Interim moderator, Rev. Jim Ferrier asked that I inform interested readers of the decision the Sessions of the two churches under his wing reached on the possibility of resuming in-person worship services for April. After much discussion, and in light of the spike in Covid infection rates, it was decided to err on the side of caution. The hope is that by May the counts will be down and enough of the membership will have received at least a first dose of the vaccine. Regrettably, this decision will impact two of the most important dates on the liturgical calendar: Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
The good news is that worship services will still be held to mark these important occasions. However, the services will be held online, as they will be for the rest of April. The Good Friday service will consist of Scripture readings, prayers, and hymns. And on Easter Sunday, the service will celebrate the Resurrection. To view either of these services, go to Kenyon Church’s website at www.kenyondunvegan.ca. Once you’re on the home page, scroll down and click on the link. It’s underneath the notice that’s in bright red lettering. I know they’d be delighted to have you join them. As for the resumption of in-person worship in May, the two Sessions will meet in the middle of the month to access the situation.
Valley Towns: part 2
For readers who are late to the party, last week we started a limited retrospective of a four-part feature that Ottawa’s Evening Citizen reporter Fred Inglis wrote on Dunvegan in July 1953. It was part of Fred’s series on lesser-known towns of the Ottawa Valley. In a quirk of the synchronicity of life (given the approaching Easter Week observances), this week we will look at Dunvegan: No. 2… Congregation of Kenyon Observes The Highland Communion Service. In this second segment, he describes a time when our little community was much more homogeneous and the church played a far more important part in the life of Dunvegan-area residents. Once again, as you read his words, try to view the hamlet through his eyes and see Dunvegan as it once was.
“For nearly half a century Kenyon Congregation at Dunvegan had two Presbyterian churches, side by side. They were known as the Log Church, built in 1840 and the Stone Church, erected in 1872. Good use was made of both churches, especially at Communion seasons when Gaelic and English services were held simultaneously. At first the Gaelic service was larger and was held in the Stone Church and the English service was in the Log Church. As the years went by and English became the common language, their positions were reversed. Eventually, in 1915, the Log Church, dear as it was to the hearts of the older people, was torn down and the lumber sold… Today the Presbyterian cemetery occupies one of the four main corners of the village. On the others are (sic) the former hotel, now a garage and dwelling; a general store; and the closed-up blacksmith shop of the late Piper, Major John Alex Stewart. He was a member of the SD and G Highlanders pipe band for 50 years, 36 of which he was pipe major. From 1921 on, it became increasingly difficult to get a Gaelic-speaking minister. Finally, in 1934, it was decided to discontinue any regular service in Gaelic.
Kenyon Congregation has followed the custom of observing the Highland Communion Season… In 1912 the dates were changed to March, June and October. Services began on Thursday and continued until Monday… Some of the older people here today can remember when they went to church on a Communion Sabbath morning and did not get home until four o’clock in the afternoon. They brought a lunch and ate it during the intervals between sermons.
In the ‘olden days,’ the pulpit was higher than it is now and had a canopy… It was higher so that those sitting in the three-sided gallery could see the minister. In front of him was the precentor who led the singing at both Gaelic and English services until 30 or 40 years ago. The office of precentor seems to have originated in the Old Land in the days when the majority of people were unable to read… At the annual ‘Old Time’ service at Kenyon, the organ is silent and there is no choir. The precentor leads the singing of four psalms—no hymns are sung. ‘Psalms were made by God. Hymns are man-made’ was the old belief… Kenyon Church is unique in that it is the only Presbyterian Church in Canada that still retains the Deacon’s Court, the equivalent of a Board of Managers… Kenyon was one of the last Presbyterian churches to introduce an organ. As late as 1912 it was opposed, but the following year it was decided to get an organ… The Communion Token is an important feature of the old-time Communion service. At the Reformation in Scotland and especially the times of persecution, the token was a means of distinguishing a friend from a foe and later a means of identifying a communicant from a non-communicant. Kenyon Church has its own tokens.
To ring or not to ring the bell in the steeple of Kenyon Church on Sunday was a moot question back in 1884. There was strong opposition by some. The reason? Tolling the bell on the Sabbath was considered a form of work… After a year the controversy was settled and the bell was rung… The oldest record of Kenyon congregation is an account book that was kept by Murdoch MacMillan, the first elder and evidently the first treasurer. Entries in it are from 1839 to 1864. Typical entries, valued in Sterling, credited such payments as a sheep, a wedder, two bushels of wheat, tallow, cash, potatoes, a fatted cow, working on church, and so on. If you’re driving through Dunvegan, you can see the handsome cairn erected during the centenary year of 1940, to mark the site of the old Log Church, still remembered by the Gaelic-speaking faithful of Dunvegan.”
I’m not sure how many of these church traditions still remain. I doubt the thrice-yearly, four-day Communion Season services made the cut. As for Deacon’s Court or the Communion Token, I’m unsure and will ask Rev. Jim. It’s a shame that the Evening Citizen reporter failed to identify the three smiling bairns by the cairn in the photo that accompanied the article. P.S.: for those not up to snuff on archaic agricultural nomenclature, the term ‘wedder’ means acastrated male sheep.
Fàilte dhachaigh
It’s always saddened me how many Dunvegan-area youngsters who grew up in the 80s and 90s moved away from the area. Our daughter and son included. That’s why I was glad to hear that one of these wanderlust kids was returning. Last week, Jack Fraser journeyed to Fergus, Ontario to help his son Matthew make the move back to the 7th of Kenyon. Matthew has rented a house temporarily, while he gets the lie (or ‘lay’ if you’re American) of the land. He will join his brother Mark and help operate the family farm on Lot 35, the same property where Ken McEwen, a long-time column contributor from Ottawa, was born and spent his youth. Welcome home Matthew.
Holiday best wishes
Looks like it’s going to be a pretty skinny Easter — family and friends-wise. Nevertheless, it could be a whole lot worse. It’s spring and the land awakens. Happy Easter to one and all.
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