11 November
As I approach my last Sunday in the English Reformed Church the first thing I would like to do is to thank you all for the warmth of your welcome to Moira and myself. It has been quite remarkable and will stay with us for a long time. We have also greatly enjoyed living in the manse and seeing the city of Amsterdam. We will….
2 November
Dear Friends,
This Sunday is marked in the United Kingdom as Guy Fawkes’ Night or Bonfire Night. It started with the discovery on 5 November 1605 of a plot, led by Guy Fawkes, to blow up the King and Parliament. Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were Catholics who wanted to see the end of the Protestant hold on power. When the people of London learned that the scheme had been foiled at the last minute they took to the streets and lit bonfires in celebration.
While it was once about Christian division, nowadays it is …
26 October
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’S THOUGHTS:
The new week which begins on Sunday includes 1st November which in the Christian calendar is All Saints Day. It is a day to remember all those Christian saints who do not have a day of their own during the year. "All Saints" include those workers for God's Kingdom who have given us shared gifts like a beautiful church building, hymns to sing, bibles to read in our own language, ways in which we can work together. But also in that great company of less-famous saints are the people who brought us into the life of faith.
19 October
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’S THOUGHTS:
I'm sure many of us find it difficult to see how peace might return to Israel and Palestine. The history of conflict in those lands goes back a long way - the very name Palestine has its roots in the Greek name for the land of the Philistines - and there have been many layers added to the history of the area since David faced Goliath.
Perhaps we can all do two things. One is to pray -
12 October
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’S THOUGHTS:
This week has brought terrible news headlines about the events in what we call the Holy Land.
In 2019 the editor of the Times of Israel told me in his Jerusalem office that if, after an eight-day visit, we thought we had understood the issues in Israel and Palestine then we had wasted our time. I am not, therefore, going to offer some easy analysis of what is going on there.
5 October
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’S THOUGHTS:
Moira and I would like to thank everyone who has made us so welcome since our arrival in Amsterdam - we can hardly believe it was only last week as the manse already seems like home!
A special thanks to Sies Plokker who met us at the airport and showed us how to use the bus.
28 September
Dear Friends,
As of this week Rev Dr George Whyte will be our locum minister. Originally from Barrhead in East Renfrewshire, George Whyte was ordained as an elder at the age of 21 and studied science and then divinity at the University of Glasgow, with a year as a police officer in between. Dr Whyte was ordained as minister of Kilchrenan and Dalvich with Muckairn in Argyll in 1981. He also served churches in Glasgow and Edinburgh…..
22 September
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’s THOUGHT
This is our last Sunday with you and Judith and I have loved every minute of being part of the ERC. Thank you for your wonderful kindness to us. And how fitting to end our brief visit on Harvest Sunday, when we are thankful for all of God’s goodness.
I would have loved more time here with you, but we will leave with such a harvest of thanksgiving for the joy we’ve shared among you. We will pray that you will have greater and greater …
15 September
Dear Friends,
MINISTER’S THOUGHT
You know, sometimes I wish I could get a mirror with a better view. It's not that I think I'm horrible, it's just that I think I'm not what I should be. Maybe you feel the same? Maybe our entire congregation is made up of people who are not terribly happy about who they are, and who are very aware that they have a lot of shortcomings.
The bad news …
7 September
Dear Friends
MINISTER’S THOUGHTS
Everybody wants to be loved. I want to be loved. And I think I’ve learned the secret of how to be loved - it's at the heart of our faith and it is really simple, so simple that anyone can achieve it. Are you ready to hear it?
The secret of being loved is…