The Great Commission Window was donated by Wally and Betty Turnbull of North Carolina to Bedrule Kirk in 2019, where it now resides. Wally, honorary clan chief for the Turnbull Clan, had a dream when he first visited Bedrule Kirk in 1999 to see a window sharing the the legacy of his forefathers who left Scotland, some by choice, some not by choice, but carrying with them their faith, sharing that faith wherever they went.
Borders artist Sandy Milligan created the magnificent images, depicting the Scottish people carrying the message of the Great Commission abroad and the many connections between the Borders and North Carolina where Wally and his wife, Betty, live.
North Carolina is a state with millions of descendants of Scottish immigrants, dozens of towns, and several counties with Scottish names, including one called “Scotland.” The Great Commission window includes complementary and contrasting images from the Scottish Borders and North Carolina to represent the sharing of the Great Commission by the Scots who emigrated to nations around the world.
The images include a dove as a messenger of peace, hands holding the world representing “all nations,” a tall-masted ship sailing the ocean to the new world, Bedrule Kirk, Hobkirk, a North Carolina mountain church, Borders sheep, North Carolina pigs, Ruberslaw in the Borders hills, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Jesus, and the empty cross. The top quadrant is of the turning of the bull, a symbol for the Turnbull Clan as representatives of all Borders clans and their diaspora.
When you are next in Bedrule, find a quiet moment to sit in one of the pews. Enjoy the rainbow of sunshine streaming through the stained glass. Appreciate the talents and skills of the artists who created the beautiful images and built the magnificent window. Be grateful for our ancestors who struggled to give us politi- cal and economic freedom. Note the cross and remember the price that Jesus paid to offer us the choice of spiritual freedom. Leave with appreciation but not forgetting your role today in the message of that window.
The Great Commission window was made by Maurice Jackson of The Stained Glass Studio, Edinburgh.
