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Life and Work magazine – May 2007 issue review
A natural diplomat
The Church of Scotland’s Moderator Designate for
the 2007 General Assembly, the Rev Sheilagh Kesting, the
first female parish minister to be nominated for the role,
is profiled this month.
She describes how she personally experienced sectarianism
within her first parish in Overtown, Lanarkshire more
than 20 years ago over an invitation centring around
the visit of Pope John Paul II to Scotland in 1982.
Sheilagh, the Church’s ecumenical relations officer,
had started to develop and interest in ecumenism whilst
in Lanarkshire and consequently received an invitation
to an event during the Pope’s visit.
"I told my kirk session that this invitation was
going to come, I very much wanted to go but if they
felt it would split the congregation then I wouldn’t.
There was a long silence and one of the elders said
‘I think you should go. I think you will find
any problems are on the periphery of the congregation.’
"So I went. There were some people very upset
with me, mostly not regular church attenders, but I
was sad about the one or two church members who just
couldn’t cope with it."
Looking forward to the year ahead, she added that she
was going to use her time as Moderator to promote ecumenical
relations.
Election special
The outgoing Moderator of the General Assembly of the
Church of the Scotland, the Right Rev Alan McDonald urges
readers to exercise their vote in a focus on the May elections
in Scotland.
Mr McDonald, one of a number of leading Christian figures
to offer their opinion on the forthcoming vote, emphasises
the need to vote and suggests that simply voting for
a ‘Christian’ party is not necessarily the
answer.
He writes: "There are those who try to claim for
one party the label of ‘Christian’, but
life is not as simple as that.
"There are good and faithful Christians in almost
all parties, seeking in their own way to make their
faith count in the world of politics and for the good
of the people – and we thank God for them."
Open day plea
Editor Lynne McNeil calls on the Kirk to consider an open
day or open week to throw open their doors and welcome
in those who have no idea of church life or of the life
behind the church doors.
"In this General Assembly month, what better advert could there be for
a warm welcoming body of Christian people?" she
says.
Ends
nr/39/04/07
Wednesday 18 April 2007
Note to newsdesks
For further information, please contact Lynne McNeil,
editor of Life and Work on 0131 225 5722 ext 207.
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