24
8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 1/24 In This Issue Homelessness p6 Together Green p12 Christian Aid p16       t      o      g       e        t       h      e       r      n      e       s       s  

Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 1/24

i

s

s

u

e

2

s

p

r

i

n

g

2

0

1

1

In This Issue

Homelessness

p6

Together

Green

p12Christian Aid

p16

P e a c e

G a r d e n p 1 8

S t C u t h b e r t ' s

B e l l s p 2 0

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

Page 2: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 2/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

c

o

n

t

e

n

t

s

W h a t ' s I n T h i s I s s u e ?

35

6

12

16

2022

Together News

The Corner Stone

Homelessness AndWhat We're Doing

Earth Be Glad

Christian Aid

200 Peals of St

Cuthbert's Bells

What Does TogetherMean? Robert Philp

Togetherness is

the EdinburghCity CentreChurches Togethermagazine.

Togetherness ishere to provideyou with

information,views, articlesideas and insightinto what'shappening in thecity centre, whatwe're doing in thecity centre andwhat you can doin the city centre.We hope you likeit.

Copyright © 2011Edinburgh City Centre

Churches TogetherAuthors.

Edinburgh City CentreChurches Together is aRegistered Charity.Charity NumberSC040773

St Andrew's and St George'sWest Church

13 George Street EdinburghEH2 2PA

0131 225 [email protected]

editor/coordinator Joe Evans

[email protected]

Page 3: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 3/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

3

Spring is in the air and as is

fitting, a period of new growthis upon us.

There is a definite feeling of

optimism and hope for new

initiatives with a variety of

different plans shaping up for

the near and longer term

starting to take place.

By the time this is printed we

will have seen events at our

churches in preparation for

the coming Scottish elections.

These will allow us to actively

engage with future policy

makers on the importantissues of homelessness and

climate change.

On the 9th of April, Together

are holding a day conference

on our way forward for new

forms of church. Please come

along to the Undercroft at StAndrew's and St George's

West, George Street, from

9am to have your voice heard.

The Together Green group is

starting to take shape, the

first fruits of this collaboration

appear in this issue, and more

Taking Together ForwardJoe Evans discusses some Together goings on.

details should be forthcoming

soon.

The Together Workplace

chaplain position is currently

being advertised through a

range of channels, this will

continue our collective tradition

of engagement in the business

life of the city centre. This postwill run in collaboration with

Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland

and the advert can be viewed

at tinyurl.com/work place

chaplain

As of 13th March, the

congregation of St Andrew'sand St George's West have

nominated Ian Gilmour to be

their new minister, and await

confirmation from presbytery

that he can be appointed.

This is of course just a selection

of the things going on acrossTogether, with new ideas and

old projects working alongside

each other all the time.

Hopefully we are continuing to

work, socialise and pray

together more and more, to the

benefit of us all.

Page 4: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 4/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

4

The Wider WorldThings Local and International

An exciting initiative to change

the situation in the Middle East

by changing the basis of the

conversation.

By following the route that

Abraham took through his life,

the walk encourages hospitalityand tourism to develop, in a

turbulent region.

walkpalestine.com

ted.com/talks/william_ury.

html

No, not a bit of the London Tube

Map. It's a detail from the new

Edinburgh Innertube bike map

from thebikestation.org.uk as

part of a £98,000 project to

improve our city's cycleways

Japan EarthquakeA massive earthquake, the

seventh largest recorded in

history, struck the east coast

of Japan on Friday 11 March.

The earthquake, measuring

9.0 on the Richter scale,

triggered a tsunami which hitthe east coast of Japan with

7 metre high waves, leaving a

trail of destruction.

Please donate to the Red

Cross Appeal for this and

other campaigns at

redcross.org.uk

Inner Tube

Tourism for Peace

Page 5: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 5/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

5

The United Church

in Jamaica and the

Cayman Islandsand the

Government of

Jamaica have

joined forces through the

Mount Olivet Boys’ Home to

provide a place of hope for

young boys who have been

abused or neglected.

