Possilpark Parish Church gears up to celebrate

A NORTH Glasgow church is preparing to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee tomorrow.

Possilpark Parish Church will host a unique service and a street party, complete with games, booths and a special lunch, near the parish.

Stonyhurst Street, where the event will be held, is set to be closed until 4pm on the day.

Groups who use the church grounds will take part in the occasion, along with any members of the community who would like to attend.

Member of the congregation Adah Younger said: “Everybody is excited. Lots of the groups who use the church are recovery groups, so they love any kind of gathering. The congregation has a considerable number of elderly people, so they are very excited that it’s being organised for them.

“The council doesn’t seem to have done anything outstanding for the jubilee, but I do think that this woman, who has done her job, and it’s not an easy job, for 70 years deserves a celebration.”

Despite a significant number of Glaswegians not marking the anniversary, the churchgoers believe the Queen’s contribution to our society is commendable, especially her religious leadership.

Adah added: “No matter what your political stance is, anybody who shows this commitment, faithfulness and her promotion of the Christian religion, as a human being, needs to be admired for her determination and gentle faithfulness.

“The people of Glasgow definitely share this view. We have marches on through the town, but we haven’t emphasised the red, white and blue, we went with the purple, gold and white, which is quite right.

“She is a person of faith and therefore can appeal to all people of faith.”

Meanwhile, the historic Glasgow Cathedral will hold a special service of celebration and thanksgiving on the same day, led by Reverend Mark Johnstone.

He said: “We have received a good response and I want to bring a bit of colour and pageantry to it. We are feeling very positive about it.

“Our choir will sing the coronation version of All People That on Earth Do Dwell [the only hymn to be sung at the coronation in 1952].”