Why are we here?
St Andrew’s Day sermon, November 30 2015 Isaiah 55, Psalm 9.7-11, John 12.20-36 St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem Barbara Trapido’s first novel, published in 1982, was called Brother of the More Famous Jack, a book that redefined the coming-of-age novel.[1] My next St Andrew’s Day sermon will be called Brother of the More Famous …
Happy New Year!
September 15 2015 We don’t get much Bible study in the Guardian or the New York Times. But in this as in so many other ways, Israel is different. Haaretz – the liberal daily that most resembles these two newspapers – is just one of many sources to offer reflections on the portion of the …
A striking thought
September 15 2015 On Tuesday last week, I wrote a letter on behalf of Tabeetha School in Jaffa to Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel. On Thursday, I helped craft a letter for Angus Morrison, the moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, to send to David Cameron on the same subject. …
God shows no partiality
15th after Pentecost, September 6 2015 Proverbs 22.1-9, 22-23;; James 2.1-17; Mark 7.24-37 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland Last Tuesday, Tabeetha School in Jaffa opened for the first day of the new school year. On Wednesday it closed again. Those of you who’ve been following the Israeli media more closely than most will know …
Come and take a walk with me
June 30 2015 Emma Pritchard was an Ecumenical Accompanier serving with Group 56 in the West Bank. She wrote this song based on her own experiences and those of her team, and she sang it as a solo in the handover service in St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church on Monday, June 15. Come and take …
Come and take a walk with me
June 30 2015 Emma Pritchard was an Ecumenical Accompanier serving with Group 56 in the West Bank. She wrote this song based on her own experiences and those of her team, and she sang it as a solo in the handover service in St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church on Monday, June 15. Come and Take …
Thank you Jesus
May 28 2015 Driving between Jerusalem and Tiberias through the Jordan valley in my church car – something I’ll be doing more often this summer, now that my colleague Colin Johnston has left St Andrew’s, Galilee – I play CDs to keep me focused. One of these is a praise band album gifted to me …
Not strangers but pilgrims
May 19 2015 Vraiment, cela peut paraître bizarre, mais j’ai entendu dire que le plus long des pèlerinages est celui qui vous emmène… « depuis le cerveau… jusqu’au cœur ! » [1] Ten years ago, my Savoyard friend Pierre Angleys set out from his home in Veigy-Foncenex, just across the border from Geneva, to walk 1,896 km to …
In memoriam
May 15 2015On Tuesday this week, I presented the following report at the AGM of the Friends of St Andrew’s, Jerusalem, in St Cuthbert’s Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh.[1] Friends of St Andrew’s AGM Minister’s report, April 16 2015 Kiss me, Hardy? Well, perhaps not. One of the first events I attended since arriving in Jerusalem …
On a very fertile hill
May 11 2015 At the end of April, I caught a train from Edinburgh to Forres to visit congregations in the Presbytery of Moray and to speak to the presbytery on May 5 – my wife Vivien’s birthday, as it happens. Below is the sermon I preached in St Laurence Church, Forres, on May 3. …