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SStt JJoohhnn’’ss MMiinniissttrryy TTeeaamm The Revd Canon Dr John Armes Rector 225 5004 john.armes@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk Day off usually Friday

The Revd Donald Reid Associate Rector 466 2461 donald.reid@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk Day off usually Thursday

The Revd Shona Boardman Assistant Curate 07939 305664 shona.boardman@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk Day off usually Friday

The Revd Professor Kenneth Boyd Associate Minister 225 6485 The Revd Clephane Hume Associate Minister 667 2996 The Revd Professor Freda Alexander Associate Minister 557 4474 Amanda Wright Lay Reader & Sacristan 317 1252

IInn tthhiiss IIssssuuee 3 From the Rector: The AV and Me 5 Cancun: a small step on the road Jill Duffield 7 Notes from a wild garden George Harris 8 An introduction to the Heart of the World’s Religions 9 Former Governor reflects on Hong Kong handover William Reid 10 The King James Bible (The Authorised version) John Burdett 12 My favourite Psalm Robert Philp 14 Congregational news 17 Fifty years of licensed ministry at St John’s Peter Brand 20 In appreciation: Joyce Ritson 21 In appreciation: Margaret Ritchie In appreciation: Joan Stewart 22 In appreciation: Eileen Atkinson 25 In appreciation: Elisabeth Graham 27 In giving shall you receive Robert Philp 28 Let your God love you Edwina Gateley 29 Drum roll please Olivia Donaldson 30 Vestry Report Alistair Dinnie 31 From the Executive Manage Graeme Glover 32 Charity collections 33 St John’s Walking Group Veronica Harris 34 From the Terrace 38 Readings and Rotas

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TThhee AAVV aanndd MMee My first bible was an Authorized Version; authorised, that is, by King James in 1611 It was presented to me as a Sunday School prize on 21st July 1963 when I was seven years old. The sticker in the front tells me that I scored 40 out of 42 in the test, and it is signed by the vicar of the parish, Jack C Armes, my father. No, there was no special coaching and I cannot

remember the two questions I got wrong.

I do remember being rather proud of the book. I loved its smell and the official look of its pages. ‘Translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised by His Majesty’s special command.’ But I do not remember ever studying it.

The early sixties was a watershed time for the old AV. New translations, some for public use, others for private study, were offering us a fresh interpretation of the old texts. In particular, the New English Bible New Testament was published in 1961, and the Old Testament in 1970. As I began to read the bible it was to these modern versions that I was attracted, not the rather stuffy and sometimes impenetrable AV. Mind you, at school (at least until I was 14) the AV was the only version on offer, albeit with pictures.

When I began to study the original Greek and Hebrew I discovered that scholarship had moved on a long way since 1611 and that the AV no longer offered the most accurate English rendering of the texts. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) claimed this distinction – and it probably still does, whilst also sounding pretty good in church.

This year we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorized, or King James Version of the bible. It is an opportunity to stand back from the revision processes of the last 70 years and to spend a little while marvelling at the achievement of the scholars who worked for seven years to produce this masterpiece of English prose. As John Burdett explains later, its sonorous tones, its archaic verbal constructs (archaic even in 1611) have helped to shape the consciousness and culture of generations of English speaking peoples.

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At heart, the AV was the product of the Protestant Reformation; the passionate concern that the most lowly Christian should be able to understand the Scriptures in his or her own tongue. Although intended to be read in church, very soon smaller print versions were available for home use. Within a century, the AV had become the standard English version, not only in the Church of England but in non-conformist churches too and on both sides of the Atlantic.

I can imagine that there was something rather comforting about using a version of the bible that most others used. Many people over sixty can probably remember learning passages by heart and can still recite them. In this sense, it was a unifying force and it satisfied our forebears’ appetite for conformity in matters of faith. Nowadays we tend to enjoy diversity instead and, therefore, the proliferation of translations and of ways to read the bible expresses something of the energy of faith in our own time.

In 1611, the bible was seen very differently from how we tend to see it in 2011. Then it was considered to be inerrant – it was assumed that its every word would speak to the believer because every word was spoken by God. Now we tend to question that inerrancy; to pay attention to the different writers and their context rather than assuming that God merely used them as neutral mouthpieces. And we discover that in places they seem to get it wrong. In places they seem to contradict each other. In places they present a picture of God wholly at variance with the God we see in Christ.

This is not to claim that we are wiser than the ancients or that we have something better than the Bible to offer us hope. As the Reformers put it, ‘Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation’. But it does suggest that our quest is not to contort our minds to make everything in the Bible fit together but to allow what we read there to invite us into a living encounter with God.

So, although I recognize that the AV is the glorious achievement of a particularly creative moment in Christian history, something to be treasured, I do not yearn to hear it used in public worship once again. Indeed, (and here I open myself to scorn and derision) increasingly I find that when it is read publicly it is read badly.

I suggest that we remain true to its genius by using all our best efforts of scholarship and insight to produce translations of Scripture which are both accurate and accessible to ordinary people. In this way we help others to study the Bible and through this study to encounter the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Mary and Elisabeth, of Paul and John. And, in understanding how these

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ancient peoples experienced God, to hear what God is saying to us now and to put it into practice.

John Armes

CCaannccuunn:: aa ssmmaallll sstteepp oonn tthhee rrooaadd

With the heating turned up to cope with the local weather, reports of Australian and Brazilian floods and record high global temperatures signalling accelerating warming overall, it is easy to feel discouraged about climate change. Vigorous campaigning in 2009 was rewarded by ambitious targets for carbon emission reduction in Scotland, which now seem all too likely to be missed. 2009 also saw the fractious and unsuccessful climate change summit in Copenhagen. By December 2010, expectations for the follow-up meeting in Cancun were very low. A very modest level of agreement in Cancun, however, has kept alive the process of international negotiations to limit the rise in global temperatures. All the areas of contention were left with far too much wriggle room, but at least it was clear that the participants resolved to have some kind of deal to take over when the Kyoto treaty expires next year. The main agreements were:

all countries undertook to cut carbon emissions – but no target figures were specified

a UN fund of up to $100bn to help developing countries adapt and transfer low carbon technology will largely be run by these countries - but no mechanism for realising the funds is so far laid down, and developing countries are sceptical that the World Bank would act in their interests

major greenhouse gas emitters including the USA and China agreed to ‘some system’ of inspection

incentives will be offered to encourage countries to prevent deforestation. However, the key problem is not passing but enforcing laws against clearing forests. Market pressures to expand plantation crops may well

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outweigh incentives via governments, and few governments are able to stand up to large companies.

So there are huge problems ahead. Renewable technologies are developing, but so far not fast enough to reach the point where world emissions begin to drop. Renewables offer the possibility of real green improvements in the lives of some of the world’s poor; the inexpensive solar-powered lamp and charger chosen as the final object in the wonderful radio History of the World in a 100 objects can provide 100 hours of light to a family far from grid electricity. The earth receives more solar energy in one hour than the world population consumes in one year. But when can we in high-emitting countries start to turn away from oil and gas? Our own efforts to save energy and live more sustainably can seem puny in the face of the problems. The solidarity of St John’s reminds us that together, we add momentum to a larger movement to care for God’s world. The next international meeting in the Cancun process will be in South Africa. We should keep it in mind; in fact, ‘let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not’.

