Posted Friday 30 September 2011
In the past they had successfully promoted Fetes and Fayres, Concerts and Suppers until Mairi hit upon the bright idea that as 2011 was the 400th Anniversary of the publication of the KJV why not try a Bible Reading event to celebrate it? What a splendid idea Mairi – just get on with it!
Ably supported by the team, the Vestry and, in the end, a host of volunteer readers, All Saint’s Bearsden led the entire Diocese in the reading of the Word – one chapter per reader at a time. There were a few suppressed smiles from listeners as readers battled with the names of the tribes in the Old Testament – which turned to dismay if not panic when it came their turn to read! The organiser Mairi Ross got 10 out of 10 for her effort with Ezra Chapter 2 – and full sympathy for the reader of Isaiah Chapter 8 verse 1 who stumbled (literally) on the longest name in the Bible – MAHERSHLALHASHBAZ - which the Lord instructed Isaiah to write “on a great roll - with a man’s pen”!
Bishop Gregor called in early on Saturday morning on his way to an Ordination Service in Greenock and read from the gospel of St. John. Readers as young as 8 years of age – and some who were ten times that number – took part in the event which was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday – allowing a total reading time of some 90 hours and ending with the book of Revelation on Sunday morning. Only once did the timing get out of phase – on Wednesday night Ezekiel Chapter 48 didn’t start until half past ten !
It would be invidious to name individual names, only to record thatmembers of the Vestry and congregation worked from Sunday 18th September through to Sunday 25th September to complete this mammoth task. The reading could not have been accomplished without a large number of volunteers. Visitors who came in from all the local churches and much further afield were made welcome, names taken and checked against the chapters (and the clock); some who came only to listen ended up reading. By Saturday the Visitor’s Book contained over one hundred names, and to this number must be added those of the local congregation. Full marks too for the ‘backroom’ team who provided an endless supply of tea, coffee and refreshments from dawn to dusk!
What was initially conceived as a fund-raising event soon took on a more spiritual dimension as Readers and Listeners alike were thrilled to hear well known phrases which have become embedded in the English language in their original context. Although there was no asking or touting for money or donations, visitors left £900 - of which 75% plus some of the proceeds of the Annual Cake Walk will go to the East Africa Famine DEC Appeal – making a magnificent total of £1,000.
Congratulations to Mairi Ross and her committee, the Vestry of All Saints’, Bearsden, and the host of volunteer readers. With this event you led the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway in the reading of God’s Holy Word. It was both a pleasure and a privilege to be associated with it and to be allowed to take part in it. The implications are boundless, as noted in Isaiah Ch.55 verse 11, …the word that goeth forth out of my mouth ..shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Let the Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent have the last word:
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning:
Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that by patience and comfort of the holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the
blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou has given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
Category: General
