In the morning light of the next day we saw our hostel in Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg which was still dominated by the Alexander Square Tower, an iconic symbol in the former East Berlin. Now the Wall has gone, it is often difficult to know which side you are in. A clear difference is still in public transport, then as now, trams in the East and buses in the West.
Again, we had not been in Berlin for many years; in 1982 in the then DDR. Memories and objects from that repressive era and way of life have rightly been consigned to a museum as history. We visited that on our tour round the now reunified Berlin. The route of the wall can be followed by parallel lines of dark stones set into the pavements. The Red Town Hall is still red as the city administration is a coalition of Social Democrats and former Eastern Socialists. Some interesting political demolitions and reconstructions have taken place over the past century.
The Reichstag, called uncharitably but not without some reason by Kaiser Wilhelm, 'that Monkey-House' is now back in use and restored as the Parliament of the Federal Republic, after being burned down in 1933 by the Nazis and lying empty until reunification. The Town Palace of the Hohenzollen Emperors was demolished as a symbol of German imperialism and militarism by the East German authorities after WW2, though it always amused me that they failed to see the irony of having a regular changing of the guard by a goosestepping Prussian regiment at the monument to Victims of Fascism and German Militarism. Nonetheless, the Berliners have a great sense of humour and enjoy puncturing pomposity. They have a series of alternative names for modern buildings, statues and works of art. This is worth a blog in itself! It was replaced by a copper glassed concrete monstrosity called the Palace of the Republic. AKA: Eric's Light Shop because of the expensive and numerous and tasteless modern chandeliers that hung there there. This in turn has been demolished by the new Federal Authorities and it is suggested that the old Imperial Palace be reconstructed.
In the evening we had supper in the now fully restored Nicolai Quarter opposite the Church where Paul Gerhardt was pastor. We had 'Now thank we all our God' as one of our wedding hymns. The next morning we set off for Prague from another new steel glass and concrete ediface, the New Central Station.
Thursday 29 July 2010
Wednesday 21 July 2010
By car, train and plane
We (Ida, Keith, Catriona, and Mubita) left Edinburgh a week ago last Sunday on an overcast morning in a wee smirr of rain and drove down the A7 to Carlisle through the Borders; a trip we had last done in 1979! Our first night we were spending with friends from Zambia at Ulverston in the Lake District. Locally the road from the M6 to Barrow is called the 'cul de sac'.
Later that evening we went for a run, in the road traffic sense, along the side of Windermere. The Lake District is reminscent of some areas of the Highlands but it is surprisingly compact and a bit more manicured and overdeveloped than we are used to.
At the risk of sounding a 'here's tae us, wha's like us note here' or 'whaur's yer Willie Shakespeare noo?' (well, we did pass the MacDiarmid Memorial at Langholm on route after all!), but I don't think the Bard of Avon is standing on the platform at Stratford Station waiting for a train - any train to London! Stratford-upon-Avon is another cul de sac as far as the railway is concerned. We spent our second night there with my youngest brother's family. It was good to see them after four years. We had missed them on our previous furlough.
London and the Methodists
The next day we taxied to Warwick to catch the 0719h London train as we were due at Methodist House at 1030 on Tuesday to meet with a series people. Our Mission Partner appointment is an ecumenical one between the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church and they help with our support.
An hour and a half saw us 'detraining' at Marylebone and after depositing the luggage at reception in Methodist House we then breakfasted on a croissant and coffee in Baker Street opposite Sherlock Holmes' flat. We next got Catriona safely installed in the queue for Madame Toussaud's and crossed the road to Methodist House for our first meetings where we were introduced to some people in the World Church Office.
It was good to meet with Jan Deakin with whom we had communicated extensively by email but without ever meeting. We then had the opportunity to share with Tom King, the Team Leader of the World Church Relationships, and we made a interesting connection there. Tom's son had worked at Beit Cure Paediatric Hospital in Lusaka with Allan Norris, a surgeon we got to know when he came to operate at Mwandi.
