Blog Dial Down

My time will get very tight in the coming month of June when I will
be finishing and then resubmitting my thesis by July 2. I will also be
tending to Cupar Old Parish Church, a fairly large church for Scot-
land, when my colleague goes on a personal retreat and then an ex-
tended holiday in June and July. I expect I will be especially pressed
for time in June. Therefore I am putting the blog on hold until I get
through June and into July. I appreciate you remembering me in your
prayers.


Blessings to you and yours. Over and out.

Gaining Momentum

Just recently my ministry colleague/supervisor at Cupar Old Parish
Church and I met with a representative from the Presbytery of St.
Andrews, and the same from the national office of the Church of Scot-
land. We met for the six-month evaluation of my one year placement
at Cupar Old Parish Church. I was quite pleased with the results of
the meeting and felt affirmed in my ministry.

My ministry colleague, Rev. Dr. Ken Jeffrey, asked about when I could
start looking for a permanent placement with a congregation. He expres-
sed his belief that I am ready to move on as soon after my end date of
October 31, as possible. The representative from the Church of Scotland
said that I could not accept a call to minister in a congregation until after
my final evaluation at the end of my probationary time. But he said he
would arrange to have mine early in September. That's the earliest time
he could convene an evaluation panel. Wow! I still can't believe I'm doing
this. This is exciting!

Ken will be away June and July for spiritual retreat and holiday. He
feels confident enough in me to put me in charge for that time. I hope it
will not be too busy. I will be doing a sermon series on the book of Ephe-
sians. I continue to carry on with my thesis. It is due by July 2, but I
may be submitting it by mid June. With so much to do over the past
six months I have certainly been developing my time management
skills. I am serious about the wise use of my time. It has been good for
me to develop in this area. Meanwhile there is no word on the process
of my visa from my immigration attorney. Anyway, I don't have any
time to seriously work on my visa until my thesis is submitted.

All the best to you and yours,

Force Multipliers for Christ's Kingdom

Last Sunday night I was excited. On the first and third Sundays of
the month there is an informal evening service at the parish hall of
the church where I serve as assistant minister. I often lead the even-
ing service, but because I had preached at the morning service, one
of the retired ministers led us in a communion service.

Last Sunday night after the service, three of us joined together as a
prayer group. There are normally six or seven of us, but several reg-
ulars were away for the weekend. For several years the group has
met after the evening service to pray for a long list of people and con-
cerns. It has been a privilege to meet with them ever since I first met
with them last November.

Before we prayed I asked the other two about the healing prayer con-
ference they had attended the day before. They shared with me their
desire to set up a healing prayer team composed of at least twelve peo-
ple from the five churches here in Cupar. They were eager to pray for
people and witness Jesus heal and transform the lives of sick and hurt-
ing people.

We had not been praying too long when a 30-something man walked
in the room and asked for our help. We invited him into our circle and
then chatted with him for a good long while. Some of his stories were
rather far out and wild, and I wondered if he might have released him-
self from the psychiatric hospital just outside of town.

It surprised me that he did not ask for money, but offered to give a lot
of money to the church. (Later he confessed that he did not have any
money at all). We listened to him and tried to answer a variety of ques-
tions that he posed. We offered to pray for him, but he backed away
from that.

I continued to talk with him alone outside the building. It was a good
chat, mainly about Jesus and about our need for him. I prayed a short
blessing for him, and soon he was off into the stillness of the night. My
heart really went out to him.

But what excited me was the eagerness of my two woman prayer com-
panions to reach out to this stranger and to minister to him in Jesus'
name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They truly are prayer war-
riors. They were not discouraged by this encounter, but they talked
about wanting to do this type of ministry on a regular basis.

There is a tendency here in the Church of Scotland for her members to
expect the salaried ministers such as myself to do all the ministry-type
things. In contrast to this is the desire of these two women to do minis-
try themselves, and that really excites me! They desire to be force mul-
tipliers for Christ's Kingdom and not leave it up to the ministers such as
myself. My heart was thrilled to see them in action. I am starting to re-
cognize more members of the Scottish churches who also sense a calling
from God to become involved in ministry. They truly are force multi-
pliers for Christ's Kingdom!

All the best, and blessings to you and yours,

What's Up?

