Stranraer FC: Chaplaincy update

At 17 days old, Willow made it in time for Stranraer's last home game of the season!

It's been a varied few days on the Stranraer FC chaplaincy front. Saturday saw the team defeat East Fife 2-1 to finish 7th in the league - a very respectable finish given that they had been bottom of the table at Christmas. A few hours after the game, it was time for the annual awards dinner. As chaplain, I am asked to say grace before the meal each year. The dinner is a great opportunity to chat to the players, committee and others involved with the club.

Then yesterday I went to Paisley for a Regional Training Day on the subject of sudden bereavement. It was a hard-hitting day, led by Sports Chaplaincy UK CEO Warren Evans, focusing on supporting those who lose children, but also touching on other sudden bereavements such as suicide.

Meeting up with other chaplains is always a blessing

After having lunch together, we heard an update on the growth, needs and opportunities of chaplaincy in the UK, and were also able to hear a bit about how our fellow chaplains have been getting on.

The BBC featured a timely interview with Kilmarnock's Kris Boyd yesterday as part of Mental Health Awareness Week where he spoke about his brother's suicide last year. PFA Scotland figures show that nearly two thirds of footballers in Scotland have experienced mental health problems or know a team-mate who has. As last week's news about Everton's Aaron Lennon highlights, someone can seem to have it all from the outside but still be in pain inside. Training days like this aim to leave chaplains better equipped to support anyone involved in a football club who is going through a tough time.

Stephen Steele, club chaplain to Stranraer FC

"Give them the whole Bible!"

Kenneth Stewart (Glasgow RPCS) preaching at the ordination in Stornoway Town Hall last night

Last night saw the ordination of Stephen McCollum as minister in Stornoway. At an ordination service, one of the other ministers is usually given the task of addressing the new minister and exhorting him in one or more particular aspects of his work.

One such address was given in Stranraer in 1932 by Rev. Andrew Cross Gregg at the ordination of Mr Moffett Blair as minister - and it's still as relevant as ever.

After warning about the mistake of thinking that orthodox sermons are more important than a Christ-like life, the older minister went on:

"Another great mistake we ministers make is that we do not give our people enough of the Bible. We have preached too much and too often from single verses and single clauses, and not often enough from whole passages. I advise you to serve to your people big slices of the bread of life...The late Mr. Struthers once took for his text the 119th Psalm - the whole 176 verses! The sermon was printed, and a fine sermon it is, and not too long either! Give your hearers plenty of the Bible. Give them the whole Bible.

A. C. Gregg, then minister in Greenock

After more than forty years of attempts to preach I regret to have to confess that there still remain large and fertile tracts of Bible material which I have never tried to expound. I have, of course, taken many texts from the great Prophets of Israel, but I have not yet tried to travel right through Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, to bring to my hearers some of the rich and luscious fruit of the linked thoughts of those grand, inspired men with their living and creative messages.

I take it for granted that you are a diligent student of the Word of God. Walk through the length of it and the breadth of it, survey its heights and its depths, its green pastures and its quiet waters, and then take your people through that good land and let them feel by experience that it is flowing with milk and honey".

- A. C. Gregg, 'To a young minister' in R. P. Witness (Dec 1932), 279-280.

The Reformer John Calvin also urged the importance of studying Scripture in its context. Commenting on a frequent misunderstanding of Isaiah 14:12 (that 'Lucifer' is another name for Satan), he says: 'When passages of Scripture are taken up at random, and no attention is paid to the context, we need not wonder that mistakes of this kind frequently arise'.

As he concluded his ordination address, Gregg said: 'I can assure you, my dear young brother, that there is far more cause to-day for a happy view of the future of our Church than I have ever seen'. Perhaps some of us could say the same today - but if we do, may it not be because our confidence is in men, but because it is in the Word of God. And not just parts of it, but all of it! 'Give them the whole Bible'.

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Pizza & Praise

Recently we had a 'Pizza & Praise' night with Stephen McCollum. Stephen had led a number of Bible classes in Airdrie on ways to improve congregational singing, and came down to Stranraer to give us a summary of his talks - and chances to immediately put them into practice! 

Stephen talked about the importance of singing and gave us a quick guide to the Psalter (the different metres, the difference between stanza and verse numbers etc). He also talked about little changes which can make big differences (eg posture and breathing) and the importance of beat and rhythm.

We had a break for some pizza in between and those who were there enjoyed a chance to meet baby Zoe. It will be the McCollums' last time in Stranraer before Stephen is ordained as the new minister of Stornoway on 28th April. We are grateful to them for coming and will be praying for them as they move up and begin life in Lewis!

You can hear some examples of congregational psalm singing below:

The Universe: Random or Designed?

On Thursday some of us went to hear Prof. David Galloway (President of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons) speak at Glasgow RP Church on 'The Universe: Random or Designed'? Around 100 people were present for what is planned to be the first of 3 public meetings on the issues of Creation and Evolution. As well as local visitors, a good number were present from the RP churches in Airdrie and North Edinburgh. As part of Prof. Galloway's talk, he showed the following video which shows the astonishing fine tuning needed for life to exist:

As well as highlighting some of the incredible design of the universe, Prof. Galloway also talked about a number of areas where Darwinism is increasingly being questioned today.
After the talk there was a time of Q&A, and then supper was provided. Overall it was a very worthwhile evening, and a great introduction to a vitally important topic.

Jesus has left the building (Newspaper article)

A few years ago, an exhibition toured Scotland with photographs of churches derelict or converted into night-clubs and carpet showrooms, entitled simply 'Jesus Has Left The Building'. It would be hard to argue with the title; if a place where God was once worshipped is now used for other purposes, it's pretty clear that it's no longer a place where Jesus meets with his people.

The former United Presbyterian Church in Whithorn - now a car garage

However my concern is that there are hundreds more churches which haven't been converted to commercial use - but which could equally well have been included in the exhibition. Churches where (usually dwindling) congregations meet together on Sunday mornings. Where hymns are sung and the Bible is read – but the message that sinful human beings can only become right with a holy God through Jesus has long since ceased to ring out.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel saw in a vision the glory of the Lord literally leave the temple. We're not going to see Jesus physically leave a church today - so how do we know if he has departed?

Well above all, Jesus is present in a church if his word is proclaimed. Jesus said that his sheep follow him, because they know his voice. Imagine a little girl waking up in the night. It's dark, and she's scared. Then she hears the voice of her father: 'It's alright sweetheart. Everything's ok. You can go back to sleep'. The voice of her father is the reassurance of his presence. One of the Reformers put it this way: 'Have we God's word preached purely? Then Jesus Christ is in the midst of us'.

Just because the Bible is read, doesn't mean the Bible's message is being proclaimed. It's easy to teach moral lessons from the Bible. But if living a moral life was enough to get us to Heaven, Jesus' death would have been pointless.

So if Jesus has left a building, his people must leave too. There's too much at stake to keep going to a church just because you've been there all your life. Jesus said that his people would 'flee' from the voice of strangers. A sentimental connection with a building or denomination shouldn't be enough to hold us.

Seeing churches turned into garages and boxing gyms is sad. But the real tragedy is the churches that are still open - but whose members don't realise that Jesus is no longer there.

Published in Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 23rd March 2017

The building where Dumfries Reformed Presbyterian Church met - now a boxing gym