Friday, February 13, 2015

An Ongoing Tale of Three Churches

This won't be a long blog posting. I just 
need to get something written down to 
share with you. It has been a hard and 
busy time for me since the beginning 
of December. I expected things would 
slow down during January, but I was hit 
pretty hard in the face with things to do. 
I enjoy all that I do as the minister of St 
Fergus Parish Church. But I am also the 
lone full-time minister among the four 
Church of Scotland congregations of the Peterhead Grouping. 

Peterhead is the big town just three miles 
down the road from St Fergus. St Fergus 
is a village of 700 or so people; Peterhead 
is a large town of 16,000 people. It is the 
white fish capital of the European Union. 
St Fergus Parish Church is a Church of Scotland Congregation. There are three 
Church of Scotland congregations  in Peterhead. The St Fergus Parish Church
has always been the smallest of the four Parish Grouping churches. Now all three town congregations are without a minister. Only tiny rural St Fergus has their own minis-
ter: me. Only one of the four congregations, one of the congregations in town, has experienced any growth during the last five years. 


A year and a half ago, the elders of the four churches of the Peterhead Grouping met to 
look into uniting the three Peterhead congregations. An overwhelming majority voted 
to take the initial steps to joining three congregations into one. For over a year a com-
mittee has been meeting to work through that process. As the minister of St Fergus, I 
have been a part of that committee even though St Fergus Parish Church is not a part 
of the three other congregations coming together. As you might have imagined, 
the committee has has had to make its way through countless obstacles, difficulties,  
and challenges.

It is within this context that Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind. It has been an important 
lighthouse in my life for over forty years. These verses cut right to the heart of the mat-
ter as I seek to work out God's will in my life. As I and my colleagues deal with these 
critical issues of uniting three congregations into one, Proverbs 3:5-6 shows me the 
way: trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understand-
ing. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. I do 
not have any indication of the road ahead. I and my colleagues assigned the task of 
preparing for union of the three Peterhead congregations do so by focusing on Jesus 
and His kingdom and committing our way to the Lord, trusting in Him. 

It is important to me that I get this posted today. I have many other things that I need
to do. It is necessary that I get this posted because it has been a long time since I did a 
posting. As much as I seek to avoid maintaining a blog, it is something I firmly believe 
the Lord has called me to do. I am again recognising that it is a matter of obedience to
the Lord. I submit this now and look forward to preparing the next posing that is 
more timely. 

Blessings to you and yours, 
  

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