The hours of daylight have been changing since the
change of time a couple of weeks ago. In January it was
dark until late morning, and dark again around 4:30.
Even though I wake up early there is plenty of daylight
now. The days are slowly growing longer. We have had
some glorious days of sunlight over the past several
weeks. But this is Scotland, and the weather can change
very quickly and quite often.

I thought I would share with you what I have been doing
during the last two weeks of April. I have been busy, but
I continue enjoying what I'm doing at this time. Basically
I focus on church work that takes up between 45 and 50
hours a week. As a probationer minister I was told to try
to do no more than 40 hours of church work a week. Yeah,
right.

I continue to enjoy the one year I was granted to work on
my thesis. I think I am starting to comprehend the trauma
that the 2006 cardiac surgery had on my system, especially
my mental functions. Sometimes I wonder if I haven't recov-
ered my mental agility to the level I was at before the sur-
gery. Regardless, I enjoy the process of working on my the-
sis and look forward to being finished with it soon.

Since I preach every two weeks, I use the week before I
preach to prepare the sermon. It use to take me about
12 hours to prepare a sermon; now it takes me about six.
I'm slowly getting back up to speed after being away from
pastoral ministry for over five years. I'm looking forward
to preaching through the book of Ephesians in June and
July when my colleague, Rev. Dr. Ken Jeffrey, is away on
a well-deserved two months sabbatical. He is confident
that I'll be able to keep the church on track while he's
away.

I try to do six to eight pastoral visits a week to elderly peo-
ple who are no longer able to attend church. Some of the
conversations have been quite precious. A large number
of them are in their 80s, and a few are in their 90s. Some
conversations are half an hour in length, and some can be
nearly two hours. It is a privilege to visit with them. I have
made over 60 visits with around 50 more to visit.

I have done several nursing home services. Yesterday I
used my iPod and portable speakers to play several
hymns I had downloaded from the iTunes store. Some of
the people joined in singing, others just listened to the
hymns. They really enjoyed that. I am also being called
on more frequently to conduct funerals. I had one last
Saturday and am preparing for one next Monday. I am
finding funerals to be a good time to minister to and
serve others. I actually enjoy doing funerals.

I must make time to do things essential for living, like
grocery shopping, cooking, sleeping, and having some
down time. I have found it hard to take a full day off, so
I have been taking parts of days off twice a week. It has
worked out quite well for me.

Blessings, and all the best to you and yours,

Christ Is Risen! He Has Risen Indeed!

I had a wonderful and glorious week that began on Palm
Sunday and reached a crescendo on the Sunday past as
Cupar Old Parish Church celebrated Jesus Christ's death
on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead. It was
a very special week for me.

The special week began on Palm Sunday with a young boy
representing Jesus riding on a donkey from the church
hall to the church down the street. A large group of chil-
dren and their parents followed Jesus and the donkey
shouting hosannahs as we processed to the church. The
congregation followed closely behind singing Palm Sunday
songs and hymns. We all had quite a delightful time prais-
ing the Lord in the morning service.

In recent years the ministers of the five churches in town
have sponsored evening Holy Week services. This year
they were held at the Scottish Episcopal Church congrega-
tion in town. Each of the speakers was assigned a passage
from the Gospel of John to speak on. We were also told to
keep the service short. Sheila, the minister of the other
Church of Scotland congregation in town, led us on Mon-
day. Fr. Pat of the Roman Catholic church spoke on Tues-
day. On Wednesday I spoke from John 13:21-32 about the
Cross being the glory of both Jesus and the Father.

But the highlight of the week was Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday Anne, the minister of the host church, led
us in a Maunday Thursday service of foot washing and
communion. It concluded with the stripping of the altar
as the congregation read Psalm 22. On Good Friday Bill,
the minister of the Baptist church in town, gave a very
powerful message about Jesus' death on the Cross. A mem-
ber of his church took the part of a Roman centurion who
had a role in the crucifixion of Jesus. It was a very moving
service.

Earlier Friday afternoon, there had been a Good Friday pil-
grimage. A large crowd of us walked from church to church.
At each of the five churches we heard Scripture readings
about Jesus' walk to Golgotha and sang spiritual songs to
Jesus. It, too, was a very special time for me as I pondered
what Jesus had done for us.