It was in May 1971 that The

Corner Stone was set up as a

late night coffee house

outreach project, under the

auspices of the Council of West End Churches, a

forerunner of TOGETHER. The

band of helpers was sizeable

and though now scattered

many still keep in touch.

Arrangements are in hand to

mark Cornerstone's 40thbirthday with a reunion of ex

helpers. The planning group

would like to hear from those

who might like to attend, at

this stage to get some idea of

numbers. The reunion will take

the form of an informal lunch

on Sunday 5 June 2011,

following the TOGETHER JointService planned for that day at

St John's.

If you helped with The Corner

Stone in any way and have not

already received details of the

preliminary arrangements,

please contact: Rev ClephaneHume (0131 667 2996);

[email protected] and

Anne Sturrock (0131 668 3524)

[email protected]

TheCornerStone

40 year celebrations for The Corner Stone

You can help by simply

collecting any of your used

stamps and posting them onto:

World Mission Stamp Project,

PO Box 9191, WISHAW,

Lanarkshire ML2 0YB. These are

then are sold on to raise money

for the campaign.

tinyurl.com/world mission

stamp appeal

Page 6: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 6/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

6

Hungry and

Homeless

Robert Philp, chairof the TogetherHomelessness

Group looks at whatcan be and is beingdone to combat thisever present issue.

Page 7: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 7/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

7

One of the big events of the year is the New Year Lunch

We all know the experience of

walking along an Edinburghpavement past Big Issue

sellers, or tripping over

someone begging (perhaps

with a dog or ‘Homeless and

Hungry’ placard), and not

having any idea what to do

about it.

This is one ingredient of the

public stereotype of homeless

people, as almost a race

apart, there to make us

uneasy. But when people fall

through the system (oftenbecause of relationship

breakdown or alcohol), they

are still just ordinary,

vulnerable people like the rest

of us, needing a secure roof,

but also, crucially, a range of

support to build self respect,

confidence and an independentlife.

The homeless problem is right

on our patch as city centre

In 2009 10, 42207 households wereaccepted by their local authority as homeless

or potentially homeless.

Page 8: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 8/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

8

On 31 December 2010, there were 10,952households in temporary accommodationacross Scotland. 1,419 (13 per cent) of thesehouseholds were in bed and breakfast

hotels.In 2009 10 1,262 local authoritytenants lost their homes as a result of eviction action.

"Fresh Start, makes up ‘Starter packs’ anddoes great work in preparing flats forhomeless people to move into and

befriending them."

churches, – just as it was in

1991.

That was when we realised

there were teenagers sleepingin the churchyards at St

John’s and St Cuthbert’s, and

a TV crew came up from the

south to film the phenomenon

of teenage homelessness in

Edinburgh.

The response then within the

West End churches was to

launch The Rock Trust, – 20

years old this year and today

a highly professional charity

focused on 16 to 25 – year

olds. Cephas (Greek for rock)

was started by CWEC in the

1960s for young people, then

The Corner Stone Café was

launched in the 1970s, so the

name Rock Trust continued this

lapidary sequence.

The Homelessness Group of the

West End Churches was formed

in 1991 to support the first

Director of the Trust, Brother

Basil. Since this time it has

monitored the evolvinghomelessness situation

throughout Edinburgh, and

worked out ways in which our

churches can help.

Our activities include a

Christmas/New Year Lunch,

the first of which was held in St

Page 9: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 9/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

9

(often a dead time for those on

the streets), and it happened

in, first, The Ark in New Street,and latterly in the ‘Crisis

Centre’ in Holyrood Road.

This year we served a three

course meal with live music to

around 80 people.

Care Shelter: With nodedicated centre for overnight

shelter in the winter, these

shelters have been held in

church halls.

29 percent of those who become homeless doso because of a dispute within their

household

George’s West on Christmas

Day.

At that time the church’s

cooking set up lacked the

sophistication it has today,

and the turkey had to be

carried down Shandwick Place

by the gallant helpers from

The Corner Stone Café where

it had been cooked.

