Poignant online farewell to Argyll Thousands watch Bishop’s final Oban Eucharist
Worshippers from across Argyll and The Isles watched a poignant Eucharist service online on Sunday to wish their Bishop well before he takes up a new post next month.
After almost a decade as Bishop of Argyll and The Isles, the Right Reverend Kevin Pearson is due to start his new role as Episcopalian Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway on July 1.
On Sunday June 7 Bishop Kevin led his final Eucharist service from the 100-year-old St John’s Cathedral in Oban. The service also involved other Diocesan Clergy and lay people from Oban, Bute, Skye and Lewis having sent in recordings as part of Sunday’s online worship.
Thousands of people have now viewed the service, a link for which can be found on the Episcopal website Scotland. anglican.org
The service began with a musical ringing of bells from the Diocese's other cathedral, The Cathedral of The Isles on the Isle of Cumbrae.
‘I was a bit of a continuation act really! It was a technical wonder with so many people from Stornoway to Cumbrae having recorded parts of it,’ said Bishop Kevin who will be the first bishop to move from one diocese to another in more than 80 years.
He said the time he and his wife Elspeth had spent in Argyll and The Isles had been ‘terribly exciting in all sorts of different ways’ and ‘the most memorable moments were many.’
He is the only Bishop in Scotland to have dedicated a memorial in commemoration of the First World War, he has also enjoyed the great, significant occasions of ordaining women from local communities. There was also the memorable day of dedicating a new chapel on the Kilchoan estate built by its Chilean owner.
‘Memorable moments are many from across Argyll and The Isles which of course includes Iona, the cradle of Christianity in this country. It has been a great privilege to have been a part of its community. We will miss Argyll and The Isles terribly, it's a wonderful place to live. We'll miss the friendly people, the nature, the sea - it’s been enormous fun,’ said the Bishop who will also miss travelling on boats and ferries.
‘I’ve had great experiences on the ferry, getting the last boat out of Stornoway on choppy seas and getting breakfast quick because there’s not been much of a queue!' he said.
But added: ‘Seriously, it’s been massively exciting from a faith point of view.
‘People are more interested in faith and spirituality now than they were 20 or 30 years ago.’
Bishop Kevin said moving to Glasgow and Galloway was part of his journey and the current challenge brought by COVID-19 was included.
‘We’ve closed our churches out of love not fear, we don’t want to expose anyone to this virus,’ he said. COVID-19 restrictions may be hampering the Bishop’s move to Glasgow but when it happens the start of a new chapter will be another ‘exciting one,’ he said.
‘Glasgow is the biggest city and unique in itself and Galloway is an enormous rural area.
‘There’s tension between the two, urban and rural. Obviously being in Argyll I’m used to rural life but I spent years in Edinburgh before I came here. So it's a marriage of the two, the job of a bishop is to make that tension positive.’
Before coming to Argyll and The Isles as its Bishop, he was Rector of St Michael and All Saints Church in Edinburgh, Canon of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, Dean of the Diocese of Edinburgh and the Provincial Director of Ordinands where he was responsible for the discernment and selection process for candidates for ministry.
Bishop Kevin is also currently the convener of the Council of the Scottish Episcopal Institute overseeing the training of those entering authorised ministry and he also serves on the provincial Standing Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
He takes over the See of Glasgow and Galloway that became vacant in 2018 following the retirement of the Rt Rev Dr Gregor Duncan. He was elected by the Episcopal Synod, a body comprising the Diocesan Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church.