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Exhibition to mark 50th anniversary of admission of women to ministry
AN appeal has been issued for contributions to this year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of women being admitted to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Church of Scotland.
The project has been launched by New College and Edinburgh University Centre for Theology and Public Issues, supported by the Church of Scotland’s Ministries Council; and it will include an exhibition, conference, act of worship, events and publications. Project co-ordinator, Dr Lesley Orr, says:
“On Wednesday May 22 1968, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed a deliverance that women should become eligible for ordination to the ministry on the same terms and conditions as men.
“Since the late 19th century, women had increasingly participated in diverse expressions of service within the life and witness of the Church – as Deaconesses, Parish Sisters, home and foreign missionaries; thousands were involved in a wide range of initiatives as members of the Woman’s Guild.
“Their work and commitment to the life of the Church was indispensable, and by the early years of the 20th century, there were Scotswomen who were trained in theology and believed that God was calling them to serve as ministers of word and sacrament.
“They had the educational qualifications, the practical experience and the leadership capacity. But it took decades of struggle and debate until the Church at large was ready to enable equal access to ordained ministry.
“The 1968 deliverance brought new opportunities, challenges and changes for women and men in ministry, in congregations and the wider corporate life of the national Church.
“After the vote, Mary Lusk (later the Rev Mary Levison), who had a significant part to play in the final years of the movement for admission, commented that ‘the Church no longer regards women as second class citizens. I hope this decision will have a liberating effect right through the Church’.
“As the fiftieth anniversary of women’s ordination in the Church of Scotland approaches, New College and Edinburgh University Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), supported by the Ministries Council, have launched a commemorative project.
“We hope to celebrate all the gifts and blessings that diverse women have brought through their faithful ministries over the past fifty years. But we also want to reflect on some of the wider themes and challenges of equal ministry and gender justice for church and society as we consider the current situation and look to the future. And we want to ensure that our research is firmly grounded in the sources and materials of those who have been involved (as ministers, relations, congregational members, colleagues…) in the unfolding story.
“We would love to gather recollections and reflections of the past fifty years and more – particularly but not only of the early pioneers.
Cutting from the July 1968 magazine about the Assembly decision
“We also hope to gather images and artefacts for the exhibition. As project coordinator I invite anyone who would like to contribute to the project to get in touch with me – preferably by the end of March. Thank you so much!”
Anyone interested in contributing to any aspect of the project can contact Dr Orr by the end of March 2018, on lesley.orr@ed.ac.uk or CTPI, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh EH1 2LX.
CHURCHES JOIN CALL FOR RIGHTS OF STATELESS PEOPLE
A new initiative calling for improved rights and better support for ‘stateless’ people has been backed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning joined 110 religious and faith leaders in signing a statement in November which urges the UK Government to do more to welcome those who have no country to call their home.
The Home Office has recognised only around40 people as eligible for statelessness leave since introducing a statelessness determination procedure in 2013.
Research by the European Network on Statelessness in 2016 showed that over 800 people were waiting for a decision on their status. Many of them had been in limbo or detention for more than two years.
‘Stateless’ people without legal status cannot leave the UK because no country will accept them. But without status, they don’t have permission to work in the UK and remain vulnerable to destitution, exploitation and detention.
Worldwide there are around 10 million ‘stateless’ people.
Signatories are calling for alternatives to detention and better support for access to rights and advice and help with integration. The move was part of the #LockedInLimbo campaign which is led by the European Network on Statelessness and seeks to end the detention of people who end up locked in limbo simply because they have no country that they can return to.
Dr Browning said: “I am pleased to support this statement as a sign of my support for global efforts to contribute to ending statelessness.
“Churches have a vital and significant role in offering a message of hope and peace to the world. It is good to see so many people wanting to engage with the issues and take action.
“The role of the World Council of Churches in advocating for the rights of stateless people has been particularly important in helping to focus attention on this issue.”
ELSIE INGLIS REMEMBERED
The contribution of a pioneering Scottish female doctor to the allied cause in World War 1 was celebrated in a commemoration service at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, at the end of November.
Dr Elsie Inglis led the formation of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, which treated wounded soldiers and civilians, around Europe. 17 hospitals were established altogether, along with a number of satellite hospitals and dressing stations, staffed almost entirely by women.
A vigorous campaigner for votes for women, Dr Inglis knew she would demonstrate the capabilities of women while doing her bit for the war effort.
The service in St Giles’, beginning 100 years to the minute since the start of her funeral in 1917 in the same location, was led by the minister, the Rev Calum MacLeod.
Among the guests were the Princess Royal, who laid a wreath at Dr Inglis’ plaque in the cathedral and gave a reading, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh, Frank Ross.