Jill Duffield

(Jill has retired as chair of St John’s Green Ginger Group – Ed)

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NNootteess ffrroomm aa wwiilldd ggaarrddeenn (15 mins walk from the West End)

January has been the month for bird-feeding, of course, and for precious little else since the plant life has been under snow and the creepy-crawlies under ground. Every available berry was stripped early on in the freezing weather, but the four bird feeders made the garden still worth a visit. Wood pigeons are driven by food shortages to become bold and voracious customers, but in the coldest weather small birds are rarely seen. They have the ability to weigh up very precisely the balance between the cost of losing energy by foraging in the cold and the gain in energy from finding food, and prefer to sit tight and wait if the temperature is well below zero. This suggests that the ones who kept arriving – dunnocks, goldfinches, blue-tits – roost very locally. When ever there was a bit of a thaw quite a crowd would gather, though. The variety of food available – scattered suet and grated cheese are very popular with ground-feeders – was much appreciated. At this time of year you can hope to see winter visitors, especially when things are tough in Scandinavia. We have seen no waxwings yet, though they are widely reported. The decayed old apple tree next door has attracted some field- fares. But the star visitors were observed one morning when I said “Those don’t look quite right for chaffinches.” A bit of research revealed them to be bramblings, and they have been around for nearly a month now. They

particularly like the Nyjer seed spilt by the goldfinches, so messy feeding turns out to be a merit, not a problem. If you see chaffinches that look more orange than usual, and with white rumps, think brambling. Our ordinary resident birds remain a daily joy. The

jolliest sight in the second week of January was half a dozen sparrows queuing up to take turns at splashing in the bird bath. Preening is so difficult when everything is frozen solid.

George Harris (George is now the chair of St John’s Green Ginger Group – Ed)

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AAnn IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn ttoo tthhee HHeeaarrtt ooff tthhee WWoorrlldd''ss RReelliiggiioonnss Mondays 7-9pm 7th February 2011 – 11th April 2011in St John's Church Hall,

The 2011 series, using a mixture of discussion and presentation, invites us over 10 weeks to explore some of the world’s major faith traditions. It offers learning for personal use or professional training. Each session of the course will be lead by a speaker from within the faith tradition being explored. The religions covered are Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Paganism, Sikhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism. Each session will include:

• The Basic Concepts of each faith tradition using a structure based on the Model of Religion by Prof. Frank Whaling.

• What for each speaker is the Heart of their faith tradition & its contribution to One Scotland.

• A brief experience of a spiritual / ritual practice meditation from each tradition This series has preparatory reading for each week. The Basic Concepts will be introduced using the “Model of Religion” by Prof Frank Whaling, The Emeritus Professor of the Study of Religion at Edinburgh University, which Prof. Whaling will introduce on the first night of the series. The model applies to all religions but provides a framework of understanding that allows for similarities and difference. It suggests that religions are dynamic organisms within which there are eight interacting dimensions.

The course is open to everyone and no prior knowledge of any faith is required. This course is an opportunity for people to better understand the faiths present in our community and therefore develop or deepen knowledge, understanding and respect for this diversity on our doorstep.

The series costs £75 (£55 conc.). The course fees also include refreshments and the preparatory reading material. Please contact us using the details below if you have any questions at all about the course.Phone: Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association on 0131 228 8146 Email: katherine@eifa.org.uk

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FFoorrmmeerr GGoovveerrnnoorr rreefflleeccttss oonn HHoonngg KKoonngg hhaannddoovveerr

Once again the Social Committee provided on 22nd November food and drink as the prelude to an evening of fascination and information. David Wilson, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, talked to a packed Hall about his own involvement in Hong Kong; the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom in July 1997; and how effective has been the political and economic scene since then. From his time 50 years ago as a Foreign Office student learning Chinese at Hong Kong University and practising his pictogram in the sand (“but came the waves and washed it away”) to his spell as Political Adviser and then as the penultimate Governor he traced the growth in the size, prosperity and transport systems of what had to be returned to China when the British lease ran out. He stressed the value of negotiating in 1982-84 a Joint Declaration on the future of HK between the UK and mainland China. That document laid down 13 years in advance general principles under which for the succeeding 50 years after 1997 HK would be run by the local people. One secret of its success was the simultaneous preparation in both languages of the negotiating text and its provision by the British in printed form, thanks to our negotiators’ possession of software not then available to China. A new airport, enhanced university education and preservation of historic tradition have been later benefits. After 1997, despite much pessimism by some commentators, there has been continued support of the rule of law in the English tradition, continuity of administration by those native to HK, and huge growth in the deposits made by mainland Chinese in the HK stock market. However, a permanent opposition in the legislature has slowed up the processes of government. Lord Wilson answered questions about the effect of Chairman Deng on negotiations, the water supply to HK, refugees and cross-border movements, relations with Taiwan, work ethic, the return of some who had earlier emigrated from Hong Kong to Canada and other countries, the situation on human rights particularly after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the decline in the use of English in some HK families. A memorable evening.

William Reid

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TThhee KKiinngg JJaammeess BBiibbllee ((TThhee AAuutthhoorriisseedd VVeerrssiioonn))

A camel has been defined as a horse designed by a committee. Committees can almost be guaranteed to produce work which is inferior to what could be produced by a talented individual. So it might be thought that the organisation set up by the Hampton Court Conference of January, 1604 to produce a new translation of the Bible would have failed to produce anything of lasting value. The Conference appointed fifty four men to carry out the work, though only forty seven are known to have taken part. They were divided into six groups, or Companies – three for the Old Testament, two for the New Testament and one for the Apocrypha. Every member of each Company translated all the chapters appointed to his Company. The Company then met to agree which translation of each passage should stand. Each of the Companies then reviewed the work of all the others. Unsurprisingly, the initial translation took four years and then a group of six men spent a further nine months reviewing the finished work.

The translation was designed to be read aloud. This was important in an age when many people were illiterate. It has been suggested that the Collect for the second Sunday in Advent has acquired a superfluous comma. It should perhaps read: “Grant that we may in such wise hear them read (pronounced ‘red’, not ‘reed’), mark, learn and inwardly digest them . . .”

The beauty of the language stems partly from the requirement for reading aloud. One of the most outstanding examples occurs in 1 Kings 19: 11-12 which describes Elijah’s experience on Mount Horeb. “A great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” Those last three words with their arrangement of consonants compel someone reading aloud to read slowly, and

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emphasise the quietness after the tumult which precedes them. Any attempt to read them fast turns them into a tongue-twister.

