Viewing Scottish Ecumenism

Ana Luengo
Provincia de España Sur

With the arrival of the year 2004 I feel a sense of gratitude for many blessings, but in a special way I find myself, thanking God for the growth of understanding, friendship and co-operation among Christians of various traditions in Scotland.

For example 1 think of three evenings in Edinburgh with the Fig Tree Orchard Group which has organized study groups each Advent and Lent for a number of years. To
see more than sixty people from the Church of Scotland and Catholic traditions turning up on cold wet nights to deepen their faith and prepare together to celebrate the feast of the Nativity, was a wonder to me and a source of deep gratitude. Yes, we have come a long way since the days of my childhood when Christmas was not a public holiday but a day like any other!

Another example would be the Corrymeela Support Group, of which Meeda Inglis was an enthusiastic member. For years it met in our house and now it meets in various Church halls. The last two speakers both spoke of reconciliation in Ireland. One of them had worked at the Glencree centre and the other, a young woman from Wicklow is doing, research at Aberdeen University.
At national level, the groups and commissions which meet at Churches House in Dunblane are keeping the flame of ecumenism alive throughout the country. It has long been a principle that "what the Churches can do together they should do together". At the meeting I attended in Dunblane, I think we saw the whole area of spirituality as one in which such co-operation is already evident. Before God in prayer, denominational differences fall away and we are all one in God at a very deep level.

These are only a few examples of how I have experienced our growing together as Christians in the past year. I would like to finish with an amusing little comment made to me at the beginning of a week-end retreat in Pluscarden. The retreatants were from a Church of Scotland parish (i.e. Presbyterian) and this was their second visit to the monastery. . Coming out from Mass one man said "I was a wee bit disappointed that there was no incense this morning. 1 look forward to the’ incense". He was greatly consoled when I' assured him that the following day, Sunday, there would be plenty of incense! A trivial matter but a clear indication that the old barriers are falling away and that mutual understanding and appreciation are quietly flourishing among us.

A new year is time to give thanks, to count our blessings. While we cannot ignore the many signs of disquiet and tension in our world, the signs of hope and new life are also there. For myself, the good things happening among Christians are truly heart-warming, something of which we are happy to be a part, something to thank for.