ORATORY TO OSCR ! THE DECLINE IN THE KIRK.

 

SNINTRNATIONAL.

DATELINE EDINBURGH  MAY 2019.

general Assembly Hall

EDITOR: –  Stewart Nicol.BD.

As the Kirk meets atop the mound for its annual General Assembly it is facing a major crisis with dwindling numbers lower income and hogh building maintenance costs it has brough a radical approach on several fronts.   there may not have been a golden era but in the the almost half a millenium of the Kirk such lack of church attendance and drop in membership has rarele happened save for the enlightenment era when kbowledge and science challenged church views.

The seven days in May will result in plans for the future to strenghen the Church of Scotland.

There will be much debate over fi ancial issues as they seek to reduce deficits and pension funds will be strched as a large number of ministers reach retirement age which may be 70+!

My first experience as a journalist was three decades ago and more. Back then it was very formal in dress and protocol. officials wore fark clothed topped by a frock coat ss it was known.  dog collars were thicker and little oe no colour was around.   However there were great speeches ny those seeki g to persuade the commissioners of thir cause great oratory.  as the decades pass formality changes  and less formal and more colourful clothing.   there may not be as much amazing speeches and erudite arguements but there us still the dedication and passion in the debates.  the demise of the kirk is predicted each decade and millenia but despite the doom merchants the KIRK marches on perhaps to more upbeat music and shorter sermons. A few years ago I askwd a mi ister his take on the General Assembly and the kirk. His answer was ” well when I bwcame a minister Jesus Christ was head of the Kirk! Now its a geezer called OSCR!  Other Commissioners felt much was veing cebtralised to the detriment of Geberal Assembly’s ability to shape the Kirk.

Whatever the truth much has changed.   The Kirks influence on society is dimininishing each decade. . However, the faith will contuinue. Who knows a revival may be around soon.  it will be anothet year until the Commissioners  from all over Scotlans and beyond return  atop the mound in Edinburgh what new challenges will they face?

 

 

 

 

 

New Year – brexit, fixit or what?

As we drift toward a new year 2019 we face a range of unknown unknowns as Donald Rumsfeld would suggest.  In the USA  where more senior staff have been fired than in all previous administrations since 1776 it is not surprising the world is more than nervous to go into the unknown.  It is a time when faith is sparse on the ground where integrity is in short supply in places of authority on many continents.   The national debts are astronomical so much so that the system may well be heading for a massive fall off the cliff!    Overvalued tech companies who may not produce the kind of money they are supposed to may see another bubble burst!

scottish Saltire Flags abound.

It is a time when countries need to get back to basic sensible accounting.  To not hit the poorest majority but the rich elite with the trillions hidden from the economy..  sovereign funds hitting 76 trillion euros in some cases..   in the usa 23 trillion hidden in a  federal reseerve account in virgini! owed to Emilio Wanta!  not to mention the the rest of the trillions.

It is long overdue to have real TRANSPARENCY  not just talked  about transparency that never appears.

In the world political front Russia  bashing in the west is unwise at best and at worst pure fabricated LIES tyo hide thier own incompatencies..

Much of the worlds energy is going to be more controlled and needed in the west by countries other than those friendly to the west.  Chinas expansion has led it to base around the world in Aftica for raw materials and now in Greenland mineral rich area the twelth largest are in the world probabluy.  with a population of a small town or island like Bermuda.  Denmark at present is in control and the USA  has a strategic base there.  So China may not be welcomed by them.

The state of the UK government is in a llow ebb with tooo many MPS being professional politicos never having run a business or paid a payroll or dealt with legislation at the sharp end so can totally miss the point in legislation sucDe h as using a referendum in a very complex area like whether we should be in or out of the EU.   De Gaulle kept us out by spreading rumours of the price of butter going through the roof!  while the Brexiteers suggested we were throwing  billions at the EU forgetting to say how many billions we have received for remote areas. neither accurate or helpful.

I  am long in the tooth at this journalism game and it worries me what makes the headlines suCh as celebrities private lives not important at all to the public while not watching government like a proper watchdog for malfiesance and just plain bad decisions.

we need a whole new approach to the world to survive. look what we have done to the planet with Plastic?  my grandfather warned me against that invention when I was eight years old??  You will never get rid of it he said???   prophetic to say the least.

He was into recycling and care of the resources as part of his lifestyle and view as a steward of what was there leaving it no worse than he found it.UK south of the border in England the Church of England founded by king Henry VIII they too are seeing small numbers through the door ND INDEED MANY FEWER GOING INTO THE PRIESTHOOD.

