What is in Kelvin's Head?

Honorary Fellowship Citation

05/06/2019

This afternoon I was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. I found myself in the most extraordinary company and still can’t believe that this happened to me.

Below is the citation which was read as part of the ceremony by the Registrar of the College, Roddy Neilson – also pictured here. It may not be exactly word for word what was said but is certainly the gist of it.

It has been a very moving day.

Madam President, I have the honour to present to you the Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth for the award of the Honorary Fellowship of the RCPSG.

Born in Yorkshire but educated mainly in Scotland, Kelvin is a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church and is currently the Provost and Rector of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, a post he has held since 2006. In that role he has contributed significantly to the dialogue in Scotland and the UK surrounding the opening of marriage to same-sex couples and for this he is most widely known, campaigning firstly for changes in Scots Law to allow such marriages and then changes to Canon Law to allow them to take place in church. He was the first Anglican priest outside North America to hold a license to marry same-sex couples. Kelvin has used his position to influence public policy on issues affecting LGBT people and is considered one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK.

While Kelvin’s public persona and position is well documented what is less well known is his commitment to excellence in all aspects of Christian worship and his desire to make the Church open, inclusive and welcoming. These are the words used in all St Mary’s literature and the ethos put forward at every opportunity by Kelvin. Those values were exemplified by an event two years ago in which local Muslims and Christians came together to share their stories about the birth of Christ in St Mary’s Cathedral – an event which garnered worldwide publicity and led to Kelvin receiving death threats.

St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow has seen its attendances rise significantly during his tenure indicating his approach clearly works. Under his stewardship St Mary’s has become a centre of excellence in liturgy, music and art as well as providing valuable support to the local community in the West End of Glasgow. Kelvin has said that healthy people require healthy institutions and his own ministry both inside and outside his Church has demonstrated the appropriateness of this comment. As the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow is an institution dedicated to the health and welfare of others both in and outside the city, it is fitting that the College recognises the efforts of other institutions and individuals who contribute to that. As an adopted son of Glasgow, a committed campaigner against discrimination of any sort and an advocate for the disadvantaged and dispossessed he is well worthy of recognition by the College.

Accordingly, Madam President, I invite you to confer the Honorary Fellowship of the RCPSG on the Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth.

52 responses to “Inclusive Language – again”

ryan

11/10/2010

Kelvin – that cracked me almost as much as your last tweet on the left of your blog ;-)!

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Jimmy

11/10/2010

Ryan, although you address your comment to Kelvin like I am not there. I assume you are referring to my poem, I can assure you that it does not crack me up watching you making any opinion you may have untenable.

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1. kelvin
  
  11/10/2010
  
  No Jimmy – I think Ryan was indeed referring to my last comment, above.
  
  Reply
Jimmy

11/10/2010

Thank you Kelvin and Sorry Ryan.

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ryan

11/10/2010

No worries! Was indeed referring to the v.amusing coming out day tweets at the side.

I’m not sure there’s ever existed anyone, anywhere,at any time, of whom it could be said that *all* their opinions are ‘untenable’, so such rhetoric is dehumanising at best. Apropos nothing, I was moved to google the poetic stylings of the great David Brent. Who needs Auden? 😉
http://murfinsandburglars.com/2009/04/14/bad-poetry-for-tuesday-david-brent-edition/

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Peter

12/10/2010

Kelvin; no, I think it distracts. It simp;ly reminds us that this is how your mind works: you make connections and delight in that sort of word-play. However, to sharpen up my point. Thank you for helping me to realise that, for some, ‘family’ is not a positive word in the way in which I experience it. For my part, this willl mean that I will be more careful about its use when others might feel excluded (and therefore hurt). Mutatis mutandi can you accept that I feel offended by what seems to be merely a casual linking between family and the f word? These are sensitive areas, but sensibilities are by no means confined to those who find family a painful or unhelpful concept.

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Simon

29/10/2010

I am slightly nervous aboaut the alternatives to the 1982 Liturgy, not because I don’t share the inclusive sentiments expressed above (I do). I fear that, as so often in the history of the church, the steps we take to avoid one kind of mistake in the way we talk about God can lead us into another. The avoidance of pronouns as a measure to achieve inclusivity produces inelegant, strained and stilted English. How would it be if one were to use it in day-to-day speech? ‘I saw John this morning. I asked John’s how John’s health was. John said that John was over his flu, and hoped to be back at work on Monday’. This may not in itself seem to be a problem. But in fact, what very quickly happens when we adopt this idiom in addressing/expressing God, is that the very idea of a personal God begins to recede. My basic instinct is that the church’s language of pulbic prayer is properly anchored in that of the scriptures. There are dangers in departing from this. The perceived problem (rightly perceived) is perhaps better tackled by good teaching about the nature of God, than by linguistic contortions that produce stilted prayers, and possibly a less real and vivid idea of God.

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Melissa

15/11/2013

About the family imagery – another reason to drop it in church is for the sake ones who, like me, do actually have the signifying family relationships.

There is too much pressure on day to day life with children when that life is forced to serve as some kind of example or testimony or witness to the world – or more likely one’s church friends – about the nature of God.

I think it sours love because in that kind of scheme loving children is more fundamentally a means to an end.

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