Jane Cullen, the Discernment and Selection Officer, was especially interested in how the linking of Mission Partners to Presbyteries worked in the Church of Scotland. The Methodists may be thinking of doing something similar with Mission Partners and their Districts.
George Luke from the Press Department interviewed us both about our life and work at Mwandi.
We finished off with a pizza lunch with Bunmi Olayisade, the Partnership Coordinator for Africa, a good time of fellowship and conversation covering amongst other things HIV Advocacy, African Politics and Women's Empowerment.
Berlin at Midnight
We then took the tube to Earl's Court to catch the airport bus to Gatwick. We arrived in good time and joined the good-natured queue at the bag drop-off counter, went through security, had supper and waited for our flight. It was delayed so we landed two hours late in a still sweltering Berlin at midnight. We managed a bus and two underground trains finally trundling our luggage the last 500 metres to our Hostel, where we relished the cool shower and drinks, despite the late hour, before retiring.
The tabloid newspaper headline in the hostel lobby exclaimed: 'WAS FÜR EINE HITZE!' - the German for 'COR WOTA SCORCHA!' I presume.
Later that evening we went for a run, in the road traffic sense, along the side of Windermere. The Lake District is reminscent of some areas of the Highlands but it is surprisingly compact and a bit more manicured and overdeveloped than we are used to.
At the risk of sounding a 'here's tae us, wha's like us note here' or 'whaur's yer Willie Shakespeare noo?' (well, we did pass the MacDiarmid Memorial at Langholm on route after all!), but I don't think the Bard of Avon is standing on the platform at Stratford Station waiting for a train - any train to London! Stratford-upon-Avon is another cul de sac as far as the railway is concerned. We spent our second night there with my youngest brother's family. It was good to see them after four years. We had missed them on our previous furlough.
London and the Methodists
The next day we taxied to Warwick to catch the 0719h London train as we were due at Methodist House at 1030 on Tuesday to meet with a series people. Our Mission Partner appointment is an ecumenical one between the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church and they help with our support.
An hour and a half saw us 'detraining' at Marylebone and after depositing the luggage at reception in Methodist House we then breakfasted on a croissant and coffee in Baker Street opposite Sherlock Holmes' flat. We next got Catriona safely installed in the queue for Madame Toussaud's and crossed the road to Methodist House for our first meetings where we were introduced to some people in the World Church Office.
It was good to meet with Jan Deakin with whom we had communicated extensively by email but without ever meeting. We then had the opportunity to share with Tom King, the Team Leader of the World Church Relationships, and we made a interesting connection there. Tom's son had worked at Beit Cure Paediatric Hospital in Lusaka with Allan Norris, a surgeon we got to know when he came to operate at Mwandi.
Jane Cullen, the Discernment and Selection Officer, was especially interested in how the linking of Mission Partners to Presbyteries worked in the Church of Scotland. The Methodists may be thinking of doing something similar with Mission Partners and their Districts.
George Luke from the Press Department interviewed us both about our life and work at Mwandi.
We finished off with a pizza lunch with Bunmi Olayisade, the Partnership Coordinator for Africa, a good time of fellowship and conversation covering amongst other things HIV Advocacy, African Politics and Women's Empowerment.
Berlin at Midnight
We then took the tube to Earl's Court to catch the airport bus to Gatwick. We arrived in good time and joined the good-natured queue at the bag drop-off counter, went through security, had supper and waited for our flight. It was delayed so we landed two hours late in a still sweltering Berlin at midnight. We managed a bus and two underground trains finally trundling our luggage the last 500 metres to our Hostel, where we relished the cool shower and drinks, despite the late hour, before retiring.
The tabloid newspaper headline in the hostel lobby exclaimed: 'WAS FÜR EINE HITZE!' - the German for 'COR WOTA SCORCHA!' I presume.