There seems to have been a deliberate policy not to use several syllables when one would do. Of the 230 words in the prologue to St John’s Gospel, 31 have more than one syllable. Its familiarity gives it a sort of inevitability, but compare it, for example, with the first 230 words of Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ in which 76 have more than one syllable. To my mind, the outstanding example of this economy of language is in Isaiah 6: 8. “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” The translators had a rich source of material to draw on. They were influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, which retains over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translation, than by any other source. And they had contemporary skills to draw on. Rudyard Kipling’s last short story, “Proofs of Holy Writ” is said to have arisen from a dinner table conversation between Kipling and John Buchan about the process by which the splendidly poetic language of the King James Bible emerged from the committees. Might they, Buchan wondered, have consulted the great creative writers of the day, like William Shakespeare or Ben Jonson? 'That's an idea', said Kipling, and he went away to turn it into a story. It describes a discussion between Shakespeare and Jonson about the translation of some verses in Isaiah 60. There is nothing inherently unlikely about it. King Lear was first performed in about 1606, while work was in progress on the Bible. There is one passage which is almost certainly Shakespeare’s work. The 46th word in Psalm 46 is ‘shake’. The 46th word from the end of the psalm is ‘spear’. Shakespeare would have been quite capable of producing this kind of coded reference. He liked puns and linguistic puzzles. His famous dedication of his sonnets to Mr W.H. has had people puzzled for 400 years. The use of archaic language has disadvantages, and biblical scholarship has disclosed inaccuracies in the King James Bible, but many modern translations make extensive use of paraphrases which frequently convey an inaccurate impression. I have often compared translations when preparing sermons and have found that the King James Bible is the most reliable. The beauty of its language is built into our everyday speech, even when we are not aware of it and I am sure that it will be read long after most modern translations have been forgotten.

John Burdett

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MMyy ffaavvoouurriittee PPssaallmm -- 113377

With Psalm 137, we go back to the harrowing time just after the Fall of Jerusalem and the Exile to Babylon in 586 B.C. The Hebrew exiles are plunged into the desperate grief of those forced out of their homes: By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion.(Prayer book version of the words – AV shown above). It is the thought of their native land, their home, their God, that triggers the outpouring of their grief. In this new place, everything is strange, - strange customs, strange people, strange gods like Apsu, Ea and Marduk, and above all the overwhelming impact of the city of Babylon itself. Little is left of the original city today, after it was ‘re-built’ by Saddam Hussein and parts were flattened by US troops, but in 586 B.C. the first great metropolis was at the height of its power and under Nebuchadnezzar the largest city in the world. Herodotus, writing in the first half of the 5th century B.C. and not a man given to understatement, says that the city walls of Babylon were 60 miles round, and wide enough for houses to be built on top, with room for a chariot to drive past them. Its hanging gardens were one of the Seven Wonders of the World, its ziggurat,‘The Tower of Babel’, a marvel to see. For the Israelites arriving here from their modest township at Jerusalem, total cultural shock sharpened the pain of loss and nostalgia. As for our harps, we hanged them up upon the trees that are therein. Natural musicians as they were, in such alien surroundings they lost the urge to make music, so they hung their harps up on the willow trees beside the waters of the river Euphrates.

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For those that led us away captive required of us then a song, and melody in our heaviness: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? They were expected to perform but they’d lost the heart for it. Everything was alien, their ‘heaviness’ was too great. The hurt of separation, the need to remember was so intense that it seemed it would never go away : If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Their memories are more vital to them even than the music-making they love so much. Pathos and violence often go hand in hand in the Psalms, and this one is no exception, with the Psalmist in the last verse imagining a fierce revenge on the Babylonian oppressor. But pathos wins out. Psalm 137 inspired perhaps the most famous chorus in opera, Verdi’s Va Pensiero in Nabucco (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, sung spontaneously at Verdi’s funeral by the crowds who lined the streets as his coffin passed), and also the 1970s hit ‘Rivers of Babylon’ by Boney M. I find the psalm deeply moving with its unforgettable picture of the anguish of homesickness. We hear all the time about refugees in today’s world, forced out of their homes by fighting or abuse, but the word ‘refugee’ is in danger of just being another word, a cliché almost. The pain of this little band of exiled Israelites reminds us what it must be like for groups which have no voice of their own to tell us. For church people today, one verse has a special resonance: ‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’ Living as we do in 21st century Britain, in an often actively secular culture, we grope to find the right words to articulate our faith, and the right forms of worship to reach out to a public regularly subjected to a blitz of secular materialism. Not quite Babylon, true, but a milieu where, if we are to hang on to our nostalgia for the city of God, we may have to re-learn the way to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. Robert Philp

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HHEEAARRTTBBEEAATT

St John’s community at the heart of the city, at the heart of the nation

CCoonnggrreeggaattiioonnaall NNeewwss Congratulations to Peter Brand who celebrated 50 years of licensed ministry

at St John’s on 17 January, first as Lay Reader then as Priest. See the article elsewhere in this Cornerstone by Peter as he reflects upon that ministry. Also congratulations to Clephane Hume and John Burdett who have edited a booklet 50 Years at St John’s which describes some of the changes that have taken place during the time of Peter’s ministry here.

Congratulations to Julia and Duncan Thomson on the birth of their first grandchild, Hamish Duncan, at one hour before Christmas Day in Perth Australia, to their daughter Becky and her husband Matthew.

Congratulations to Jenny and Bill Brockie, curate at St John’s in the 60s and occasionally still seen lurking in the congregation on a Sunday morning, on their Golden Wedding in January.

This is clearly the season for congratulations because congratulations also to one of the occasional members of St John’s choir, Anthony Mudge, whose choral piece O magnum mysterium was published this autumn. It received its world premiere in London, at a carol concert for the Friends of Shakespeare's Globe, and was also played on Radio 3 during Aled Jones' programme The Choir, as part of a feature on contemporary Christmas music.

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Six members of St John’s choir joined with the choirs of St Peter’s Lutton Place and St Cuthbert’s Episcopal Church, Colinton for the funeral of Charlie Saunders. Charlie had long associations with St Johns before he moved to Coilinton in the mid 1990s as organist and choir master. The funeral was a fine musical farewell to a fine choir trainer. RIP St John’s has lost several significant members in the last two months. See elsewhere in the magazine for tributes to them. Many people have written in personal tributes and recollections and it is impossible to include them all, but Lilias Finlay does mention the fact that she and Elisabeth Graham were the first ever women members of St John’s vestry in the early 1960s. On Monday 7th March, the Social Committee have invited David Sellar, Lord Lyon King of Arms to speak about "The Role of the Lord Lyon." Tickets will be on sale from the beginning of February from members of the Committee. Hilary Wilson writes about Cards for Good Causes: Oh dear, we thought we were doing quite well, certainly much better than last year’s tram fiasco, and then the snow came. All very beautiful – but then it was the icy pavements which did for our takings. Our valiant volunteers, all except those who lived in higher ground and places like Livingston, managed to come to the church. We all thought our local bus drivers were heroic.

Our final sales figure was just shy of £96,500 of which at least 75p in every pound went back to the charities – i.e. £72,324.