Later, as other lunches came

to be held at Christmas, we

moved ours to the New Year

Page 10: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 10/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

0

Originally church helpers had

to stay overnight, which could

be interesting. In recent

years, a small team of

regulars from the BethanyTrust has stayed overnight,

while church teams provide a

welcome and an evening

meal.

Our churches are fully

involved, and St Cuthbert’s

hosts shelters around once aweek. The Shelter now runs

for five months, November to

March, and the number of

people coming seems to go on

rising. In 2000, the total

number was 2268, last winter

was 5636, and this year

numbers again seem to be

sharply up. The number

sleeping each night averaged 28

the winter before last, 36 last

winter. Some are from Eastern

Europe, many from Poland. Atthe start of April the Shelter

stops and many are out on the

streets again.

Fund raising: Our appeal each

winter covers the cost of our

Shelters and Lunch, but our

congregations are so generousthat there is always a surplus.

With this we are able to help

some of the agencies around

the city which give food, shelter,

help and welcome to the

vulnerable.

One example is the churches’

Page 11: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 11/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

1

In 2009 10 1,262 local authority tenants losttheir homes as a result of eviction action.

Statistics retrieved from:http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_issues/research_and_statistics/key_statistics/homelessness

_facts_and_research

own (‘Millennium’) project,

Fresh Start, which makes up ‘Starter packs’ and does great

work in preparing flats for

homeless people to move into

and befriending them.

Communication: With so

many agencies at work, it is

hard to keep tabs on what ison offer.

We have therefore prepared a

single sheet with an up to

date list of Services in the City

Centre for homeless and

vulnerable people, with

sections on Accommodation,In Crisis, Food, Money and

Health. We hope to re issue

this annually, since

arrangements change so

often.

It can be handed out to

anyone who needs to know allthis, and doesn’t at the

moment seem to be well

enough known, so if you want

a copy, ask your Church Office

for one.

Politics: The current stringent

programme of government cuts

has a tough message for

everyone with housing

difficulties. With so little

affordable housing and so little

building being done, increasingdebt and the fear of

repossessions, it looks as if

things can only get worse.

To highlight the problems, we

organized with the Festival of

Spirituality a ‘Civic Café’

discussion in February last year,By the time you read this, we

will have held a Hustings Event

before the forthcoming Holyrood

elections, dedicated to the

theme of Housing and

Homelessness, on March 23rd.

We shall be looking for answers.

‘Be it ever so humble’, wroteJohn Howard Payne, ‘there’sno place like home.’

Page 12: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 12/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

2

A n d T h e T r e e s o f T h e F i e l d s

W i l l C l a p T h e i r H a n d s

Earth be Glad is a project to

measure and reduce the

carbon emissions of an entire

faith community.

By measuring our collective

energy use through a website,

every simple action of closing

the curtains, walking to the

shops or saving energy in

church becomes a prayer, part

of our offering to God,

drawing us together as aliving faith community seven

days of the week.

How is this possible? Because

the environmental crisis is not

caused by some unidentifiable

evil, but by millions of tiny

actions by ordinary people likeus in a society which has got

its priorities askew. By taking

notice of what we consume,

we begin to understand how

precious a gift our natural

world is, to praise God for it

and treasure it. By doing this

together, we make it part of

our witness, and can help and

encourage one another.

St John's launched Earth be

Glad in 2005 by creating andgiving everyone in the

congregation a poster on

environmental living. We

reprinted the poster as a

resource for new Earth be Glad

churches. St John's celebrated

the season of Creationtide for

the first time, and has done soevery year since.

Creationtide (1 September to

10 October) is becoming more

and more common worldwide.

An ecumenical season, it

incorporates Orthodox Creation

Day, St Francis Day and HarvestSunday. At this time, St John's

has sermons, music and prayers

on environmental themes.

At the end of our first

Creationtide for Harvest Festival

people were asked to write

environmental pledges on paper

Eleanor Harris tells us about the pioneeringEarth Be Glad project at St John's.

