Glasgow is with you, Reverend tells city’s bereaved

Hundreds attended a service yesterday at the city’s cathedral, which was led by Rev Dr Laurence Whitley and included readings, prayers, and hymns, such as Abide With Me and On Jordan’s Bank. Sunday school children lit eight candles in memory of the eight confirmed dead.

Rev Whitley told the congregation that Glasgow was “great, vibrant and irrepressible” and had come together “to express solidarity” with those who suffered a loss. Prayers were also said for the emergency service crews working to rescue and recover people from the building.

Both Ms Sturgeon and Mr MacAskill gave readings. Rev Whitley spoke of his own experiences visiting those injured by the incident in hospital on Saturday morning.

“All we found we could do was look at each other and shrug,” he said. “What was there to say about that heart-wrenching event that had happened?”

But he told the congregation: “We do not end this day in despair and losses. Our great and vibrant and irrepressible city shall stand together with our suffering ones and hand in hand go forward into the light, into the light.”

Speaking before the service, Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran, said: “There is a real sense of mourning about Glasgow, and I think it’s very important that we take this moment to express our deep sympathies to those who lost their lives, and our respect for those who are trying to help them.

“There is a real sense of coming together in Glasgow in times like this.”

Assistant minister Rev Ada 
MacLeod described Glasgow as “one caring family” as she read the Prayers of Intercession.

She prayed for strength for ambulance, fire and police services, and “the willing helpers and fellow citizens who refused to pass by”.

Figures including Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson attended the service.