Many thanks to the staff and volunteers who helped make this happen. It really is quite an undertaking setting it up and dismantling it all as well as causing disruption to the workings of the children's corner - so thank you all for your forbearance. Photographs Thanks to Margaret Leeming, manager of Cornerstone Bookshop for this month’s cover photograph and for Marjory Currie’s regular photographs in most issues of Cornerstone. Sarah Armes writes about Christmas and New Year in India

Morag (my gap year partner) and I had been counting down to the big day since the start of December by listening to ‘the very best Christmas album in the world’ - which it certainly is. We lit our Advent candle every night, decorated

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our house with a wee inflatable tree, tinsel, fake snow, fairy lights and little pouches of orange peel and cinammon to make the place smell festive! It was actually quite cold in Kotha Kota round Christmas time and it was so nice to be wandering about wrapped in a cardi and a woolly headsnug......the latest trend round here. A few days before Christmas we went to a candle lit service in the small Kotha Kota Church. Only about 20 people there, but it was lovely - the congregation marching round the church, candles held high and lighting up the night while singing a Telugu Christmas song. My lack of Telugu did not stop me from getting involved! At the end, Revd Abraham announced that Sarah will close the service with a prayer.... ‘Dear Lord’... I started off ....’Thank you’ ...... Then a long pause followed, but no worries I pulled it together and they all seemed very chuffed with my contribution!

On Christmas eve we dressed up in our saris and splendour and headed to school where we gave all the teachers handmade crackers. Pretty jazzy they were and it was so nice to see them with the tissue paper hats on, even if they did wap them off after about 20 seconds! We also sang Christmas songs with the kids and told them all about Santa Claus....I'm sure we managed to convince some of them that Santa Claus would be coming to our house that night and sharing a cup of coffee with us. (Our gas stove is finally in our home so if

Father Christmas did decide to visit, I can now prepare him a splendid lemon rice or chapatti.) AND THEN THE BIG DAY! We headed off to Kullabulla Kota where there was a much larger Christian community. To get there, we had to travel a little bit by motorbike which was exciting...especially trying to balance sideways with our saris on! Father Christmas, or Christmas Tata as they call him, made an appearance during the actual service! He was so creepy with his really pale, plastic-y mask, but his dancing was top notch. We had been persuaded to sing for them all, so we got up and began to sing out It was on a Starry Night. We did step-clap moves and it but all fell apart mid-song, when Santa decided to come drifting up the aisle flapping his arms around. We burst out laughing and couldn't recompose ourselves and we felt quite embarrassed at the end of the service when they thanked us for our lovely song. The service was followed by rather large portions of biriyani, a bus trip home, a delightful chinwag with my family over the phone and chats on the roof with my good friend Navatha.

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New Year’s Eve was quieter than we had hoped. At 11.35pm we headed out to the school where there were around 10 kids and a cake. We listened to some backstreet boys, counted down to 2011, cut the cake....and then ended up with it smeared all over our faces. Tasty cake. We were back in our room by 12.15am. On New Year’s Day we travelled to a nearby tourist spot called Horsely Hills which was a lovely place. Beautiful views, crocodiles, strange Birds and monkeys. A really nice trip out of our town. We had to try really hard to make the festive period feel, well, Christmassy and it was really nice, but it was hard to be away from family and friends and the sausages wrapped in bacon! But it was definitely a Christmas I'll remember fondly.

I hope St John's was filled with jolly Christmas joy and that you all had a merry Christmas.

FFiiffttyy yyeeaarrss ooff lliicceennsseedd mmiinniissttrryy aatt SStt JJoohhnnss

It all began before I arrived in Edinburgh and could not be resolved until I was in a settled state, so training under the Edinburgh Diocesan Lay Readers scheme didn’t start until 1959. That was based on Ernest Connell’s charge at St Cuthbert’s, Colinton, where all the reader training of the time took place. The course was over two years and included written and practical training for the sort of work that Lay Readers in the Diocese were concerned with.

I was licensed in the Cathedral at one of the regular meetings of the Association in January 1961, the licence based on the church in which I regularly worshipped - St John’s; and I duly received the blue ribbonned silver cross which distinguished Lay Readers in the Diocese. St John’s had already got three Readers, none of whom had a major part to play in worship here, though all served throughout the Diocese, Maurice Brown, who became secretary to the Association for a period, most of all. I joined that band and visited a considerable number of charges in the process - do you remember St Luke’s

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Wester Hailes or St Margaret’s Corstophine for example? The Lay Readers also kept a regular service in Craig House going for many years, a tricky task as one had to be careful in the choice of words lest one trigger an unexpected response from one or other of the inmates. With the start of a regular family communion at St John’s, the Lay Readers were asked to take the chalice, the beginnings of change in ministry here. There followed a long period of gradual change culminating in the removal of the screen behind which the choir could hide, and the shift to the current position of the altar. Concurrently there were changes in liturgy, with St John’s becoming one of the places where ‘the orange book’ was tried out and from which suggested changes were forwarded to Episcopal authority, finally producing the 1982 liturgy we use today. The process allowed St John‘s a certain freedom to experiment, which was taken literally. Study groups had flourished here and also links with St Cuthbert’s, not least during Christian Aid week, and a more formal arrangement grew up which, in theory at least, was overseen by the Province. The Cornerstone Café grew, as did other ecumenical links. In the midst of this grew a conviction that ministry itself needed a look and the then Rector, Aeneas Mackintosh, together with Mrs Salvesen, led the way with the first of a new training course for non-stipendiary ministry. There followed a much smaller group in which I and six others participated. The emphasis shifted to training for ministry rather than ordained ministry, and all following groups were designated TM (Training for Ministry). In fact all but one of that second group eventually were ordained. It took a considerable amount of persuasion for me to offer for a selection conference to see if I was suitable material for ordained ministry, but in due course I was ordained Deacon in 1983 and priest in 1984, based at St John’s. By that time John Burdett had already been ordained and both Diana Forman and Clephane Hume were awaiting the decision concerning the ordination of women to the priesthood to be made. Others too were in training but it had already become clear that some charges were producing candidates for training whilst others could not or would not find suitable people for training, noting that the training was for any kind of ministry, not necessarily ordained ministry. That led to placement of those offering, into charges other than that in which they had worshipped. I was soon asked to take on the role of Warden of Lay Readers in the Diocese, having been a Lay Reader myself, a role which lasted about 20 years and

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during which I saw the meeting together of all the Wardens in the Province and attempts being made to find a common course of training for all Lay Readers. In St John’s it was the practice to have a written agreement between rector and non-stipendiary indicating the expectations on both sides. It had become clear to Neville Chamberlain as Rector that the most cohesive and largest group in the congregation was in fact the choir, so a means of communication became necessary and I was asked to be chaplain. That has been a rewarding role which I have thoroughly enjoyed over the years - I can only hope they also have found the role useful! What I am aware of is the sense of being called by the congregation acting as representative of the whole church, and I thank you all for the support I have been given during this ministry.

Peter Brand

JJoohhnn BBuurrddeetttt,, CClleepphhaannee HHuummee aanndd PPeetteerr BBrraanndd –– 110000 nnoott oouutt .. .. .. ..!!

