Reverend Lydia MacKinnon has come full circle. From manse to manse. From the time she was an infant, in Cape Breton, Lydia was taken to the Presbyterian Church at Little Narrows where her father, The Rev. Dr. Archibald D. MacKinnon, was the minister. Because the manse and church were on either side of the Narrows, Sunday mornings involved a short ferry ride.
Lydia went on to teach elementary school in Halifax. While teaching, she took night courses at the Atlantic School of Theology. After 30 years, Lydia left teaching and took a year off from studying. Soon after a professor, from the Atlantic school, called and encouraged Lydia to return to complete her degree in theology .
“I was asked to fill in at a church in Lower Sackville, while they looked for a new minister. Then I filled in at another church, outside of Halifax, for 22 months,” Lydia says. With this experience, she “felt called to the ordained ministry.”
Lydia finished her courses, at Atlantic, and, in 2008, received her Master of Divinity degree. After stints at two more churches, Lydia decided to work towards ordination. She completed one course, by correspondence, with Dr. John Vissers, and then registered at Presbyterian College, Montreal. But that was not to be. Sadly, her sister was diagnosed with cancer and Lydia stayed in Halifax to help her through treatment. Finally, in fall, 2010, Lydia did enroll at the college and after a gruelling course of study she emerged, a fully qualified Presbyterian minister.
“ I was given two pieces of advice: Eat well and if you have ten minutes, take it to rest,” Lydia says. “Many times, I worked on my studies to five or six a.m. and then up at seven.”
On top of the challenging academic work load, each trainee was assigned to a church and required to put in 20 hours weekly. Lydia travelled to Montreal West Presbyterian where she was mentored by Dr. John Simms, who recently retired.
Despite the rigours, Lydia found the year fulfilling and as a mature student, launching a second career, she graduated with a well-deserved sense of accomplishment. “We had marvellous supportive professors and a good sense of community. And Dr. Vissers was a wonderful principal.”
Last October, Lydia was inducted into the Mira Pastoral Charge. The ceremony took place in historic Union Presbyterian Church, Mira Ferry. Guests were piped into the church and How Great Thou Art was sung in Gaelic. Currently, Lydia is serving both Union and St. Columba, Marion Bridge.
Turning back the pages of time, Lydia recalls summer vacation Bible school, in Little Narrows, where the children sang old time favourites such as: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man./A wee little man was he./ He climbed into a sycamore tree. /For the Lord, he wanted to see.”
But CGIT (Canadian Girls in Training) was the highlight of Lydia’s girlhood (She still has her middy.) Eventually her mother, Mary MacKinnon, took over the leadership and meetings were held in the manse. The CGIT’s prized project was organizing the Christmas Vespers service. The CGIT members decorated the atmospheric church, read the scriptures and participated in a candle light procession. “We rehearsed for weeks for this special service,” Lydia says. “We did it twice. Once in Little Narrows and also, at St. Andrew’s, Wycocomagh. The churches were packed.”
Lydia also recalls fundraisers featuring The North Shore (Gaelic) Singers, who held Milling Frolics. The singers sat around a long table and worked a long piece of cloth (tweed, traditionally) to soften it, in time, to the rhythm of continuous Gaelic milling songs (similar to sea shanties).
One must mention, Lydia’s father, known in Cape Breton as “A.D.” was a superb Gaelic preacher (died in 1985), Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Canada (1957-1958) and a founder of Iona Highland Village – a Cape Breton museum dedicated to preserving the culture of the Gaelic-speaking settlers from Scotland.
Sister Margaret MacDonnell, a professor (retired) in Celtic Studies, at St. Francis Xavier University, used to say: “When A.D. was preaching in the Presbyterian Church, in Sydney, the whole front row was full of nuns, just to hear the Gaelic.”
There’s resurgence in the language, according to Lydia. In fact, she has started Gaelic lessons, in Baddeck, with Professor Catriona Parsons, who taught at St. Frances Xavier University. Since leaving St. FX, Ms. Parsons has worked for the Office of Gaelic Affairs, a new initiative sponsored by the Nova Scotia government.
May was Gaelic Awareness Month, in Nova Scotia, and Ms. Parsons organized an ecumenical Gaelic service, at Little Narrows Presbyterian. The service included a Gaelic choir and in conclusion, Lydia quoted the Aaronic Benediction, in Gaelic, as her father had countless times before her.
“The Lord bless you and keep you./The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you./The Lord lift up His countenance upon you/ And give you peace.”
Cape Breton Oatcakes
Rev. Lydia MacKinnon’s mother, Mary, was a skilled baker like all Cape Breton women worth their salt. Her specialties included cornflake macaroons, honeymoon squares, butterscotch pie and oat cakes. Lydia admits the perfect oat cake takes a deft touch – something she acquired from observing her mother’s techniques.
INGREDIENTS
Two cups fine oatmeal (medium works as well)
One cup white flour
½ cup brown and white sugar mixed
¾ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp salt
½ cup soft butter
Cold water
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together. Add butter and mix until the consistency of fine crumbs. (A hand-held pastry blender will do the job.) Dampen dough with cold water – probably less than ¼ cup, but depends on the oats – until dough is fairly thick.
Roll out thin (no more than one-quarter inch) on a floured surface. Cut into squares or rectangles with a knife. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Watch carefully. Do NOT brown too much. Serve oakcakes hot with a dab of butter on top.