Page 13: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 13/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

3

leaves. These were hung on a

'tree' as part of our harvest

offering. This link between

faith and action, introducedpeople to a positive idea of

lifestyle change.

The Earth be Glad monitoring

website, earthbeglad.org.uk,

emerged from a desire to

develop a one off pledge into

a more sustainedenvironmental action – after

all a church is a sustained

community. A pilot began in

2007, and participants

discovered that each year,

without making much

conscious effort, their carbon

footprint reduced, justthrough increased awareness

of their energy use. In 2010

we received funding from the

Scottish Climate Challenge

Fund to develop the website

and improve participation.

Now a large proportion of regular attenders at St John's

are involved, with other

churches and faith groups

interested in the programme.

We are currently applying for

a second round of funding to

enable us to promote theprogramme further and

develop it in partnership with

the other faith groups who get

involved. If you are

interested, please do contact

us, or pass this on to anyone

you know who might like to

get their faith group involved.You can find out more about

us on our website,

www.earthbeglad.org.uk.

Sing to the Lord a new song: sing to the Lord, all the earth

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad:

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them:

then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

they will sing before the LORD, for he comes:

he comes to judge the earth in righteousness.

Psalm 96 1, 11 13

Page 14: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 14/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

4

Eco Life

In StCuthbert's

Starting out on the path to

becoming an Ecocongregation, we thought we

should start by setting our

own house in order. So we

drew up a list of simple but

effective measures to do this:

Notices were placed below 65

light switches asking the lastperson leaving a room to turn

off the lights.

All offices were supplied with

separate bins for waste paper

and used envelopes.

Plastic receptacles for cleancardboard were placed in

strategic places

A corner was designated the

“Recycling Centre” and a large

bin put there for waste paper.

The Council told us that to

qualify for one of its recycling

collections, someone wouldhave to live in the Church

premises. The Minister politely

declined this interesting

suggestion so our two Church

Officers kindly deliver used

cardboard and envelopes to

official recycling centres on

their separate ways home.

A small recycling compost bin

was put in the kitchen for items

like tea/ coffee bags/grounds,

vegetable or fruit peelings and

the contents are periodically

emptied into a large compost

bin in the churchyard.

Nesting birds can now use 2

nesting boxes – provided by

Greyfriars Recycling Of Wood

(GROW) – which are hung high

up on trees in the churchyard.

Various efforts have been made

Irene MacKenzie discusses what's involved ingetting on the green bandwagon.

Page 15: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 15/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

5

to use only recycled paper

hand towels, toilet paper and

eco friendly cleaning products.

Members of the congregationare invited to donate used

stamps, clean plastic milk

bottle tops and used mobile

phones and printer cartridges.

The used stamps are trimmed

and sent to the Church of

Scotland Collecting Centre inWishaw from where the

stamps are sold to collectors.

The amazing sums raised go

towards the annual World

Mission project. The milk

bottle tops are collected

centrally and recycled. The

phones and cartridges raisemoney for Christian Aid

through a recycling appeal in

Falkirk.

Then, we raised our sights to

the Church building itself and

arranged for a couple of free

surveys – one looking into ouruse of water and the other

making general comments on

the running of the building.

The outcomes have been:

Filled plastic bottles in the WC

cisterns to cut down our use

of water

Eco friendly light bulbs in all

accessible areas of the building

And plans to look into

attaching draft excluders onthe outside doors

A graph displayed in the

vestibule shows that our bills

have decreased 37% in the last

year. This, of course, has been

a lot to do with the new gas

boiler installed in 2009 but thatdoes not account for the

decreased electricity bills.

Our latest project has been to

agree to have a Blythswood

recycling bin in the Churchyard

(with the permission of the

Council, to which theChurchyard belongs), in which

can be collected old clothes,

shoes and handbags, books,

toys, DVDs and CDs, curtains

etc.

This bin will be emptied when

necessary by the BlythswoodCharity staff and useable goods

sold in their various shops to

raise money for their social

projects in the UK, Europe,

Asia and Africa or sent as aid

to those in need abroad,

particularly in Romania and

Serbia.