Easter Sunday was a glorious day! I took part in a 8AM
Easter service at the top of the Hill of Tarvit that over-
looks our town of Cupar. There was a brilliant sun, but
it was still a wee bit chilly and windy. I was able to look
over the valley in which our town of Cupar is cradled. Ken,
the minister I work with at Cupar Old, gave a Resurrec-
tion Day message. There were people from all the churches
in Cupar. It was really a great way to enter into the spirit
of Resurrection Sunday. But the highpoint of this special
day was the worship at the packed out sanctuary at Cupar
Old.

After the church service I had a nice Easter meal with some
friends from church, and then went home and had a great
Sunday nap. Nothing could be better!

Christ is risen! He has risen indeed!

Blessings, and all the best to you and yours,

Visa Update

There is still no news from my immigration attorney and I
have not filed any papers with the Immigration Bureau. I
have sent four letters of reference to my attorney and she
is working on my next step. All I can do now is stay tuned
and continue doing my ministry placement and working on
my thesis submission. The worst case scenario is that I
would return to the USA for a month or so and enter Scot-
land with another visa. I would love to return to the States
for a visit, but don't I don't want to disrupt the ministry I
am doing here in Scotland. We'll see. As usual, I covet your
prayers.

Blessings, and all the best,

Community, Marriage, and Kids: Signs of Life

One thing that I will always cherish about my time at the Universi-

ty of St. Andrews is my experience of community among the Divin-
ity postgraduate students and their families.Before I arrived in St.
Andrews, I expected that I would be alone, isolated, and complete-
ly absorbed in my research.

But it has not been like that at all. Not only have I been enriched
by the women and men who were my fellow doctoral students,but
I have been blessed by their husbands or wives, and children. I
do not think that I would have recovered so well from my heart
surgery two and a half years ago if I had not had the support of
this community. I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing them in-
to my life the past five years. They (as well as others from through-
out my life) have enriched me in so many ways.

In this small community of expat postgraduate students and their

families I have also witnessed husbands and wives who take their
marital vows seriously and who make living out those vows a pri-
ority in their lives together. This is done in the face of great aca-
demic pressure. In spite of the vast majority of my colleagues be-
ing married, I have been affirmed in my singleness. I only hope
that my singleness encourages other singles and affirms the rela-
tionships of those who are married.

It thrills my heart to see couples taking marriage seriously, espe-
cially n the Western world where marriage is rarely respected or
affirmed. In the face of this tragic degradation of marriage stands
the uplifting of the beauty of marriage. It reflects the way that
God created women and men for one another.

But what strikes me most is the explosive number of births of chil-
dren among University postgrad families, especially those from the
US and Canada. I have seen so many couples come here without
children and leave with at least the firstborn and one completed
doctoral thesis. Others return to the US with one or two more chil-
dren than when they first came to St. Andrews.

Earlier in the month a group of St. Mary's Postgraduate families
and friends gathered together to say farewell to a family return-
ing to Arizona. I was amazed at the presence of two newborns, one
infant less than a year old, and a large group of children bouncing
off the walls and running and screaming outside on the lawn.

Also attending the farewell gathering was a friend, a PhD student
in Old Testament studies, who was there with her husband. She
looked as if she would give birth to her firstborn well before deliv-
ering her doctoral thesis to the university. I was reminded of how
much life there is in this community at the university. I have missed
seeing that ever since I left St. Andrews nearly a year ago. It stands
in sharp contrast to the larger society that does not tend to value
children and family.

I firmly believe that life in community, the quality of marriages, and
the abundance of children are signs of new life that only Jesus Christ
can give. In a truly dark world, only Jesus brings life and light.

Blessings and all the best to you and yours,

Regaining My Confidence Upfront

When I came to Cupar Old Parish Church in November of
last year, it had been over five years since I had preached
or led a worship service. I was pretty rusty the first couple
of months, especially when I preached. But my confidence
has been coming back, especially with leading portions of
the service. I'm making good headway with my preaching,
but still have a lot to work on.

I spend considerable time preparing for either the opening
prayers of adoration and confession in the first part of the
service or the prayers of thanksgiving and intercession in
the second part of the service. It includes choosing several
hymns or praise and worship songs. People seem to like
my style.

