Stuart Brock gives a personal account of Kevin Watson’s recent Induction as Yorkshire Moderator.
Kevin was previously our minister at Ponteland.
The singing was the thing that most got to me. I was quite moved by the power of it for it was a large congregation (some three hundred, I reckon, including a coachload from Kevin’s former church at Ponteland). The enthusiasm and sheer volume of ‘The God of Abram praise’ was uplifting in itself.
Then there were the two offerings of the Word: the second as Kevin gave an account of his personal journey to the point he now found himself, standing before a congregation warming to their new leader. In inimitable Kevin style, a mixture of punchy points and droll anecdotes, he reminded us all that whoever we are and wherever we stand, it is ‘all of grace.’ I guess those who had wondered who their new mod was, discovered something of the ‘grace’ that those of us who have watched him grow into this new role have long been aware of.
His ‘Statement’ of call had followed from a challenging Word from Rev Dr Robert Pope of Penmaenmawr in which, again with wry Welsh humour and self-deprecatory asides, he challenged those of us only too well aware of the decline of the church to ‘let God be God’. We need to leave the worrying to God and get on with the business of being viable communities of faith, ready for God’s Spirit to move at will.
There was the usual orderly recital of the Nature, Faith and Order of the URC, prayers ably led by various Elders and two presentations by different groups of young people from the Synod – one a dance to ‘Come, now is the time to worship’: the other a sketch in which we were invited to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (or the church today) with a combination of teamwork and lego bricks! The national Moderator, Rev Dr Stephen Orchard, who had presided over the whole service, along with Kevin, each provided the final two bricks that would make the wall hold together.
Finally, we sang lustily ‘Here I am, Lord’, Kevin pronounced the Blessing as the new Moderator and we piled out across the road to the splendid Town Hall for the inevitable tea.
As a colleague and friend, I was sad to wish Kevin goodbye from us here in the north east but delighted that he is in the right place, and, I would guess from reactions I picked up after the service, already making an impact. I was able to tell one or two old friends from Yorkshire that our loss was very definitely their gain.
On behalf of the Nine Churches Mission Partnership I was also able, in person, to say a few encouraging words to Kevin before beginning the long drive back from one part of ‘God’s own country’ to another!