A Trussell Trust volunteer

A record number of Scottish people are turning to charities to help them feed their families as they struggle financially, according to an investigation.

Breadline Scotland, broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, found that many people are relying on food banks and charity kitchens as prices rise.

According to the Office for National Statistics, food and soft drink prices rose by 4.6 per cent in the year to March 2012, but for many people benefits and wages are not going up, leaving less money for food.

The Trussell Trust, a Salisbury-based Christian charity which runs the UK’s only network of food banks, fed nearly 129,000 people last year, including 6,000 people in Scotland. Its Glasgow presence at Glasgow Elim church in Govanhill is one of nine Scottish projects opened in the past year.

All food is donated by the public and sorted by volunteers. Care professionals such as doctors and social workers identify people in crisis and issue a food voucher. Clients receive three days of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food in exchange for their food voucher. Foodbanks also make time to chat and to signpost clients to other helpful services.

The Salvation Army in Scotland also say they have seen an increase in people, particularly pensioners, approaching them for food.

Captain Stephen Turner said: “The most recent thing, and it’s very unusual in my 15 years of experience, is that actually we’ve had requests from older people on pensions who are just beginning to struggle with day to day living.

“That is unusual because they tend to be proud and very reluctant to ask for help, so if they are asking they are probably in serious financial difficulty.”

• More information at the Trussell Trust,  BBC Scotland and Press Association.

• Photo: Trussell Trust on Facebook.

Participants looked at ongoing causes of division, explored sources and features of commonality and set hearts and minds toward re-energising the ecumenical cause through resolutely pushing thinking outside the box to new levels.

On each day, delegates also divided into three thematic areas of focus – exploring intra and inter-church issues; second, exploring inter-faith issues and, finally looking at issues pertaining to the relations between faith communities and the wider world in which they must live out their faith.

They received further nourishment from ‘Soul Food’ sessions, as well as from visiting the most sacred and special sites of Assisi and sharing “rich stories and specifically focused wisdom  from a wonderful array of scholars and practitioners from around the globe”.

Those from Scotland taking part  included:

• Mark Godin, a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, who has a PhD from the University of Glasgow. He works on theology and literature, worship and interfaith issues. He has been an honorary research fellow at the Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem; he is a locum minister in Scotland and an honorary research associate at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Literature, Theology and the Arts.
• Mario I. Aguilar, Professor of Religion & Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion & Politics at the University of St. Andrews. He is an oblate of the Camaldolese Benedictines and a hermit in Anstruther. He has explored the Christian and Buddhist traditions in Contemplating God, Changing the World (2008), Thomas Merton: Contemplation and Political Action (2011) and Church, Liberation and World Religions (2012).

It will consider the Good Society, a project run by CTBI, which seeks to stimulate debate on the nature of what a ‘good society’ is.

The project is developing case studies to showcase what the churches are already doing.

It is to be looking at 10 places across Britain and Ireland, including the Gorbals and Fraserburgh in Scotland.

As part of the Get Britain Reading programme, recently launched by ITV show Daybreak, the Salvation Army has been collecting books to distribute to the local community.

St Patrick’s Primary School, Anderston, Glasgow was among the beneficiaries of the programme, as well as another local school and two nurseries in the area, between them receiving more than 800 books from the Glasgow City Centre Corps of The Salvation Army.

Susan O’Donnell, St Patrick’s headteacher, said she was ‘delighted’ that the school can now fill the shelves of its new library with an ‘exciting collection of fabulous books.’

Salvation Army Corps Officers Matt and Sarah Butler said there has been a ‘tremendous response’ to the Get Britain Reading collection and that they are ‘delighted to be able to encourage the children of this inner city area in their reading.’

• Full story at the Scottish Catholic Observer.

This initiative, promoted in the Archdiocese of Glasgow for more than 30 years, has given churches a form of service which enables them to look back together at their roots in the worship of the people of Israel.

The service this year was originally taken from Kevin Mayhew’s publication Focus on Holy Week, but it has been adapted this way and that ever since.

• A full report is available on the website of St Leo the Great parish church.

The occasion was commemorated on March 29 by a Civic Dinner hosted by Lord Provost Bob Winter and with representatives of the City Council, the political parties,  the churches, the arts, the Universities, schools and Glasgow educational establishments.

The speaker before the dinner was Professor Tom Devine, the well known historian. He traced influence of Mungo in the developing history of Glasgow, concluding with a wish that the spirit of the saint’s love of the poor might in the future help Glasgow meet the challenge presented by neighbouring extremes of poverty and affluence – a challenge so far not addressed by any city in the world.

The Grace before meals was given by the Rev Dr Laurence Whitley of St Mungo’s Cathedral, while the concluding Grace was given by Fr Willy Slaven of St Simon’s Church in Partick.