I often do the childrens' address in the first half of the serv-
ice and spend a good amount of time preparing for them. I
have done hundreds of childrens' addresses since the mid-
1970s, but they are always a challenge. I enjoy using my
imagination to craft an address that kids will listen to. I al-
ways feel good when there are children who repeat back to
me the main message. I am amazed at how many adults talk
about the childrens' addresses. I wish they would talk about
the sermons that way. Maybe there is something to be learned
here about the way we preach.

Last Sunday I shared with the kids that there is a God, that
God is good, and that God loves them. After the service an
excited mum ran up to me and shared that her eight-year-old o
son had told her in the car coming to church that he did not
believe there was a God and that there is nothing after death.
I was astonished that a boy his age would be thinking that
deeply. She was almost giddy that the childrens' address
seemed to have spoken directly to him. She said he was really
quiet when he came back to where he had been sitting. The
mother was so excited.

I'm preaching every two weeks at either the morning service
or bi-weekly evening service. I sense there is still a lot of work
to be done with my preaching. But I have been receiving good
feedback from people that has encouraged me. I have been en-
joying using my imagination as I prepare to preach. I was heart-
ened last Sunday when I greeted a church regular. She asked
if I was preaching that morning. When I told her I was not, she
responded that it was a pity that I was not. That made my day.

All the best to you and yours,

Sitting, Sipping a Dram, and Listening

One of the joys of my twelve month familiarization placement at
Cupar Old Parish Church in Cupar, Scotland, is visiting people in
their homes. The minister of Cupar Old has given me the names
and addresses of 117 people to visit during the course of my time
here. So far I've done over forty visits. They are usually widows
or widowers, and in their 70s or 80s. I have visited a few in their
90s. The vast majority are women, with only a handful of men.
Generally they are members of the church, but attend only on
the four communion Sundays per year.

I was advised to do my visits cold turkey; in other words, I don't
phone ahead. I just knock on the door. But in many cases, the chal-
lenge has been to even find the door. Rather than numbered street
addresses, many of the older residences only have place names such
as 'Moatview', 'Hillside', 'Rosewood Cottage', and 'Farlie Cottage'. It
has often taken me a bit of time to find them only to find that the per-
son was not in. But at least I knew then where that person lived.

I always wear a clerical collar when I make my visits. When a per-
son comes to the door I introduce myself as 'Reverend Jeff Tipp-
ner from Cupar Old', and then give them my card. Two women
didn't want a visit and one woman seemed to freak out on seeing
me. In those cases I just move on to another visit. But most of the
time I am invited in and given hospitality. People often offer me
tea or coffee. I usually ask for a tea, and especially enjoy it when
they offer a plate of 'biscuits' (cookies). The other day a kindly 90-
year old gentleman offered me a 'dram' of whiskey. Even though I
don't fancy whiskey, the way he asked me gave me the impression
that it would have been unacceptable to refuse. I guess I passed the
test because we got along quite well. He told me he made the drink
half whiskey and half water. I sipped it and rather enjoyed it. It was
a first for me. I'm sorry whiskey fans.

I guess there is a buzz around town that Cupar Old has its very
own American minister! So I play it for all it's worth. At the be-
ginning of a visit they are often very interested in me. So I tell
them a lot about myself. But most of the time they soon feel
comfortable enough to share about themselves. So I sit and lis-
ten; sometimes for twenty minutes or so, and sometimes for an
hour or more. It is a privilege to hear them share.

One gentleman shared with me about surprizing his mum in Aber-
deen in early May, 1945, the last week of World War II in Europe.
He had been captured by the Germans just before he could be evac-
uated from Dunkirk in 1940. He spent the duration of the war as a
Prisoner of War in Germany. The people I've visited have told me
wonderful stories from their lives, showed me pictures of grand- and
great grandchildren, shared their pain of sons and daughters cutting
off all communication with them, and told about life in Cupar in days
long pass. I sit and listen, and let them determine how long I stay. It
is always a privilege to be with them.

I sense that some of them are well supported by family and
friends. For others I make a note to drop by again in a month or
two to check in with them. It has been a wonderful experience for
me.

Blessings, and all the best to you and yours,

Living in Scotland and the Issue of Tea

The meaning of 'tea' is often very confusing to me and many other
North Americans living over here in Great Britain, especially for
those of us who relate to mixed groups of Scots and the English. I
will write more about the Brits in a later blog. But now I want to
focus on the issue of tea.