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JJooyyccee RRiittssoonn

I first met Joyce properly and to speak to when I visited her in her flat in Canaan Lane in connection with a stewardship appeal. It was several years later that I began to visit her in Homeross to take her communion and must have done this about once a month for about three years.

It was always a pleasure to see her. She would be standing in the passage by her front door waiting for me, her tiny figure cruelly bent and never free from back pain but with a sparkling eye and ready conversation. Her great love and interest was her family. She had never married but she had two brothers, one who lived in Elgin and Bruce who is a retired psychiatrist and a member of St John’s. I felt I knew their wives, children and grandchildren really well from the photographs that covered the mantelpiece and shelves and from the stories she told. Joyce was a graduate of Aberdeen University and trained as a primary school teacher. She taught all her life, and seemed to be proudest of her work at a school in Pilton. At any rate that is what she talked of most. I suspect she was a teacher of the old school, no nonsense and a sharp tongue but a real concern for and interest in her pupils, particularly the difficult boys. Her back gave her such pain that latterly her quality of life was not very good at all, but she showed great courage and determination to get about and attend Homeross functions. She had the misfortune to fall in her flat and break her hip, or it may have been the other way round as seems often the case. That is, the break happens first and causes the fall. Anyway she spent the last six months in hospital, seeming as Clephane Hume put it, to grow smaller and smaller.

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She was barely conscious on my last visit and did not speak, but she smiled, and that smile was the Joyce I will remember.

David Hill

MMaarrggaarreett TThheerreessaa RRiittcchhiiee Margaret’s grandchildren remember their Gaga as the ideal grandmother. Not only could she strip down the engine of a Bedford truck – a skill learned during the Second World War – but she also made perfect fudge. She was highly skilled at cryptic crosswords too, a stickler for good grammar and a great conversationalist. Many will remember Margaret for her charm and kindness. A regular member of our Wednesday congregation, she was always immaculately turned out, never a hair out of place, always with a kind word for others and still able to make that delicious fudge. Even after her stroke and unable to speak clearly, she exuded a graciousness and serenity. Best wishes to daughters Theresa and Diana, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

JJooaann MMaarrjjoorriiee SStteewwaarrtt Many will remember Joan for her warm and gregarious nature. She always stood out in church with her red hair and colourful clothes – ‘the lady with the green hat’! If there was a social event at church she was sure to be there because she was someone who got ‘into things’: musical events, local history, book festival – she even stewarded at the Commonwealth Games. In recent years, she was a guide at the Georgian House and the Art Gallery as well as a Guardian at St John’s. As a Friend of the Book Festival and several years ago at one of their meetings, going with a friend, they finished up winning a mobile telephone and a dinner for two at Bonhams.

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Born in Manchester in 1921, Joan was the eldest of four children. She had an early affinity for the stage and at eight years old she was one of 250 children in Manchester Children’s Choir who made a recording with Sir Hamilton Harty and the Halle Orchestra. Part of this (Nymphs & Shepherds) was played at her funeral.

She met her husband, Jimmy, during the war and afterwards they moved to Canada briefly and then on to New York where Joan worked for Pan-American Airlines. They came back to Britain and settled in Scotland in the early 50s. Jimmy worked for Jenners of Edinburgh as furniture buyer and Joan for the newly established NHS. She eventually rose to a senior position in the department for funding of Prescriptions to Pharmacists, a post she held until her retirement. Jimmy died some ten years ago.

Joan’s enjoyment of people was always obvious and friends and family alike tell of her generosity, her kindness and her hospitality.

EEiilleeeenn MMaarrggaarreett AAttkkiinnssoonn (The Rector’s funeral address)

A few years ago I developed an interest in the writings of Dorothy L Sayers – especially her detective fiction. Upon learning this, Eileen immediately produced from her library the various copies of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels that I hadn’t read. ‘You’ll have to ignore my scribblings,’ she said. I soon discovered what she meant. She had clearly read the books with precise attention to detail. Punctuation errors, misprints were all highlighted, even factual errors or contradictions in the plot. ‘See page such and such,’ she would write in the margin. So, I would dutifully turn to that page only to be completely bewildered by what point she was making. When I learned that her father had been a distinguished judge of criminal cases (he presided at the Moors Murders Trials – which must have been a traumatic experience for the whole family) I began to understand where she had inherited this gift for focus and precision. No wonder her sister Patricia and brother Ian speak of her with such pride.

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This was the girl who won a scholarship to Harrogate Ladies College. She became Head of House, Head of Choir, Head of School – but never anything to do with sport! A degree at King’s College, London, in Household and Social Science, followed. She had intended to become a hospital almoner, but a secretarial course in Oxford led her instead to work for the Chancellor of Oxford University. From there it was to become Parish Secretary at St Stephen’s, Rochester Row in London before moving to the ‘laundries/wash houses’ at Lambeth Palace which, contrary to their name, meant that she

was working for the equivalent of the Church Foreign Office. It was an important time for ecumenical relations with Rome in the aftermath of Vatican II. And it was a formative time for Eileen too, I suspect, in shaping her lifelong interest in church affairs, not just in Britain but beyond these shores too. She then spent some time working for the Conservative Research Dept in London – followed by an archives course and then a move to Edinburgh. Here she worked with the Conservative Association for a short time, until 3 snap elections in succession were just too much for her to take. She moved back to work for the church as Applied Bookkeeper at the Episcopal Church Synod Office. Let’s be clear about this. Eileen’s life wasn’t all about work. Everywhere she went she made friends and kept in touch with them. Children of her school friends still think of her as their honorary aunt and remember with glee holidays spent with her exploring Edinburgh. There were her special Synod Office friends Ruth and Shirley: shared birthday celebrations, Italian Christmas lunches. And there were the many friendships formed on ACE study tours which occupied a special section of her address book. In other words, Eileen was no recluse. But she was self-contained – nowadays we’d call her ‘self-motivating’. Her reading and study; her crossword puzzling (once even getting a prize in the Times Cutty Sark Competition – winning a bottle of the stuff). And though she was no athlete, she had her BSA wartime

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sports bike with one gear on which she set about bagging Youth Hostels in NW Scotland. Typically she marked on a map all the roads she cycled! And then there was music, her joy and delight from early years right up to the end. There’s a lot more all of us could say and I know that Ian and Tricia are overflowing with happy memories of their big sister. But I hope I’ve put down some markers – some surprising ingredients perhaps for those of us who only knew Eileen in her later years – markers of a full and fulfilled life. And, in particular, right at the heart, three things: 1. A Talent for Detail. She had a prodigious memory and an enthusiasm for organizing, cross-referencing, for knowledge. 2. A Gift for Friendship. A gift for making friends, keeping friends, enjoying friends. And making friends of her family too. 3. A Devotion to Faith. It was when she worked for the Church that she was happiest. Indeed, her church life somehow integrated all that she was. It was about systems and administration; it was about learning and discussing in the house groups she held at her house – accompanying hymns at home as she’d once done at church. It was about people and friendships. And above all it was about God, in whose house there are many resting places and who calls us to a discipleship of the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. How appropriate that Eileen should follow such a Master – she being so adept at finding her Way (and marking it) and so focused on exploring the Truth (and marking it.) And now, coming to the end of the journey in this life she finds her way to the true Life, in the presence of the One who forgets nothing of all that we are and who holds all souls in life – whose Life is the Light of all people; a light that no darkness can overcome. Amen

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EElliissaabbeetthh GGrraahhaamm Elisabeth was born in 1929, the younger daughter of a distinguished Anglican churchman, Bishop Eric Graham. Elisabeth had an uncomplicated early childhood in an Oxfordshire country vicarage.

