Page 5 - Ordinariate Scotland Newsletter - Easter 2024

News from The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in Scotland
An exciting opportunity for the Ordinariate
IRNIE KIRK, is on the
B Boutskirts of Elgin, and
remains much as it was when
it was built in the early 12th
century. It is particularly
noted for its beautiful Norman
chancel arch and traces of the
original painted consecration
crosses can still be seen in the
chancel. The site itself is very
much older and known to be
a place of worship from Celtic
times and before that there is
evidence of pre-Christian use.
Reciting the M agnific a t a t EP announcement, the
Reciting the Magnificat at EP
Birnie Kirk is the oldest
continuously used church
in Scotland - older than the
abbeys and cathedrals which
now lie in ruins, and has been a
place of worship for Catholics,
Episcopalians and the Church
of Scotland over the centuries.
The church was restored in
the closing years of the 19th
century under the guidance of
Rev Dr James Cooper who was
a leader of the Scoto-Catholic
movement, a high church
movement within the Church
of Scotland. He was also a
friend of many of the leading
lights of the Tractarians south
of the border and was known as the people of Scotland.
‘the Newman of the Scots Kirk’
Last November the Church
Page 5
irk b
ears of unin
y E
orship
errupt
Birnie K
ed Christian w
t
lgin ... almost 900 y
Birnie Kirk by Elgin ... almost 900 years of uninterrupted Christian worship
of Scotland sadly closed Birnie Elgin Kirk Session, it was
Kirk saying that it was “making decided that we would offer
the best use of resources” in Evening Prayer according to
“increasingly challenging Divine Worship Daily Office
times”. There was each Wednesday evening at
naturally, a great sense of 7pm. This initiative of the
hurt and shock that such Ordinariate is an ecumenical
a thing could happen, venture bringing Christians of
felt by all Christians different traditions together
throughout Scotland. - Presbyterian, Episcopalian,
Baptist and Catholic. The
Following service is followed by coffee and
this devastating cake provided by the Kirk ladies
and very quickly we have seen a
Ordinariate in Scotland was real community begin to form.
asked if they might be
able to help keep alive
the unbroken 900 year
record of Christian
worship in the church.
We, of course, agreed,
helped in our decision
by a declaration signed
in 2022 between the
Church of Scotland and
the Catholic Church
in Scotland known
as ‘The St. Margaret
Declaration’ in which,
Jill Garrow reading a Lesson at EP
for the first time the two Jill G arr o w r eading a L esson a t EP
churches solemnly pledged to With the agreement of the
work together in announcing Minster and Kirk Session of
the good news of the gospel to Elgin, the Ordinariate have also
been given permission to sing
Mass in the church and our
With the encouragement first Mass will be offered on the
and agreement of the new Tuesday of Holy Week at 12