What is in Kelvin's Head?

Ditching the sermon – a dialogue for Holy Innocents

28/12/2014

This morning I decided to ditch the sermon in favour of a dialogue with Bishop Gregor.

It has been a difficult Christmas in Glasgow with a major tragedy in the centre of the city as people were doing their last minute Christmas shopping. Bishop Gregor was himself there in the square just after the incident involving the bin lorry. In this conversation he describes what he saw, what he was asked to do and how he responded.

Together we reflected on how Christians find God.

This happened in the context of the Sunday morning Sung Eucharist instead of a sermon. It seemed the right thing to move the Feast of the Holy Innocents back to this day, it having originally been scheduled to be celebrated here tomorrow morning.

As I said at the beginning of the service, Jesus wasn’t born into a fairy story, nor into a Christmas card – he was born into the real world and sometimes we need to think about what that really means.

Here’s the video:

Dialogue between Kelvin Holdsworth and Gregor Duncan in Glasgow on 28 December 2014 from Kelvin Holdsworth on Vimeo.

#GeorgeSquare, Bishop Gregor, Holy Innocents

8 responses to “Why Billy Graham’s legacy is complex”

Catherine Mooney

21/02/2018

We went to see Billy Graham the last time he came to Glasgow. The bank manager gave us tickets! It was my first time at Parkhead. Never had I seen so many Burberry raincoats. It was a hugely choreographed occasion. The intensity of the occasion passed me by, I had never been any where with so many people before. However his effect was clear, people were very moved. r

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Meg Rosenfeld

21/02/2018

Kelvin, I take my hat off to you (or, as a dear, sadly departed Portuguese friend of mine used to say, “I take my head off to you”) for being able to sort out 1) your deep respect for Billy Graham the man, and 2) your wholly justified condemnation of some of his beliefs and their unfortunate consequences, and to come up with your conclusion (which I share) that he is awaking in glory–to some surprises!

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ukviewer

21/02/2018

I never heard of Billy Graham, until I became an Anglican. I was raised as a Catholic and when I was young, only who the Pope was, and perhaps saw Arch Bishop Fisher on TV and being told that he was a Non-Catholic and I shouldn’t watch him or read about him.

When I became an Anglican, I met some Evangelicals who t raced their history back to his Crusades and extolled his virtues. When I did research for Essays that I was writing for my training, I read about the darker side of his ministry, particularly those you ably describe. I revised my opinion of him, to one of someone who was given a Gift to proclaim the good news, but somewhere mixed it up with bad theology and missed the bit about us all being Children of God, who loves each and every one of us, not a select few.

I’ve seen the headlines and eulogies for him and have say, that with due respect that his ministry was misused and misdirected down a tangent that has had consequences for many who are victimized daily as a result.

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Christina Mackay

22/02/2018

Hi Kelvin,

I’m a producer on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Saturday. We are planning to do an item about Billy Graham and were interested in what you said in your blog and wondered if you’re around to come on the programme. Could you give me a call on 0141 422 7711. Many thanks.

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p hall-ropberts

23/02/2018

I think billy was a great preachr but he did not accept that god made gay people as well as straight & I couldn’t accept that

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Rebecca van Pelt

25/02/2018

Billy Graham refused to conduct his meetings in stadiums that were segregated. He understood that we all stood equal before God. He sought crusade support across denominational lines. He ministered to our presidents, regardless of political ties or denominational ties. His sole text book was the Bible. He sole message was the salvation of the individual man through faith in Jesus Christ.

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1. Kelvin
  
  25/02/2018
  
  Well, Rebecca, I think Billy Graham’s life leaves a very complex legacy.
  
  Here’s what Malcolm X thought of him: http://religiondispatches.org/billy-graham-and-the-gospel-of-american-nationalistic-christianity/
  
  On the other hand, here’s what Mel White thought about him: https://www.melwhite.org/remembering-billy-graham/
  
  Here’s a CNN piece which quotes Billy Graham criticising Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/22/us/billy-graham-mlk-civil-rights/index.html
  
  “Only when Christ comes again will the little white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children.”
  
  I’m prepared to stand by my assessment that I benefited from Billy Graham’s ministry and also that there are some things about his ministry which have caused harm, to me and to others. Life really is as complex as that.
  
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Dalton Mackenzie

12/09/2019

For me, Billy was exceptional. He lived a life to please no man but his creator

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