Her life changed when her father became Bishop of Brechin in 1944. The house at Broughty Ferry was not ready, the family’s furniture was destroyed in a fire during the move, Elisabeth’s eldest brother had parachuted into Italy and was missing for a time and the Grahams’ second son had been shot down and was a prisoner of war in Germany. The family was in turmoil.

Elisabeth was sent to St Leonard’s, but found school very difficult and was taken out of education altogether. Decades later it became obvious that she was dyslexic, but this was not understood at the time. The result was a highly intelligent girl without academic qualification. In contrast, her sister Mary studied at Oxford like their mother, Stephen and Martin became teachers and John (famous as ‘Araucaria’ the crossword puzzle setter) and Peter became priests. Surrounded by intellectual successes, Elisabeth felt she was a failure.

Elisabeth went to the Edinburgh School of Mothercraft and achieved a childcare qualification in 1947. She worked for 5 happy years with Betty and Jack Dunlop at Stevenson House near Haddington, looking after new born Julia. Elisabeth adored Julie, and always maintained a special relationship with her, loving Julia’s three children as though they were her own grandchildren. The Dunlops introduced her to the arts, and she blossomed. For the rest of her life, she was interested in history of art, interior decorating, concerts, opera and contemporary art exhibitions.

After a year in Beirut looking after the child of an American diplomat, Elisabeth returned to Edinburgh and the Dunlops’ flat in Moray Place and built up a clientele of families who employed her for an afternoon here, or two mornings there, to look after their children. Over decades she altered suits, miraculously created new clothes from scraps, and made dozens of bridesmaids’ dresses and christening robes. She went to extra mural classes at the university on art history which involved trips to Italy and fell in love with a whole new world. This was also the era when she started to attend St John’s, Princes Street, to which she devoted enormous amounts of time and energy for the rest of her life. The only difficulty was that she was too busy to get out and about to meet young men, as she wryly complained. She never married and gave her widowed mother devoted support until her death in 1994.

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A legacy from her father enabled Elisabeth to buy a small garden flat at 8 Doune Terrace and realise her dream of setting up a pre-school nursery. She empathised with the tots who did not shine. Praise there was aplenty, but no one was permitted to ‘get above himself’. Unusually for the times, and although she was no fan of political correctness, Elisabeth treated the girls and boys the same. ‘Life isn’t fair’, Elisabeth would tell them, her firm patrician tones brooking no argument. The defining characteristics of a

mini graduate aged 4 or 5 were confidence, social poise and good manners - she left it to the schools to nurture the geniuses. When Elisabeth retired, selling the nursery as a going concern, the ‘children’ and their friends came to her flat in Cumberland Street to learn cookery for a few hours in the school holidays. She also had bed and breakfast guests. She visited people in nursing homes who could no longer recognise her, took food to the housebound, and did huge amounts of work for charities such as Christian Aid. She travelled as much as she could, visiting numerous beloved nieces and nephews and their babies around the world, including some in New Zealand. And if extra money came her way, she blew it at once on a painting.

In 2008, Elisabeth was told that she had cancer which could not be treated. She told people, ‘Well, we all have to die some time’ and proceeded to organise as many lunches as humanly possible in order to make the most of the time she had left. As ever, her troops of visitors departed having been much cheered up themselves. ‘Thank goodness I won’t have to moulder away in a nursing home’ she told them happily. It was just what she had taught ‘her’ children: ‘Buck up and don’t feel sorry for yourself’. Full of kindness, interest in other people, and joie de vivre, she never did.

Based on an obituary by Susan O’Brien QC.

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IInn ggiivviinngg sshhaallll yyoouu rreecceeiivvee

Sheena and I had known Elisabeth for many years, but we became much closer after her accident on a St John’s walk about fifteen years ago. When she was knocked over by a runaway sheep, she was told by her surgeon that she would never walk properly again. This, of course, was a challenge that Elisabeth took up with relish, and in a year or so’s time she was going on the Christmas walk again. But initially she couldn’t walk to church as before, and we offered to give her a lift (plus wheelchair at first). This involved the smallest of detours, but it was repaid many times over by her sparkling company as we went together to St John’s for all those years. Always waiting ready on the pavement, always immaculately and stylishly turned out, she was a model passenger. Her astringent summary each week of her bit of the world as she saw it was always a tonic. In church we also picked up cryptic asides from her, like one mentioned in a recent sermon by Kenneth Boyd, when not long after her accident, we sang the hymn which includes the line “And leap, ye lame, for joy!” Cue a stage whisper from Elisabeth beside us: “Not bloody likely!” Her loyalty to St John’s was total, and made us ever more conscious of our own sense of belonging to the church. The warmly sympathetic help she offered to so many of its members when they were in trouble was a key part of that. Problems got more manageable when shared with her. “Well, lovey…“ she would start, and everything seemed suddenly easier. For many of us, she was a life-enhancer. It was on a Guardians’ outing to Inchcolm Abbey soon after her terminal diagnosis that Elisabeth noticed, inscribed on the wall by a 15th century monk, the words: “It is foolish to fear that which cannot be avoided.” It struck an instant chord with her, and she asked Leslie Hodgson to design a card with these words, - still on sale in the church. It became her watchword during her illness, and typifies her upbeat, down to earth attitude to the approach of death. Sharing transport to church must be a good thing when we are an eco-congregation. If you are as fortunate as we were, it becomes, not a chore, but a blessing.

Robert Philp

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LLeett YYoouurr GGoodd LLoovvee YYoouu

Be silent. Be still. Alone. Empty Before your God. Say nothing. Ask nothing. Be silent. Be still. Let your God look upon you. That is all. God knows. God understands. God loves you With an enormous love, And only wants To look upon you With that love. Quiet. Still. Be.

Let your God— Love you.

This poem, by the American Edwina Gateley, was read at Elisabeth Graham’s funeral. Her niece Rachel read the poem to Elisabeth shortly before she died.

£1,508.50 was raised at Elisabeth’s funeral to be shared between Christian Aid and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture. Neville Chamberlain’s funeral address should soon be on the St John’s website.

