‘The Old is Good’ (Luke 5.39) : Mission with Ancient Liturgies

There is a widespread feeling in the Scottish Episcopal Church and elsewhere that Christian mission is best served by worship in contemporary language. My experience is that this is not necessarily so and that behind this widespread feeling are some basic errors. This post will argue that not only is traditional liturgy a widely appreciated …

Taking communion like Judas: the end of the pandemic and the restoration of the common cup

This year has seen the removal of obligatory covid restrictions in churches, and congregations have, at varying speeds, been returning to old practices. I have seen much concern for those who still feel anxious and for those who are vulnerable or suffer from long covid. It is interesting to see which parts of the ‘new …

The St Andrew Declaration: A Shared History and a Shared Faith?

This is an article commissioned by the Scottish Episcopal Institute Journal and published in the Journal's Spring 2022 issue. The journal is an academic periodical not a publicity sheet so it wanted a rigorous and critical reading of the St Andrew Declaration by scholars and clergy from the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches. The Declaration is …

Teaching about the Eucharist

While preparing our new website for Holy Cross, Davidson's Mains, it became clear that it had three main functions. One was to provide easily accessible up-to-date information about us and what we are doing, for example if you were visting Edinburgh and wanted to come to Mass in an Anglican Church you should find all …

Online Guidance: What is Prayer?

I am working with the designers at AltTen Interactive to produce a new website for my church. It has been an interesting experience. Holy Cross had a decent site but it was looking dated and the lockdowns persuaded us that we needed something completely new. This in turn raised the question, what is a church …

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle : A Sermon for Remembrance Sunday 2021

November is the Month of the Dead when we look to the last days. Last Sunday was also the first public Remembrance Day service in Davidson's Mains in my time as Rector and I was pleased to be asked to lead it. In our Church that morning, I took the readings for the Sunday ('Proper …

Real Presence? Theological Reflection on Online Eucharists

This paper was prepared for an online conference on Saturday 25 September 2021 organised by the Scottish Episcopal Institute. Four Scottish Episcopal priests in pastoral ministry discussed the theological implications of celebrating the Eucharist online during a pandemic. It was a good, collegial discussion, with many people joining us, and all four papers will be …

God does not change : a Sermon for Pentecost 14, 2021

+ God, ‘with whom there is no shadow or variation due to change’ God doesn’t change. During the first lockdown we turned a small room upstairs in the Rectory into a chapel. Each morning I say my prayers there. When we first arrived at Holy Cross the trees opposite at the edge of Lauriston were …

Holy Communion for Babies, or what it means to be Human

Canon 25 of the Scottish Episcopal Church begins ‘The sacrament of baptism is the full rite of initiation into the Church, and no further sacramental rite shall be required of any person seeking admission to holy communion’. The ‘further sacramental rite’ not required is confirmation, which has traditionally been required for admission to holy communion …

The Priest’s Praying Body : Manual Acts 4 – when is Jesus present?

The previous post in this commentary on the priest’s actions during the Eucharistic Prayer ended with the words, ‘Finally, after the people have given their assent to the prayer by the final “Amen”, the priest genuflects before the presence of Christ in the bread and wine on the altar’. This raises the question posed in …