Page 16: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 16/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

6

Why Should We Support

Christian Aid?

We as Christians have been given two great commandments by

Jesus: to love God and to love our neighbours. This underpins

all that Christian Aid has done since its inception just after the

Second World War when churches in Britain and Ireland set up

an organisation to help European refugees.

Since then, the focus has become global, whether it be giving

emergency help and aid when disaster strikes (e g earthquake,

civil conflict, flood), working with partner organisations in

numerous countries to help the poor and needy find a way out

of their situation(e g fair trade co operative, improved

sanitation) or lobbying and campaigning to highlight the many

areas of injustice in our world.(e g child labour, tax evasion bymultinational companies in developing countries).

This assistance is given regardless of the faith or nationality of

those in need. In the last decade Christian Aid has focused on

poverty and climate change, we all have a part to play in how

we view and use the world’s resources and how we can redress

the balance. We have been given so much, how can we not

support Christian Aid!

Why Should We Support

Christian Aid?

Christian Aid week runs from 15th to 21st May thisyear. Maggie Romanis takes a look into thecharity's background.

Page 17: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 17/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

7

Creator God,

You loved the world into life.

Forgive us when our dreams of the futureare shaped by anything other than glimpses of a kingdom

of justice, peace and an end to poverty.

Incarnate God,

you taught us to speak out for what is right.

Make us content with nothing less than a world

that is transformed into the shape of love,

where poverty shall be no more.

Breath of God,

let there be abundant life.

Inspire us with the vision of poverty over,

and give us the faith, courage and will to make it happen.

Christian Aid Prayer for an End to Poverty

christianaid.org.uk/actnowpovertyover.christianaid.org.uk

Take Some Action Now

May 2009. The Katiku family in the droughtprone Usugu Village, east Kenya, have beenable to grow crops on their land despite no rainfor four years thanks to the help of UCCS. Thepartner built a small sub surface dam in anearby river which pumps water up on to theirland. With the farming techniques that MakulaKatiku has learned on the UCCS training days,he is now able to grow enough food to feed hisfamily and sell the surplus at the market. Withthe extra money he is able to educate all five of his children, build his own house and buy extra

livestock.Photo credit: Christian Aid / Jodi Bieber

Page 18: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 18/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

8

St John's graveyard has recently been renamed The Peace

Garden. It contains over 300 monuments to those buried there

from 1818 to 1965 including Robert Burns' Bonnie Leslie – a

woman born as a slave in the West Indies, and a leading

campaigner for the abolition of slavery. Sir Henry Raeburn andSir Walter Scott's mother both lie inside the Dormitory, a

unique enclosure providing safety from grave robbing.

The project involved stonework repairs, improved access, new

planting (including a number of plants mentioned in the Bible)

and a teacher's pack for school visits.

You may have already descended the steps beside St John's tovisit the Café, the Bookshop, the Peace and Justice Centre or

the One World Shop. Next time you come, have a look at the

new display board to find out about the other things to see

there, or ask inside the church for the free booklet about the

monuments and plants.

If you would like to arrange a school visit or a guided tour,

telephone the church office on (0131) 229 7565.

Things to See and Do

The Peace Garden

Page 19: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 19/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

1

9

Right On Your Doorstep: Amnesty

Are you a supporter of

Amnesty International?Interested in the work they

do? Perhaps like many of us

you are full of good intentions

but not good at getting

started with the letter writing.

A few of us decided it would

be a good idea to start a newcity centre Amnesty branch.

We plan to meet monthly at

lunchtime in the Undercroft

Cafe at St Andrew’s and St

George’s West in George

Street.

Our first two meetings havebeen very sociable, we

enjoyed lunch and chat at the

same time as encouraging

each other to do something

worthwhile.

On our first meeting we sent

greetings cards to people suchas Isroil Kholdorov

(imprisoned for human rights

work in Uzbekistan), Troy

Davis (facing execution

despite doubts over conviction

in the US) and the October

protestors (Thongpaseuth

Keuakoun, Seng Aloun

A New Lunchtime City Centre Branch.

