News, views, and other stories
(June 2007)

Islay Adventures

Note: I have had several visits to Islay. The following anecdotes are all true but happened over several visits although I have described them here as all occurring during one weekend.

I can drive from Perth to Edinburgh in just over one hour, Glasgow in about one and a half hours, Newcastle in three - but it takes four hours to Kennacraig to catch the ferry for the two hour crossing to Islay! Although it takes such a long time it is through magnificent scenery and when you experience the welcome from the people of Islay it certainly makes the journey worthwhile.

Having boarded the MV Hebridean Isles at lunchtime on Saturday it was not long before we were passing Gihha on our way to Port Askaig. I was just sitting down to my Caledonian MacBrayne fish and chips when there was an announcement on the tanoy. “Would Mr Jim McNulty please make his way to the bridge.” There I met the captain who informed me that he lived next door to the Perth Baptist Church Treasurer who had told him that I would be aboard. I crossed to Islay in style in the company of the captain on the bridge.

Florrie was waiting at the pier. She took my wife and I to the church / manse at Bowmore where we would be staying. The church is downstairs and the manse upstairs. The building has recently been refurbished and both parts are fitted out to a good standard. She showed us the fridge, which seemed to have been stocked for an army. We knew we would not starve this weekend! We had a chat about the services that were planned for the next day. Being Easter weekend there were four services to take! (If you are thinking of going to Islay, don’t worry, there are normally only two).

The weather was fine so we went for a walk around Bowmore. The Round Church (allegedly so that there are no corners for the Devil to hide in) with the grave of Donald Caskie, The Tartan Pimpernel, was interesting.

We ventured in to the Harbour Inn and Hotel for afternoon tea. Expensive but very pleasant with wonderful views over Loch Indaal.

We decided not to sample the famous malt whiskies at up to £65 per nip!

David and Margaret had invited us for dinner, so David arrived to drive us to Bridgend where Margaret had prepared a wonderful meal. We had a pleasant evening with them before returning to the manse at Bowmore for final preparation for the Sunday services.

Sunday started early with a pier head service at Port Ellen at 8am. It was cold. About a dozen people gathered to celebrate the risen Lord. We sang a few unaccompanied hymns and I spoke for a few minutes on the uniqueness of the resurrection. We retired back to a member’s house for some very welcome hot coffee and rolls.

Then there were two morning services. The first was at Port Ellen. The church is an older building which is currently being upgraded. One interesting feature was that next to the pulpit, which I was encouraged to use, was a bracket for holding a candle. About 15 people arrived for the service. As there were a couple of children present I spent a few minutes in the service speaking to them. My sermon was a little bit different in that it took the form of an apologetic sermon emphasising the evidence for our belief in the resurrection of Jesus from death and the centrality of that event to our faith.

After the service we were driven the 10 miles back to Bowmore where a further 20 people had gathered. I used the same order of service and sermon as at Port Ellen.

Jim insisted that we had lunch with him so he took us in the Islay Baptist Church minibus to his house where he prepared a wonderful steak dinner.

The evening service at Bowmore was preceded by a short communion service. About 30 people attended the main service. The Bowmore church has been equipped with a laptop and projector so I decided to use PowerPoint during the sermon. Just after I started speaking a young man in the front row suddenly jumped up and ran out of the room. I was relieved to be informed that he was a member of the fire service and had just received an emergency pager message! I spoke on Abraham and Isaac and the humanity of Abraham, particularly thinking about the choices and sacrifices he had to make. This was then compared with what God has done for us in Christ. Abraham’s son was spared but God actually did sacrifice his Son for us.

After the evening service, Rae took us for a run to the centre of the island where we saw a stag standing on a small hill silhouetted against the sky. A real “Monarch of the Glen” moment. The mist was closing in so the visits to most of the other viewpoints were concluded by, “This is a beautiful view – if you could see it.”

Up early on the Monday morning to catch the ferry. “Time, tide and Caledonian MacBrayne wait for no man.” Pamela came to run us to the ferry. On the way I had to stop off at Mrs MacAulay’s grocery shop to pick up my watch which I had left in the pulpit in Port Ellen. Mrs MacAulay is the church treasurer. As Pamela hugged us to say goodbye she said, “Isn’t it wonderful that God actually did sacrifice his Son for us.” She remembered something from the sermon. The ultimate accolade for a preacher.

I hope that these few anecdotes will encourage others to volunteer to go to Islay. The people there will be encouraged by your ministry and you will be blessed by their fellowship and will experience their warmth and appreciation.

Training Link-up

Are you a member of SBLPA and currently doing a course or a module and want someone to link up, share ideas, sharpen iron with? Then please get in contact with Glen Cartwright, General secretary who will be happy to link you up with another person who has or is doing the course. To enable this to be efficent - if you start a course please also keep Glen posted about this.