Nine Years Make a Decade???

Am I mising something? Have I missed a year out of my life? I thought you needed ten years to make a decade? So why is it that the pundates and commontators are talking about a new decade? In my book there is still one more year to go. I notice that they've now named the last nine years "the naughties" so one wonders what the next nine years will be called? It has been an interesting few years. Ten years ago the Bogle Band where performing at the great Hogmany Party and the Church Without Walls Commisssion was just beginning to think through what it was that we {the church). couldn't leave behind as we moved into a new Millenium. I certainly remember being refused the use of the buildings at 121 George Street. The Board of National Mission had ppointed me as the Church of Scotland's part-time evangelist and i had been given a grant of £10.000 to connect with the public through the Hogmany Party. It was an amazing revelation. Everyone I talked to wanted to help. The organisers of the Hogmany bash were delighted that the Church of Scotland was getting involved. We booked the London Community Gospel Choir and of course the Bogle Band got a slot. The plan was to have a stage outside the central Church Offices at 121 George Street as a symbol that the Church was open and welcoming to the community. I tried to negotiate with the Committeee that was in charge of the church offices to give us access to the building during the evening. We wanted access to the power supply and a place for the Gospel Choir and other performers to change. The request was refused on grounds of security. I even offered to pay a security company to guard the door. The man in charge was no for budging. I've never quite understood that kind of mentality. I took this picture as symol of how it feels to be standing in front of locked doors. ( I'll see if i can get a better resolution) I guess this is how a lot of people still feel about the church. [gallery] The strange thing ws that the Tax Office across the road from 121 offered me the use of their premises. In the end we were glad to receive the hospitality of Charlotte Street Baptist Church and we ended up hiring a generator for the power supply. But you know what, we had a fantastic evening. the organisers of the Hogmany Party congratulated us on our professionalism and our ability to stage such an excellent event. You might ask why does the church not do something like this each year at the Hogmany Party 80,000 people milling about Princess Street and George Street. Now that is an interesting question.

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2 Comments
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Posted By: albert   On: 2 Jan 2010   At: 4:07pm

Duncan

i just pray that we’ve moved on. Certainly the Ingleston Project captured imaginations. Let’s hope others who see the vision are supported from the centre. But in many ways the centre is becoming the perifery and the perifery is becoming the centre.

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Posted By: Duncan   On: 2 Jan 2010   At: 2:52pm

A good new year to you Albert. 121 locked up on security grounds!I wonder what the outcome might have been if you had been able to blog about the situation 9 years ago? I suspect a bit of publcity might have changed the outcome.

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