St John's Ministry Team

42 Pages·2013·1.18 MB·English

St John’s Ministry Team

The Revd Markus Dünzkofer Rector 229 7565
[email protected]
Day off usually Monday
The Revd Donald Reid Associate Rector 466 2461
[email protected]
Day off usually Friday
The Revd Professor Kenneth Boyd Associate Minister 225 6485
The Revd Clephane Hume Associate Minister 667 2996
The Revd Professor Freda Alexander Associate Minister 557 4474
The Revd Sarah Kilbey MBE Associate Minister 447 2378
Amanda Wright Lay Reader & Sacristan 317 1252
Andrew Wright Children, Youth & Families 317 1252

In this Issue

3 From the Rector
4 Donald Reflects on Palestine
5 My Favourite Psalm - Patrick Watson
6 Ethical challenge - Kenneth Boyd
7 Everyday spirituality – Cameron Abernethy
9 Let us now praise famous men - Angus Mitchell

10 Thinking about Scottish identity - Anne Pankhurst
12 Notes from a Wild Garden – George Harris

HEARTBEAT
13 Donald Reid in conversation with William Reid
17 Tribute to Elsie Livingstone – Clephane Hume
18 Tribute to Sylvia Roderick – Peter Brand
19 From the Executive Manager: The Development
20 From the Vestry Secretary – Alistair Dinnie
21 Congregational News
23 Markus makes It
24 Shrove Tuesday Party – Andrew Wright
25 The Growth Group
25 Opening of the Iranian Festival – Katherine Newbigging
26 Peter Brand reflects on his life and non-stipendiary ministry
30 Forthcoming Events
30 Walking Group
31 Donal Reid in conversation, part 2

OUTREACH
25 From the Terrace: Cornerstone book reviews
37 One World Shop
37 P and J
38 Easter services
39 St Aiden and St Thomas within the Wardrobe
40 Readings and Rotas

Please note that due to space constraints Together News is printed as a separate supplement
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From the Rector –
I am still on cloud nine: What an amazing first
few weeks it has been! It all started with the
Induction, which painted a great picture of some
of the skills and talents of the congregation of St
John’s. It was a beautiful liturgy, great music,
and a wonderful party. Thank you to everybody
who made it possible!

Since 11 February, I have met some of you and I
have had to ask the same question again and
again: ‘What is your name?’ Thank you for being
so patient as I meet you!

Then there was the trip to Hawick with the Together Ministry teams from St
Cuthbert’s, St Andrew’s and St George’s West, and St John’s. Thankfully, only
the pronunciation of the town turned out to be almost unmanageable. The rest
of the two days was very productive and I am very much looking forward to
working with our sisters and brothers in the two parishes.

I have gradually started to attend meetings and gatherings both on the
congregational and the diocesan level. And, of course, I have been able to
participate and lead worship, which is at the heart of our identity and which
empowers us to do the work God has given us to do. All of this, of course, is
time spent to get to know you and to learn more about the mission and ministry
of St John’s. And all of this is the reason for being on cloud nine. There is much
St John’s has to offer (and already is offering!) to a world that is yearning,
searching, and hurting. The way this congregation is incarnating the Good
News of God in Christ is feeding people in body, mind, and spirit – and it is a
beautiful and life-giving thing.

Cover Image: Maesta (detail of ‘Road to
Emmaus’) by Duccio Di Buoninsegna

Painted as a large panel in 1308 for the
cathedral in Sienna, The Road to Emmaus
forms a part of the central image on the rear
of the work.
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It will take a wee bit of time to “settle in” (not just in the rectory… as I write this I
am still without my Canadian “stuff”...). But I am very much looking forward to
being more fully engaged in worship, outreach, pastoral care, music, formation,
networking, administration, and, indeed, in the Development. It is good to be
here!

There is one thing I would like to ask you, though. Please do not hold back, if
you have any question, concern, celebration, or query. Thank you!

Yours in Christ,
The Revd Markus Dünzkofer

From dead stones to living stones

In tidying up I have just found my itinerary for my
first visit to the Holy Land in January 1989. That
was a typical pilgrimage to the Christian holy
sites but even then, other realities intruded: it
was the first Palestinian intifada (uprising) so
Arab shops in Bethlehem and in the Old City of

Jerusalem were shuttered and there was evident
unrest and occasional gunfire.

Donald Reid with Bishop On more recent visits, Jerusalem was thronged
Suhweil Dawani of Jerusalem
with tourists and there is something wonderful
about seeing pilgrims of the three Abrahamic
faiths flocking to their respective holy sites, in this golden city of holy sites. But I
worry though that too many ‘spiritual tourists’ come and go without being
exposed to the realities of modern day Israel / Palestine, returning home with the
rosy glow of a pilgrimage to the place where our faith – and our Saviour – were
born.

