SEI staff value their participation in the life of charges across the Province. On 22 September the Principal was delighted to share in the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Church of the Holy Name, Cumbernauld. In her sermon at the Anniversary Eucharist she reflected upon the congregation’s faithful journey of repitching its tent in response to changing times.
In April of this year The Observer published a comment piece about the future of Cumbernauld Town Centre, the once internationally celebrated 1960’s complex built at the heart of the New Town. The article was peppered with the usual castigation of the complex, the cruellest of all being the phrase ‘it makes Chernobyl look like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.’
Be that as it may, the journalist was not advocating the Centre’s demolition. Rather he urged ‘a radical reinvention which would be more environmentally friendly and in keeping with the ethos of its creation.’
‘ “A radical reinvention in keeping with the ethos of its creation.” That, I believe, is what you, the congregation of Holy Name, have done so faithfully over the past 60 years. Repeatedly. Imaginatively. Creatively.
From the outset, the ethos of this congregation has been one of outward-facing welcome and warm hospitality. The very design of your building was intended to let as much of what went on inside be visible from the outside. Hence the magnificent glass narthex and hall . . .
And now, today, that welcome is instantiated in your website, another wonderful way into the life of this congregation, a window for these times and this generation, just as Hugh Wilson’s plate glass was for the 60’s. A website which assures the enquirer that they are welcome, that their questions are encouraged, that there are spaces for quiet prayer. That they can come as themselves, just as they are, fightings within and fears without notwithstanding.’
Anne went on to speak about the Godart installations in the church created by the Priest in Charge, the Revd Kirstin Freeman, Diocesan Makar for Glasgow and Galloway: dangling citrus fruits dancing in the wind of the Spirit at Pentecost; the blue and yellow chair starkly calling all to pray for Ukraine; the nine variously coloured banners of spiritual gifts suspended in the narthex in an outwards-facing parade, visible for all who pass by to see; the sparkling crystals shimmering in the candlelight on that day.
The web site and Godart are indeed ‘radical reinventions in keeping with the ethos’ of the founding fathers and mothers of this congregation who pledged, as you do, to be a community ‘living by faith, welcoming people into a growing relationship with Jesus, displaying the love of God and connecting with people of all walks of life through outreach into the community’.
At the close of the service all present were invited by Kirstin to ‘take home one of the 60 “diamond” candle holders decorating the church as a reminder of this celebration, God’s continuing bounteous blessings, and to keep Holy Name in your prayers’. The Eucharist was followed by a glorious party in the church hall at which Ray Gascoigne, Lay Reader, cut a celebratory cake. As ever, members of this congregation had pulled together to create a feast of good food, invited friends from the neighbouring churches and the local community, and made all feel welcome and at home.
The congregation of Holy Name is indeed, as it website states, a community ‘living by faith, welcoming people into a growing relationship with Jesus, displaying the love of God and connecting with people of all walks of life through outreach into the community’. Here’s to the next 60!
Photographs courtesy of Kirstin and Paul