THE MALAISE IN THE WORLD MAY WELL BE AN UNPALATABLE TRUTH TIME FOR PEOPLE TO BE FAITHFUL TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE.   time for the press to follow the MONEY  and for the politicians to WORK TOGETHER.

cover is a suitably Scottish saint. St. Margaret of Scotland .

There are no impossible problems with God all can be resolved. So let us have one new year resoluton:     WORK  TOGETHER BE LESS JUDGEMENTAL OF OTHER COUNTRIES LOOK FOR THE POSITIVE..  LOVE  PRAY   AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL.  GOD BLESS.

March in Edinburgh.

On a sunny and chilly autumn day mane tens of thousands turned up to march for independence.  The Royal Mile was thronged with people and there was a forest of Saltires and a smattering od Catalonian flags.

ROYAL MILES MARCH FOR INDEPENDENCE.

The marchets frequently broke into song the official national anthem “FLOWER  OF  SCOTLAND”

The climate for independence since the last referendum is unclear those keen suggesy Brexit has sey the scene. While those pro UK  suggest there is mo appetite for either a referendum or for a YES vote.  The  match not an official pne was put together by the grassroots people.

THE moves towards another referendum on independence may be further away but judging from the numbers on this march the Yes campaign is far from dead.

The SNP  annual conference was held in Glasgow and began on Sunday October 7 and those in the party who still want another indy referendum must have been encouraged by the  numbers on  the  march various numbers     ranging from 100,000 to  50000 as the march was not an official one police figures are on the low side.  suffice it to say the march was nearly a mile long.

political misdirection.

In the current days the government and their media friends seem to be determined to misdirect the public away from the absolute mess that is the Brexit situation in an absolutely split conservative party.  THE FALL GUY IS JEREMY CORBYN.  LETS GET SOME FACTS STRAIGH FIRST SEMITIC MEANS ARABS NOT JUST JEWS SO YOU CANNOT BE ANTI SEMITIC SIMPLY AGAINST ONE PART OF  THAT WORDS MEANING”

Now that that is out of the way let is look at the total muddle that has been the negatiations since the beginning firstly no one seems to have really been in charge. Davis thought he was then May backtraced .  the sniping from both sides at the PM has resulted in indecision all round.   The Europeans dont want us to leave so they will do a reasonable deal but they will not bne soft.  too good a divorce might lead to the total collapse of the EU.  after all there are brexiteers in every member state probabluy. certainly in Austria and Finland and some in Germany want the deutchmark back they are fed up bailing everyone else out.

a devastated street in Libya after NATO bombing how did that protect innocent civilians?

 

So the Mainstream Media should be doing the numbner crunching and the research instead of focusing on the policios on either side and fomenting trouble in the conservative party so they now move on to Corbyn.    Jeremy Corbyn is too socialist for the conservative friendly media and is not given any real unbiased treatment.

Every act of terrorism is both cowardly and criminal and should be treated as such.  It is not well known but in some circles terrorism is not always what it seems the perpetrators can be in the pay of political people using their terror to get a political result they want.   Abu Nidal who was killed in Iraq was rumoured to be in the pay of Israeli masters at times.  If anyone finds his diary it may reveal some surprising names!

In Europe decades ago it was rumoured that the red brigade was an arm of Gladio! It was formed during second world war and has links to intelligence services in the west. A very secretive organisation some say still operates under the radar.  Again for whose ends??

off Gibraltar.

Equally the conspiracy theories around 9/11 in the USA will not disappear until there is a real neutral investigation of the events.   This unique tragic event made certain people very rich and also allowed for the introduction of the draconian  Patriot Act.  no one seem to ast the question how was this detailed draconian act written up in advance??   In the wake o f the horrific event it was passed by senators and congressmen /congresswomen without question or even without being read?

The lone wolf attacks and even those with  more that one person often end with the perpetrators being killed so there is no real investigation of their motives means and paymasters.  MArk my words there are always paymasters as every attack needs cash . conveniently ISIS or some other body will claim they were behind it but dont forget the Mujahidin under Bin Laden became Al Qaeda and morphed into Al Nusra and then supposedly Isis!     the media if they wish have a watchdog role to play it may be tough and it is dangerous as when governments are involved in the cover up they will stop at nothing to ensure the coverup.  They misuse their powers and intelligence services on false pretexts.  I know as an investigative journalist I have crossed swords with them.

