‘WE acknowledge one another’s churches as churches belonging to the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and truly participating in the apostolic ministry and mission of the whole people of God.’

This is the first in a series of acknowledgments as part of the Columba Declaration between the Church of Scotland and the Church of England. And as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, remarked when the pair of us signed the Declaration in London’s Crown Court Church on the November 28 2016, it is high time our two churches acknowledged one another.

The signing ceremony was one of the highlights of the week Margaret and I spent in London around St Andrew’s Day last year. The programme included conversations with the Deans of both Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral and guided tours around these two wonderful buildings.

Copy of the Columba Declaration

Cardinal Vincent Nicholls hosted us to afternoon tea in his home and we met the President of the Methodist Conference, the Rev Dr Roger Waltman in the beautiful Methodist Central Hall.

There were meetings with the Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mark Regev, in his heavily guarded embassy, and another at the home of the Chief Rabbi, Epharim Mirvis.

I was the guest preacher in St Margaret’s Lothbury at a ‘Church in the City’ Advent service, and I had the privilege of being the St Andrew’s Day preacher in the beautiful Chapel of St Mary’s Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster.

This was the chapel where the suffragette, Emily Davidson, hid overnight in a cupboard on census night, April 2 1911, so that her address could be recorded as the House of Commons.

During our visit to Parliament we were hosted by two Jameses, James Gray whose late father, John R Gray, (Dunblane Cathedral) was Moderator 40 years ago, and James Douglas-Hamilton, Lord Selkirk, a former Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly

From the Palace of Westminster we made the short walk to Downing Street where I had an appointment with the Prime Minister whilst Margaret enjoyed a tour of ‘No 10’.

We spent an afternoon in the offces of Christian Aid and, given my interest in homelessness, we also spent time at St Martin’s-in-the-Field, the Connection, and Borderline learning about the variety of excellent work being done to support people who are homeless in London.

The Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, hosted an evening reception for us in Dover House, I was the guest speaker at the charity Scotscare annual dinner, Margaret and I were guests at the Royal Caledonian Education Trust Dinner, and we hosted a dinner bringing together what proved to be a fascinating ecumenical group of people to discuss questions of vocation.

On the second Sunday of Advent I was the guest preacher at St Columba’s in the morning and Crown Court in the evening, and was glad to take the greetings, prayers and best wishes of the General Assembly to our two London congregations.

And as part of this fascinating series of visits, meetings and events, I signed the historic Columba Declaration on behalf of the Church of Scotland.

As well as creating opportunities for congregational partnership and shared ministry, my hope and prayer is the Declaration will strengthen the mission of our respective churches.

Whether it is our shared concern about poverty and the rising number of people who are not even managing, questions about the environment, or the hospitality we extend to people who are refugees, such are the social, political and ethical issues arising from our common participation in public life, the more we can do together, the better.