‘Trafficked’: Sophie’s personal story of being trafficked from the UK

The Scottish Churches Anti-Human Trafficking Group has prepared a report which will go to the Church of Scotland General Assembly in May, in response to its request for a strategy for action against human trafficking for the sex trade and the potential rise in such trafficking around the time of the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Action already taken by churches includes:

• In 2009, representatives of six denominations and members of the ACTS Trafficking Group were invited to meet with the Scottish Parliament Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Solicitor General and were assured of the ongoing commitment of the Scottish Government to tackle the problem of human trafficking in Scotland.
• The Guild of the Church of Scotland, with the Church and Society Council and the World Mission council, has compiled information and study packs.
• The Guild of the Church of Scotland, the  Salvation Army and the Mother’s Union of the Scottish Episcopal Church have submitted responses to the proposed Criminalisation of the Purchase and Sale of Sex (Scotland) Bill.
• The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) is a church based investor coalition that undertakes research, advocacy and dialogue to encourage the business community and ECCR’s members to meet the highest standards of corporate responsibility, transparency, and positive-impact investment.
• The Salvation Army has set up a ‘safe house’ in England for individuals rescued from trafficking.

The anti-trafficking group’s report and an information leaflet are available to download from the ACTS website.

Glasgow: City Centre Churches: Good Friday, April 6
‘Join with us, walking behind the cross as it is carried through the streets of Glasgow. ‘

• 10.15am: assemble in George Square.
• 10.45am: walk begins from George Square.
• 12 noon: walk ends at St Vincent Plaza.
• Followed by tea and coffee in Anderston Kelvingrove Church of Scotland.

'The Martyrdom of St John Ogilvie' by Peter Howson

St Aloysius’ parish in Glasgow is served by the Jesuits and it marked the feast with a Vespers of St John led by Archbishop Mario Conti and the St Mungo Singers.

In a series of interviews (link below) Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick spoke to …

• Fr Peter Griffiths, the parish priest at St Aloysius,  about the celebration there to mark the feast – primarily a lunch-time Mass and Vespers on the vigil.
• Stephen Callaghan, Director of the Archdiocesan Arts Initiative and the author of a new play on St John Ogilvie premiered on 10^th March in the University of Glasgow Chapel.  Stephen explained how he was motivated to write his play.
• Maureen Coyle, a Notre Dame Sister who enjoys being a parishioner at the parish of St Jude and St John Ogilvie, who she talked about the parish’s Novena and celebrations in honour of St John Ogilvie.
• Noel Donnelly, a musician and Biblical scholar who wrote a hymn for the children to help them understand what St John Ogilvie was all about.

A Vespers leaflet and a soundfile containing the interviews can be accessed  at the St Mungo Singers website.

Jolomo (John Lowrie Morrison), who will paint 'Jesus is raised from the dead'.

The Archdiocese of Glasgow Arts Project (AGAP) said a record number of artists have signed up to take part in the annual art exhibition which takes places during Lentfest.  The festival, which began as a pilot in 2007, has been hugely successful in attracting the participation of a wide range of supporters.  Lentfest 2012 boasts a strong line-up with artists such as Peter Howson, Jolomo (John Lowrie Morrison), Anne Devine, Sandy Moffat and Richard Demarco joining the ranks alongside regular participants like Sarah T. Bookless, Brendan Berry and David T. Collins.

Lentfest Director, Stephen Callaghan explained: “The popularity of the exhibition topic illustrates the timelessness of Biblical subject matter and the diversity of the artists will no doubt ensure a wide range of interpretations.  We’ve never had so many artists take part and not all of them are Christian so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

The Stations of the Cross and Resurrection are a set of 28 images which are traditionally used in the Catholic Church to reflect upon the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  “The “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) is better known, but there is evidence of a tradition called the ‘Via Lucis’ (Way of Light), which takes us up to the Descent of the Holy Spirit and this deserves our attention too because the Christian story does not end with suffering and death but with hope and enlightenment.”

Archbishop Mario Conti, the festival’s patron, added: “I am delighted that we have the support of the University of Glasgow Chaplaincy for this exhibition and I hope that many will take advantage of the opportunity to visit the exhibition during Lent and use it as a means of reflection and prayer.”

The twenty-eight artists who will depict the Stations consented to have their names entered into a draw to be allocated their particular subject.  The twenty-ninth artist is sculptress, Kate Robinson, who is working on a three-dimensional reflection on the Crucifixion. This will complement an installation featuring ancient Roman nails, of the type used in the practice of crucifixion, which are housed by the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow, and which will be on display in the exhibition space during the exhibition.

The full list of participating artists and their subjects is available on the AGAP website.