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DDrruumm rroollll pplleeaassee……

Our new website is up and running! For those who haven’t seen it, visit www.stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk and have a virtual mosey around. We hope you’ll spot two major changes. One, its design is lighter and brighter, enhanced with good quality images and text that is easier to read. It somehow ‘feels’ a lot more like St John’s. Two, the navigation (i.e. the structure and logic of how all the pages link together) should make information easier to find, whether you are looking at the site for the first time or you’re a frequent visitor. Indeed, we’ve been careful to ensure that this site appeals to two distinct audiences. We want members of our congregation to come here and quickly find service details and event information, AGM papers and recent sermons. It should become a first port of call if there’s anything you need to know about the various goings-on at St John’s. But we also need a site that communicates with the outside enquirer, whether a tourist looking for a choral evensong; a family newly arrived in Edinburgh seeking a welcoming, child-friendly church; or a local shopper who has been stopped in their tracks by our latest mural and wants to know more. A potential funding body, council decision maker or journalist will look at our website when trying to gauge what St John’s offers the city of Edinburgh. So there is plenty of information about who we are, our mission and our ministry.

The site isn’t finished, but then no website ever is. There are several pages that we are still researching and writing, designing and building. Some of you have already contributed to the content we have. Some of you will no doubt be asked for your help in the not-too-distant future. All are welcome to submit ideas and feedback (although not all suggestions will be easy to incorporate immediately). I would like take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all who have helped so far, and in particular to Stephen Todd who

has worked so hard to pull a lot of disparate information together and made our website something we believe is both attractive and useful. Hope you think so too!

Olivia Donaldson

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VVeessttrryy RReeppoorrtt

This is the first in what I hope will be a regular series of updates on matters discussed at Vestry. Vestry meets on the last Monday of each month bar July and December and considers a wide range of issues that affect the running of St John’s. Whilst these updates cannot be comprehensive – volume of business and the personal or commercial confidentiality of certain issues prevent that – I hope to be able to give you a good idea of the business Vestry considers.

At the Vestry meeting in November we were very pleased to welcome Eden Anderson as a new member. Significant items on the Agenda were the Church’s finances and an update from the Earth Be Glad Project.

Church finances are considered at least quarterly with income and expenditure monitored against the budget for the year as reported by the Church Treasurer following consideration by Finance Committee. You will be pleased to know that income to date is in line the budget and whilst there were some adverse variations in expenditure, they were minor and will be managed over the rest of the financial year.

Earth Be Glad reported on project progress and the findings of a carbon audit conducted for the Church. The Project Consultant and Project Management Committee consider progress is good with 130 households now participating, up from a starting point of 60. The Carbon Audit proposed that the Church aim to reduce its carbon footprint by 5% year-on-year for the next 10 years and calculated a 2009/2010 base-line level from which this will be measured. The audit also made some specific carbon-reducing proposals which Vestry will consider in the coming months.

Finally, Vestry considered the two items discussed following November’s Church AGM. The first was the current Sunday morning service pattern, specifically the order and timing of Matins and Eucharist. On this issue, Vestry considered that whilst certain aspects of this pattern could continue to be refined, the impact on both services of the change from our previous pattern has been positive and should be maintained.

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The second AGM discussion was on the plans proposed for changes to the fabric of St John’s centring on re-development of the Hall. Vestry noted the range of sincerely held opinions articulated and felt the clear indication from the AGM was that we should proceed to detailed congregational discussion of how the development might be funded.

Alistair Dinnie – Vestry Secretary

FFrroomm tthhee EExxeeccuuttiivvee MMaannaaggeerr

II thought that I should update you on some things happening at the church that you may not be aware of:

Hendersons Hendersons have appointed a General Manager called Matthew Halsall (you may have heard him read the first lesson at the Nine Lessons and Carols Service). This is the first time, I believe, that Hendersons have had a General Manager, and it means that the partners are now going to take more of a back seat. Matthew is responsible for the day-to-day running of the whole of the Hendersons organisation. Matthew comes with a wide experience in hospitality (for example, he oversaw the opening of the restaurants in Harvey Nichols). Although, he is new to St John's, his sister worked on Iona at the same time as Andrew and

Amanda Wright. Since arriving towards the end of last year, Matthew has spent a lot of time at St John's getting to know the cafe here. It has been really good getting to know him. He tells me that the changes he plans to make include creating some cheaper meal options and starting a breakfast menu.

The end of our graveyard project On the 14 January, our Heritage Lottery Funded project to conserve and enhance the graveyard officially ended. Apart from some rather stubborn graffiti, we have managed to complete all the objectives of the project. Soon, there will be a “virtual tour” of the graveyard displayed on the church’s new-look website.

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Carols on Princes Street I do not know if two years counts as “traditional”, but on one of the final Thursday evenings before Christmas, the choir were out singing Christmas Carols for shoppers on Princes Street. We erect a stage, and the choir look rather resplendent in their red cassocks, lit up under the church floodlights and framed by red rowan berries.

As the choir sing, Shona, Rinchen, Marjorie and I stood on Princes Street with trays of free mince pies and complimentary cups of Shona’s non-alcoholic warm apple cider (Corolla apple juice, Allspice, cinnamon sticks, oranges and stewed cranberries).

I like seeing the taxi drivers wind down their windows to listen for a moment or people on buses taking photos. Some people stop and listen for a while; other people just get a little snatch of something a bit different as they rush around trying to complete their Christmas shopping.

NNeeww ppoossiittiioonn aatt SStt JJoohhnn''ss –– PPrrooppeerrttyy AAssssiissttaanntt. We are currently looking to appoint someone to the part-time post of Property Assistant (the deadline for application is 31st January). The position is for up to 16 hours per week and is initially for one-year, with the possibility of an extension. This person will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day maintenance of our property and utilities. This new post forms part of a re-organisation of staff to better cover for John during his time as Dean. The post is funded through funds received from the Diocese.

Graeme Glover

CChhaarriittyy CCoolllleeccttiioonnss

The Advent Carol Service raised £77.00 for Tools for Self Reliance, plus some invaluable tools as well. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols raised £489.00 for the Edinburgh Samaritans. The Christingle Service raised £642.00 for the Edinburgh children’s bereavement charity, Richmond’s Hope, which began in 2003 in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh and is based in Richmond Craigmillar Church.

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SStt JJoohhnn’’ss WWaallkkiinngg GGrroouupp

3 February 2011 Black Hill, Green Cleuch and Red Moss (near Balerno). (Margaret Brewer: 339 5414). 19 February 2011 Loch Ordie near Dunkeld. (Anne Douglas: 339 0229).

The walks in March are listed below. Further information will be put up on the noticeboards in the church porch and hall. Alternatively contact the walk leader. For general information on the walks please contact Veronica Harris at walking@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk or 0131 228 1016. It is hoped that the programme of walks for 2011/2012 will be ready towards the end of February. 3 March 2011 Eastfield, Newhailes, the River Esk Walkway and Musselburgh. (Richard Percival: 552 5271). 19 March 2011 Pencaitland trail. Easy 8 mile ramble through farmlands, woodlands, a riverbank and disused railway. (Amanda Wright: 317 1252).

Veronica Harris

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FFrroomm tthhee TTeerrrraaccee

OOnnee WWoorrlldd SShhoopp

After a hectic and very snowy few months on the terrace, it is nice to have a slower pace with more time to ponder and plan for the year ahead. Unfortunately the bad weather certainly affected our Christmas sales but 2011 has started well with more customers than last year. The good news is that we have received a small grant of £1900 from DFID’s Global Community Links Fund to go towards educational materials for our work with schools and young people focussing on Action Bag, our supplier of bags in Bangladesh. We welcome any contacts who might like to know more about our work there.