Phengphanh and Bouavanh

Chanmanivong imprisoned forpeacefully calling for change in

Laos).

On our second meeting we

welcomed Alison Cosgrove

from Amnesty who told us how

our small actions can make

such a big difference to peopleunjustly imprisoned or

campaigning for human rights

throughout the world.

We also wrote letters calling for

the release of Filep Karma,

former civil servant in

Indonesia. Filep was arrestedand charged with treason in

2005 for raising a Papuan

Independence flag at a

peaceful political ceremony. He

is currently serving 15 years in

prison.

You can send a letter too: seewww.amnesty.org.uk for more

information, or even better join

us for our next meeting on

Tuesday 29th March at 12:30

We hope this will be a city

centre community venture.

TOGETHER our small actions

can make a BIG difference…

Page 20: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 20/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

2

0

On Saturday 15th January ten

past and present members of the St Cuthbert’s Society of

Change Ringers rang a peal of

5200 changes of Yorkshire

Surprise Royal in 3hours and 5

minutes. Normally such an

event, while of interest to

other ringers, would not

warrant broadcasting muchfurther but this peal was

special, it was the 200th on

the bells. St Cuthbert’s is only

the second tower in Scotland

to achieve this total after All

Saints Inverary in May 2010.

It will be some time before

another Scottish towerreaches this mark, the next

highest total is 75 at St

Machar’s Aberdeen.

The first peal at St Cuthbert’s

was rung on September 13th

1902, the year that the

original 8 bells were installed.

It took 86 years to reach 50

peals after an addition in 1970of two new treble bells. Since

1988 the pace has increased

considerably. The second 50

peals were rung in 7 years, the

next 50 in 9 years and the last

50 again in 7 years!

The increase reflects a numberof factors: enthusiasm for peal

ringing by local ringers and

their ability to achieve success

(many of the peal bands have

been largely or entirely

composed of local ringers), the

increased mobility of ringers

meaning more frequentvisitors, and the generous

encouragement that has been

received from the church

authorities that has made the

attempts possible.

A full peal consists of at least

5000 changes and takes on

200th Peal Rung at St Cuthbert's

Page 21: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 21/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

2

1

average about 3 hours to ring,

although rather longer at St

Cuthbert’s due to the weight

of the bells, and is seen by

many ringers as a goal to aimfor. There are rules and

regulations governing what

constitutes a true peal and

not all attempts are

successful. A peal thus offers

a mental and physical

challenge to the ringers

concerned who are rewardedwith feelings of achievement

(and thirst!) at the conclusion.

Peals are rung not only for the

challenge offered to the

ringers concerned but also to

mark, celebrate and

commemorate royal, nationaland local events. For example,

the second peal rung at St

Cuthbert’s, in 1903, was in

honour of the visit of King

Edward VII and Queen

Alexandra. More recently,

peals were rung to celebrate

the 60th birthday of HerMajesty the Queen in 1986,

and the diamond wedding of

the Queen and Prince Philip in

2007. At the national level,

peals were rung at St

Cuthbert’s to commemorate

the end of the Gulf war and

also the 50th anniversary of

VJ day. Peals have been rung

to mark times of mourning;

two peals in 2000 were in

thanksgiving for the lives of

Rognald St Clair Wilson, a longtime ringer at St Cuthbert’s,

and Donald Dewar, Scotland’s

first First Minister. The

retirement of Reverend Tom

Cuthell was marked by a peal

in 2007 and last year a peal

was rung as a tribute to

Douglas Grant to mark hisretirement, after 54 years as

President of the St Cuthbert’s

Society of Change Ringers.

Peals have been rung to mark

engagements, weddings,

births, birthdays and

christenings and it is possible

to map out significant events inthe lives of the longer

established ringers from the

footnotes to the peals rung in

the tower.

The peal boards adorning the

walls of the ringing chamber,

together with other artefacts,provide an interesting history

of the bells and peals rung over

the last hundred years, and will

shortly be joined by another to

mark the 200th peal. Come

and see for yourselves we

would be delighted to welcome

you!

