• Tales of the City – February 2020

    On the way home from the opera I step into a shop to get out of the rain, and buy something to eat against the cold – a late-night post-operatic chittery-bite.

    In front of me are two young men dressed in much less than I am. They are the worse for wear and arguing.

    Drunk Young Man #1: Well we’ll ask someone else then.

    Drunk Young Man #2:
    Yes! Someone neutral.

    They turn to me.

    DYM#1: Here man. Settle an arugment for us will you. Is coronavirus real or is it propoganda

    Self: I think it is real.

    DYM#2: Aye man. Told you. It *is* real. He said so. Here, I bet you do a very responsible job

    DYM#1:
    Aye very responsible. What are you man?

    I hesitate a moment and consider how to answer.

    DYM#2: I bet he’s a Supply Chain Manager. Are you a Supply Chain Manager, man?

    I smile a smile that I hope will look like the smile of a cold wet Supply Chain Manager.

    DYM#2: I knew it.

    DYM#1: Hey, do you have a lighter?

    I shake my head.

    We are all forlorn that I do not have a lighter.

2 responses to “Synod – Overseas Committee”

  1. John Riches Avatar
    John Riches

    It’s not a straight choice between paying for theological education in Africa and in Scotland. The Overseas committee’s funds very largely come from legacies specfically given for overseas work so couldn’t be spent on training Scottish clergy. If we wanted seriously to spend more on that (an excellent idea in my book), then we would have to raise quota or find some other source of income.

    And, I think, theological education in Africa is particularly important in light of the remarkable growth of the African churches. If there is not good theological education for the leaders of the churches in Africa we will have poorly trained African church leaders which is bad for the church in Africa and can only make attempts at communion wide understanding more difficult.

  2. kelvin Avatar

    Thanks John – I had forgotten about the legacies. You are right, there are two separate funding issues here.

    I agree that we need good theological education for the whole Communion.

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