We are sharing today with friends and colleagues from Luther King House, the home of Northern Baptist College, Manchester. Our friends are on staff retreat and are staying at Gartmore House up in Stirlingshire, but they will spend today with us in Paisley and Glasgow to get a feel for what we are trying to do about theological education and ministry formation in Scotland.
Stuart and I will share some of our thinking about doing and teaching theology in the Scottish cultural context; Stuart through a brilliant (I don't use superlatives as redundant flattery!) paper on post-modern cultural features as they impinge on theological and social awareness; I will use the prayers of George Macleod to open up discussion about the formation and development of prayer in ministry, its rootedness in the doctrines of Trinitarian love, creation and redemption, and its expression as a form of ministry that engages with political and social realities.
Then lunch - after which we take a trip to the most popular visitor attraction in Scotland, the magnificent Kelvingrove Art Gallery and we will spend time enjoying the creative genius, varied beauty, emotional intensity, of great art.
Because it can't be done in a quick jaunt, we will explore the delights of the Gallery cafe before continuing the enjoyment of Glasgow's finest cultural centre - and it's free. The day will finish with a shared meal (Italian) and good conversation amongst friends and fellow theological journeyers.
To all who are coming to be with us, a hundred thousand welcomes -
and may you each know the blessing of God expressed in our Scottish weather:
If it's wet - then may you know the blessing that softly and persistently falls on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If it's cold - then may you feel the fresh bracing air of God's galvanising Spirit, even if it causes goosepimples.
If, by any chance, the sun is shining - may you bask in the radiant extravagance of God's love, and know the spiritual equivalent of photosynthesis
If it is cold, and with showers and sunny intervals - may you know the threefold blessing of the Triune God and be blessed, galvanised and radiated by the love of God, and give thanks for the predictably unpredictable weather of Scotland, which one way or another, speaks the welcome of God.
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