Golspie minister features in documentary to be premiered next week
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A Sutherland minister makes an appearance in a feature-length documentary that will have its premiere next week.
Film-maker Darren Manson completed the movie about Old St Peter’s Kirk, in Thurso, in 2020 and has now arranged for its first public screening.
Kirk of Secrets, running to 114 minutes, will be shown at Thurso's Merlin Cinema on Tuesday, September 26.
The church was founded around 1220 by Gilbert Murray, Bishop of Caithness, and was partly rebuilt in 1636. It closed to worship in 1832.
Mr Manson invited the Rev John Sterrett, of St Andrew’s Church of Scotland in Golspie, to take part in the film.
“Rev Sterrett is a very competent minister whose skill with the sermon is unquestionable," Mr Manson said. "But for the purposes of a film, how a thing is done in real life doesn’t always work for the telling of a story and so for the movie the words had to be delivered with different pauses, different emphasis, from that which would ordinarily be done.
“Although it’s all part of how we make films, telling a church minister how to deliver the sermon just feels as wrong as telling your granny how to suck eggs! However, it comes down to the editing requirements of how the footage and dialogue are to be used within the movie that demands the sermon to be delivered differently, and Rev Sterrett did an excellent job.”
Rev Sterrett said: "I enjoyed working with Darren on part of his film and hope I was of some help – both to the memory of Old St Peter's Parish Church and to my own church, St Andrew's Parish Church in Golspie.
"The words I read were short excerpts taken from the last sermon preached in Old St Peter's nearly 200 years ago. My thought was, 'We're not worthy!' as I read them from the pulpit in Golspie. The original sermon would have taken nearly two hours to preach.
"Churches would have been packed in those days, and even more recently, when sermons like that were delivered.
"I admire the passion of Darren and others at the Old St Peter's Kirk Preservation Association to keep the memory of Old St Peter's alive. I also pray for and admire the efforts of current congregations, like my own, to keep historic churches like St Andrew's Church in Golspie alive as real, vibrant places of worship."
The story begins in the Dark Ages with the film explaining the source of materials, topography and events relating to the kirk before moving on to give a detailed tour of each part of the building.
Along the way structural anomalies are identified and explanations are put forward to help give an understanding of the kirk's development. Comparisons are made with other churches and ecclesiastical architecture.
Through illustrations and graphics, the film shows how Old St Peter’s once looked both externally and internally.
Old St Peter’s has been mentioned in films and documentaries before, even making a cameo appearance in the 1947 film adaptation of Neil Gunn’s The Silver Darlings, but no previous film has had the building as the main focus of attention.
Mr Manson has been interested in the 800-year-old kirk since he was a boy, when he was taken on a field trip from Thurso's Miller Academy Primary School in 1976.
He says the film has been a "labour of love" that saw many setbacks and delays due to other projects taking priority as well as his busy schedule filming football throughout the north. It was through the Covid lockdown that he was finally able to put the film together.
“I had just about everything I needed," he said. "I’d made many illustrations and had gathered lots of footage over the years.
"I was one of those sent home during the Covid lockdown due to underlying health issues and suddenly found myself with the time and freedom to get the film made.”
Doors open at 8pm for an 8.30 start. There will be an admission fee of £5.
