My church

Professor Ronald L Crawford from Netherlee and Stamperland Parish Church explains why the influences of yesterday remain relevant today and for tomorrow.

MY wife and I joined Netherlee Parish Church in the autumn of 1962 after our marriage in St James’s Church in Paisley, the town of our birth.

Evelyn was a dedicated Sunday School teacher there. As an undergraduate at Gilmorehill I attended church infrequently and later, when my parents moved from the west to the east end of the town I preferred to attend the bible class at Sherwood Church, almost next door to the family home – and only a couple of hundred yards or so away from Whitehaugh, where I indulged my love of cricket.

We had decided on Netherlee for good reason. Evelyn then worked in public health as an assistant to a certain Dr Isobel Mair, the charismatic wife of Netherlee’s charismatic minister, the Reverend Stanley Mair. Stanley had served as a chaplain to the Chindits in Burma, throughout the so-called ‘forgotten war’. He had lived a full life and he always told a good story. Like the Fry’s chocolate bar, the Mairs had five boys.

I still recall that in these now far-off days Netherlee, when we arrived there as a newly married couple, was packed every Sunday with entire families – often over several generations. Churches were like that then. Our arrival coincided with a reception in the hall for new members. We were assigned to a table where the hosts were a certain Leonard I’Anson and his lovely wee wife Betty. In a few years’ time Leonard became Session Clerk and a few years after that I succeeded him in the same capacity. I learned a lot from Leonard.

What had immediately struck us both was the sincerity of the welcome accorded us as newcomers. As I look back, I remain convinced that part of the reason for that was the example set by Isobel Mair. She remains an inspirational legend for all of us who recall her success in creating what has become her memorial: the Isobel Mair School in Stewarton Road, Newton Mearns, but also on account of her work among the grindingly poor in Thailand after Stanley’s death and her own retirement. In her fine Herald obituary Dr Mair’s amazing life was (rightly) compared to the story of Mother Teresa.

But all that is history. What has our church become in these challenging times for Christians everywhere? I am glad to report in our case a clean bill of health. What, I earnestly believe characterises our church in its successful union with Stamperland is the continuance of that family atmosphere that had so engaged both of us when we first crossed its threshold nearly sixty-three years ago. As a congregation we strive more than ever to regard ourselves as essentially servants of the parish and community which thankfully remains the guiding force behind our mission. No stuffiness, no exclusions, no membership cards. We are still, if you like, inspired by the example set long ago by Isobel Mair.