Pioneers Church, Cheltenham - 150 years young

At the Commission of Assembly in May, when I was elected Moderator, David Brown was the first man - other than my assistant Richard O'Brien who was sitting next to me - to offer a warm hand-shake of congratulations, and without breaking to draw breath he immediately asked if I could set aside Sunday the 26th of October to come to Cheltenham. He was very quick off the mark!

The congregation was a great mix of old and young, though as a visitor myself it was impossible to know who were regulars and who were visitors. There was a decent number of kids in church for a children's address and the Sunday school sang a couple of songs as well. There was also a good smattering of teenage-type youngsters, several of whom did a fantastic job serving and clearing lunch afterwards.

 I gave this congregation the privilege of first dibs on a sermon that would be repeated a couple of times in the coming weeks, from 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, about learning to rejoice in our own weaknesses and shortcomings because it is then that the glory can be given to God rather than to us. Here, though, I was able to supplement it with a great wee children's address using cans of Coke - you can ask me about it if you want copyright permission :)

There was an amazing photo display of the church's history, which must have taken someone hours and hours to put together, and lunch in the hall was a fair old waistband stretcher with what looked like more or less a full roast chicken for a main course.

The Session Clerk acted as MC, introducing former ministers David Palmer and Andrew Slater who each spoke about their good times in the parish. I also had a few jokes to crack and I was followed by the local Mayor, who had them rolling in the aisles. A jolly fun and entertaining time.

The Session Clerk then introduced us to an old pedal-organ that had languished in his garage for about 40+ years but he had finally got it restored for this ocassion. Two sisters - twins in fact - then proceeded to play it for us. One of these sisters is now at Drouin, but had been the regular organist in Cheltenham 60 years previously, playing that very same little pedal-organ. A remarkable walk down memory lane.

While perusing the photos on the way out, I was particularly interested in pictures of Sir Robert Menzies attending the church while he was Prime Minister for the baptisms of his grandchildren - only to find myself being introduced to the great man's daughter-in-law, mother of the children in question, who is amongst the most regular and long-standing attendees.

Sir Robert's personal crest and flag are laid up in Scots' Church, and I once had the amazing privilege of meeting his widow, Dame Pattie Menzies.