News, views, and other stories
(November 2007)
Jim McNulty Active Member, Perth The church is a beautiful little building made of the local pink and grey granite and sits proudly on top of a hillock above Bunessan. The first impression of the inside of the building is that it is loved and well cared for by the members. All is neat and welcoming. There are well cared for pot plants in the windows and the seats are armchairs which look so inviting. On Sunday mornings during the Summer months and at other holiday times, about 25 people gather for worship. Over the winter months this drops to about 10. During pervious telephone conversations and emails I had found out that there would be communion as part of the service on the day I was to be in Mull. I decided to preach on the subject of the Lord’s Table. I sometimes think that we often rush communion as an annex to the service and it was good to spend time thinking of who and what we were remembering and why we gathered there. The actual communion service I felt was enriched having spent time considering more fully its meaning. The members love to have visitors and they make them most welcome. After the service lunch is served in the back hall and all are provided for. This was a great opportunity to get to know the people and for the locals it is an opportunity for all to catch up on the latest news. The facilities at Bunessan offer the opportunity for college students and others to have a peaceful holiday on Mull but it is also available for lay preachers and their families. We only spent one night there but managed to fit in a short trip to Iona. The accommodation at the church is available, on request, for a week or even longer. I hope that more people will take advantage of these facilities. They will receive a blessing as they minister to the folks in Bunessan.
At SBLPA, we are keen to develop our preaching gifts through training and the Preaching Workshop is a new venture at Harper
Memorial Baptist Church, Glasgow which can help us do this. Craig Dyer the pastor there describes these events. What will a day at ‘Preach the Word’ look like? Well the last thing we want to do is set something in stone, but we do have an outline plan for the day which looks
something like this, though it may vary slightly with different speakers. You are welcome to attend both or either one of
the two sessions. Morning Session Afternoon Session The afternoon session will be a training programme, primarily aimed at those new or relatively new to preaching, with
help and guidance on getting from text to sermon. All are welcome. Leaders of small group Bible studies will find the seminars as helpful as those who actually preach to
congregations. The next one to take place is on Saturday 8 December 2007 when Geoffrey Grogan will be the guest expositor. The venue is Harpers Memorial
Baptist Church, Glasgow. For details and dates in the new year why not visit the Preachers Workshop website.Adventures on Mull
It’s a long road to Mull but to get there you pass through some of Scotland’s most magnificent scenery. There are several routes available but I travelled via Glen Coe, Corran Ferry and Lochaline to Fishnish. There is then the long drive on single track roads down through Mull to Bunessan.
Next to the church is a large modern static caravan which was available for our use. It has all necessary amenities and more besides; 2 bedrooms, dining table, toilet, shower, fridge, heating and even a flat screen Sky TV! This is only surpassed by the view from the decking! You look over Bunessan and onwards to the cliffs of Staffa.
We passed the bread to each other with blessing followed by a common cup. A simple yet profound act."Preach the Word" Preaching Workshop
"Over the last 20 years the single greatest help to me as I have tried to learn how rightly to handle the Word of Truth
has been the fellowship of like-minded Bible teachers and preachers. To listen to their expositions and interact with them
on a given Bible passage has been of tremendous value. It is great to see something of a renewed concern by churches and
their leaders to hear what the text of Scripture originally meant then and thereby discover why it matters now. It is in
the culmination of these observations that I am delighted to invite you to "Preach the Word". Here is a series of seminars
for those who believe the Bible is the living and lasting Word of God, and who want to learn through fellowship around the
Word how better to understand it, obey it and teach it to others.” (Craig Dyer, Pastor of Harper Memorial Baptist Church.)
John Brand writes "The leadership of Harper Memorial Baptist Church have established these workshops out of a burden to
strengthen the hands of those whom God has called to be preachers of his Word. In a day and age when expository preaching
is all too often despised and neglected, our desire is, through mutual encouragement and the examples of good role models
to affirm the priority of preaching in our churches and to help equip those entrusted with this great work."