Page 22: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 22/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

2

2

What Does Together MeanTo You?

Robert Philp explains why he thinks that "the morewe get together, the happier we'll be"

Together, for me, is the

Churches in joint action,

involved in the city centre andits concerns, projecting our

shared Christian values into

the arena of our city’s

communal life.

It means our three churches

sharing aspirations with one

another in the confidence thatbarriers can be broken down

and that we achieve more in

partnership than apart.

At times it means worshipping

together. All right, at a joint

service we may find such

thoughts passing through our

minds as: What are they doing

that for? That’s a funny hymn!

Our Minister/Rector doesn’t dothat when he’s preaching., –

and so on. But these are the

inessentials. The essential core

is our determination to reflect

the love of God in our small

corner of Scotland.

I have a long history in thispartnership, starting (when it

was the Council of West End

Churches) in the late 1960s,

when the successful youth

outreach in the Cephas cellar

under St George’s West in

Shandwick Place made us

think: What next?

Page 23: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 23/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

p

2

3

Kenneth MacKenzie CB (chair)

David Hill (treasurer/secretary)

Revd Russell McLarty

Frances Currie

Gordon Reid

Frances Cooper

The outcome was the opening

of The Corner Stone Coffee

House (for younger adults)

under St John’s.

To be part of this was to be

part of something special. In

the early 1970s, its late

opening hours were a rarity,

and queues to get in could

extend out into Lothian Road.

Some who came were cheerfulextroverts, some shy or

lonely, some lost souls. We did

our best to welcome them all.

The helper group of 40+ came

from the six CWEC churches

with others and was

remarkable for its vitality and

closeness. Deep friendshipsand not a few life partnerships

were formed. Its 40th

birthday is this June (more

details p4). Being part of this

meant a lot to me. It was a

blueprint for ecumenical

action.

I was fully involved again in the

early 1990s as Chairman of

CWEC, when an ecumenical

response to youth

homelessness ignited the sparkfor the Rock Trust (see

elsewhere in this issue) Such

things happen when we are in

partnership.

As a Trustee today of the re

christened Together, it’s good to

feel the energy bubbling up.

Sensing the potential as the

voice of the churches is heard

in the debates of the city

centre, the outreach into

businesses of a Workplace

Chaplain, the quest for ‘new

forms of Church’, the sharedinterest groups, as well as all

the things we’ve been doing

together for so many years.

As the old song has it: ‘The

more we get together, the

happier we’ll be.’

Revd David Denniston

Professor Ian Percy CBE

Margaret Romanis

Very Revd Dr John Armes

Robert Philp

Paul Sweetnam

The Together Trustees are:

Page 24: Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

8/6/2019 Togetherness Issue 2 Spring 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/togetherness-issue-2-spring-2011 24/24

t

o

g

e

t

h

e

r

n

e

s

s

b

a

c

k

p

a

g

e

"We could learn a lot from crayons: some aresharp, some are pretty, some are dull, whileothers are bright, some have weird names, but wehave to learn to live in the same box."

Anonymous

1 St John’s Scottish Episcopal Church

Princes Street

Edinburgh EH2 4BJ

0131 229 7565

www.stjohns edinburgh.org.uk

2 St Andrew’s & St George’s West

Church

George Street

Edinburgh EH2 2PA

0131 225 3847

www.standrewsandstgeorges.org.uk

3 St Andrew’s & St George’s West

Church

Shandwick Place

Edinburgh EH2 2RT

0131 225 7001

www.stgeorgeswest.com

4 St Cuthbert’s Parish Church

Lothian Road

Edinburgh EH1 2EP

0131 229 1142

www.st cuthberts.net

1 2

3 4

The next issue of Togetherness will be released on26th June, with a focus on The Festival of Spiritualityand Peace and New forms of church. If you would liketo contribute, please contact Joe Evans on

07951529717 or [email protected] deadline for submissions will be Sunday 12th June