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A milestone in Scottish church life

A Service of Thanksgiving for the Scottish Ecumenical Assembly was held on 29 September 2001 at Renfield St Stephen's Church in Glasgow. This is the address given by Rev Stuart Drummond, convenor of the Assembly's steering committee and United Reformed Church minister in Giffnock.

I offer you some images, reflections, people and policies from the first ever Scottish Ecumenical Assembly.

Images are personal and my first is very personal. The atmosphere in St. Giles’ Cathedral just before the opening worship was a mixture of holy hush and electric anticipation. I was near the entrance waiting to enter in procession with the Kilmartin Bell, the Pastoral Staff and the Bible. Brother Stephen Smyth appeared, clipboard in hand. We looked at one another: beaming smiles erupted from our faces and we took hold of one another ‘bear-hug’ fashion and Stephen said, ‘Isn’t this just great!’

It was indeed great that so many Christians had come together from so many denominations in worship and Assembly. I glanced over Stephen’s shoulder and there was Dr. Alison Elliot, a Vice-Convener of ACTS beaming a smile and rejoicing that two members of the Implementation Group could, at that holy moment, be so free with emotions. After our 17 months planning, the Assembly was ‘on its way’.

Images and Reflections

The worship was glorious - the music, the prayers, the preaching, the singing. But there’s one other cameo that I’ll cherish, that of Mgr. Gerry Fitzpatrick sitting in the choir stalls during a silence with what I can only describe as a ‘beatific smile’ on his face. Now I dare say that Gerry is sometimes less than saintly, but the worship and sense of occasion had got to him - and to us all - and the Transfiguration text came to mind; ‘Lord, how good it is that we are here.’

Once we had formed in ranks outside St. Giles’ our bannered pilgrimage began. The S.E.A. was nothing if not an exposition of relevant religion. Our banners declared the relevance: arms wrapped around the poor, arms swept backwards and face raised heavenwards in Enlightenment, an arm outstretched to the alien and the exile, arms pushing back the band of work’s enslavement, arms upraised in anticipation of blessings from above, a hand cradling atoms of energy, human hands linked in the unity of Being Church.

The Assembly had seven themes and the banners declared their focus: Poverty, New Enlightenment, Alienation, Work, Spirituality, Science and Technology and Being Church.

From our many churches, walks of life, and other faiths’ representation, we formed the first ever Scottish Ecumenical Assembly. I declared to ACTS’ Central Council many months back that we on the Implementation Group had a real sense of being blessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit surprised us on Sunday morning.

Dr. Kevin Franz, celebrant at the Reformed Churches worship, was decidedly anxious: ‘Where was the communion wine?’ he asked. Alas, it had not been loaded with other items at Dunblane. A quick sprint to the Roman Catholic Mass venue solved the problem; a box of win was proffered. Then, as we were filling the chalices for the Reformed worship, in walked someone from the Catholic Service. They had no altar candles; could they borrow one of ours. We laughed with God and felt the breath of Holy Spirit. Next time, hopefully, we would celebrate Holy Communion together!

People and Policies

Of course, it’s people who make an assembly, and we were blessed with some very fine people.

We were also conscious in the lead up to Assembly that the international situation was bound to affect our discussions in ways significant and subtle. [The Assembly took place shortly after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.] Assembly sent a significant letter to the Prime Minister conveying prayerful concern for him personally, and expressing solidarity with Muslim citizens who feel themselves the focus of misplaced enmity, and trusting ourselves to the justice and grace of God. But there was also something subtle.

Mukami McCrum was one of our book authors and as such delivered her key-note address to the Alienation group. As a Race Relations Council director, Mukami travels widely. Quietly, she slipped into her narrative that she had been in New York recently. She had flown into New York from another region. Her United Airlines plane had reloaded, taxied and taken-off and but a short time later had flown straight into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Mukami was due at the World Trade Centre the following day for a meeting with Refugee personnel. There was no meeting! There was no World Trade Centre. Mukami came to me on Saturday afternoon. ‘Stuart,’ she said, ‘do you mind if I slip away after the next session? I want to baby-sit my grand-child.’ ‘And steal a few cuddles,’ I replied. With her ‘near miss’ in mind, a child’s cuddles would bear their own healing.

From Alienation, I leap to Spirituality. The presenter on Spirituality was one of the Assembly’s ‘finds’. I first heard Roy Flett deliver a lecture on Columba in Kilmartin some years back and he was brilliant.

He stepped forward to the microphone at Assembly and said, ‘Can you hear me?’ And we all chorused ‘Yes!’ ‘Good,’ he said, ‘for I can’t hear you. I’m deaf. How odd! Here am I, a deaf person, speaking to you about listening to God’. From that moment on, every person in the hall listened to Roy Flett. I thank God for what he conveyed that night and so did everyone else.

Out of our ‘listening to God’ through one another, the Conference Groups at Assembly delivered Statements. If the Implementation Group have a criticism it would be that not all of the Statements ran true to their remits; some were far from terse and neither were they practical, achievable nor prophetic. Yet, when you look at the Statements in the cold light of day, you realise that some marvellous things were said, some pertinent insights conveyed, and some forthright challenges issued.

• From Poverty - a declared aim of redistributing the Churches resources long term to address the needs expressed in poorer areas, and also a move from indirect to direct taxation to achieve a fairer distribution of resources.
• From New Enlightenment - a challenge to the Churches to work for the renewal of its language and imagery in dialogue with contemporary culture, and also a challenge to the dominant economic, social and environmental models in the light of the sanctity of human life.
• From Alienation - a stance in solidarity with our sisters and brothers of other faiths, races and cultures particularly when they face harassment, threats, intimidation and violence, and the offer of a generous welcome to those who come as strangers into our midst.
• From Work - the need to distinguish between work that dignifies and work that demeans, and also the need to raise awareness of the negative impacts of consumerism and the benefits of ethical management.
• From Spirituality - a plea to listen to God in each other, in our own traditions, in other faiths and in our desire for peace and justice, and also a re-affirmation to do nothing separately that we can do together.
• From Science and Technology - the need for education that bridges the divides of science, technology and theology, and also a plea to the Government to show more concern for those socially and economically excluded from scientific developments.
• And from Being Church - a plea for the power of God to work through the people of God, for the love of Christ to operate through the compassion we show locally, and for the Holy Spirit to teach us how to be creative in overcoming divisions both locally and in the wider world.

Amidst the Statements, I have one other abiding memory, that of ACTS' Convener, Sister Maire Gallagher, holding forth amidst a plethora of voices pleading to speak. I do not doubt that Sister was exhausted by the end of Sunday. But I hope contentedly exhausted - as I was. The safe passage of the Assembly was itself a monumental milestone in Scottish Church life.

Conclusions

Was the Assembly worthwhile? Some - a few, have said ‘no!’ The vast majority have said ‘yes!’ Did we ‘Break New Ground?’ The man who sat at the restaurant table next to mine on Sunday night said ‘no!’ But e-mails received have declare a resounding ‘yes!’

I have no doubt that images from this first ever Scottish Ecumenical Assembly will live on in the minds of those who appreciated what the Assembly was all about, and that these images will be a source of encouragement and inspiration for years to come. Certainly, ACTS and the Churches will have their work cut out for years to come.

So my final word is a forward looking one, a prayer that says:

‘Thanks be to God who has blessed us thus far, and may he continue to bless the seeds sown at the Scottish Ecumenical Assembly and the people who were fired by the Assembly experience’

AMEN