Tesco Delivery Man or Minister?

One of the great mainland innovations some years ago was Tesco's offering of online shopping and a delivery van service. It is just great, you order up what you want, pay for it and then someone else goes and gets it and delivers it. Brilliant! In an age of consumerism and self selection it's just perfect.
However, being a minister in this age of consumerism has its problems, because when I deliver the Sunday Service I am sure a number of folk are thinking 'that's not what I ordered'. Some leave the church and say that they 'did not know the hymns', or 'they did not like the hymns'. or 'there were a lot of Graham Kendrick songs today'.
Having attended a Ministry Conference recently, and heard stories of my colleagues expeiences in ministry, it seems to me quite common for folk to think that Presbytery must have delivered the wrong man or woman. Just as they would with Tesco's, they grumble and complain to ane another about the bad service... and occasionally someone may complain to Presbytery. It is consumerism at work.
As a minister my real sadness abou this is that many seem to attend sunday services for what they can get, rather than what they can give. It is after all Sunday 'Worship', where Christians are supposed to gather before a 'worthy' God and sing his praises. It is written that 'God inhabits the praises of his people' and that is so true. As Christians learn how to praise God they learn about the joy and freedom that God alone can bring to our lives.
I enjoy being a minister, since it is such a privilige, but being a delivery man is not a pleasant task since one meets unpleasant customers from time to time. So please pray for the consumers in congregations everywhere... pray that they might come to know the joy of giving themselves to a worthy God and Saviour.
Thank God too for those folk that know that sense of joy and fullness when gathering to worship God. To see their smiles and sometimes their tears of release is just great. It seems to me that they are able to enjoy the full range of opportunities to worship and enjoy learning new songs. In this sense they cannot be described as being 'meat and two veg' people. Indeed the length and breadth of opportunity in the Christian life is staggering because we have a great God.

Dr John Blanchard is coming to Islay in June

Out of the blue, at the beginning of the year I had an email from John Blanchard saying that he had read my blog and decided to contact me...  Who is John Blanchard some may ask??...  well a quick summary;
"Dr. John Blanchard is an internationally known Christian preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has written 30 books, including two of Britain's most widely used evangelistic presentations, Right With God and the booklet Ultimate Questions. The latter has over fourteen million copies in print in about 60 languages. His major book Does God believe in Atheists?, published in 2000, was voted 'Best Christian Book' in the 2001 UK Christian Book Awards, and immediately became a best-seller, described as 'a brilliant defense of belief in God'."
What John did not know was just how encouraging it was to get his email at that particular time. A few individuals had made our time on Islay very unpleasant and we (my wife and I) were asking the question "Why should we stay and put up with this vitriolioc nonsense?". John's email reminded us why we had come here... to bring the Gospel fresh to a new generation and we were greatly encouraged.
John will be here from the afternoon of June 8th to the morning of June 11th. On Sunday 10th June he will preach at the Round Church Bowmore at 10am, St Johns Church Port Ellen at 11.30am, and then at the Baptist Church in Bowmore at 6.30pm. Do come along to one of these services because I am sure you will be challenged and encouraged... bring a friend too.. :)
He will be staying here at the Manse with a film crew that are with him. Their 'side' mission is to record some film of John on Islay as he recounts his time as a young boy when he came here as a war time evacuee. He has great memories of those times and developed a real passion for Islay. We are hoping he will be at the beach rugby on saturday 9th June at Port Ellen, so why not come along and have a chat with him. His story is not just a good story but a God story  :)

New Season of Round Church Coffee mornings begins

The first Round Church Coffee Morning of the 2012 season kicked off today with a steady stream of attendees to sample the excellent tea/coffee and cakes on offer! Thank you to everyone - helpers, bakers, servers, attendees and everyone who makes this fellowship and fundraising event such a success!! Click on the photos to enlarge.
Here are some of the magnificent cakes..

and here are some of the happy helpers... :)

Drizzly Easter Sunday!

Here we are again in the Community Gardens, Port Ellen for the 8am Sonrise service. Not so wet this time and so we were able to get the keyboards, guitar and trumpet out and praise Him who is risen! Then off for breakfast at the Baptist Church and onwards to our various services in the warm shelter of our churches :) Click on the photo above for a close-up. Happy Easter everyone!

Rainy Good Friday

Despite the rain, over 25 of us gathered in the Round Church for the Good Friday procession with the cross down to the square in Bowmore. People from all denominations came along and although we'd planned keyboards/guitars/trumpet/amplifiers and a great blast of a service, we opted instead for plan B which was planting the cross symbolically in the middle of Islay (the map of Islay in the middle of the square) since all of us share a concern for the whole of the island and it's inhabitants, once through Graham kendrick's "Make Way", a wee word of prayer and then off for tea and cookies at the Baptist Church. We plan many more open air events this year as our confidence is growing... So watch out for publicity for the next one and then you can come and hear more of what we had planned to say today!! Becky - thanks for the photo, you're a star!

Easter Events for 2012

Xpedition Force Easter Holiday Club for 5-11 year olds 
Monday - Friday, 2nd-6th April, 2-4pm at Bowmore Baptist Church. Admission is free - however, space is limited and so places may have to be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis!

Maundy Thursday Service 7.30pm at the Episcopal Church, Bridgend


Good Friday "Walk of Witness" and open air service in Bowmore square
Good Friday Evening Service 7pm at St John's Church, Port Ellen


Easter Sunday: 8am Open Air Service in the Community Garden, Port Ellen

Usual Sunday Service times - Family Services in both The Round Church, Bowmore 10am and St John's, Port Ellen 11.30am

Children's Easter celebration including easter egg hunt at Bruichladdich Hall 2pm


All welcome to any of the above events!

Christingle Service