In St. Andrews, especially at the University, there are two main
groups: the English and the Scottish people. Both are considered
British. (North Americans form one of the largest groups as well).
A big problem for me is what each group means by 'tea.' To North
Americans, 'tea' is a hot drink along with coffee and hot chocolate.
(I prefer hot chocolate, but if not offered, chose tea over coffee).
So when I was volunteering at a Christian retreat center in Eng-
gland last summer, tea was offered after dinner.

My problem came in November when I moved to Cupar, a very
Scottish town. I was often asked if I had my tea yet. Even cats
have 'tea' set out for them in the early evening. After many funer-
als there is usually a 'funeral tea." In most Scottish contexts, it re-
fers to a substantial meal in the late afternoon or early evening. I
rather enjoy being invited over for tea.

The problem is for a North American such as myself to determine
whether I am being invited to a tea in the English sense of the
word or in the Scottish sense. Earlier on when I was newer in Scot-
land I misinterpreted the invitation for tea. There were times when
I did not eat before hand, went to a tea expecting to eat well, and
had to eat a lot of biscuits with my tea to quell a growling stomach.
There were other times when I ate before the tea, and found a mag-
ficent spread of food upon my arrival. Such is life.

Blessings and all the best to you and yours,

Preaching Again

Yesterday, Sunday, March 1st, I preached from Mark 1:9-15 at Cupar
Old Parish Church. It was the first Sunday of Lent and I sought to en-
courage people to keep their eyes on Jesus during the forty days until
Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I compared the Christian life with go-
ing to a ceilidh, a Scottish dance. I likened Jesus coming to be baptized
with Jesus coming onto the dance floor to do a Scottish Sword Dance.
It turned out to be a very meaningful image for people in the congrega-
tion. I was struck by the power of imagination to strike a chord in peo-
ples' hearts. I received considerable positive feedback from people.

On Sunday I felt confident and comfortable up in the pulpit. I sensed it
coming two weeks ago when I preached from Malachi 4. But last Sun-
day I felt confident enough to refrain from relying on reading from my
sermon manscript, but keeping steady eye contact with the congrega-
tion. It was a big step for me. Until midNovember of last year, I really
hadn't preached a real sermon since August, 2003, when I was in
South Dakota. I had grown rusty when it came to preaching. I can feel
that it is all starting to come back to me now. I'm looking forward to
preaching every two weeks during my placement here at Cupar Old.

Blessings to you and yours,

The Four Challenges Before Me

Every morning when I wake up I am faced with four key challenges.
The first challenge is to obtain a visa to remain here in Scotland as a
minister with the Church of Scotland. At this point I do not know
whether or not I will be successful in that endeavour. The second
challenge is to continue the steady work on my thesis that has to be
resubmitted by the 2nd of July. I would like to finish it by late April
or early May. The third is to continue my familiarization placement
with the Cupar Old Parish Church. That means I assist in leading
Sunday worship, preach twice a month, do pastoral visitation, con-
duct funerals, and enter into the daily life and mission of the congre-
gation. I am constantly wrestling with how to complete my thesis
and carry out my church placement. I find myself doing a constant
juggling act.

Far more important than these three, however, is the fourth chal
lenge: how I face these challenges before the face of the Triune God.
So throughout each and every day I have to be reminded of the Fa-
ther's purposeful love for me, of Christ's atoning death on my behalf,
and of the Spirit's empowering presence to enable me to grow graci-
ously and gracefully in Jesus. The first three challenges are only for
varying seasons of my life. Some may be for a long duration and others
only for a week. The number of them can also vary. But as long as I
live, and even into eternity, it is the fourth challenge that gives every-
thing else perspective and leads to deep and abiding joy in the jour-
ney of my life.

