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                                                                                     Photo of Rev Shaw Paterson   

                                                                                     The Rev Shaw J Paterson         

Born and brought up in Lanarkshire, Shaw began training for the Ministry as a student within the Presbytery of Hamilton.  On completion of his studies he was appointed as Assistant Minister at the Old Parish Church in Hamilton to undertake his Probationary Year.  Thereafter, on the 29th of August 1991, he was Ordained and Inducted to the linked Charge of Strathaven Rankin and Chapelton.

In addition to parish duties, Shaw served as a Prison Chaplain at HMP Dungavel until its closure in the year 2000.

Serving on many of Hamilton Presbytery's Committees, he has been appointed as Ministry Convener on two separate occasions, with a three-year position as Vice-Convener of the general Assembly's Board of Ministry in between.  In July 2003, the Presbytery appointed Shaw as Presbytery Clerk.

 In terms of academic qualifications, Shaw's first degree (BSc with Honours) was awarded in 1987 and that was followed three years later by a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree - both by the University of Glasgow.  In the autumn of 2001, he began studying Palliative Care on a part-time basis (again at the University of Glasgow) and three years later he was awarded an MSc (Med Sci) from the Faculty of Medicine - which had a major focus in neonatal palliative care.

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                                                        MINISTER'S MONTHLY LETTER

Like many others, I love a bargain.  Well, on the 1st of December I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a bargain.  On doing some Christmas shopping in one of the larger stores, I went up to the cash desk with a variety of purchases in my basket.  The total amounted to £104 but the amount requested was some £40 lower.  I know what you will be thinking (I did):  the cashier has made a mistake.  The good news for me was thatit hadn’t been a mistake.  Below the initial total, there was a reduction of £2.31% because of the lowering of VAT (and don’t ask me how that’s worked out); a reduction of 20% on two items; and a further reduction due to a ‘three for the price of two’ offer.  The amount asked for was correct but I still felt I had grabbed a bargain with my purchases.

All of us feel great when we manage to get a bargain or a discount of some description.  That inner feeling of getting something for nothing is wonderful.  I wonder if that was how Mary and Joseph felt as they settled down in the stable before Jesus was born?  There was nowhere else for them to stay and so the offer of a draughty stable must have come as great news!

The previous nine months must have been like a rollercoaster ride.  From the visit of the angel to Mary, the announcement that she was to bear God’s Son, Joseph supporting her through everything and te journey to Bethlehem.  Then the child was born:

He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall.
With the poor and meek and lowly
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             (Hymn 193)

This really was good news for the world!  “Our Saviour was born - Christ the Lord” (Luke 2.11b) 

However, this is only part of the story.  The good news of Jesus Christ extends beyond the wonder of his birth to his life, death and resurrection.  Jesus was born for us and he died for us: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may no die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).  Jesus wasn’t born into our world to find a bargain – He paid the full price and it cost him his life on the cross so that we might have eternal life.  This was what proved to the world that he was, and still is, our Saviour.  Our Saviour lived, died and rose again – for us.  What wonderful Good News!  God News that is free to us – it is there for the accepting and believing.

As we journey to Bethlehem once again, may we all hear the good News (once again) and may we accept it and believe it!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and every blessing for the New Year,

Shaw J Paterson

 

 

  

 

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