now.”

It is a sentiment shared by Rev Malcolm Cuthbertson, minister at St George’s and St Peter’s, Boyndie Street.

The original church building suffered severe storm damage in 1998 and the sanctuary had to be demolished.

Mr Cuthbertson said:”It was a struggle to maintain our church status but now we’ve reached the end of the road with the rebuilding of it and we’re looking forward to taking over the new church building. We’re all very excited about being able to have our first service there on September 5.”

The original churches were built in the 1950s and 1960s but by the late 1990s both buildings were beginning to show their age. The best option it was decided would be to replace them and new churches were scheduled to be built alongside a major housing redevelopment site.

Finance for the new buildings was provided through the Church of Scotland’s Priority Areas Committee with the design and construction led by the Central Properties Department.

The challenge of developing a suitable design for each site that reflected the needs and aspirations of two very different congregations was heightened by strict budget limitations. It was important that the design of each building respected the changing context in which they would be set.

James F Stephen Architects were appointed as the design team leaders. Previous working partnership experience would be essential in these projects to maximise the potential outcome for both developments.

The designs remained “simple” in terms of the construction process to keep costs low but nonetheless both buildings have a high quality specification. Constructed with timber frames and facing brick and concrete externally, the buildings are of a robust nature externally whilst internally the careful use of space has provided multi-roomed buildings with sanctuaries that will provide the dignity for worship yet equally provide activity space for a variety of purposes.

Communication is a vital aspect within any church building and the churches make good use of the latest audio-visual technologies throughout.

When opened, the new churches will provide a focus for the congregations and the communities, bringing opportunities for the future that the original buildings had over 50 years ago.

Opportunities in ecumenical learning programme

During the meetings stewards will work in the areas of worship, conference room, documentation, press office, sound, and other administrative and support tasks.

The WCC Central Committee meets every 18 months in Geneva, Switzerland to monitor and set directions to the Council’s work. The meeting brings together about 150 church representatives, advisers and observers from WCC member churches and associated organizations worldwide. Twenty stewards will help to make this event happen.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) will gather some 1000 participants from all over the world in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants of many different backgrounds will witness to the peace of God as both gift and responsibility of the entire human family. The IEPC stewards programme will have 45 participants, with one third of them coming from Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Before the meetings, stewards follow an ecumenical learning programme which exposes them to the key issues of the ecumenical movement worldwide. The last phase of the stewards programme, following the meeting, focuses on designing ecumenical projects which stewards will implement back home.

Being a steward means hard work, but it is also a unique ecumenical experience of togetherness with young people from different churches, countries and cultures.

Applicants are invited to send in the application form:

• by 30 September 2010 for the Central Committee
• by 30 November 2010 for the IEPC

• Full information and application forms at the World Council of Churches.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, an independent charity set up by Royal Charter in 1783, says Margo MacDonald’s Bill would mean such a significant and controversial change that it should include a clause requiring a fresh debate in five or ten years’ time.

Ms MacDonald’s Bill would allow people who feel their lives have become intolerable through terminal illness or a degenerative condition to ask for assistance to end their life, subject to a range of safeguards.

More than 600 individuals and organisations sent in their views on Ms MacDonald’s Bill and 87 per cent of the submissions were against it.

The Catholic Church made clear its opposition to the Bill: “It will strike a blow against the fundamental sanctity of human life and will permit many lives to be put at risk through varying degrees of psychological, social or cultural coercion.”

A joint statement from the Church of Scotland, Methodist Church and Salvation Army said the Bill would breach the prohibition on the taking of human life, but a working group from the United Reformed Church in Scotland said assisted dying, as conceived in the terms of the Bill, could be viewed as “a loving act”.

• Full story at The Scotsman.