LETTERS

Assembly Ceremony

I refer to Margaret King’s letter (Life and Work, July) regarding ceremonial elements at the General Assembly.

It was on February 8 1952, two days after the death of King George VI, that the Queen at her Accession Council took the oath to maintain Presbyterian Church Government in Scotland.

The taking of this oath was the Queen’s second official action as a new monarch.

The presence of the Lord High Commissioner at each General Assembly highlights the continuing relationship between the Church of Scotland and the Crown.

The Rev James Pitt-Watson who was Moderator at the time of the Queen’s coronation addressed the then Lord High Commissioner, the Duke of Hamilton at the closing of the General Assembly in 1953 as follows: “This is the Supreme Court of a Church which is national and free and your Grace’s presence amongst us as Her Majesty’s Representative is the expression and declaration of a unique and historic achievement in the relationship of Church and State.”

John Fyfe Anderson, Bishopton, Renfrewshire

‘A Fire For Old Stories’

I heard the words ‘clay feet’ the other day. It reminded me I have not heard an Old Testament tale recounted since I retired.

There are three possible reasons.

Firstly, I have been unlucky. Secondly students and/or colleges treat Old Testament studies as an optional extra. By doing so, they lessen the humanity of our Lord, whose history, heritage and education were all built on the Old Testament and its tales. Thirdly, in some circles these tales are not considered ‘evangelical’ enough, even if they are ‘inspired’.

George Mackay Brown in his poem Lux Perpetua (everlasting light) says one of the glimmers of light we do have is ‘a fire for old stories’.

Tom Bogle (Rev), Mossblown, Ayrshire

Jubilee Ecumenical Plea

The St Paul’s Platinum Jubilee service had many good features.

However, it was all very Anglocentric.

There was, for instance, a distinct lack of Welsh, Scottish or Irish accents to be heard. If the monarchy is to have a future it must be seen as representative of all four UK nations.

Also, and although the monarch remains the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, it would be good to see evidence of a more ecumenical spirit on an occasion such as this.

Andrew McLuskey (Rev), Middlesex

Lessons from the Past

I was interested to read and reflect on your editorial in the June issue reminding us that there are lessons to be learned from those who have gone before and that their insights can be helpful in shaping the future. On the day I read the editorial I also read a comment written nearly a hundred years ago by the noted Welsh preacher Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

“The whole tragedy today is that the Christian Church is moving ponderously, slowly, heavily, while the world is in the grip of the devil. She is setting up committees to investigate the problems, interim and final, to be produced in a year, or perhaps several years, which will then be considered. And she is doing this while the world is on fire, and people are going to hell, and the devil is rampant everywhere.”

I turned to the pages outlining the reports being made to the General Assembly. Two things struck me. The committees seem to be alive, well and prospering. Church membership has fallen by 34% in the last ten years! (77% in the last fifty five years).

Maybe we need more solid, Biblical, evangelical preaching in the mode of the late Dr Lloyd-Jones, who had people breaking the window (and willingly paying the replacement cost) of a packed church just to hear him!

Jack Kernahan, Rosemarkie, Ross-shire

Anna Chaplaincy

I was interested in your article in Life and Work on Anna Chaplaincies.

I am the same age as Anna in the bible and I live in a care home.

I was interested in her as because of my age and immobility, I am housebound.

I spend a lot of my time reading and praying. I do not eat meat, am a vegetarian and have no television.

I thank you for your article on Anna and hope it will help old people.

Eleanor Barnes, Wrexham, North Wales

Jubilee Memories

The recent Platinum Jubilee has kindled faint memories of 1952-53. My home was, from 1950, in St Andrews, Fife.

One of my earliest surviving memories, when just under five years old, was learning of the sudden death of King George VI (February 1952).

I was ill and in bed at the time.

Without a TV at home, we relied on ‘steam’ radios, newspapers and a non-dial telephone.

To witness the coronation (June 1953), we were guests of the local obstetrician, who, six years later, delivered my younger brother in 1959. She had a black and white TV.

Royal visitors to St Andrews have been almost commonplace.

Robert the Bruce was at the consecration of the Cathedral in 1318, the wedding venue for James V in 1538. Prince William was a student, 2001-2005, with Royal guests at his graduation.

He returned in 2011 for the launch of the University’s 600th celebrations, two months before his wedding with Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey.

In 1952, St Leonard’s Chapel was at last fully restored to add to the town’s plethora of places of worship.

Principal Irvine died in 1952 after decades of service to the University. In London, St Columba’s Pont Street hosted alumni carol services before the pandemic disrupted this collaboration.

From 1950 to 1956, the new St Columba’s emerged from the 1941 ashes of the old, with some Royal patronage (viz. 1950, 1956 and 2015).

On the Sunday of the Platinum Jubilee weekend, HM the Queen was seen being driven down Pont Street at 4pm, for the final 5pm balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace.

J Michael Buchanan, London

Faith Action Thanks

I very much appreciate the monthly updates from Faith in Action in Life and Work.

Both content and layout make for informative and encouraging reading.

Many thanks to the team.

Robert McQuistan, Carsluith, Wigtownshire