Interesting outing this evening when I was asked to preach at a Rededication Service for Church of Scotland Elders in the Parishes just south of Perth – around Bridge of Earn. I’m always glad to have the opportunity of visiting other churches. Looking first at the age profile, the most generous thing I can say is that I was among my comtemporaries. I told them how much we admire the pattern of eldership in the Church of Scotland – and invited them to admire the pattern of bishop as ‘leader of mission’ in return. Well – maybe. Perhaps not. Anyway I hope I have the opportunity of visiting others.

Meanwhile here at Blogstead, we’re somewhat horrified by today’s report that the Scottish Government is considering a tax on bicycles. Motoring has been getting cheaper. We want to encourage people into cycling and onto public transport. It’s obvious, isn’t it. What next – a tax on Burmese cats?

Some people hit the ground running after the holidays. Not so for me – not for want of trying. I gradually climb back out of a sort of slough of despond .. maybe next week. But it’s been a fascinating week – all sorts of interesting people passed through ..  two trips to Edinburgh.   We ended with an interview with the editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette – well minded by Lorna our Communications Officer  … ‘Anything you would like to say to your friends in the Church of Ireland?’  Very settled, happy and completely absorbed in Scotland, thank you very much.

Next hurdle is getting the Netbook sorted out – so that I can travel even lighter. Tim the Geek will need to help me sort out Open VPN so that I can talk to the Office Server from all parts of the Anglican world.  I hardly dare to mention that VPN is Virtual Private Network.  Too close to home, I think

My friend Irene comments on the place of compassion in the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.  The reason for my question to myself  on Monday was that I made a statement on the day of the release suggesting that the Scottish Government had made a compassion-shaped choice.  This is what I said:

“The decision to release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is a brave political choice taken in the face of strong pressure from outside Scotland.  We respect and honour the courage which the Scottish Government has shown.

“On one side of the balance is the suffering caused by this appalling act of terrorism and the need to sustain public confidence in our system of
justice.  On the other side is the need to consider whether, in circumstances such as these, justice should be tempered with mercy and compassion.

“This decision sends to the world an important and positive message about our values.”

The Church of Scotland issued a rather more forthright statement in the same terms.

I think that politicians who make values-driven choices in the face of international opposition deserve our support.  I remain content with what I said.  I just feel somewhat disappointed as I watch the apparent clarity of that choice seeming to ebb away.

Glad to be back – particularly as we drove eastwards across Scotland last night and watched the roads become dry and the rain stop. Can’t get over living somewhere with a relatively dry climate. Donegal was books and snoozing and rain – constant rain. But you wouldn’t go there if you were bothered by that.

And now I’m trying to grasp all the confusion about the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Was I naive to think that it was a decision of principle?

Time for a blogbreak, I think. Back in September.

Iain Banks was quoted in Scotland on Sunday as saying that government should scrap state funding for faith schools claiming that they foster sectarianism.

It’s sad to see the faith schools issue getting tangled up in the sectarianism question like this.  Faith schools have a long and  honourable tradition.  Experience south of the border suggests that, even in a relatively secular society, there is a strong parental preference for faith schools.  No doubt there are many reasons for that.  But the perception that they have a clear ethos and can help young people to acquire strong values is part of it – though those virtues are not confined to faith schools.  In the Scottish Episcopal Church, we have historic links with a number of schools – some Primary Schools and of course Glenalmond College.  I wish we had more.

The historic sectarianism which is still a factor in Scottish life does of course make it more difficult.  Research into sectarianism suggests that it is a systemic phenomenon.  It may be at its most visible and nasty on the terraces of an Old Firm match.  But it feeds on almost every strand of a society – even on things which we would not in themselves see as sectarian.  The research says that it is about identity .. that it always involves religion.  And of course it tends to see others in negative or hostile terms.

That kind of systemic sectarianism is present in home, school, church and playground.  And our society needs to think about how it can be eradicated.

At the moment, we’re discussing faith schools and denominational education.  Scotland is becoming more diverse – this question will soon arise on an inter-faith basis and we need an open debate about the patterns of education which will best serve a new kind of society.

Hot air balloon over Blogstead this morning. Flock of sheep on the road this morning. Baby rabbits leaping in front of me in the lane tonight.

So how is it going? Well thank you for asking. It’s a bit ‘wall to wall’ Like all ministry, it’s trenches and sunlit uplands – perhaps more of the former than the latter. I think I’ve been a bit surprised by the shift in my workload – the need to try and read everything on Thinking Anglicans as well as doing all the things I usually do. But I’m well supported these days so I’ll get there. The big issue for us – as for all churches – is dealing with shrinking budgets. Easy to add things. Easier to keep things the same. Harder to shrink.

So I’m looking forward to a break in Donegal at the end of next week. Strangely it will all scrape by without me ..

Well we finally tested the idea of doing some work with clergy and Vestry Secretaries/Lay Chairs in Stirling last night.  It seems to me that this is one of the key relationships in congregational life – it’s a relationship which needs to be in good creative order if leadership is to be offered and accepted.  The Canons, as so often, are eloquently unhelpful.  I mentioned the challenge of responding to multiple, undeclared and contradictory of expectations.

So we – meaning Peter Mackie – did some work with a group of about twelve.  The results of course were very interesting.  Lots of things deeper down, no doubt.  But the range of practice was remarkable – frequency and duration of meeting varying to a considerable degree.

And we had a look at the Vital Vestries material which comes from the Local Collaborative Ministry stable.

‘Could he be serious?  Does he want to confirm every person in the country under the age of 30 in their fear that the church is a hopeless case?’  – my initial reaction to Archbishop Vincent Nichols talking about the dangers of social networking sites in general and Facebook in particular.   I read what he said.  I agree with some of it.  I’m not going to suggest that the suicide issue is not a serious one – although it is a heavy charge to lay.

Whatever the concerns,  ever-increasing connectivity is a fact of life.  Herbert Casson’s History of the Telephone contains a lovely passage which rather breathlessly sets out the limitless potential of the telephone system: ‘to connect one or more points in each and every city, town or place in the city of New York with one or more points in each and every other city …’

I was driving somewhere or other last week and listening to the story of Facebook – Facemash: The Accidental Billionaires. The origins of it lie in the inventor’s desire to get as many pictures of what Father Ted would have called ‘lovely girls’ onto the internet.  I have a Facebook page and a quick check today tells me that I have 133 friends.  I’m happy about most of it.  Among the 133 are old friends whom I would have lost touch with without Facebook.  In there are also younger members of my family who seem to think it is safe to have me as a Friend.  They communicate incessantly – but I get the feeling that their Facebook communication is mostly ‘out of hours’ communication which tops up their ‘face to face’ communication.

On other levels, I am ambivalent about Facebook.  The greatest danger, it seems to me, is that it purports to be a private and ‘between friends’ channel of communication – but it is potentially as public as anything else on the internet.  Yes you can take care with your Privacy Settings.  But the reality is that it should be treated as being as public as this blog.  People don’t realise that.  And that’s  dangerous.