Rev’s leap of faith for sermon
Landmark was ideal pulpit
A Perthshire minister has jumped from the pulpit to the famous Soldier’s Leap to deliver his church service.
Church of Scotland minister Neil Glover has been unable to deliver sermons to his church in person since lockdown.
Like many other ministers, Rev Glover has switched to posting services online but has seen the numbers “attending” his services triple with viewers watching from across the globe.
He and the other Highland Perthshire ministers have decided to make the most of their surrounding and on Sunday the adventurous minister delivered his sermon perched on a rock at the historic Killiecrankie landmark.
At the start of the COVID-19 health crisis the church leaders of various Church of Scotland congregations of Upper Tay and Tenandry got together to see how they could sustain the life of the church during the pandemic.
Rev Glover is the minister at Aberfeldy Church, which is linked with Dull and Weem as well as Grandtully, Logierait and Strathtay.
At the start of the pandemic, he was out of action due to the fact he was recovering from prostate cancer.
Help was needed as to how to sustain the churches during lockdown. He teamed up with the church leaders at Kenmore and Fortingall, Glenlyon and Lawers, and Tenandry to draw up a plan.
Rev Glover said: “We felt it very important that if the church is a people not a steeple then even though the buildings were going to be closed, the church would stay open.
“This has meant helping with the local initiatives like the renowned Feldyroo, our own food larder initiative, staying in touch with our young people, and opening up CAP - our debt counselling service.”
Rev Glover told the PA how he and the other church leaders have gone out and about using the spectacular Highland Perthshire scenery “as a backdrop for inspiring our worship and telling our story.”
The stunning scenery has been captured on video footage from a drone flying above the River Tay, looking down on the spectacular settings of the parishes.
There have been trips around Loch Tay and up Glen Lyon. And this Sunday Rev Glover found himself scrambling from a boat on the River Garry up the rockface at the Soldier’s Leap, comparing Redcoat Donald MacBean’s 18-foot leap across the river from the Jacobites with pregnant Hagar fleaing Abram’s wife Sarai.
Rev Glover said: “We’ve been really encouraged by the number of people who have watched these services and found them really inspiring, this includes people from Canada, Germany and the United States.”
He added: “There have been three times as many people watching as would come to church.
“We don’t know what the church is going to be like when COVID is over, but we realise that it can’t go back to what it was before. The technology has to be used to build connections with people who would never go to a church service, but whose faith matters to them and want to engage with us online.”