Whistleblowers are also very poorly protected they risk at best their jobs at worst their lives or thier family.s lives.   It is long overdue we protect the wikileakers of the world. The UK should never spend millions trying to stop Assange leaving that embassy. use the money to do proper investigations. Any detective will tell you he is short of manpower and budgets to do what is necessary to catch the cuprits.  Political interference in the law is also rife and needs to be stopped and unlike in Judge John Deed series in real life all too often they get away with it.

POLITICIANS WHO ARE DEMONISED BY THE PRESS OFTEN ARE NOT THE REAL PROBLEM .  THEY MAY BE THE ANSWER THOSE BEHIND THE SCENES DONT WANT AS THE STATUS QUO ENRICHES THEM IN THEIR SAFE HAVENS AND TAX FREE HAVENS.

PHOTO  –  COUTESY OF THE KERMLIN

  IF THIS ITEM DOES NOTHIN ELSE  I HOPE IT MAKES YOU  QUESTION  MORE ANDLOOK BEYOND THE HEADLINES SEE THE MOTIVATIONS AND POLITICAL MANAEUVERS TO BLIND SIDE YOU.   SEEK THE  TRUTH   IT IS LONG OVERDUE .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2018

The general Assembly of 2018 celebrates the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Women into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament.   To mark this occasion on the  fourth day of the Assembly a march was made up the Mound to the Quod of New College atop the Mound by many of the women ministers ordained in the last fifty years.   The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is Rt. Rev. Susan Brown of Dornoch Cathedral. 

NEW  COLLEGE.  EDINBURGH ATOP THE MOUND.

    The Kirk was in feisty mood as the threw out the Strategic Plan of the ASSEMBLY  COUNCIL. for being short on detail and heavy on platitudes.  although it did have some key points overall it was weak.  It fell as the commissioners voted it down.  

Rt. Rev. Susan Brown

 

      The World Mission report covered a range of issues and during the debates and question time many raised the issues of Palestine and some speakers sought the church to encourage the UK government to  recognise Palestine state.  It also highlighted the plight of those who were oppressed by the Israeli government and lived in a a virtual prison due to the massive walls and checkpoints erected and the continued taking of Palestinian LAND  for new building projects. 

     The Kirk though under pressure as it shrinks in size and the lack of Ministers sought to find new ways to attract the younger generation who seem to have lost their faith or have little or no interest in religion.  

photos will come next week

LONE WOLVES CRIMINALS INCORPORATED.

THE  LAST few terrror attacks have taken a new turn love wolves is a term used by media perhpas advised by the security services.  in many cases after the incident the lone wolf or wolvves end up dead in a hail of police bullets not surprising but a bit counter productve if we want to stop this type of attaack.

Sadly the Rambla Barcelona has been the location of the latest attacks plus a locale near Barcelona  this time there is a pack if not more than one pack at work  again most seem to have ended up dead or at least not caught yet! Major gas finds in Syrian area and in the middle east.  may be to blame .  Im fascinated that my statistics jumped up from one turkish source  why i wondeer.???

In the coming days we will hear more of this sad terror attacks and the loss of life even children died a three year old.       The key is to make sure we capture one of these wolves and make him talk see if just a criminal decided to do deed on own or if he was inspired by rubbish on the internet or dark net.  was he paid as there are costs in the terror someone pays for hire so a money trail needs to be found .  it can be found too .  Trouble is most of the clamp downs are at the wrong end of the market thoe ordinary punter suffers while the big fish swim freely.

There are some intersting alliances forming in the asian area Turkey and Russia forming more friendly relations also Russia and China. also forming relationships.  The USA in the misdst of confusing messages from a President who seems to be more   interested in firing people around him than taking their advice.   Also far right and left groups are  becoming hostile openly to each other.   It is an unusual time indeed

 

more to follow more research on going.

 

 

 

 

 

World in Confusion!

Source: World in Confusion!

World in Confusion!

The current state of the Planet is best described as confusing there are things happening which half a century ago would be looked on with amazement and incredulity.  A massive commercial airliner dis appears totally no wreckage found and no bodies and a hint that it was remotely  hijacked .   Poland’s whole government was killed in a plane crash as they were going to a funeral.  rumours of this incident include that gunmen roamed the wreckage ensuring all were dead!!   There has been a move to leave the EU in the UK after a referendum where a narrow margin voted to leave.    There was an election called within a few weeks after the Prime MInister in a TV interview said there was no reason for one.  There are a number of terror attacks.

