As it’s St Fillan’s 900th anniversary I’m looking at Rev. Rutherford’s children’s address, where he talks about the history of the church, this one is for 10th September 1967, here he is talking about another name on the brass memorial – Peter Blackwood.
Peter Blackwood is the first name on the plaque after the Reformation. The date is 1565 and you may be surprised that it it took five years to get a minister after the Reformation. When he was appointed, it was to the churches of Saline, Auchtertool, Dalgety and Aberdour (and for a time Carbock and Inverkeithing), and his manse was in Saline, which is about 17 miles away from here. With nothing other than a pony, can you can imagine how long it took for him to get around.
Why were there so few ministers? Up to this time all the services had been conducted by priests and they couldn’t get ministers over night. Many of the first ministers after the Reformation had been priests who had been unhappy with the Roman Church. Peter Blackwood had been a monk in the Abbey at Holyrood, which was closely linked with the Abbey on Inchcolm.
The ministers had the help of those allowed to read the scriptures – called Readers, men who were allowed to preach a sermon, who were called Exhorters, but for the real services only Peter Blackwood could conduct them.
Today the same shortage of ministers exists in Scotland, there are ministers looking after two, three or four different churches. So if you are trying to make up your mind on what you are going to be. Can I suggest that some of you would make good ministers, and those of you who can’t be could always make good helpers.