CRUCIS Magazine of St. Salvador’s Scottish Episcopal Church Dundee May 2019 “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14 In the Beginning… As beautiful as any historic landmark church building is, if Jesus is not there, it is I’ve only been to Paris once, and I liked it just a monument to Him, a footprint of very much. Notre Dame was, of course, on where He once stood. The Church is not a our list of places to visit. I was unim- building, but a living community where Je- pressed. Despite what its builders I am sure sus is alive. The attack on the Sri Lankan intended, I was left feeling uninspired. It’s a churches was an assault on His living Body. beautiful and historic national monument, Those killed and injured shared in Christ’s like Westminster Abbey, but I wasn’t very suffering at the hands of those who hate aware of Jesus being there. Him, who want rid of Him from the world. It is ironic and yet fitting that their violent The fire at Note Dame was a tragedy for hatred was exercised at precisely the time France and for anyone in the world who ap- the Church recalls Christ’s sacrifice, at preciates art, architecture, and history. I Easter and at Mass. hope it is rebuilt with care. But whether it will ever be anything other than a landmark Our Sri Lankan brothers and sisters killed remains to be seen. The timing of the fire, and wounded are martyrs; those who so close to Holy Week and Easter, certainly bombed the churches are not. In essence, focussed the minds of those of us with reli- Christianity is about sacrifice and love: God gious sensibilities. Thankfully, there were for us and us for God. We endure all things no deaths or injuries. There was a palpable because we believe all things – not least the sense of loss nonetheless. However, the loving, enduring and life-giving power of very real distress of onlookers – even the God through the Crucified and Risen Christ French clergy there – appeared to me to be in His Church. cultural, not religious. Fr. Clive Also at this holiest time in the Christian Year, three rather ugly churches were bombed by terrorists in far-off Sri Lanka. Perhaps as many as 300 were killed and about the same number wounded. The dis- tress of onlookers around the world was not merely cultural. It was not an artistic trag- edy. The horror was visceral. But Jesus was truly there. Why do I say that? There is a big difference between A church and THE Church. VESTRY NEWS Words you never thought you would hear at St Salvador’s... The Vestry met in April and discussed Due to the combination of the heating being the following on for the main Holy Week services and a Ongoing repairs at the Church remarkably warm Easter weekend, a num- and the Rectory ber of people at the Easter Vigil and on Work needed to clear the gut- Easter Sunday were heard to say “My tering, for which a donation goodness! It’s hot in here”. These words has been received, with many were followed by the removal of coats and jackets and the opening of doors!! Needless thanks to say the heating was switched off pronto! Our increased quota The reports from the Treasurer, This seems a good opportunity to thank PVG Officer and the Wardens everyone who supports the heating fund week by week. Your donations help to- The Vestry wishes to record thanks to wards keeping the church heated through- out the winter months. all those who helped in any way with the preparations for our Holy Week and Please continue to pop your contribution Easter services and to all those who into the glass receptacle on the coffee/tea took part in them. It was lovely to have table. so many servers in the Sanctuary. Thank you also to the cleaning crew FOOD CUPBOARD NEWS who did a sterling job on Holy Saturday Once again we have been amazed by the to clean the church for our Easter cele- generous donations of foodstuffs from the brations. Your hard work was much ap- local supermarket trolleys, including one at preciated. the Co-op in Barnhill, and from local con- gregations and individuals. Thanks to Katie Clapson, Vestry Secretary thoughtful donations of Easter eggs we were able to give one to each of our visitors on Easter Sunday, with enough left over for the following Sunday. Our team of volunteers works very hard on a Sunday afternoon to ensure that all the refreshments are ready for our 1.15pm start and that all the items to be handed out are suitably organised and ready when the doors open to our visitors. All the help that we receive is very much appreciated and it takes a team effort to ensure that our visi- tors are able to access refreshments, the wee bags of groceries and whatever else has been donated. We are grateful to have vol- unteers who can “signpost” people to other available help. When they are not available, our notice boards posted with relevant in- formation are very useful. 2 “Here we have [the disciples] who failed to stand up to the Jews when Christ was alive; and yet no sooner was Christ dead and buried, than they take on the whole world. How can this be unless Christ rose from the dead, talked with them and put fresh heart into them? If it were not so, would they not have said to themselves:’What is all this? If Christ did not have the strength to save himself, how can he protect us? He did not defend himself when he was alive, so will he reach out his hand to defend us now that he is dead? When We are sorry to hear of the recent death of a he was alive he did not conquer a single much-loved figure in our Diocese. The nation, so how shall we convince the youngest of four brothers, the Rev. Canon Frederick Hugh Magee was born in 1933, entire world by speaking his name?’ the son of an English mother and an Ameri- can father. His first years were spent in Would it not have been foolish to con- China, where his parents were missionaries. ceive of such an enterprise, let alone ac- Returning to Britain in 1937, Hugh was tually to do it? Surely it is obvious that subsequently educated in England and the if the disciples had not seen Jesus risen United States. A graduate of Yale Univer- sity, he later returned to Britain to train for from the dead and received clear evi- ordination at Westcott House, Cambridge. dence of his power, they would never He was ordained Deacon in 1959 and Priest have risked such a gamble.” in 1960. During the course of a long and colourful ministry, Canon Magee served St. John Chrysostom (347-407) parishes in England, Scotland, and in the Diocese of Spokane (USA). Latterly he served as an Honorary Assistant at St. Paul’s Cathedral Dundee, where he had been Chaplain from 1972-79. Canon Magee covered services here at St. Salvador’s at various times over the years and was sup- portive in a number of other ways. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his widow Yvonne. May he rest in peace. MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR HUGH - The memorial service for Hugh will be on Sat- urday, 18 May, at 3 pm, at St Paul's Cathe- dral, Dundee, with reception following in the church 3 A Sermon preached by the Rector on the Wednesday in Holy Week, 17 April, 2019 “Consider him who endured such hostility These solemn, empty gestures invite con- against himself from sinners, so that you tempt and cheapen our religion. They are may not grow weary or lose heart.” He- attention-grabbing gimmicks, and their im- brews 12: 3 portance even to Christians is increasingly reduced. These vacuous, powerless symbols George Bernard Shaw once observed that are now just something cute to mark the religion in modern times must make itself changes in the seasons. And we Christians cheap to be noticed, and the cheaper it are far too complicit in this. We are at seri- makes itself, the less people think of it. ous risk of offering “cheap grace”. Shaw was an atheist; I am not. But I do think that it is becoming depressingly obvi- The phrase "cheap grace" was first coined ous that he was right. by German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book “The Cost of Disci- Throughout the generations the liberal ele- pleship” in 1937. He was reacting to a com- ment in our church has always tended to pliant church in the face of the Nazi threat. play to the secular gallery. They have al- Bonhoeffer said that cheap grace was "the ways wanted desperately to be noticed by preaching of forgiveness without requiring their non-believing contemporaries. The repentance, baptism without church disci- best of them may see this as evangelism; pline. Communion without confession. others seem like they just need to be no- Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, ticed. In the West the liberal element domi- grace without the cross, grace without Jesus nates most of the mainline churches, our Christ." church included. Grace is what God gives us to unite us with The Church has always taken over non- Himself.