There are what has become termed more lone wolf attacks and random terrorist groups  A coup in Turkey while the President manages to survive and not only that get rid of all opposition.  Judges Professors and others who oppose him.   The soldiers also jailed thought they were on an exercise!!   The american Presidential election finished up with the most unlikely winner a celebrity type candidate businessman who has been bankrupt six times at least.. H is running the place like his TV show having said to a number of his cabinet   YOU ARE FIRED!!! EVEN THE HEAD OF THE FBI WAS FIRED!   NOW HIS CHIEF LAW OFFICER HAS BEEN SIDELINED.    IN  EUROPE  THE PLACE IS BEING INUNDATED WITH REFUGEES FROM AFRICA AND ENDING UP IN GREECE AND ITALY 

Both countries are poor economies already.  strained to the limit now being overloaded with a massive problem despite Germany having an open door policy.  Many just want to reach britain.  while others Germany and France.   The welcome is not red carpet   from anywhere add to that the refugees from Syrian civil war it is a mess by any measure.
In 2011 NATO was used to destroy yet another country  LIBYA.    Gaddafi was murdered brutally in camera shot! his son barely survived another son died too also murdered six years later one of the most advanced arab nations is in ruins.  It is a mess of warlord factions fighting each other two so called governments which do not have any authority what so ever.  All this regime change is destroying the planet,  There are a myriad of other things in the political world Russia is being sidelined.   Putin villified by the west despite he is the Good Guy on the planet a Christian and the Russian Orthodox Church growing faster than at any time in the last century .  The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church has said President Putin is a miracle for the Christian Church in Russia.  The Church in Europe on the  other hand there is reducing vastly.   The Church of Scotland was founded in the sixteenth century and has grown or at least stayed fairly static except for some times in the 17th Century.  Today it has a membership for the first time falling below half a million nearer 300,000. in a Scotland with a growing population nearly six million.   There is definitely a change in society towards more open and some would say immoral behaviour.  The Gay rights have steamrolled into almost the mainstream.  Yet the rainbow alliance may find there is a backlash to come.   It is this immoral behaviour which fuels the hatred of the west by the more narrow viewed Islamic society.  Indeed if you look at the middle east women are decades if not centuries behind their western sisters.  In more modern middle east countries they have been attacked ergo Syria. Libya.   Despite the mayhem life is going on as normal more people are going on cruise ships and the companies are building larger and larger ones.  Will it all end in tears possibly but here is a strange economic statistic  in a world of massive economic downturn the luxury market has risen about 60% while top incomes rose massively and the bankers who lost the billions end up with millions bonuses!!! The bottom 45% have faced frozen wages or at best a 1% increase!   The news media broadcast and print is owned worldwide by a handful of people never a good idea.  In the journalistic world freelancers find it more and more difficult to eek out a living thanks to the owners greed trying to make citizen journalists!!  you can’t be both you are either one or the other you can never be both but that was Murdoch’s idiotic idea to make him more money and care less about the quality.  The world needs now are citizens to rise up and ask the real questions and to start to keep politicians  accountable.  

The beginning mentioned the puzzling happenings in recent times.  they have yet to be explained including the in-house possibly 9/11 which must be the craziest most covered up disaster in history.    Some 9000 architects say there is something to be explained. Ah well by the time of the next blog I hope more people will care to start to turn the world around to get the bad guys!  put them back where they deserve to be behind bars.    Pray for a change  I am will someone who reads this tell me if they are concerned about the world? .   thanks

.

 

 

YES AND NO! MINISTER!

   Atop the Mound in Edinburgh for seven days in May the Kirk more formally known as the Church of Scotland meets for its annual meeting known as the General Assembly to plan the way ahead for the Church and indeed act on   occasions as a court to deal with problems or problem ministers in the Kirk.   

photo courtesy Church of Scotland.

     This year 2017 the Kirk is probably facing its most critical problem for the future since its establishment nearly 500 years ago.  It is worth wondering what John Knox its founder  would have though said and more likely done in the current climate.  The country he lived in and founded the reformed church became in time the land of the Book.  The book in question being the Bible. frequently it is said by commissioners they feel the Kirk is in a land that no longer is a Christian country.  With the growing  population increasing from differing ethnic and religious backgrounds it is little surprise that the members and ministers feel under much pressure.   In the past decade many Churches have closed and been sold often turned into apartments and houses.   It is not what some feel the biblical words In my father’s house are many mansions! is about.  Some 700 plus commissioners comte to debate the issues facing the Kirk.  They are from the Highland to the Lowland and everyplace in between.   They are a wide range of theological views to from evangelicals conservative to the much more open liberal views who see need for change and adaptation to modern

photo courtesy sninternational

society.