Blessings to you and yours,

Visa Update

I spent last week, February 16-20, talking to people in St. Andrews
and Edinburgh who have knowledge of immigration issues. I was ad-
vised to seek the services of an immigration attorney. I contacted
the six legal services that had been referred to me with no success.
Late last Friday afternoon a legal clinic in Glasgow called me back
and arranged for me to come in on Tuesday, February 24. Yester-
day I met with Nicola, the legal counsel assigned to my case. I like
her because she is a thoroughly Irish lass, exhibits considerable
spunk, and is committed to working with me to get me a new
visa. She firmly believes that my plan to appeal my recent minis-
ters' visa refusal would fail. After hearing my situation she is ex-
ploring other options that have a greater possibility of success.
Nicola explained that the British Home Office that handles visas
is quite rigid and inflexible. She made it quite clear that there is
considerable likelihood that my case will not succeed. It just does
not make any sense to me. I can see why I am not a lawyer. I do
not think the way lawyers and judges think. Despite that, I com-
municated my desire to work as hard as I can to put together the
best case we can to present at an immigration hearing. So now
Nicola is studying different ways to handle my case and I am gather-
ing more documentation. We'll see what happens.

As always, I covet your prayers.

Blessings and all the best to you and yours,

Good News/Bad News

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since
I last wrote on my blog! I'll try to do better and post
blogs more frequently.

First the good news. I had been concerned that my
application for a visa for permission to remain as a
minister of religion had not been returned to me. I
had submitted it back in late August. In mid-January
I called the Immigration Bureau to enquire about
the status of my application. I was informed that it
had been mailed to my previous address way back
in November. They did acknowledge that my new
address had been received well before they sent
me the packet, but the packet had still been sent
to the old address. No one at the old address re-
membered seeing such a package for me and no
one had any idea what had happened to the pack-
age.

Finally, on the day before Valentine's Day, a good
friend whom I had asked to see what he could do,
found it. It was at a regional post office that served
my old address. He called to tell me he was send-
ing the parcel up to me. It was truly a Valentine's
gift! It is unsettling to be in a foreign country with-
out a passport. I expected my passport to have my
new visa in it as well. It had been over five months
that I was without personal legal documentation.
It was such a relief to have my passport!

But now the bad news: immigration authorities re-
fused to grant me a visa as a minister of religion in
the United Kingdom. I was not allowed to stay here.
Applicants for such a visa were required to have
served in a ministerial capacity for at least one year
in the last five years. I had last been in a ministerial
position six years ago, but not within the last five.
That was the only reason they gave for the refusal.

I have ten working days to appeal the decision. I
can remain in the UK while the appeal is being con-
sidered. I have decided to go ahead and submit an
appeal within the time alotted, ten working days.
If my appeal is refused, I will have to leave the coun-
try.

I have spent these last three days seeking ad-
vice and legal counsel. There have been a lot of
dead ends, but I'm still waiting on one last immi-
gration attorney. If I don't receive any help, I'll
present the appeal myself.

I'm doing ok. This is quite a challenge for me, but
one that I believe can be worked out to my advan-
tage.

If you pray for me, please remember this chal-
lenge to me in your prayers.

Blessings to you and yours,

Back in the Pulpit Again

Well, I'm back in the pulpit again/oh, I'm back in the pulpit
again!

Until my arrival at Cupar Old Parish Church in November
I had not participated in leading congregational worship in
any way since August, 2003. Since coming here I've partici-
pated in Sunday services and preached four times. Because
the minister was on holiday just after Christmas, I planned
and led the entire January 4th service. It was also the first
time I preached back to back Sundays since 2003. I really
enjoyed preaching and leading the congregation in worship-
ping God.

In mid November-when I preached for the first time in five
years- I felt so out of shape. It took some time to craft the
message and my delivery was extremely rusty. Although
the feedback was charitable, I really lost my confidence. I
knew it was there, it just took a while to reappear. Last
Sunday was my fourth time preaching here and I sensed
that it was starting to come back to me. The last two times
I have started to feel my confidence and form returning. I
am scheduled to be preaching every two weeks, either at
the morning service or at the bi-weekly evening service.

I have missed being a pastor and preacher. Now I am soak-
ing it all up, as much as I can get. I had to put that on hold
for four years while I was at the University of St. Andrews.
Yet I firmly believe that God called me to be at the univer-
sity and to work on a thesis. And so, I am realizing that I
have an exciting time to do what I really feel called to do:
to be a pastor and to continue working on my thesis. For
me nothing could be better.

As always, I ask for your prayers on my behalf.

Blessings to you and yours,

2008-Surprised by God

It is the downward side of New Year's Day as I write this. It
has been a quiet day for me to reflect on the past year and
look forward to the New Year. The best way for me to de-
scribe 2008 is to share that I was totally surprised by God.

