Movement 124

quicklire gnestions
What are you reading at the moment?
Michael Palin, Full Circle.... My wife bought me a set of the
Michael Palin books and l'm just reading them, and finding them
so enchanting.
On a more serious level, I have just finished a classic SCMtype
book which I recommend to all your readers: What the Bible Really
Teaches by Keith Ward.
What's yogr favourite film?
The Shawshank Redemption. Absolutely no question. Not just
because l'm a prison person, but for that wonderful Mozart
movement through the loudspeakers which just transforms the
prison. lt makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
How do you relax?
The great new interest in my life is gardening. At the moment l'm
spending quite a bit of time watching the World Cup, though I
wouldn't call that relaxing.
What do you like most about yourself?
I think l'm very patient. I think l'm patient with other people, I
think l'm patient with myself.
ls there anything you dislike about yourself?
I think l'm too patient. l'm certainly too patient with the wrongs
and injustices of the world. And perhaps a little too patient with
myself.
What's your favourite word?
Can I give you two? When I was Moderator, the theme I had was
that I wanted a passionate church and a gentle Scotland.
lf you could be someone else, who would it be?
When they asked Churchillthat, he said,'Mrs Churchill's second
husband'. I would like to be Mrs McLellan's second husband.
The living person I admire most is Jean Vanier, the founder of the
llArche communities. He has combined intellectual power with
great human tenderness in a way I find very moving.
What are you scared of?
l'm scared of people. I find some people quite intimidating.
l'm scared of things that might happen to my sons even though
they're now grown up. l'm scared of a church which no longer
is able to capture the excitement and liveliness and joy which is
Cod and Christian worshiP.
What do you never miss on TV?
I never miss Scotland football victories. There are very few.
What music do you listen to?
I listen to a lot of Mozart, and I listen to - this'll tell you my age
- the Beatles. Joan Baez speaks to me because l'm a child of the
sixties, in a way that others don't, and l've a particular affection
for the Scottish traditional music of a fiddler and an accordion
player called Ally Bain and Phil Cunningham.
Do you have any pet hates?
l'm ashamed of this, but I hate bad grammar and bad spelling.
That's a sign of a small mind in me, but that's the way I am.
'l do not recoEfnise the God of
ri$htwin$ ideolo$ues in the
United States'
- perhaps even more than they record Jesus having
concerns about people going to church.'
All the same, he has major concerns about the links
which are forming in the US between the state and
fundamentalist Christianity: 'l do not recognise the
God of rightwing ideologues in the United States,
who is a Cod - as far as I can see - of vengeance,
and a Cod of exclusiveness and of the particular
rights of our particular people and our particular
way of life. Now when I say I do not recognise that
Cod, of course I recognise that there are pages in
the Bible that represent that Cod. But I do not recognise
that Cod in the face of Jesus Christ.'
He adds a challenge: 'l think the courage of most
of the mainstream Christian denominations in the
United States in standing out against the ideology
of the far religious right has not been sufficiently
recognised here. The responsibility of churches
here to support the mainstream churches in the US,
I think, hasn't sufficiently been recognised.'
We talk about the need for the church in general to
speak out more for peace and .iustice: 'Protestantism
should be born in protest... l'm proud of that
sense that the demand for the end of abuses of the
justice of Cod and the peace of Cod should be part
of the living out of the gospel.
'When I came into this job, I expected that regularly
I would get phone calls and letters saying, "Because
l'm a Christian person, I care about the conditions
in our prisons and I wish they were better'" Not a
squeak. l'm recognising how timid our churches
are in terms of shouting louder and banging at the
doors - not for the rights of the churches, but for
the rights of the weakest and the most oppressed
children of God.'
As a church leader, he spoke about the need for the
church to reconnect with modern society. 'Listening
to the world is a primary role of the church. Listening
and loving go hand in hand together - you don't
love people you don't listen to.'
Finally, his message for the SCM of today: 'Firstly,
the theology of the church should not belong to its
ordained ministers. You do not need a degree in theology
to think theologically. Secondly, increasingly,
the defence of liberal theology in our churches belongs
to old people. lt was the opposite when I was
in the SCM: old people were conservative and most
young people were liberal. So it's important not just
that the church should treasure the SCM, but also
that the SCM should flex its muscles and decide that
numbers are not important - what's important is the
truth, and having the courage to shout perhaps a little
louder. Thirdly, the SCM should be, of all groups
around the Christian faith, the best at listening to the
world. SCM members will find themselves confronted
with the caricatures of religion which unbelievers
in the university will have. Somehow, for them to
hear behind that caricature the actual concerns of
unbelieving students is such an important ear for the
church, and the church needs to hear it as welli O
Liam Purcell is editor of movement.
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