Thomas Baldwin reports on a long-term fundraising project initiated by a rural congregation.

Anthea Bircham, John Swinney, MSP for Perthshire North; Willie Wilson, Deputy Perth Provost; Very Rev Albert Bogle and the Rev Marc Bircham at the Madoch Centre

A new £1.55m church and community centre in Perthshire was officially opened by Olympic swimmer Steven Milne in September.

The day of celebration for the Madoch Centre began with worship led by former Moderator of the General Assembly the Very Rev Albert Bogle; followed by a series of events including a procession led by ‘St Madoch’ and his monks, who had arrived at the banks of the Tay in coracles.

The congregation of St Madoes and Kinfauns has spent the last two years raising funds to build and equip the Centre, which will host a social enterprise café, sports activities and community events, as well as church services and worship events.

“We have been holding worship in the centre for the last three weeks now,” said Anthea Bircham, wife of minister the Rev Marc Bircham, who has acted as project manager during the build and has now been appointed community development co-ordinator for the centre.

“Our café and drop-in centre has been open for the last 10 days and we’ve had about 80 customers a day. We expected to get a lot of interest from people living closest to St Madoes, but we’re finding that people from along the Carse of Gowrie are keen to be involved. They are telling us how fantastic the centre is and that there is nothing else like it.

“It’s been quite overwhelming how enthusiastic people are.”

The congregation chose the theme ‘Living Stones’ for the celebration to reflect the heritage of the area, which includes standing stones that date back to 7th century and the early Christian saints.

Following worship and lunch, visitors took a walking tour of some of the ancient stones or cycled to the Tay riverbank at Inchyra where, at 12:30, St Madoch (represented by the Rev Scott Burton of St Matthews in Perth) and his monks arrived in coracles.

The monks, accompanied by a junior pipe band, processed to the centre, where Steven Milne (part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team who won a silver medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics) officially cut the ribbon.

In the afternoon the celebrations continued with a full programme of games, sports, crafts, music, dance and song. The centre grew out of the congregation’s vision of a church and community centre where everyone would be welcome. Projects underway include Criss Cross, which aims to bring people together across age groups to combat loneliness, and SMASH (St Madoes Active Sports Club) which will offer sports and healthpromoting physical activity for people of all ages and abilities.

A sports outreach worker will mentor high school students and create opportunities for young people to gain leadership qualifications.

Three community groups focused on dance and drama, adult netball and football training have already asked to use the centre as their base.

The centre received more than £65,000 in funding from local donors and another half a million in grants. The largest donor, the European Union LEADER fund which supports rural development, committed £150,000. Sports Scotland and The Gannochy Trust also contributed grants.

“The congregation of St Madoes and Kinfauns has spent the last two years raising funds to build and equip the Centre

Mr Bircham last year completed a fundraising challenge where he travelled across the country committing acts of kindness and feats of daring suggested by supporters on the social media site Facebook.

The Suez Community Fund supported two internal soundproofed walls and soft play equipment.

“The soundproofed walls mean that all of our spaces can be multi-purpose,” Mrs Bircham said.

“We can alter the size of the rooms and we don’t have to worry about noise disturbing quiet activities.”

ROHINGYA CONCERN

WORLD NEWS

The World Council of Churches (WCC) on September 14 expressed its concern over the worsening situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

“As churches, we recognise and affirm the God-given human dignity of every human being, and are especially committed to lifting up the voices of the voiceless and most vulnerable,” said WCC general secretary the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “The Rohingya are widely considered to be among the world’s most persecuted and vulnerable people.”

The Rohingya constitute one of the largest populations of stateless people because they are not recognised as nationals by any country. The UNHCR estimates that more than one million people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state are stateless on the basis of the current citizenship law, which finds only members of certain ethnic groups – excluding Rohingyas – eligible for citizenship.

“We are particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation of the affected people in Rakhine state and of those who have fled as refugees to Bangladesh,” added Tveit. “We call for an end to the violence and destruction that have caused this displacement, so that people can stay safely in their own homes and communities without fear of reprisals and persecution based on their ethnic or religious identity.”

The WCC is also appealing for all refugees to be received and cared for appropriately. (WCC)

REFORMED – ANGLICAN DIALOGUE

The International Reformed-Anglican Dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the Anglican Communion met for the third time in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, August 31 to September 7. The co-chairs were Elizabeth Welch (WCRC) and David Chillingworth of the Scottish Episcopal Church (Anglican).

The current series of bilateral discussions is the first that the Anglican and Reformed communions have had globally since 1984, when the dialogue released the report, God’s Reign and Our Unity. In 2011, this new dialogue was mandated to study the nature of communion (koinonia) and the pressing issues which emerge for both communions out of such reflection. During this third meeting, the group deepened its exploration of communion as an unbreakable gift and calling within the context of our diverse world communions.

Papers were prepared by members of the dialogue group over the last year as an initial contribution to the first draft of a statement. They were presented in plenary during this meeting. The group also noted their gratefulness for other papers from expert theologians in related fields. This work formed the basis of intense small group analysis, covering areas including the essence of koinonia, scriptural and historic testimony to its character, how communion is lived and responded to, as well as identifying and critically engaging with diversity in the church and the wider world. A drafting group has been tasked for the next stage of the group’s work.

The dialogue opened with a celebration of Holy Communion in the Anglican tradition and closed with a celebration of Holy Communion in the Reformed tradition. The members of the dialogue prayed together each morning and evening. The next WCRC-Anglican dialogue will take place at the end of August 2018. (WCRC)

CATHEDRAL DESECRATED

Eighteen months after the Turkish government seized control of the largest Armenian cathedral in the Middle East, secretly taken photographs inside Diyarbakir’s Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church reveal considerable damage to the sanctuary and walls of the now desecrated church in southeast Turkey.

Published by The Armenian Weekly, the exclusive photographs taken this past July expose broken and sandbagged windows, one defaced crucifix, a massive hole poking through one outer wall, the removal of pews and worship utensils, empty altars, and some chipped columns. Only a few up-ended wooden pews can be seen, with no worship utensils or sacramental hangings in sight.

“So the church is really naked,” a source in Diyarbakir told World Watch Monitor.

The cathedral is located in the predominantly Kurdish city’s Sur district, which was heavily demolished in nearly a year of fierce fighting that broke out in late 2015 between the Turkish military and militants of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).

Along with thousands of other Sur properties expropriated by the state and promised eventual restoration, Surp Giragos has been off-limits to the public since March 2016.

First built in the 1600s, Surp Giragos had been closed in the 1960s but then completely renovated with the support of the Armenian diaspora and the Sur municipality and reopened in 2011. For a few years, visitors from western Turkey and abroad were coming to tour the cathedral and participate in occasional worship services. (World Watch Monitor)

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