I ended 2007 and began 2008 with Steve and Ellen Wilcox
in my hometown of Longview, WA. They are great friends
who have blessed me in so many ways throughout my years
of ministry. It was good to be home as I prepared for the
next era of my life. I vowed to continure to yield my life to
God's direction as I soaked up being back in my hometown.

I submitted my thesis to the University of St. Andrews in
mid-January, but did not have my panel review until May.
Although I was disappointed that my thesis was not accepted
at that time, I have realized how much I welcome the extra
time to continue to work on it. After more than four years of
intensive labor on it, I'm still not tired of it. I've enjoyed be-
ing able to continue working on it. I just wish that my panel
had been earlier than May. I had considerable down time be-
tween my submission in January and my review in May.
That period was pretty unproductive. Oh well, it still
worked out well for me.

Then God surprised me with the opportunity to do volunteer
work at a Christian retreat centre on Holy Island/Lindisfarne.
I prepared rooms for guests, cleaned toilets, washed dishes,
led noon and evening prayer, and helped out in any way I
could. The main thing was that I was able to do low-key pas-
toral ministry. I was able to hear what the Spirit was doing
in the USA, Canada, Norway, Germany, New Zealand, Aus-
tralia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, especially England.
I had initially offered to be there four to six weeks, but thank-
fully I was there sixteen weeks. It is one of the highlights of
a lifetime in ministry.

Then I was surprised by God again when I was invited to be
the residential chaplain at St. Deiniol's Library in Wales for
the month of October. That was completely unexpected. The
meal conversations, celebrating the eucharist on week day
mornings, and meeting people from all over the English-speak-
ing world was so enriching. I will never forget my time there.

Then I continue to be surprised by God as a result of his lead-
ing me here to the Old Parish Church in Cupar, Scotland. I have
been sent here for twelve months to become familiar with the
Church of Scotland. It is part of the process of transferring my
ordination from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to the Church
of Scotland. I've been here two months and I have felt wel-
comed by the town of 8500 as well as by the church. I'm meet-
ing lots of people, learning my way around the town, and feel-
ing at home in my accommodation. Ziggy the cat has made
sure that I have been instructed to cater to his every need.

I have truly been surprised by God, and truly blessed.

Blessings to you and yours,

A Boston Red Sox and Celtic Fan Celebrating Christmas in Brave Heart's Land

Well, here it is, almost Christmas, and there are Christmas
festivities galore here in Cupar, Scotland. There have been
Christmas decorations and lights up on the main street of
the small town since late November. I listened to a drum
and bagpipe band do Christmas carols at a recent farmers'
market. Stores have been offering Christmas promotions
and sales since early November. I hear of many groups and
work places having their Christmas dinners or parties.
What amazed me was that Ken, my ministerial colleague,
was invited to conduct two Christmas assemblies at the
big regional school in town. He addressed over 700 stu-
ents between the ages of 11 and 13. They listened to Scrip-
ture about Jesus, sang Christmas carols, and heard Ken
share with them about the incomparable Christ. (The
three other ministers in town conducted Christmas pro-
grams for the other levels at the school.) At night I look
out my bedroom window to see a few houses that went all
out with outdoor Christmas decorations and lights. They
add a sparkle to the neighborhood.

At church we've been preparing for Christmas since the
first Sunday in Advent. Slowly we've been focusing in on
Christmas. People here take great delight in giving Christ-
mas cards. People of the church have been signing a big
Christmas card to be sent to forty street boys of an orphan-
age in Peru that the church has been supporting for sever-
al years. Money has already been sent for a big Christmas
meal and new shoes. Last Thursday evening there was a
family Christmas party at the church. The highlight for me
was watching the ceilidh (a Scottish social dance event).
Parents introduced the children to some of the well-known
Scottish dance steps. There also was a well done children's
nativity play last Sunday morning and a beautiful nine les-
sons and carols candlelight service that evening. On Christ-
mas Eve there will be a Family Service at 7 pm and a Watch-
night Service later at 11:30. On Christmas Day there will be
a service for the family at 10:30. This is a special time of
year for me and I have been enjoying it.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas,

Settling In

Since November 1 I have been settling into Cupar. The small
town of 8500 inhabitants is an ancient farming town that also
served as county seat of the 'Kingdom' of Fife until the 1970s.
Since St. Andrews is in the Kingdom of Fife as well, I have
been living in a kingdom for the past five years! I'll write
more about the town in due time. Meanwhile I'm finally get-
ting things in order and learning my way around town. I
have been quite busy. I'm taking off this week to catch my
breath and continue settling down. I have not had a string
of more than two days off for quite some time. I just wanted
to let you know that I am alright and doing well. I'm really
enjoying being involved in pastoral ministry again and liv-
ing here in Scotland. I will being writing more about that,
too.

