Ely Leg Mission to the Parish of St John Ogilvie, Easter Ross, August 2007

To maintain any fragments of sanity that I may have at the end of an academic year at Ushaw, I have escaped most summers since 2000 to the parish of St John Ogilvie, in the Ross and Cromarty district of the Highland region of Scotland. The parish starts about 15 miles north of Inverness and stretches north for 40 miles. The Cromarty and Dornarch firths are in the parish, which means that the parish feels like an island and is shot through with many beautiful scenic views. Whisky also runs in its veins with five distilleries in the parish, including the famous Glenmorangie. There are three small towns, Tain, Invergordon, and Alness. I should also mention the village of Portmahomack, which since it has the remains of a 6th century Pictish monastery, is known as the 'Iona of the east'. It is a small fishing village facing west on the Tarbat peninsula. Its view of sand, sea and the Sutherland hills takes some beating. Each of the three towns has a small Catholic Church, though the parish is covered by one priest, based at Tain. The people are incredibly welcoming, even of a scruffy clerical temporary refugee from England! I think you will appreciate why I keep coming back.

During Ely Leg's AGM in 2006, when there was talk of reunion, I said they would be welcome to come to Tain. It was said as a half joke since Walsingham to Tain is over 500 miles; it is a long way for a weekend reunion! Anyway some of the loveable motley crew that are Ely Leg were up for the challenge so in the last weekend of July 2006, seven of the leg came up for the weekend. Some of the group played at the liturgies. The Parish Priest is Fr James Bell, Scotland’s only married Catholic Priest. He was impressed by the music and liked us as group. He wondered if we were willing to come up for a mission in the parish the following summer. Since those who had come up had instantly fallen in love with the place, with its irresistible combination of scenic views, great people and fine whisky, the leg 'were up for it'.

The Mission was a great success. I want to give a brief description of what we did and what lessons I have learned from the experience; lessons that I think could be shared with the wider family of Student Cross.

The Ely Leg mission team consisted of our leader, Katie Dudley, Susie Carroll, Rachel Conner, Catherine Duce, Mike Lagrue (MOD in 2008), David and Christine Mottram and me. Most of the leg arrived on Saturday August 4 and played at the Masses on the Saturday evening and Sunday Mornings for that weekend and the following one as well. Most of the weekdays had a the pattern of a workshop in the morning, time for the group to relax and usually last minute planning in the afternoon, and some para-liturgy in the evening. We took four themes: prayer, love, forgiveness and justice. On the Friday afternoon we had a service of healing for the sick, housebound and elderly in the parish and then in the evening, a meeting with the young people in the parish, with pizzas and drinks, where they could ask any questions. On the Saturday we had walk with parishioners through hills and forest in the parish and then in the evening we had a BBQ with the parish to say goodbyes. It was a powerful week, with the parish very appreciative of what the leg did. I could see how the experience strengthened the faith of many of the faithful parishioners.

What was learned? Well first, it was a powerful reminder from Student Cross that wonderful and beautiful relationships can be built up between people from varied backgrounds in a very short period of time. Whatever the task is, what matters is the quality of the relationships that are formed, and here the quality was high. From the ages of 0-81, I saw people genuinely moved by the faith, commitment and big hearts of my fellow missioners. It was also a very mutual experience, with the leg being bowled over by the warmth, generosity and love of the people. A very special relationship was formed between two groups of people. As a person who had know the two groups beforehand, it was beautiful and a privilege to see.

Secondly, if a leg decides to spend a week with a parish, recruitment could benefit. Five parishioners signed up to join the leg for 2008, and another half a dozen were thinking about it. They were even talking of bringing a minibus load down. It is over 500 miles from Tain to Ely; even if it is just the five who had already signed up, it would be remarkable that they would be prepared to make such an effort to join us.

Finally, I appreciated that if a leg does a mission in a parish, it is a way for the student cross experience to be shared first all by the leg outside Holy Week. It is a week of intense being and activity as in Holy Week, which touches you in a profound way. It also means that the faith, joy, energy, creativity, humour, gifts and love, which you discover in a leg, can be shared with a wider group of people for a sustained length of time. I know that during Holy week, the legs comes across a number of communities, but to be in one parish for a week, means that the wonder of Student Cross was shared with a group for a much longer time than usual. It was this sustained sharing with a wider group of people, which I think is the biggest lesson for Student Cross. The many gifts that are to be found during Holy Week can be shared with the wider church in a way that is more than just a few hours.

Overall, it was a great experience, worth doing and my hope is that other legs will be inspired to imitate us. I hope that Ely Leg will have the opportunity to continue to share with the wider Student Cross family something of our experience. Some of the parishioners from St John Ogilvie, Easter Ross, will be there as well to tell all about it. They may bring some of the whisky as well!

Chris Hughes