From Dundee To London
Last Sunday evening I had the privilege of preaching at the Steeple Church Dundee. It was a great evening. Such an encouragement to see so many people enthusiastic about the refurbishment and the new lease of life and commitment this brings to Dundee Town Centre and the congregation. David Clark and his team have a great passion to share the gospel with the people of Dundee and it is heartening to see the Church of Scotland continuing to be a lead player in this area.
However before long, Dundee was in the distance as I was on the road again - this time on a train heading for London. The weather has been atrocious and with it the flooding in Yorkshire meant everything was running late. We found ourself diverted via Leeds , but we eventually arrived in London two and half hours late. So without much preparation we were meeting members of the Rial caledonian Educational Trust, who are deeply committed to serving the families of those who are in the armed forces. We saw their new video promoting the work they do in schools supporting then children who find a parent in active service.
On Tuesday morning we were joined by the Principal Clerk on our visits first of all to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nicholls. This was a very interesting meeting in which we covered a number of issues including the importance of the role the Christian Church can play in preparing not only members of our congregation for the experience of death but also sharing the Christian hope of glory with those who are no longer sure what they believe. From this visit it was off to the Pakistani Embassy to meet the High Commissioner for Pakistan Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan. Our primary purpose for this visit was to talk about the plight of Christians in Pakistan who often find themselves facing discrimination. Recently a Church of one of our partners was burnt to the ground. Linked to much of this persecution is the misuse of blasphemy laws. Many people are accused of blasphemy falsely. However it is an easy thing to bring an accusation against someone you don't like or someone who hold a grudge against. This was an interesting meeting and we were given some helpful advice to move forward some more domestic matters that effect the Church in Pakistan. After lunch we visited St Martin's in the Field. This is the famous church in London that seeks to reach out to the homeless. We met the Rev Sam Wells who has taken charge of this project. Its quite an amazing place. The centre itself has undergone a 34 million pound re- development . It is now Sam's role to begin to help the people working in this outreach ministry to be able to articulate how their culture programme connect with their compassion programme and how their commerce programme connects with the role of the congregation. In other words he is seeking to express the theology of St Martin's in the Field in order that the work is seen as a co-hesive outreach for the Gospel of Christ to the people of London and beyond.
When this visit was complete, it was off to a reception at St Columba's Pont Street to meet the elders of both the Crown Church and St Columba's. Over the next few days I'll try to keep you all up to date with the visit as it continues down here in London.
Posted By: Helmut Tholen On: 3 Jan 2013 At: 8:23pm
Glad to be up on deck again - and read some more stuff of your’s. Certainly keeps me well informed.