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Exodus or Exodon’t
There was a possibly extraordinary shift in the ecclesiastical tectonic plates overnight. Exodus International is going out of business and its leader has apologised for the harm it has done. Exodus International was one of the leading groups which claimed that it was possible to re-orientate gay people – ie turn them straight. It is,…
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Guides and God
So, am I all up in arms about Girl Guides dropping their promise to love [their] God[s]? No, I don’t think so. I suspect God can take it. This is what the Girl Guides used to promise: I Promise that I will do my best; To love my God, To serve my Queen and my…
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Watching the House of Lords
The internet is a wonderful thing and means you can watch all kinds of things you would never have been able to see in the past. Yesterday, I found myself watching the House of Lords discuss whether or not I was fully human. At least, that’s what it felt like to me. I’m a great…
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Baptising
There are few more joyful things to do in this world than a baptism service. Yesterday I got to baptise someone called Theodore, which of course means Gift of God. He rather enjoyed proceedings and I’ve seldom held a child more keen to jump right into the font. People sometimes comment on how much babies…
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10 Unanswered Questions about Same-Sex Marriage
Last week, at the General Synod in Edinburgh, it was announced that the Scottish Episcopal Church is to undergo a process of discussing what were referered to as “same-sex issues”. I’ve written about this before, and no doubt will do so again. For today though, here are some of the questions that are running around…
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Choral Masses
We’re having a month of Sundays at St Mary’s at the moment. Well, strictly speaking we are having a month of festival Sundays. The West End Festival is currently going on around these parts – the largest cultural event in Glasgow. One of the responses that we’ve made to it here in St Mary’s this…
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Here’s what I said @secsynod
Here’s what I said as the Convener of the Information and Communication Board at General Synod in Edinburgh last week: The report of the Information and Communication Board can be found on page 43 of the Blue Book. Apart from reiterating publicly my thanks to Lorna Finley the church’s Communication Officer, I shall not repeat…
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General Synod
You can find coverage of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church on twitter at http://twitter.com/secsynod (It is me who is tweeting). Questions welcome either to that account or to me on @thurible. There are details of how to follow the synod over on http://www.scotland.anglican.org including details of the live audio feed.
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Turning Up
There are a number of reasons why church statistics make for depressing reading these days. One reason that I’m not sure we give nearly enough attention to is how often people come to church. I find myself regularly in conversation with people who seem to believe that they come to St Mary’s far more often…
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The Forum with Michael Bawtree
We had a good Forum meeting after the 10.30 am service yesterday. This time I was interviewing Michael Bawtree. Michael is an international musicial and conductor based in Glasgow but frequently travelling the world. Some of the things we talked about were: Can you tell a musician’s faith by the music they make? What is…