     This year the agenda included a celebration of the Balfour declaration Centenary,  The need for allowing older people to train for the ministry or in other words a U-turn from when they shut the door on anyone over 55 being trained for the ministry.  The development of new types of ministry too has taken place but with reservations among some in the congregations.

photo courtesy Church of Scotland.

        Some fear the diminution of the value of the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in such changes.   The idea of Hub ministries is gaining ground as is closer ecumenical ties the lack of funds in all denominations seems to encourage best use of  resources and the ability to share with each other.  Those in the Ecumenical area seem to feel this is changing the tide towards more ecumenical work over Scotland and the wider world.

During General Assembly there used to be much erudite speeches some key arguments put well and some memorable lines and quotes for the press who covered the issues closely indeed until devolution and a Scottish Parliament in 1999 the Kirk was the voice of the Scottish People.   It is perhaps fitting that the first Parliament meetings pushed the Church of Scotland General Assembly aside they held it not in the Assembly Hall but in the Conference centre in Edinburgh while the Parliament met in the newly refurbished Assembly Hall.!  since that time the Kirk’s assembly has seen a marked diminution of its import to the Scottish Society.

    The Kirk always invites delegates to attend from all over the world from Church partners around the Globe.  Among those this year was Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan.  He was invited to address the General Assembly by the new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland the Rt. Rev. Derek Brownning of Edinburgh. Prince Ghazi’s speech proved to be  words of warning to .  the kKirk AND THE WORLD. He painted a bleak picture and one of violence and tragedy in the wake of the MANCHESTER BOMBING many may feel he is right to be concerned about the future and about the rift between the west Christianity and Islam.

photo courtesy Church of Scotland.

    However, it was not doom and gloom and much waas there to be clelbrated including the work of the Guild, the Youth General Assembly and many other projects including one to tackle the pay day loans companies who charged astronomic rates to the poorest in society.

general Assembly Hall

There is one thing for sure over the week long Assembly the Kirk is not pessimistic but full of faith and ideas which the next General Assembly will undoubtedly discuss, argue debate and discard as well as wholeheartedly embrace to ensure a future of faith for the faithful few though they are at present.

To be or not to be..SCOTLAND THE BRAVE.

To Be or not to be…SCOTLAND THE BRAVE!

IT is  fitting title for a puzzling time in the U.K.  what with BREXIT and perhaps the exit of Scotland from the Union?  The first part of the title is from the English Bard Shakespeare while the remainder of the title id the bedt known Scottish song!   The answer is multi level and far more complex.

 

There are several Nordic countries smaller populations yet survive and even thrive.  However, more younger Scots feel they are Scottidh before British unlike 50 years ago!  The last referendum result was narrow and some suspect was rigged.  It is no surprise a SECOND referendum is needed. THE  SNP  are simply keeping to thier manifesto promise due to BREXIT result. Unlike the Chancellor who had to make s sharp ordered U TURN!!!  Under internstional law and treaties PM May will be unable to stop it. As cameron was reminded and came to Edinburgh with Blank paper to sign!  😅  according toa reliable source.

oil industry in Aberdeen the Oil and energy Capital of Scotland

 

The real question is the economy and the constitution. Well a written one has been dtaftef by a thonl tank prior to first referendum and as for economy well Maggie Thatcher destroyed the mining and steel industries and was convinced of Friedmans  market driven model which even Friedman admitted eas WRONG AND RUBBISH!  What of Oil. Well despite recent politically low pricrs to try tp damage the Russian economy.  In reality prices must rise. In the medium term maybe little but in far future some predict high demand and smaller reserves $200  a barrel!

However the opposition tp the SNP paint it oil is a bonus not the bread and butter that is thibgs like tourism and  agriculture and Whisky currently put performibg oil sector on i come.  Interesting that Cameron visited Shetland just before the teferendum vote day and failed to announce BP’S largest westof Shetland basin find which will produce millions of barrels daily. BP afmit it is larger than the forties find whichkicked off the oil bonanza!

 

Highland Mary still looking for a proper ferry!

 

So if the people of Scotland the brave dare to say YES!  then they will simply return to being a more active Nation in Europe with thier own currency to boot they could be all but debt free! That is for another blog.