It was Sunday morning, the setting a serious Church of Scotland Service in a formidable stone building several hundred years old. As the minister, I stood to read the announcement which the elder handed me. "Yesterday's kirk fayre was a huge success. Great crack was enjoyed around the tables." His face drained of all of its colour as he realized that my Canadian accent brought a somewhat North American interpretation to the Gaelic word craik. My Highland vocabulary was expanding, but not without a lot of concern on my part over what I had just read and gales of laughter from the congregation. Craik means a good chat, a conversation to catch up on all that has been happening.
About the same time as I was learning about Scottish craik and fresh North Atlantic haddock and eating shortbread in the summer, I received a request from Rev. Judee Archer Green to write an article for the Record to be used as part of Flames Year of Education. A decade ago, when the Long Range Planning Team gathered at church offices in Toronto to begin our work on what was to become the Flames Initiative, the thought of writing an article on E: Education was the furthest thing from my mind. Nor, did I even remotely consider the educational experience that would lead to this article.
At Knox College's 161st convocation Dr. John Douglas Hall reminded the graduates that in God's world, we are all life-long learners. As Christians our education comes both from The Book and from our experience in living out the theology of The Book. For four months in 2004, I had the opportunity to observe and study congregations within the Church of Scotland. The purpose of my venture was to learn about congregational amalgamation. I came home with a suitcase full of reports and procedures, but the real treasures were the adventures I had and the people I met.
My first learning was to find Wick, Caithness on a map. Northeast Scotland, the jumping off spot for the Orkney Islands, was where I was appointed to assist in a the Wick Old Parish congregation and take part in its amalgamation process with the former Free Church congregation just a block away. The project was started in 1912, but now, supposedly, it was coming to fruition. Unfortunately, what I learned were the 15 new reasons to postpone it further. However, all was not lost. Within the presbytery there were some unique amalgamation plans being considered and they offered creative potential for application in Canada.
In a denomination deplete of ordained ministers, in a remote presbytery where the clergy were doubly stretched, I served roles other than Sunday supply. Anticipating that I would participate in more than word and sacraments, the Clerks of Assembly assigned me the title Adopted Minister of the Church of Scotland. I trained and ordained four elders of the Raey congregation. History will tell us if the Presbyterian Church in Canada leaves a lasting imprint on that community.
I participated in the work of the Presbytery and moderated Session meetings, learning that the laws of the Church of Scotland are in some places identical to what I know and in others very different. One of my funeral sermons was reviewed in the local newspaper. My first reaction was that I had been misquoted. Then I realized that the reporter had translated my words into Caithnesian and much later, further realized that he likely was getting to a more accurate rendition of what had originally been told to me by the family.
Then came alive those words from the Church Growth gurus who emphasize the need to learn to speak the language of our 21st-century audience. We have to be careful in our translations. I also gained a heightened awareness of the importance of using the scriptures in relation to context. Sheep and thus shepherds dominate the area, and brought new meaning to me, a city kid. In mid-July I was still wearing woolen stockings and at a graveside service while reading the words of committal "the sun shall not beat on them, nor any scorching heat," I began to wonder if the locals had any idea what scorching heat was.
It was as I struggled alongside fellow Christians coming to terms with the new reality of church life and its expression in the chaos of our generation that I truly sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit. The economic conditions of Wick, combined with its remoteness made for a community vastly different from my home in Burlington, Ont. Yet, God appeared to be working in similar ways and people were experiencing the Spirit in the same way in both locales.
It was a reaffirmation for me that Christ is leading the people of his church in a common journey. During my time in Wick I engaged in more than the ordinary life of the church. I took on a new role (for me) as a political activist. It was pretty basic and non-confrontational, but it led to meeting with several parliamentary representatives. I was part of NAG, the North Action Group, a citizens' movement in protest against the Highland Health Council's decision to close the maternity ward at the Wick hospital. The three hour drive through the Highlands to the nearest hospital in Inverness was treacherous even on a fine summer's day. Perseverance seems to have been successful, for a new board has been formed with a mandate to find a solution.
My final week was spent on the Island of Iona enjoying a modern interpretation of the ancient Celtic Community. More and more I am convinced that a serious study of the Celtic Christian expression would reveal for us new and exciting ways to be connected to the God of creation. Celtic spirituality is more than an exercise in nostalgia; it offers for us an authentic rediscovery of a community of faith practicing its Christian mission. While on Iona, I met six other North American clergy on some form of Sabbatical. The nature of my leave was perhaps unique, but I was surprised and encouraged to discover so many other church leaders doing similar kinds of study and regeneration.
I have returned a bit of a champion of the Sabbatical experience. Sabbatical rest is not only for clergy and church workers. Leaders in the congregation are due times of learning and refreshment. Relief from commitments without full-blown resignation should be seen as an acceptable alternative for long time holders of congregational offices and responsibilities. My circumstances allowed me to be away. My presbytery prescribes three weeks of study leave each year and over five years, it adds up. Combine it with vacation time and the weeks are there. I had just sold my home and thus was without maintenance issues on that front.
Although freeing in one respect, such homelessness led to another discovery. Constant moving becomes really stressful and the difficulty in getting services (such as a bank account) without a permanent address has led me to a greater appreciation for issues of homelessness. Education is a fundamental aspect of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. As Flames quietly settles, the embers of this seven year initiative will glow for me as a source of energy because of the opportunity I had to explore and to learn. May all of our people know the joy of learning and the experience of connecting to God through education.