Seeing the land and experiencing the places mentioned in the Gospels is a
deeply moving, and often life-changing and faith-affirming experience. But there
should be more to it than ticking off a list of holy sites, even the more photogenic
ones. At the heart of our faith is one who articulated the radically inclusive love
of God against the power-mongers of his day, a cry for justice which echoed
those of generations of Old Testament prophets.

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In Luke 19, we hear that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying: “If you had only
recognised the things that make for peace” (v42). As it was then, so it is now.
Far from being a holy city which brings us together, Jerusalem and the Holy
Land show our division and even foster enmity among us. Palestinian Arabs,
both Christian and Muslim, suffer injustice on a systematic and daily basis and,
as a result, the local Christian community have left in huge numbers.

Our Christian brothers and sisters, and their Arab kin, are being forced down
their own ‘Via Dolorosa’, under the exercise of unjust power which diminishes
them - and the perpetrators too. But they are also witnesses, living stones, as
are the many people in all communities, Jew, Muslim, Christian, who live for a
future where these peoples are reconciled and live in peace.

So as we approach Easter and the journey through the darkness of Holy Week,
let us remember that the resurrection was a surprise to everyone. One early
morning, a new reality dawned over the world which changed everything,
forever.

On Sunday 24 February, I was delighted to sing the ancient Orthodox
resurrection hymn in the 4th century church of St Porphyrius, in Gaza:

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death:
And to those in the tombs, he has given life.

Pray and hope for the peace in the Holy Land. Let us roll away from the mouth
of the tomb the stone of injustice.
Donald Reid

If you want to read more about my recent visit to the Holy Land, please see my
blog, which Freddie Graham helped me set up: stravaigin1.blogspot.com

My Favourite Psalm
Psalm 127 Nisi Dominus (Book of Common Prayer)

Except the Lord build the house their labour is but lost that build it.
I join in wholeheartedly in the hymn “Let us build a house where love can dwell”
even when by an ordinary human standard (including my own) I might think (and
some would say realistically) I’m not up to it. God helps us.

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Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Any number of early warning systems won’t protect us if God doesn’t. But God
protects us (and perhaps especially) when we think he doesn’t, or we don’t think
we need his protection.

It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat
the bread of carefulness, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children and
the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.
Sometimes Quakers and people who sing Christmas carols have a quietness,
and a calm, and a happiness that we tend to miss. Yes, we should work for a
juster society and inclusiveness of all people, communities and individuals, and
of all that is good and warm and friendly in people and in human life, but let it be
in God’s way, not, surely, our own. Sometimes, in our concern for injustices, we
do and say things that maybe actually make things worse, rather than make
things better.

Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant, even so are the young
children.Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them, they shall not be
ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. Thank God.

Patrick Watson

An Ethical Challenge :
‘The Liverpool Care Pathway’ debate

In the 1960s a junior doctor, left for the first time in
charge of a ward, was warned by his consultant:
‘Cure the sick, comfort the dying - and don’t get
them mixed up!’ It was the kind of summary advice
that sinks into the mind of a busy doctor – so much
so that decades later I heard the same doctor
passing it on to his students. But why was it given
in the first place? In the 1960s medical progress
seemed inevitable: there was no condition that
medical science and technology might not
eventually be able to cure. But eventually was not
yet, and for many doctors, being unable to prevent
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the death of a patient often felt like failure, unless they could truthfully say to the
patient’s family that ‘everything that could be done was done’.

That everything that can be done to preserve life should be done, of course, is
one of the two main duties of all doctors. But their other main duty is to do
everything that can be done to ease suffering; and in the last few days of
someone’s life, treatment aimed at preserving life may only prolong the dying
person’s suffering. For doctors, the crucial but sometimes difficult question is
whether this patient is now irreversibly dying, and whether the emphasis in their
treatment should shift from preserving life to easing suffering.

Since the 1960s, medical means of relieving suffering in dying people have
become increasingly effective, primarily through the combination of scientific
treatment and caring practices developed in hospices. Palliative medicine has
also become skilled in determining whether or not a patient is irreversibly dying.
In this respect it has taught others the importance of carefully monitoring the
patient’s condition, since what seemed irreversible may later turn out not to be;
and in some cases palliative medicine may not only relieve suffering but also
prolong meaningful life.

The ‘Liverpool care pathway’ is a set of guidelines on such decisions about the
care of dying patients. It was devised by palliative medicine specialists for
doctors in hospitals and general practice. It emphasises that decisions should
always be taken in consultation with patients and their families, and by staff with
appropriate training. These two essential aspects of the guidelines may not
always have been followed by some doctors or nurses. That may be what gave
some sections of the media last year the opportunity to seriously misrepresent
the Liverpool care pathway as covert euthanasia.
Kenneth Boyd
Everyday Spirituality

Following Freda Alexander’s introduction of the Ignation Examine in the Lent
Cornerstone, Cameron Abernethy takes up the theme.

A friend recently shared this joke with me – ‘The Franciscans, Dominicans, and
Jesuits were having a big meeting that went well into the middle of the night.
Suddenly all the lights went out in the meeting room. The Franciscans
immediately took out guitars and sang songs, the Dominicans began pondering
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the meaning of the darkness and forming a sermon on the subject. But the
Jesuits went to the basement, found the fuse box and reset the breaker.’

