Nearly The Holidays

Posted Thursday 28 October 2010

These are the last two week before our long awaited holiday.  I am going to have two Sundays off, the first in over a year, but first there is important business to complete and lengthy meetings to attend. I drive down to Oban for a series of diocesan meetings and then back up the road.  The following day I do the same to Perth for a bishops meeting, I am tired when I get home but the next two days are home based, people coming to see me and friends staying over.

This prepared me for Sunday when I was to engage in one of those wonderful and eccentric days that we do so well, In the morning we all travelled to St Michael’s and All Angels in Inverness.  This beautiful small church is the most Anglo Catholic church of the diocese and as my family find this a style of worship they love, a trip to Abban Street is always a family affair.  Today I was going to rededicate the organ and to bless a new memorial garden; processions, incense, holy water, lots of singing and a good glass of wine in the hall - great.

The second appointment was at the Munlochy animal rescue centre where Canon Mel and myself blessed the owners and pets brought to the open air service. We then included the animals in kennels and fields around the courtyard.  I am pleased to say that not only did we have a great time but we also raised money for the centre and it’s work, took the church out into the community and encouraged the re-homing of four dogs. I also hope that people were impressed with Mel and myself leading of the actions for ‘If I were a butterfly!!’

The final event of the day was to license Rev Jane Wallman-Girdlestone as our ministry advisor.  This took place in the Cathedral during Choral Evensong and Jane at long last became part of the Diocesan team, another piece of the jigsaw of diocesan ministry and mission is in place.

The next few days were fairly frantic, Tisec came to visit and discuss our training and study programme, I chaired a Vestry meeting in Grantown On Spey, we had a diocesan Admin board.  I also spent an afternoon in Bishop Eden’s primary school as they questioned me on the history of the Bishops of Moray, Ross and Caithness.  Then I set off for Cumbrae.

There in the Cathedral of The Isles we elected a new Bishop of Argyll and The Isles.  The event was very powerful, the bishops sitting in the sanctuary in our robes praying before and after the decision while members of the diocese sat in the choir and prayed with us. The College elected the Very Reverend Kevin Pearson, Dean of Edinburgh.

I got home the following day and realised that once again my leg was beginning to hurt and to become a bit swollen, I had had these symptoms earlier in the year and had been told to get exercise and to take pain killers, so that is what I did and prepared at long last for the start of the holiday, tomorrow we were heading south.