Leith Fisher writes

It was in October 1966, 36 years ago, when I began my career in earnest as the callow, young Assistant Minister at the historic church of Govan Old Parish. The people of Govan were very good to their new and gauche apprentice. They were well used to knocking a succession of college boys into shape with plain speaking and generosity, and they did so to me. I’ve always been grateful for the part Govan played in my formation. It was therefore with a distinct sense of déjà vu that I returned to Govan at the end of September to serve as their Interim Moderator in their current vacancy. In the intervening 36 years, Govan, church and community, has been through the mill. The old community of tightly packed, heavily populated tenements, gathered round the working shipyards has largely gone. The population has been hugely reduced and dislocated.
Yet, through all the change, the church has soldiered on, and I was glad to discover that out of a Vacancy Committee of around 12, around half of the members were known to me, from my time with them, these many years ago. In a sense it was like coming home. Two things struck me on meeting these friends from the distant past. I have a real respect for their many years of faithful service freely and doggedly given, year in year out, while church and community were changing and often collapsing around them. The changing community of Govan and the changing nature of our society in general mean the old church patterns in Govan are no longer sustainable. New forms of church and ministry need to be forged. The second thing which has impressed me is how open these long-standing, faithful members are to a new and changed future, whatever that may be. In face of the threat of change, it is so tempting to retreat into the bunker or hide behind the comfort blanket. But it is a temptation, and one that I’m glad to have found resisted in Govan.
Commitment and openness – I increasingly believe the combination of these possible opposites to be crucial qualities for our Christian discipleship today. These qualities were very apparent in the recent celebration of the lives of two good servants of the church in Glasgow’s West End. On Friday 4th October we gathered in Wellington to give thanks for the long and faithful life of Betty Scrimgeour, missionary teacher in India for almost 30 years and friend and servant of our congregation for a further quarter of a century. There is a tribute to Betty elsewhere in these Notes: I would simply highlight here the reality that during the period of Betty’s service in India she lived through a time of momentous change in church and society. In church she saw the formation of the United Church of North India, in society she served through the whole period of the granting of Indian independence and the formation of the modern Indian state. It was living through these events which forged in Betty that generous openness of mind and spirit which we so valued in her life with us here.
Recently the West End churches have been taking leave of Helen Hughes who is moving on from being Deacon at Lansdowne Church to work with the Springburn churches. Helen has served quietly, faithfully and creatively at Lansdowne for the last 22 years. What was most impressive at her Leaving Party was the number of community groups who came along to pay tribute to Helen’s ministry, the Simon Community, the Glasgow Rent Deposit Scheme, Oakgrove School, the Woodlands Group, Park Ward Community Care Scheme. Helen has always also been most supportive of the Local ACTS group and worked very closely with her neighbours in St Mary’s Cathedral. She has been one of the West End Churches’ unsung saints, taking the gospel out into the community in her own life of gracious care and service.
This is the season of All Saints, when we remember faithful souls of every age and place who have handed down and on the gospel through their own lives of faith and service. We give thanks for them all, the living and the departed, and draw strength from being surrounded and supported by ‘such a great cloud of witnesses.’
This is also the month when we keep One World Week and remember our solidarity with the earth itself and all its people. As the Nicaraguan song says, ‘For the world and all its people we address our prayers to God.’ One World Week in October comes at the end of our special month of welcome when we have the privilege of greeting new friends from many places who have come to live and work among us, for a shorter or a longer time. As we give thanks for those who have given long years of faithful service in the one community, we also remember with gratitude those who are with us only for a short time on their lives’ journeys, but who in their time with us, so greatly enliven and enrich our fellowship.
As a church seeking to live by grace, we seek the grace to live out what we sing, ‘All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.’