Putting such obvious stereotypes to one side, this joke seeks to illustrates the
practical nature of Jesuit spirituality. One of the fundamental tools suggested by
St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, is the Examen Prayer. The aim of this
prayer is to develop a growing awareness of God within daily life and support
each person in more fully living out God’s love within the world.

Over the centuries, many different wordings of the Examen prayer, also called a
Review of the Day, have been written. The one below is a more contemporary
version of the Examen Prayer.

Step 1: Coming into God’s Presence
I settle myself for prayer, perhaps by being more aware of my
breathing
Step 2: Review the day with gratitude
I allow the day to play through my mind like a video. I notice the joys
of the day, no matter how small or insignificant they might appear.
Step 3: Pay attention to your emotions
I reflect on the feelings experienced today in both the joys and the
sorrows. I ask what God might be showing me through these
emotions.
Step 4: Stay with what seems significant
I ask the Holy Spirit to bring my attention to something that God thinks
is significant, no matter how small or mundane it appears.
Step 5: Look toward tomorrow
I ask God for what I need for tomorrow to more fully live out God’s love
in the world.

At the end of the Examen St Ignatius recommends talking to Jesus, as with a
friend, about this time of prayer. In this conversation, or colloquy, it is useful to
notice anything what was easy in the prayer and anything that was challenging.
The time of prayer of usually concludes using the words of the Lord’s Prayer.
Once familiar with the Examen prayer, it can be helpful to write one’s own
version of the five steps.

More information on the Examen, including alternative versions, can be found at
http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/

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Are celebrities really praiseworthy?

The Editor asked me for an article about my favourite Psalm
But her request gave me rather more disquiet than calm
For while the Psalms provide us with a lot of inspiration
I feel unable to choose a favourite for detailed explanation.

Instead of a Psalm, the Editor has kindly assented
To an alternative suggestion which I presented
To write about a well-known passage in Ecclesiasticus -
“ Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us”.

Very few bibles (except King James) include the Apocrypha, which is a pity
Since this book is full of wisdom and humanity.
It was written in about 200 BC in the city of Alexandria
By a learned Jewish scribe called Joshua Ben Sira.

Why ever did he tell us to praise men because they happen to be famous?
There’s not much doubt that everyone would blame us
If we gave praise to famous men like Hitler or King Ahab
Whose lives were stained by murder, smash and grab.

Ben Sira did not, however, ask us to praise all famous men
As shown by several later verses flowing from his pen:
“When they counselled with their intelligence,
When they announced through prophecies,
When they led people through their deliberations . . . .
Abraham was a great father of a multitude of nations
And no blemish was found in his glory
Who kept the law of the Most High.”

Virtues like these are generally harder to understand in the abstract
Than when they are shown to be held by real people as a historical fact.
It is good that Ben Sira should also remind us
That inspiration can be found from many nameless people living behind us:
“And of others there is no memorial
And they perished as though they had not existed . . .
These on the other hand were men of compassion
Whose righteous deeds were not forgotten;
With their seed it will remain,
A good inheritance is their offspring.”

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Some egalitarian eyebrows may well raise
On reading of another group that Ben Sira encouraged us to praise:
“Rich men furnished with ability, living peacefully in their habitations”.
Wealthy men and women, however able, are not always paragons of virtue
But JBS was no doubt thinking of those whose worthy lives deserved a statue.

Quite different issues are raised in another part of the quotation -
“. . and our fathers that begat us”,since many lack a worthy reputation.
Let’s take it that in this context “fathers” include mothers and other forebears
Who sometimes misbehaved and gave their neighbours nasty scares,
But still deserve to be remembered with affection
Although they may have had some lapses from perfection.

As a family historian I must admit to bias in favour of our ancestors
Despite the knowledge that some of them might frighten off investors.
The arguments for praising them are admittedly rather selfish
Because we do not want our friends to think our families are rubbish,
While those of us who have produced another generation
Look forward to the time when we too may receive its pious admiration.

There are better reasons, however, why ancestral memories should be respected.
We can always learn from their example how our lives might be corrected;
The tender loving care they gave us in our childhood
Has earned our lifetime thanks and praise, as well it should.

For over 2000 years Ben Sira and others have been telling us that human nature
Clearly shows the continuity of the past, the present and the future.
The recent boom in genealogy and searching for our roots
Could take this passage in Ecclesiasticus as its motto, since it clearly shoots
Down in flames that appalling statement by the late Henry Ford
That “History is bunk”. So thank you JBS, and Praise the Lord!

Angus Mitchell

Thinking about Scottish Identity

Holy Trinity Church, Haddington, provided a welcoming venue for nearly a
hundred people who attended an affirming and inspirational diocesan
conference on 23 February, to hear talk on Scottish identity, in anticipation of
the independence referendum planned for 2014.
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