Finally! A Door Opens!

Last Sunday, January 16, I led worship and preached at St. Fergus Par-
ish Church. After the service, the congregation voted unanimously to
invite me to be their minister. After receiving the results of the voting
and verbally accepting the invitation, I went around the fellowship hall
greeting people and chatting with them. Then it was a fine Sunday din-
ner with several of the elders of the church back at the hotel where I
had been put up. Soon I was on the bus that took me back to Aberdeen
where I caught the train to Cupar.

I used the order of service that St. Fergus has been using for decades,
if not for generations. It had been unfamiliar to me until I used the same
order of service at the nearby church where the Nominating Committee
had heard me three weeks before. The Scripture readings were from Is-
aiah 43:1-5a and John 10:1-14. My big idea was that God has promised
to be with us in the troubles and trials of life. Two of the four hymns I
chose were personal favorites: Be still my soul and Be Thou my vision.
They fit in well with the sermon. For the Children's Address I looked
up in a name book the meanings of five of the ten Sunday Club children.
After the service while voting was taking place, I visited the children in
their Children's Club rooms and looked up the names of the other five.

I worked hard on shaping a good flow to the service and doing sermon
preparation. After being away from preaching for the five years when
I was at St. Andrews, I had lost confidence in preaching. Preaching op-
portunities during my year at Cupar Old helped, but they still were not
enough. I spent the last year thinking and working through both my
sermon preparation and delivery. It has been a challenging road. But
last Sunday everything came together in the sermon as well as in the
service. It was as if all my systems were back on line. I felt like I was
back to the level I was at the year before I came to Scotland. I thorough-
ly enjoyed preaching as well as conducting the service. I had fun. I hope
to be able to grow as a preacher in the years to come at St. Fergus.

I will post more about St. Fergus in the days to come. Meanwhile I am
still savoring last Sunday.

As always, blessings to you and yours,

A Quick Update

The snow is disappearing and the temperatures have been rising. There
were several downpours early this morning that seem to have washed
a lot of snow away. It was relaxing to hear the gusts of wind-blown rain
against the window of my bedroom. It has been a long time since I have
heard rain. For the past four or five weeks now, there has been little or
no rain and significant snowfall. Last week, just as the mounds of snow
were finally deteriorating, we got another snow storm. With the below-
freezing temperatures, walking on the glazed ice proved treacherous.
Warming air is forecasted and no snowfall is expected in the immediate
future. This should help walkways be easier to walk on.

This coming Sunday, I preach as what is referred to as 'sole nominee' at
St. Fergus Parish Church. After I lead the Sunday morning worship ser-
vice and preach, the congregation will vote whether to extend a call to
me to be their minister. I will be preaching from Isaiah 43:1-5 and
John 10:11-18. I am so looking forward to being with the people of the
congregation, leading them in Sunday worship, and discerning together
what God has in store for me and for the congregation. I am eager to
see how the Lord has been guiding us. I have a strong sense of calling
to be up there and serving the congregation. But I have had that sense
several times before. I will let you know what happened early next week.

Blessings to you and yours,

On the Other Side of Hogmanay

I certainly wasn't expecting it, but I had a marvelous and special New
Year's Eve. I had been invited over to a friend's house where he and
his expectant wife were hosting a party to welcome in the New Year.
He told me that it would be lovely to see me, but I could come and go
as I wished. I felt a strong tug at my heart to go, but I thought I would
go only for an hour or two. Finally the day came and I made my way
over slippery icy paths to Tom and Donna's house. I gave my gifts of
a drink and sweets to Tom, took off my heavy boots and warm cloth-
ing, put on my slippers, and waded out into where all the people were.
I saw a number of friends there, but it was the new people I met and
talked to during the course of the night that made this party special
and memorable. There was a sweet and wonderful atmosphere pre-
sent among us.

I had an early sense that an enchanting evening was underway. Peo-
ple came, and people left. Some stayed for several minutes or a few
hours; others, like me, stayed until early New Year's morning. It was
a rich banquet of food, drink, music, and talking. I am still savoring
the time over a week later. The food, desserts, and drinks kept flow-
ing throughout the night. Rory, a good friend of mine and a Church of
Scotland minister, played a stirring round of musical numbers on his
bagpipes. Later Tom serenaded us with his fiddle playing. Children of
all ages were playing outside in the snow and inside where it was warm.

As the night wore on, little ones were put to rest in a bedroom upstairs.
Since a large family from Sweden was with us, we counted down in
Swedish the final seconds to 11 PM so we could celebrate 'Swedish New
Year'! An hour later we counted down the final seconds to midnight and
celebrated the New Year by wishing each other a happy New Year, ex-
changing hugs and kisses, and finally gathering into a tight circle and
holding hands to sing several rousing rounds of Auld Lang Syne. It was
a touching moment for me, one that I will not soon forget, a precious
memory that I will treasure in my heart for a long time to come.

But the best part of the evening were the 'divine encounters' I had
with several people at the party, most of whom I hadn't met before.
There were long draughts of deep conversation as we shared from
our lives. There were some amazing people there. By midnight there
were only twelve or so of us left from the mob that had been there
over the course of the night. One couple and their small boy were re-
turning to Afghanistan in the next few days to continue their ministry
with people in Kabul. So as a group we prayed that the Lord's contin-
ued protection, provision, and presence would be upon them.

It was a special night of fun and fellowship. I saw old friends, and made
several new friends. It was a great way to end 2010 and begin 2011. It
made for a delightful time, one that I will savor for a long time to come.
And I also want to wish you a blessed and happy New Year!

Blessings to you and yours,