Officials from some of the nations where Elsie set up hospitals were there including France, Serbia and Romania; along with a number of Elsie’s descendants and Members of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland Readings were given by BBC News Health Editor and Church of Scotland elder Hugh Pym, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Dr Catherine Calderwood, Dr Lesley Orr from Edinburgh University’s School of Divinity and descendants of Dr Inglis.
Descendant Patricia Purdom, said: “I am tremendously proud of Elsie Inglis and her achievements, and I am delighted that her memory is being recognised through these services.
“I would have loved to have met her and heard her stories first-hand.
“I remembered my father recalling her remarkable achievements when we would look through the family album and I’m very privileged to still have these photos today.”
BB WORLD MISSION FUND REACHES £1.5M
The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland celebrated 70 years of its World Mission Fund by reaching the £1.5 million mark.
At a ceremony in Dunblane Cathedral in November, over 100 BB members from the Anchor, Junior and Company sections presented the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning, with a £10,000 cheque following last year’s fundraising efforts.
The fund, established in 1947, seeks to develop within Boys’ Brigade Companies of the Church of Scotland, wider knowledge of the Church’s world mission work and the international work of the Boys’ Brigade.
Last year, BB members took part in the ‘Climate Conscious’ Project which supports environmental efforts in Bangladeshi villages. Last August, two young BB leaders spent time in Bangladesh to see the project’s work.
Dr Browning said: “It was a pleasure to take part in the Boys’ Brigade service at Dunblane Cathedral and to have the opportunity to meet some of these generous young people.
“I very much appreciate Boys’ Brigade members across Scotland who have raised the magnificent sum of £10,000 for the World Mission Council and to support the people of flood-threatened Bangladesh.”
Playground for the Stars, which aims to provide safe places for refugee children to play in Egypt, was announced as next year’s World Mission Fund project.
POVERTY PROGRESS WELCOMED
The Convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council has welcomed a major new report which shows Scotland has made significant headway in tackling poverty.
Responding to the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report, Poverty in Scotland 2017, the Rev Dr Richard Frazer said: “We welcome the news that over the last generation Scotland has made significant progress in reducing poverty. We believe this is in no small part the result of a concerted effort to listen to the voice of those with direct experience of poverty and learn from their wisdom.
Initiatives such as the Poverty Truth Commission, Wevolution, the Grassmarket Community Project and the hundreds of other projects enabled by congregations across Scotland, help us all better understand the nature of poverty and enable those who live with it to shape its demise. This success is theirs and it is to be celebrated.”
Acknowledging the risks to progress identified by JRF’s research, he added: “Now it is more important than ever that we work to ensure that all have access to the employment, money, education, housing and relationships necessary to thrive. This is not just about tackling poverty, it is about creating a society in which everyone might flourish. For Christians, it is part of living out our gospel imperative to love our neighbour as our self.”
The report said poverty was lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, but warned of threats to progress – including a projected increase in child poverty from 23% to 29% by 2021 as a result of UK social security decisions and long-term changes in the economy.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: “Scotland has a proud record in reducing poverty over the last 20 years, with significant falls in pensioner and child poverty. It has meant thousands of families across the country have enjoyed better living standards, financial security and better prospects.
“But Scotland stands at a turning point as the challenge facing families on low incomes changes. The rising cost of housing and the challenge of low-pay and in-work poverty – as well as the impact of UK social security decisions –mean the country’s progress is in peril.
“Scotland’s record shows progress can be made with sustained effort, but these findings highlight that these gains are fragile and need to be protected.”
BROWN DEFENDS PLACE OF FAITH IN POLITICS
Former Prime Minister and son of the manse Gordon Brown has emphasised the importance of the role of faith in politics.
Writing in his book My Life, Our Times, published in December, Mr Brown says that being religious should not give any politician ‘a privileged position or a get-out clause that allows them to ignore the accepted bases of authority: logic, scientific fact, experimental test, critical evaluation and an appeal to values we share in common’.
But he adds, in a chapter entitled ‘Faith in the Public Square’: “You have to argue your case in the public square, submit to scrutiny, acknowledge alternative points of view – and live with the outcome even if your point of view loses out. And that is in line with modern theological thinking: our faith obliges us to use reason, and it is an act of worship to use the brain you have. “Indeed, any public figure who introduces faith into debate must be sure they are not exploiting it for partisan reasons: deploying dogma to short-circuit democratic debate.
To invoke God as if He favoured one side over the other, or to suggest your interpretation of faith must be the last word, or to play religion as some sort of trump card, to use religion cynically for political gain, is to make a mockery of the very idea of God and religion. So I would repudiate both those who say ‘Do this because my religion demands it’ and those who say ‘Vote for me because I’m a Christian’.
“We must never make God a partisan figure, never claim that theology is the beginning and end of any debate, never act as if any kind of theocracy overrules democracy, and have the humility that Abraham Lincoln had: not to claim that God is on our side but to hope, as he did, that we are on God’s side.”
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This article appears in the February 2018 Issue of Life and Work
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