A NEW BEGINNING

The Trust is embarking on a fresh start. Since its inception in 1995, Bruce Crerar, our founder, had run the Trust, devoting his enormous energy to it, with the help of the many volunteers. Sadly, having suffered deteriorating health over the past two to three years, he died last August, and his obituary appears elsewhere on our website.

However, the good news is that the Trustees have appointed Tom Sutcliffe as Volunteer Co-ordinator / Marketing Manager to manage and promote the work of the Trust. Following in the footsteps of Bruce will not be easy, but we have no doubt Tom, who started work mid January, will be up to it. He is a graduate of Edinburgh University, with BD and MTh degrees, and is an active member of the Roman Catholic Church.

Introducing himself, Tom writes :”My father is an Anglican priest and my formative years were spent within the high Anglican tradition. I attended a Catholic primary school for years and later when studying for my A levels I was received into the Catholic church, prompting a Catholic family friend to joke with my parents ;’ it’s your own fault; you’ve left him too close to the left-footers all his life’! After leaving school I came up to Edinburgh and studied theology at New College, my BD degree majoring in ecclesiastical history. After somewhat over a year with my parents in Somerset, I returned to Edinburgh and graduated MTh in 2005. I believe that a fully rounded understanding of history is of considerable importance if people are to understand church teaching and theology correctly. Since October 2005, as a volunteer with the Trust, I have been grateful for the chance to work with a charity fulfilling an important role in reminding people, not least me, of the centrality of scripture to Christian belief and practice”.

Tom’s coming on board gives an important ecumenical dimension to the Trust. We welcome him and assure him of our support as he takes on this challenging role. We hope, through the production and distribution of the cards, to continue and expand this mission to Christians, to those of other faiths, and to those of none.
February 2008