Dear Friends,

THE TINY WHITE CHURCHES OF GREECE

If you ever visit Greece, you can’t help wondering why they have so many churches. There are big churches in the towns and villages. But out in the country and even in remote places the hillsides are dotted with little white churches. If you ever go tovisit one of them, you will find it is very small indeed. Some of them are what you might call ‘two-seater- churches, but they have candles that you can light and the holy icons which are an aid to prayer in the Greek Orthodox Church. And they always smell of incense - another aid to prayer.

Bishop John Zizioulas loves to be asked why people build little churches in remote places. ‘Have you seen the hillsides around some of our villages?’ he asks…

Dear Friends,

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

Malcolm Guite tells the story of a journey he made by train. He was one of many passengers forced to leave their southward bound train at York station because of a broken down train further up the track.

All the passengers were annoyed and were standing around looking angry or sad or lost. Then something wonderful happened. There was a chuff-chuff-chuff sound and clouds of steam covered the platform and …

Dear Friends,

FOCUS ON WHAT IS ESSENTIAL!

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was asked by his son to officiate at his wedding ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral. A rehearsal was held the day before the wedding and Justin Welby, who was out of practice when it came to weddings, asked the Dean of Canterbury to be present to make sure that he did everything properly….

Dear Friends

No visit to Amsterdam would be complete without a visit to the Vincent van Gogh Museum. Vincent took his own life in 1890. His brother Theo died six months later. Theo had been a tower of strength to Vincent throughout his life. Theo was his counsellor, comforter and financial backer. Vincent wrote hundreds of letters to his brother in which he confided his innermost thoughts and his mental turmoil...

Dear Friends

In the year 2000 the National Gallery in London put on an art exhibition of images of Christ. It was entitled ‘Seeing Salvation’. 

One sculpture was of a naked Jesus sitting on a rock wearing the crown of thorns and awaiting crucifixion. He looked so vulnerable and helpless. The impact of that statue on visitors to the exhibition was extraordinary. ….

Dear Friends

ANNE FRANK – EXAMPLE OF COURAGE

No visit to this city could be complete without a tour of Anne Frank’s House. The tragedy of this teenaged girl, full of life and highly skilled as a writer despite her young age, brings home to all of us the colossal tragedy of the Holocaust.

Back in the 1990s an exhibition based on the life eand achievement of Anne Frank came to Dublin. Hilary and I and the children were privileged to view the exhibition….

Dear Friends

IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK!

Hilary and I are delighted to be with you once again. I served as locum here in May, 2014 during the last vacancy. Indeed Lance came to preach as nominee and we were delighted to offer Sally and Lance a guest room in the manse, which was soon to be their home.

In 2014 we bought a little souvenir of this city, a Christmas tree decoration of two miniature clogs. Every Christmas when decorating our tree, we are reminded of the time we spent in the fellowship of ERC……

Dear Friends

This is my last letter as locum minister. Dorothy and I return to Northern Ireland on Monday after nine weeks in Amsterdam. We benefited greatly from the ministry of the ERC when we lived in the Netherlands and it has been a great privilege to be able to contribute to the life of the church during this period of vacancy. …

Dear Friends,

I want to begin with a word of thanks to everyone who picked up responsibility for the service last Sunday in my absence. Particular thanks to Heleen for leading and Giles for reading the sermon. It was so interesting to hear the service online rather than see it. There’s something to be said for the simplicity of sound in a culture where we are constantly bombarded with images….

Dear Friends,

It appears that it was not only the clocks that changed last weekend, the weather too has changed. Having been so used to bright sunny days it seems that over the next week we will have to settle for cloudy days and some rain. As always, what is disappointing for some is relief for others. I suspect there will be plenty of farmers and gardeners pleased to see a little rain. Those touring the fields at Keukenhof may feel differently.

As we approach the end of Lent and begin to move into the heart of the Easter festival, we are reminded of the very different ways the events of Easter were experienced at the time. For the disciples it was an anxious time. They knew that Jesus’ determination to be in Jerusalem for the Passover would lead to trouble. For the religious authorities there was the welcome opportunity to rid themselves of a troublemaker. But no one, not the religious leaders, not the soldiers at the tomb, not the disciples could have foreseen the final outcome, the resurrection.

Our circumstances can change like the weather – bright today, dark tomorrow. Whatever our experience of life, maybe we can be encouraged by the knowledge that, because of the resurrection, up ahead lies glory!

David