Fairtrade Fortnight this year is from Mon 28th Feb to Sunday 13th March. The theme is “Show off your label”, with a particular focus on cotton producers in West Africa. We will be doing a variety of events and displays in the shop, so do drop by for more information on our activities. We will also be welcoming a macadamia nut farmer from Malawi during that time who will

be travelling round schools and local groups with the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. We will have a lovely display of cards and gifts for Valentine’s Day on 14th February so don’t forget to drop in the week before.

Rachel Farey

CCoorrnneerrssttoonnee BBooookksshhoopp.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2011 ‘Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Way of Passionate Humility’ by Stephen Cherry 9781441182869 £9.99 The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book is usually an interesting and thought-provoking choice and this year’s ‘Barefoot Disciple’ fulfills that expectation. Humility is unfashionable in the celebrity-obsessed culture of today, and is too

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often dismissed or confused with the cringing, false humility of Uriah Heep. In this book the author shows that, when genuine humility is energised by real passion, fresh and exciting light is shone on the challenge of following Jesus Christ today and humility is rediscovered as a healthy, life-giving and community-building virtue. The author uses stories and concrete examples as well as allusions to fiction, poetry and art to engage our imagination and he articulates big theological ideas in a very accessible way. His emphasis on learning from

our challenging experiences and on the application of that learning in practical ways makes this a book to carry with us, even after Lent is over. ‘Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A’ by Tom Wright 9780281062218 £6.99 This book gently takes the reader through the designated Lectionary readings for every day of Lent and Easter. The Bible readings are Tom Wright’s own clear and accessible translations from Matthew for Everyone (SPCK, 2002). Each passage is followed by a freshly written reflection and a prayer that will help readers to ponder the relevance of Matthew’s Gospel for their own lives. Suitable for both individual and group study and reflection, Tom Wright’s Lent book will allow readers to make Matthew their own, thoughtfully and prayerfully. It will help to make the journey through Lent a period of rich discovery and growth. ‘Feast and Fast: Food for Lent and Easter’ by Christina Rees 9780232528442 £7.99 Traditionally Lent is a period of abstinence, so should we deny ourselves luxuries such as chocolate or alcohol? Or should we do something positive, and if so what? How best can we nurture our bodies and souls through this i

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mportant period in the year? In this new and original book, Christina Rees takes us on a spiritual and culinary exploration of the Christian traditions around fasting and feasting in Lent and Easter. Divided into sections for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Christina examines the significance of each and includes recipes for quick but satisfying meals through the forty days of Lent, leading up to an Easter feast to savour, rich in symbolism and style.

A cookery book with spiritual wisdom thrown in, Feast + Fast offers simple and delicious nourishment to sustain us on our Lenten Journey Two special offers on gift books for children ‘The Lion Treasury of Saints’

by David Self 9780745944715 RRP: £14.99 (Cornerstone price £9.99 while stocks last)

This is a lovely book to read or browse. It is a wide-ranging encyclopedic book of saints and remarkable Christian lives, arranged by time and by region (together), starting with the saints of the Bible in the Holy Land and moving to different countries that reflect the spread of Christianity, from the lands around the Mediterranean in the early centuries to more distant regions and

ultimately the whole world. From the world of the apostles to the twentieth century, there are saints’ stories to appeal to everyone. ‘The Lion Book of Best-Loved Prayers’ by Mary Joslin 9780745949277 RRP: £9.99

(Cornerstone price £7.99 while stocks last) This is a collection of over 150 simple yet profound prayers drawn from the great heritage of the Christian faith. It is thematically arranged for ease of use, containing themes such as morning prayers, evening prayers, thanksgiving and prayers for the Christian festivals. The selection includes many prayers from classic sources including the Bible,

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liturgies, prayers of the saints as well as modern prayers, helping the reader to find words to express their own hopes, dreams, sorrows and joys.

PPeeaaccee aanndd JJuussttiiccee CCeennttrree

One of the Peace and Justice Centre’s most ambitious projects was a conference held in the Dynamic Earth building in February 2009, dealing with the legality or otherwise of nuclear weapons in international law, and Scotland’s special responsibility in this matter as the base for Britain’s nuclear armament. IIn collaboration with the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, we were able to secure the attendance of one of the judges from the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Christopher Weeramantry, as well as other distinguished legal authorities. The conference is the basis for a book to be launched in the Scottish Parliament on 1 February 2011 - Trident and International Law: Scotland’s Obligations.

Ever since the Peace and Justice Centre was founded in 1980, with Kathy Galloway as its first Co-ordinator, the danger created by the almost incomprehensible destructiveness of nuclear weapons has been a major concern for the Centre, as of course it has for the international community generally. The Non-Proliferation Treaty, along with the judgment in 1996 of the International Court of Justice, were the most emphatic efforts to control and eventually eliminate these weapons. For various reasons, governments holding them have been extremely reluctant to respond to these efforts, but the danger now posed by terrorist groups has begun to change attitudes to an extent which opens up a prospect of real and verifiable disarmament. The Peace and Justice Centre is proud to have made its own modest contribution to this result.

Geoffrey Carnall

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RReeaaddiinnggss aanndd RRoottaass

February 6th 10.30am Isaiah 58 v1-9; 1 Corinthians 2 v1-12; Matthew 5 v13-20 6.00pm Amos 2 v14-16; Ephesians 4 v17-32 February 13th 9.30am Jeremiah 30 v1-3; 10-22; Acts chapter 6 10.30am Deuteronomy 30 v15-20; 1 Corinthians 3 v1-9; Matthew 5 v21-37 6.00pm Amos 3 v1-8; Ephesians 5 v1-17 February 20th 9.30am Jeremiah 33 v1-11; Acts 8 v4-25 10.30am Leviticus 19 v1-2;9-18; 1 Corinthian’s 3 v10-11;16-23;

Matthew 5 v38-48 6.00pm Amos 9 v5-15; Ephesians 6 v1-20 February 27th 9.30am Job 38 v1-21; Colossians 1 v15-20 10.30am Isaiah 49 v8-16; 1 Corinthians 4 v1-5; Matthew 6 v24-34 6.00pm Proverbs 8 v1 & 22-31; Revelation 4

CCooffffeeee RRoottaa

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FFeebbrruuaarryy 1133tthh MM WWaarrrraacckk;; JJ MMccMMuuttrriiee;; MM BBrreewweerr

FFeebbrruuaarryy 2200tthh DD CCaammppbbeellll;; WW WWyyssee;; VV LLoobbbbaann

FFeebbrruuaarryy 2277tthh HH TTaaiitt;; SS KKiillbbeeyy;; S Brand March 6th J Hill; L Darke; C McArthur March 13th E Yeo; J Rennie; J McLeod March 20th A Horsfall; C McNaughton; W Wyse March 27th M Currie; S Jameson; J McMutrie