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Bonnie Dundee in 2010
Oh, Bonnie Dundee I will sing thy praise
A few but true simple lays.........
It's tempting to go on but I won't........ Our family has a longstanding affection and appreciation of the poetic gems of William Topaz McGonagall. I spent Friday and Saturday of last week in his native city, formerly known for the 3 Js (Journalism, Jam and Jute), still the city of the Oor Wullie, Dennis the Menace and the Broons, but also now of Computer Games and medical research.
The Church of Scotland was holding an Enquirers' Conference at the West Park Centre. This is the start of the process used by the Church to test the calling of individuals to ordained or commissioned ministry.
There is the story told of Spurgeon that a young man came to him saying, 'The Holy Spirit is telling me that I should preach at the Tabernacle on Sunday evening.'
'That's strange,' replied Spurgeon, 'He's not told me.'
So, such a conference is a useful way to for those with a call to reflect and see what areas of Christian service that the Church offers and where God might want them to serve. We had two keynote speeches from parish ministers outlining their work, then a series of shorter presentation from the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, moving on to the Diaconal, World Mission, Social Care with Crossreach and finally Readership. There were practical sessions on how to take the Enquiry further and the session closed with a final keynote speech about responding to the call.
A point made during this was that Our Lord, himself, because of amongst other things the questionable company he kept and the radical theology he espoused might have found it difficult to get through the Church's selection process! I believe the Congregationalists turned down Campbell Morgan.
We finished with a warm and informal Communion Service. It was a good two days, well organised by staff from a variety of departments at 121 and drawing from frontline troops who were happy to share something of their lives and work in the part of the vineyard they had been called to. There was also wonderful fellowship with an astonishing variety of people of all ages, backgrounds, gifts and talents. Particularly striking were the number of young people who were also saying: Here we are God, in the spirit of new life we want to share that limitless life we are offered, and see this breaking through in that mystical body, which is made up of those called to be faithful brothers and sisters and his disciples. God is certainly not finished with the Church of Scotland yet.
A few but true simple lays.........
It's tempting to go on but I won't........ Our family has a longstanding affection and appreciation of the poetic gems of William Topaz McGonagall. I spent Friday and Saturday of last week in his native city, formerly known for the 3 Js (Journalism, Jam and Jute), still the city of the Oor Wullie, Dennis the Menace and the Broons, but also now of Computer Games and medical research.
The Church of Scotland was holding an Enquirers' Conference at the West Park Centre. This is the start of the process used by the Church to test the calling of individuals to ordained or commissioned ministry.
There is the story told of Spurgeon that a young man came to him saying, 'The Holy Spirit is telling me that I should preach at the Tabernacle on Sunday evening.'
'That's strange,' replied Spurgeon, 'He's not told me.'
So, such a conference is a useful way to for those with a call to reflect and see what areas of Christian service that the Church offers and where God might want them to serve. We had two keynote speeches from parish ministers outlining their work, then a series of shorter presentation from the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, moving on to the Diaconal, World Mission, Social Care with Crossreach and finally Readership. There were practical sessions on how to take the Enquiry further and the session closed with a final keynote speech about responding to the call.
A point made during this was that Our Lord, himself, because of amongst other things the questionable company he kept and the radical theology he espoused might have found it difficult to get through the Church's selection process! I believe the Congregationalists turned down Campbell Morgan.
We finished with a warm and informal Communion Service. It was a good two days, well organised by staff from a variety of departments at 121 and drawing from frontline troops who were happy to share something of their lives and work in the part of the vineyard they had been called to. There was also wonderful fellowship with an astonishing variety of people of all ages, backgrounds, gifts and talents. Particularly striking were the number of young people who were also saying: Here we are God, in the spirit of new life we want to share that limitless life we are offered, and see this breaking through in that mystical body, which is made up of those called to be faithful brothers and sisters and his disciples. God is certainly not finished with the Church of Scotland yet.
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