the true face of scottish evangelicalism
by Andrew Mogendorff
My dear old mum is having quite an exciting time in Aberdeen with Scott Rennie's first few days at Queen's Cross. The first service went really well apparently - mum sings in the choir and said that the music went great. I think there was a minor security concern but the undercover security guys took care of it very discreetly.
Yesterday she was one of the first people to get to church and saw that there was a sign which had been nailed to the front door:
"THIS CHURCH IS NOW A DEN
OF INIQUITY AND IS DAMNED!!"
Mum said "I waited until a couple of other people had arrived, so at least there was someone else in the building, and then got out the tool box and prized the huge nails, over 20 of them, out of the wood (kept the nails cos they might come in useful if WE ever want to nail notice boards about the place!). There were also three candles underneath it which I removed, but sadly couldn't keep to use again because they had burnt themselves to the bottom. The notice was amazing really - it must have taken a lot of thought and time to make and paint (patently with a lot of venom involved), let alone hammer into place, and I thought that probably the person or people responsible had not done such a piece of artwork since their nursery school days of sloshing paint about and sticking and pasting. Again the church was packed for the service but all was peaceful outside. So next Sunday we have the first service that Scott will lead and then I reckon all the fuss will die down. What an extraordinary thing to have been part of all that has gone on over these last eight months, and then being part of the induction process."
What she didn't know was that she was photographed by the local paper (THE PRESS AND JOURNAL) as she was removing the sign. That's her on the right in the black top.
20 comments:
Yay Andrew's mum!
Such hatred. Prayers of thanksgiving for Andrew, his mum, and Scott. Prayers of healing and peace for those who painted and posted the sign.
Brick to the parish!
Could I borrow the sign? ... I could use it in some of my parishes! :)
O, Dios mio Saintly. I can always count on you for a belly laugh!
Yea, Andrew's mum! And how very practical. I'm not sure that I would be able to reuse the candles, but nails, absolutely!
On the up side, given all the nonsense in the Communion and nonsense about committees with formerly anonymous members (Thanks, Lisa!), "studying" 'mo relationships, I'm rather appreciative of publicity that makes it plain how we are different. In fact, when the Phelps Clan was in town a few weeks ago, I was a little disappointed they thought it better to go picket the Catholic cathedral, St. James, and not us Episcopalians at St. Mark's.
(As an aside, the next day the clan picketed one of the Seattle high schools -- Nothing like showing the yout's what being a prick looks like. Yea for our side!)
Hooray for Andrew's Mum!!
Too bad they didn't get fingerprints off the nails. I'm guessing it's illegal to deface private property in Scotland...
And I join my prayers with the rest. I wonder how much positive good for the world could have been accomplished with the energy someone expended on this piece of hatred?
Doxy
I'm not convinced it was a Scottish person who did this. Hammer, nails - it's all very technical.
Well, the Bishop of Rochester is out doing the verbal equivalent in the news...so maybe he decided he needed to do some work with his hands?
They know who did it. He was quote in the paper:
The man who erected the board told the Press and Journal that the Church and his faith helped him recover from a drinking problem 20 years ago but that now, with the induction of Mr Rennie, he believed some people would no longer see the church as a haven.
He insisted he was not anti homosexuals but that he did not believe they belonged in the ministry. He said he was uncomfortable with the idea of Mr Rennie’s partner David Smith living with him in the manse. The protester, who works with drug and alcohol addicts, said that Aberdeen Presbytery had “watered the word of God down”.
Oh, a social worker. That explains everything.
he believed some people would no longer see the church as a haven
Some might not, now some others might.
Can the police act over there? In the US defacing a church comes with jail time.
FWIW
jimB
"I'm not convinced it was a Scottish person who did this. Hammer, nails - it's all very technical."
Possibly Mad One. It'll have been a GAFCON Nutter from your C of E!
Scotland needs a little grace. I'm adding the grace note!
Thanks for the kind words from everyone. I can't wait to meet Scott the next time I'm back in Aberdeen, and I think my dear old mum would be quite surprised to know that she's an internet sensation :)
This reminds me too of the first time I met an openly gay Church of Scotland minister. I had been going to the Episcopal cathedral in Aberdeen since I was about 9 years old because I sang in the choir. When I met the CofS minister I was probably around 19 - I honestly thought that only Anglican priests could be gay, and it was quite a revelation to meet a gay man of a different religious persuasion.
Andrew your mom sounds wonderful. I was in my 50s before I met an openly gay priest, but then it isn't something I pick up on right away.
That's the nub, motheramelia, too few of them have sex during the Service, and they cleverly disguise themselves as normal. It's a real problem.
Three cheers to Andrew's mum!!
And even there, Erika, with boychoirs you could tell who the sex was with, but now with mixed choirs it's difficult to tell from the pews.
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