Here is my address until 31 October 2009! (Boy! It feels
so good to have a stable address for a change. I won't have
to move for a whole year!)

38 Castlebank Gardens
Cupar
Fife
United Kingdom KY15 4DA

Advent and Christmas Blessings to you and yours,

'We're Glad You're Here, Laddie'

This is a short posting to let people know that I am doing
very well here in Cupar, Scotland. On Sunday, November
2nd, I was introduced to the people of the Old Parish Church
of Cupar as the probationer assistant minister for one year. I
have been busy with participating in worship services, observ-
ing four funerals, attending various committees, leading and
preaching at the latest Sunday evening service, and doing pas-
toral visitation in the homes of more elderly members. I have
felt welcomed and invited to share in the life and mission of
this lively congregation. I have quickly felt at home here and
have enjoyed being engaged in pastoral ministry again after
an absence of five years. Being involved in pastoral ministry
gives me the greatest joy. Recently I met with members of
the minister support group set up for me to review my first
few weeks at the church. I felt affirmed and supported. It
meant a lot to me when the convener, a retired but still very
active Church of Scotland minister, told me that after seeing
me in action the past few weeks he and other people were
glad that I had been assigned to Cupar Old. I'm glad to be
here, too.

Ever since June I have had considerable difficulty getting reg-
ular internet access. The situation has not been any better
here in Cupar. But I have recently figured out how to ad-
dress this problem. I hope to get more postings up.

Blessings, and all the best,

Some Thoughts on the Recent US Elections

Currently I am busy settling down in Cupar, Scotland, for a
twelve-month ministerial placement with the Church of Scot-
land. It has been difficult getting access to the internet, but
over the past several days I have found it easier to get on-
line. I have much to share with you about my transition
from St Andrews to the wee town of Cupar, just fifteen
miles away from St Andrews. But I have plenty of time to
do that in the coming days and weeks. I wanted to take this
opportunity to share some of my thoughts about the re-
cent US elections.

I was not able to get an absentee ballot for this election. If I
had voted for the president I would not have voted for Pres-
ident-elect Obama. I disagree with him on the issues of
Iraq, national security, taxes, entitlements, abortion, the
sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, ed-
ucation, the support of the military, interpretation of the
US Constitution, the role of judicial bodies on all levels, the
ability to carry out domestic drilling for oil, and the way
that the poor and neglected of our society are cared for. I
am alarmed by the people that he has chosen to relate to
over the years and that he is the product of the corrupt
Chicago political machine. I believe that he and his fellow
democrats are wrong on so many issues. But having said
that, I will never stoop to hating him, demeaning him, or
considering him evil. Even though I think he is wrong on
the important issues of this age, Senator Obama will be
my president, our president, come January 20th and I
will grant him respect and honor that goes with that great
office.

I am very concerned about the degree of hatred and ridi-
cule expressed concerning President Bush and Govenor
Palin. I have never experienced anything as ugly. My ques-
tion is what this does to the souls of those who express such
sentiments. I can only conclude that it results in self-inflicted
wounds of those who do such actions. I have heard some peo-
ple say that Senator Obama's victory will finally lay to rest
the evils of racism in the US. My fear is that many Americans
voted for Senator Obama because of the color of his skin. It
is still racism. We will experience racism laid to rest when
electoral decisions are based primarily on a man or woman's
political agenda, not on the color of his or her skin.

I have more to write, but my time online at the Cupar Public
Library is quickly running out. I have church work that I
need to work on. I am disappointed in the results of the elec-
tion. I do not feel secure with President Obama and the Dem-
ocrats in control of Congress. But life will go on in the country
I love and cherish.

Blessings and all the best,