LETTERS

Readings rota

The recent worship feature in Life and Work (March) has prompted me to write to say that here in St John’s Kirk in Perth we have long operated a rota for the Bible readings during the Sunday morning service.

This initiative, which we are given to understand is unusual in the Church of Scotland, was begun in the early 2000s, and has been continued successfully to the present time.

We have a group of around 15 very willing and competent volunteers from the congregation who read the two lessons from whichever version of the Bible they prefer - (we are not prescriptive!). They are given ample notice of the readings for their particular Sunday.

St John’s has also been running, since October of last year a Worship ‘Think Tank’, comprising elders and non-elders, to try to develop our ideas and suggest new approaches to Sunday worship.

The Kirk is also looking forward to welcoming visitors, both local and from afar, to the Kirk after reopening once more for the summer season on April 3 until the autumn. Gordon Hynd, Perth

Mission planning plea

I am sure that I am not alone in becoming increasingly frustrated by the time it is taking the Faith Nurture Forum and the General Trustees to concur with Presbytery Mission Plans which have already been approved by the Presbyteries.

I thought that one of the reasons for fewer and larger Presbyteries was that these bodies would be equipped to make decisions which the former smaller Presbyteries could not. However, the Faith Nurture Forum is wanting more content on mission narratives and wanting to examine and approve changes that will be made in the annual reviews of these plans. I would argue strongly that the Presbytery is in the best position to write and examine mission narratives, and that micro-management by the Faith Nurture Forum is not desirable or workable. The argument may be that the Presbytery Mission Plan Act provides for this, but this may also be a serious flaw in the act.

Delays in central concurrence are losing momentum among congregations and, in the case of decisions by the General Trustees, to deterioration in the state of buildings which will be kept (as only minimum work on buildings is currently permitted).

I can draw a parallel with the time when I was Head of Stewardship. At that time Presbyteries had 5% discretion in finalising Ministries and Mission Contributions. Sometimes those of us who worked at the centre had reservations about the ways Presbyteries exercised this discretion, but we accepted that it was a Presbytery’s right to make what we thought was an unwise decision if that was its choice.

I plead with central bodies to take a step back and trust the new larger Presbyteries to do their job, without unnecessary interference from the centre. Gordon D Jamieson (Rev), West Lothian

Wartime books

Not long ago, I came across a 1944 wartime publication about a poetry competition promoted in the Western Desert, North Africa for 1942 to 1943 within the 8th Army. The foreword was signed by General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery in holograph. 403 poems were submitted by 280 poets from all ranks. The best 26 appeared in the book, printed in Edinburgh. This turned out not to be a one off.

Later, I copied a 1945 book by Bernard Fergusson. It was an account of the Adventure of No 5 Column of the Wingate Expedition into Burma from India in 1943.

The foreword is written by Field Marshal The Viscount Wavell, Viceroy of India. Earlier Fergusson had been Wavell’s first ADC. He had already authored ‘Eton Portrait’.

His second book is in two parts: Grand Entrance and Emergency Exit, 16 chapters in all over 242 pages. Most chapters are headed by extensive quotes from earlier literature. The better-known authors are: Thomas Hardy, Rupert Brooke, Robert Bridges, Sir Walter Scott, Spenser and Shakespeare. The text follows the route of the Expedition slavishly, day by day, mile by mile. Although this round trip in 1943 was just a test run, only some 65 per cent of men made it, 35 per cent failed to arrive. A 1944 excursion into Burma was a success.

Probably in 1944, Montgomery set up his DD planning HQ in his old school, St Paul’s in Hammersmith. Today, the site railings sport two blue plaques complementing a modest display of photographs. Wartime visitors had included Winston Churchill and King George VI.

I pass this site often on a bus going to and from the Kirk at St Columba’s, Pont Street. In London.

My interest in a book by Fergusson was kindled by the fact that I had met him at my school’s prizegiving in 1963 or 1964. He had survived service in the Second World War. The prizes were indifferent books.

It is far from clear why the military sanctioned books to be printed in wartime. Boosting morale and undermining enemy mindsets may have been part of the thinking, a form of propaganda. Draft texts must surely have been scrutinized vigilantly before being given the green light. Ironically, Myanamar is today again practically off-limits to the casual traveller.

Have similar records been made in the grave, bloody Ukrainian War in our time? Could poems and writing generally from all pan-European fronts have a role in marking VE Day 80 in May 2025? J Michael Buchanan, London

Book sale thanks

Thank you very much for your recent article about the Christian Aid book sale at St Andrew’s and St George’s West in Edinburgh.

The article mentions Mary Davidson, who should either be styled by her name or as Lady Davidson, but not as Lady Mary, who would be the daughter of a duke.

The book sale is the single largest fundraiser for Christian Aid, each year bringing in over £100,000. It is all made possibly by a veritable army of volunteers with a range of skills and especially what to keep, and offer of sale, and what must be disposed of.

Dick Godden, head of Leith docks at the time, and my father, Alistair Thomson, came up with the ideal of the Undercroft at the church and got it into operation.

Having the Undercroft open through the week lets people know the church is here, as does the short service in the chapel.

Faith without works is dead. It is good that the church stays alive with various forms of outreach, including the book sale in May and the picture sale in October.

Thank you for putting the sale in your spotlight in Life and Work.

I’ll be there to assist, as I have for many years. Iain Thomson, Granby, Missouri, USA.

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