With every blessing, It was in October 1966, 36 years ago, when I began my career in earnest as the callow, young Assistant Minister at the historic church of Govan Old Parish. The people of Govan were very good to their new and gauche apprentice. They were well used to knocking a succession of college boys into shape with plain speaking and generosity, and they did so to me. I’ve always been grateful for the part Govan played in my formation. It was therefore with a distinct sense of déjà vu that I returned to Govan at the end of September to serve as their Interim Moderator in their current vacancy. In the intervening 36 years, Govan, church and community, has been through the mill. The old community of tightly packed, heavily populated tenements, gathered round the working shipyards has largely gone. The population has been hugely reduced and dislocated. Yet, through all the change, the church has soldiered on, and I was glad to discover that out of a Vacancy Committee of around 12, around half of the members were known to me, from my time with them, these many years ago. In a sense it was like coming home. Two things struck me on meeting these friends from the distant past. I have a real respect for their many years of faithful service freely and doggedly given, year in year out, while church and community were changing and often collapsing around them. The changing community of Govan and the changing nature of our society in general mean the old church patterns in Govan are no longer sustainable. New forms of church and ministry need to be forged. The second thing which has impressed me is how open these long-standing, faithful members are to a new and changed future, whatever that may be. In face of the threat of change, it is so tempting to retreat into the bunker or hide behind the comfort blanket. But it is a temptation, and one that I’m glad to have found resisted in Govan. Commitment and openness – I increasingly believe the combination of these possible opposites to be crucial qualities for our Christian discipleship today. These qualities were very apparent in the recent celebration of the lives of two good servants of the church in Glasgow’s West End. On Friday 4th October we gathered in Wellington to give thanks for the long and faithful life of Betty Scrimgeour, missionary teacher in India for almost 30 years and friend and servant of our congregation for a further quarter of a century. There is a tribute to Betty elsewhere in these Notes: I would simply highlight here the reality that during the period of Betty’s service in India she lived through a time of momentous change in church and society. In church she saw the formation of the United Church of North India, in society she served through the whole period of the granting of Indian independence and the formation of the modern Indian state. It was living through these events which forged in Betty that generous openness of mind and spirit which we so valued in her life with us here. Recently the West End churches have been taking leave of Helen Hughes who is moving on from being Deacon at Lansdowne Church to work with the Springburn churches. Helen has served quietly, faithfully and creatively at Lansdowne for the last 22 years. What was most impressive at her Leaving Party was the number of community groups who came along to pay tribute to Helen’s ministry, the Simon Community, the Glasgow Rent Deposit Scheme, Oakgrove School, the Woodlands Group, Park Ward Community Care Scheme. Helen has always also been most supportive of the Local ACTS group and worked very closely with her neighbours in St Mary’s Cathedral. She has been one of the West End Churches’ unsung saints, taking the gospel out into the community in her own life of gracious care and service. This is the season of All Saints, when we remember faithful souls of every age and place who have handed down and on the gospel through their own lives of faith and service. We give thanks for them all, the living and the departed, and draw strength from being surrounded and supported by ‘such a great cloud of witnesses.’ This is also the month when we keep One World Week and remember our solidarity with the earth itself and all its people. As the Nicaraguan song says, ‘For the world and all its people we address our prayers to God.’ One World Week in October comes at the end of our special month of welcome when we have the privilege of greeting new friends from many places who have come to live and work among us, for a shorter or a longer time. As we give thanks for those who have given long years of faithful service in the one community, we also remember with gratitude those who are with us only for a short time on their lives’ journeys, but who in their time with us, so greatly enliven and enrich our fellowship. As a church seeking to live by grace, we seek the grace to live out what we sing, ‘All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.’ With every blessing,

