MONTHLY LETTER FROM THE MINISTER

Dear St. Andrew’s Supporters

‘Will you still love me, will you still need me, when I’m 64?’ that question, for some reason or another, has been humming through my mind with increasing frequency. Oh yes, I remember the reason now: I AM now 64! Way back over thirty years ago, when Paul McCartney first sang these lyrical questions, I wondered what it would be like to be 64 and now I’m compelled to face up to some of the answers.

BEATS THE ALTERNATIVE

Whatever else might be said, being 64, as Sean Connery once wryly suggested, quoting, I have since discovered, Oscar Wilde, certainly beats the alternative! I appreciate how well and active I feel, but know in my heart that I’m confronting a decision time, the major one of which, as many of you already know, is to retire at the end of this year. Believe me, this has not been as easy or painless decision to make, but once taken, I’m convinced it is the right one for us all, family and church family.

I’m planning to retire, not because I have stopped enjoying my work, but precisely when I’m still very much enjoying it. Were it not for the sterling and much-appreciated support from you all at St. Andrew’s, I would have been retired by now, but I have come to realise, for the wrong reasons. Though I know that I’m going to miss St. Andrew’s Church and you all sorely, we all know that it has to happen some time. Am I trying to convince myself here?!

23 YEARS LATER

When I was inducted as your minister in January 1986, I certainly didn’t envisage still to be around here almost 23 years later. During that time, despite being approached on several occasions to move on, I have never been remotely tempted, and I have not actively applied for any charge. That speaks volumes as to just how happy and content I have been here and still am, but keen, as they say, to go out on a happy note.

‘Will you still love me, will you still need me, when I’m 64?’ I hope for you the answer to that question is an unqualified ‘Yes’, as, from my point of view, 64 years is like a peak, from which I can review the past with still, hopefully, a considerable future to look forward to. That review fills me with a deep appreciation of just how fortunate I have been in my parish ministry, spanning the two charges of Westwood and St. Andrew’s, following a formative assistantship in Aberdeen.

LIFELONG VOCATION

While looking forward, literally, if not altogether emotionally, to retiring from the parish ministry, I have no immediate plans to retire from the ministry itself, which I view as a lifelong vocation as long as I have my health and at least some of my marbles! So hopefully, as some have already hinted, I might be occasionally invited back: Ole Blue Eyes is back!!

Whatever, our first priority is to do everything we can to ensure that St. Andrew’s Church is allowed to call a minister on an unrestricted basis. The best way to succeed is for each and every one of us to devote ourselves as St. Andrew’s Supporters. Yes, of course the future is in God’s hands, but He places a share of the load upon us, so the future is in our hands too.

Thanks for everything and God bless,

Ian D. Petrie