The Orcadian Features - Reflections on 11 years as minister of St Magnus

Little did I think, when I came to Orkney in 1990, that I would be staying here for the rest of my life. We had had three family holidays in Orkney in the 1980s and had always enjoyed worshipping at St Magnus Cathedral; so when invited to become minister, I considered it a privilege.

The last 11 years have been something of a rollercoaster. The Cathedral is home to a large Church of Scotland congregation; I soon found that it is also a public institution which holds a very dear place in Orkney’s heart.

The regular congregation of 850 consists mainly of people who live in Kirkwall or St Ola. From Easter to the end of October each year, the local congregation is swollen by visitors from all over the world. On any given Sunday there will be Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, and so on.

Some visitors ask where the bishop is; others ask when Mass begins. A lot of southern visitors think that the Church of Scotland is the northern branch of the Church of England; so we get lots of interesting conversations over coffee after the service. We do our best to offer all visitors a warm welcome, whatever faith tradition – or none – they belong to.

You get lots of fascinating characters among the summer congregation, too. There are usually quite a number of clergy up here on holiday, always in civvies. Sitting in the pulpit, I’ll recognise some of them, and wonder whether I pinched any of their stories for my sermon. There may be a Japanese professor of biology, a Roman Catholic nun from the Netherlands, an Australian novelist, an African Quaker, a professor of theology from Texas.

One Sunday, as I stood at the door shaking hands after the service, a man introduced himself as the Professor of Christianity and Culture at Cambridge University. He said he wanted to discuss my sermon with me. When he saw my jaw drop, he burst out laughing and confessed that he was the new student assistant minister on Rousay and was only winding me up.

The Cathedral itself is a marvel of architecture. After 11 years as minister, I never cease to wonder how they began building it in the 12th century – long before there were computer designs, lifting gear, and proper scaffolding. There are always new things to see.

I don’t know of any other Cathedral which belongs to the people. It is a quite unique relationship. Orkney Islands Council deserve great credit for the marvellous job they do in maintaining the building so well; the appearance of the fabric is something that visitors often comment favourably upon. (I must confess that I wasn’t sure that planting grass on the Kirk Green would work, but it turned out to be a great improvement.) The Society of the Friends of St Magnus Cathedral also does a tremendous job in raising funds for the larger restoration projects, as well as for general maintenance.

What I do know is that Orkney is proud of its heritage. St. Magnus Cathedral, then, is public property – and so, to a degree, is its minister. In addition to the normal parish church functions, there are lots of public duties, such as dealing with royal visits, organising public anniversary services, acting as chaplain to Orkney Islands Council, working with the St Magnus Festival team, being vice-chairman of the Society of the Friends of St Magnus, and so on. St Magnus is also a popular venue for weddings and funerals, since lots of people who have no active church connection identify with the Cathedral.

Because of all these factors, the Cathedral minister is very much involved in the life of the wider community. I have loved the diversity of the Cathedral’s life and its open door to people from all over the world. The St Magnus Festival is an astonishing event; there cannot be any other community of this size which mounts such an ambitious programme of quality music and drama – involving international performers as well as local schoolchildren – and I’ve been very glad that the church is involved in such a marvellous venture.

By the very nature of the job, the minister of St Magnus is, whether he likes it or not, a public figure in the community. It goes with th teritory. Now, I must confess, I’m looking forward to being a private citizen again.

While I have enjoyed the business and buzz of the Cathedral, I have felt in recent times that a job of this size and scope should be handled by a younger person. I had no desire to go on until exhaustion set in – that would have been good neither for the congregation nor myself. At the same time, I was committed to see the new St Magnus Centre through to completion. This has been a project which has engaged the passionate commitment of the congregation, and has captured the imagination of the wider community. It is a joy to me to see how the Centre has established its identity in such a short time.

With the completion of the Centre, I felt it was the right time to step down and make way for a younger leader. At the same time, at the age of 62, I feel young enough to do something new with my life. It also feels good to be leaving St Magnus while I am still enjoying the job, and when the congregation is in such good heart. I am sure that the next phase in the life of the Cathedral congregation will be very exciting, as the Church seeks to grapple with the challenges of the 21st century.

Because I went into the ministry late, and because of leaving early – plus breaks in service due to full-time writing – my Church pension is pretty meagre. In other words, I still have to earn a living. Writing is something I love, so this will not be a chore. I will have a less hectic life, and I look forward to having a bit more personal time and space. Leaving the security of the church and seeking to make a living by the pen is actually quite a risky venture for me, but I look forward to this new challenge. I’m actually coming full circle, in that I began my working life as a journalist.

I have told the congregation that, in accordance with Church of Scotland national guidelines, I’ll be moving my membership “lines” when I leave the ministry of St Magnus. I’ve also indicated that, in accordance with these same recommendations, I won’t be coming back to the Cathedral to take part in weddings or funerals.

These guidelines are based on a great deal of experience up and down the country, and are designed to ensure that the new minister gets a free run. While I will greatly miss the worship and fellowship of the Cathedral, I recognise and respect the wisdom of the national recommendations. (I should also say in this regard that I’ve been grateful for the support and friendship over many years of my predecessor, Bill Cant, and his wife Margot.)

I’ve outlined these things ahead of time, so that people know that I’m establishing these boundaries as a matter of principle before I leave. The fact is that if I were to take on one commitment on behalf of friends, it would then be invidious to turn down someone else. (I’m operating on the same principle as the barman who puts up a notice saying, “please don’t embarrass me by asking me for credit, as I’ll have to refuse you.”

In all my ministry – in Easterhouse, Iona and Orkney – I’ve tried to work on the principle of not having favourites. For instance, while I have enjoyed royal visits, I don’t personally regard royalty as inherently more important than the ordinary man or woman in the street. (Though in this regard I like Evelyn Waugh’s observation: “You must understand that the ‘the man in the street’ does not exist. He is a modern myth. There are individual men and women, each one of whom has an individual and immortal soul, and such beings need to use streets from time to time.”) So, apart from not wanting to embarrass my successor in any way, I have no desire to start picking and choosing at this stage in my life.

In any case, I am not a retired minister looking for Church work to do – as from October 29 I will be earning a living in a new way. This will not necessarily be easy. Writing itself is a demanding vocation, and I simply ask people to respect the decisions I have made.

The great joy in all this is that by remaining in Orkney, Cristine and I will be able to keep our friendships. From the point of view of ministry, I’ve asked the congregation of St Magnus to regard me as having retired to Edinburgh or Cowdenbeath; from the point of view of personal friendship, I want folk to regard me as being just along the road. It’s important, in order to avoid confusion and problems, to separate these two things.

I will miss the St Magnus congregation sorely, because they have been so good to me and my family, but I am very pleased that valued friendships will not be lost. I am sure that my successor, whoever he or she may be, will enjoy the same level of support as I have done, and will find their time at St Magnus to be as fulfilling as I have.

At the beginning of November, we will move to Orphir, where I intend to lower the tone of the neighbourhood by playing hymns loudly till 3 am (only kidding). After getting moved in, we’ll have a holiday, and have the chance to visit family south. Then it will be back to Orkney to begin a new life.

I’ll take the opportunity to worship in different places – even in different traditions – before settling down in the “back benches” of a congregation. Journalism and broadcasting will also take me to different places. I will even have the opportunity to visit that great European holy shrine – Central Park, Cowdenbeath – more often.

Above all, I want to say a big thankyou to all those who have supported my ministry here in any way, both in the congregation and in the wider community, and to my ministerial colleagues of all denominations. It has been a great 11 years. Now I look forward to a new way of living in a community which I love.