Leith Fisher.

A LETTER FROM …….Liz, Kevin & Hannah August 2002 Dear Friends, It’s August already, and some of you may be wondering what’s happened to the Borlase family since you last saw us. Our “home” leave has quickly passed, and we arrived HOME in Kenya at the beginning of July. Our time away was busy, stressful, enjoyable, tiring, fun, and many other things! It was good to spend time with our families and to catch up with friends. Unfortunately, it was just not possible to see everyone we would have liked to – sorry if you had hoped to see us and missed out. We had many opportunities to tell of our life and work here in Kenya, and it was good to put names to faces of people we had been corresponding with. Hannah coped remarkably well with all our travels. She is a very social young lady and enjoyed all the attention from family, friends, and fellow travellers on planes and trains! She has changed so much in the months we were away. When we left in February she had not yet started crawling – by the time we returned she was walking. We celebrated her first birthday with a picnic in London attended by a fun group of family and friends. She has quickly settled back into our house here, and we continue to enjoy the privilege of both working part-time and sharing her care between us. While we were away friends were making use of our house. They left in mid-June and the house was supposed to be unoccupied until our return three weeks later. Unfortunately the rats moved in!! We have been waging a constant war since our return in an attempt to rid the place of our unwelcome visitors. Traps were only marginally successful, so we’ve resorted to poison which has been consumed in large quantities over the past week. We might finally be winning. I was amazed at the amount of damage the rats did; eating clothes, and other linen, and chewing through wires on the cooker, as well as helping themselves to food. Rats, ants, and termites are the major disadvantage of a timber and corrugated iron house, but in general, we can keep such things reasonably under control. On the other side the house has much to recommend it (character, size, convenience) and we love living here. It was good to return to work at the hospital, and to see the progress of some of my patients. Other good news was that a regular clinic for patients with HIV/AIDS has been started, with a few affording antiretroviral therapy. The doctors concerned are seeking overseas funding in the hope that many more patients can be assisted. The most visible change is that our out-patient and casualty building is undergoing major extension work. Casualty had only four very cramped beds; the plans for the new area look much improved. Waiting spaces for consultation rooms will also be much better arranged when the renovations are completed. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has recently increased doctors’ salaries. They were forced to do something as out of approximately 5000 Kenyan doctors, only about 600 are continuing to work for government services. The large majority have preferred to leave the country or to open private clinics. This has had an effect on our work as a number of our junior doctors have shifted to local government hospitals attracted by the higher salaries. It is hoped to match what the MOH is offering when finances allow. Kevin has also returned to work in the finance department at MAF. His temporary replacement from the UK had done a wonderful job. Not only had he kept everything up to date, but he had also made some very worthwhile changes. Now the finance staff are doing some more of the day to day work, which frees Kevin to concentrate on other things. He had also initiated monthly finance team meetings to keep staff informed to what each other are doing, and to keep levels of interest high. The MAF-Kenya programme continues to suffer from a shortage of pilots. This has been particularly noticeable over the past few weeks with a number of expatriates away on home leave during the European summer. Otherwise the programme is running well, and there have been no major problems or changes during our absence. Many of you are aware that Kevin’s father has been unwell. It was good to be able to spend time with him in New Zealand. He is currently in hospital in Christchurch, and although there is still no confirmed diagnosis he is being treated with chemotherapy for lymphoma. This is what the specialists believe to be the problem. He has responded well to the chemo to date, but is still far from well. We do appreciate your continued prayers for him and the family at this time. This is election year here in Kenya. Under the constitution President Daniel Arap Moi has to stand down after 24 years as president. The daily papers are full of discussions concerning the possible candidates to replace him, and there is much party wrangling going on. President Moi has spoken out in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta (son of the first president of Kenya) as his preferred candidate. Last week there was much complaint at the proposed “President’s Retirement Package” – a 12 bedroom house, 7 vehicles, numerous staff and unlimited travel being just part of the suggested deal! The election must be held before the end of the year, which may well mean the last week of December. Please pray for Kenya during the coming months: for peaceful elections and a smooth transition to a new president. We do really appreciate your continuing interest in our lives and work, and in the people and country of Kenya. Please accept our thanks for your support and prayers. With much love, and God bless, Liz & Kevin Xxx O my Father, Great Elder, I have no words to thank you, But with your deep wisdom I am sure that you can see How I value your glorious gifts. O my Father, When I look upon your greatness, I am confounded with awe. O Great Elder, Ruler of all things earthly and heavenly, I am your warrior, Ready to act in accordance with your will.

David Pearson to Julie Moore

Betty Scrimgeour, Balmanno House, Gt. Western Rd. G12

The Pack this year is now standing at eighteen, and is the youngest average age of Pack we have experienced in our thirty or so years of Cubbing.

The boys (there are no girl applicants this session so far) are very much the same now as when we started, however, and the standard games and procedures appear to have lost none of their attraction.

Meanwhile, we have a lively, intelligent and demanding group of lads who will be spending their Thursday evenings training in general Scouting skills, and pursuing and being tested on any of an enormous range of activities which they may choose for themselves. These latter badges range from animal welfare through sport to computer skills, and are quite honestly far too many to list.

‘Here are three words to encompass Betty’s life, albeit inadequately. There are two nouns and an adjective. The nouns, which belong together, come first. Betty was a teacher, and a disciple, a teacher and a learner, together. I suspect, indeed, I’m sure, it was because Betty was always a learner that she was such a good teacher. It was her openness of spirit which enabled her so well to share with others. I remember her telling a story against herself, of how in India, full of the best modern Western teaching theories, she had been dismayed at how much learning of the Bible by rote was being done in Kalimpong, until one of the other teachers said, ‘You’ve got to get the Bible inside you, there aren’t many bibles in a Chinese jail.’ And so her attitude changed. But Betty wasn’t simply a learner, she was a life-long learner at that most life-giving of schools, the school of Christ. She learnt of him. And always she was seeking to learn more of him and his way.

Today we give thanks for a life of acceptance, a life of real courage, all the way through, and a person who was wise and serene, Betty Scrimgeour, teacher and disciple, in all things, faithful. Thanks be to God. Amen.