The Scottish Amalgamated Committee host a Shutting of the Gates parade and Service, a week following the Londonderry Commemorations. The parade route starts at Kelvingrove Park and concludes at Glasgow Evangelical Church, Cathedral Square. As always, the Scottish Amalgamated organise an exemplary event.
The Service in Glasgow Evangelical Church was conducted by the Chaplain of General Committee, Bro. Peter Ross. He took as his theme: Courage for the Call: Standing Firm in the Midst of Siege. The text of the sermon is below.
One morning, a chicken and a pig were walking down the road together. They passed a sign outside a café that said: ‘Full Breakfast—Bacon and Eggs!’”
The chicken got very excited. She flapped her wings and said, ‘Look at that, Pig! That’s exactly what we should do! Let’s help the café out. I’ll donate the eggs…and you can donate the bacon!’
The pig stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at the chicken and said: ‘Now hold on a minute. For you, that’s a contribution, but for me, that’s a total commitment!’
It’s a funny little story — but it makes a serious point. When it comes to faith, when it comes to service, when it comes to following Christ, God isn’t looking for chickens who are merely involved. He’s calling us to be like the pig — and give a whole-hearted commitment.
And today, as we remember the courage of those who shut the gates of Derry, and as we reflect on Joshua’s call to ‘be strong and courageous’, this story sets the scene perfectly.”
Worthy Governor, Lieutenant Governor, General Secretary, Brother Chairman, fellow Brethren and friends, it is a true honour and privilege for me to be here in Glasgow today—on this 13th of December, in the year of our Lord 2025—to commemorate the 337th Anniversary of the closing of the gates of Derry. Though an ocean of time separates us from 1688, the story remains alive. It breathes through our traditions, our history, and yes—through our faith.
We gather not to glorify conflict, but to remember courage, to learn from those who stood firm, and to be challenged by the Word of God to stand firm ourselves.
And so today, we turn first to Joshua 1:1–9 read for us by our worthy Chairman, where God charges Joshua:
“Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
And again, to Ephesians 6:10–18, read for us by our own Worthy Governor where St Paul urges us to:
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand.”
Brothers, these two passages speak across time to the heart of what we commemorate today.
1. Remembering the Moment: The Closing of the Gates
It was a winter’s day the 7th December 1688 when thirteen Apprentice Boys—young men, unarmed, untrained, and for all they knew, facing certain death—ran to the Ferryquay Gate and slammed it shut against the approaching forces of the Earl of Antrim’s Redshanks. That act, small in the moment, changed the fate of the city.
They were not generals. They were not politicians. They were apprentices – but apprentices with conviction.
We cannot of course tell their story without acknowledging the complicated figure of Colonel Robert Lundy, whose hesitancy, caution, and ultimately betrayal stand in stark contrast to the boldness of those thirteen young men. Where Lundy faltered, others rose.
One of those who rose was Governor George Walker, who became a symbol of faithfulness and resolve. There was also the bravery of Michael Browning, the Captain of the Mountjoy, who gave his life as the ship broke the boom and relieved the starving city after 105 days of struggle and personal strife. His sacrifice reminds us that freedom is never without sacrifice.
Their stories live because they speak of a deeper truth: Courage does not wait for perfect conditions. Courage acts when called.
And how fitting it is that we remember this today in Scotland—here in Glasgow—where so many threads of our shared history are woven together. During the siege, Scottish regiments, Scottish settlers, Scottish ministers, Scottish prayers, and Scottish provisions all played their part. The Redshanks themselves were Scots, and yet so were the families within the walls. Ulster and Scotland shared bloodlines, faith, hardship, and hope.
This commemoration in Glasgow is not an export of someone else’s story. It is a reminder of our shared story – across the sea, across the centuries.
2. Lessons from Joshua: Courage Begins With Calling
Joshua stood on the edge of a moment he did not choose. Moses was gone. The future was uncertain. The task was enormous. And God said:
“Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God is with you.”
The Apprentice Boys who closed the gates also stood on the edge of a moment they did not choose. They were not strong in numbers. They had no guarantee of success. They were surrounded. But they were convinced that God had placed them in that moment.
Courage begins not with confidence, but with calling.
Joshua was not strong because he was Joshua. He was strong because God was with him.
The Apprentice Boys were not courageous because they were talented. They were courageous because they believed the cause was right. Today, in 2025, we are not asked to shut gates or endure sieges. But we are called to live faithfully, boldly, and with integrity in a world that pressures us to compromise.
As Apprentice Boys, we are called to:
• Stand firm in faith
• Stand firm in truth
• Stand firm in character
• Stand firm in brotherhood and unity
• Stand firm in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Not out of stubbornness, but out of spiritual conviction. If we turn from this Old Testament reading the writing of Paul in the New Testament.
3. Lessons from Ephesians: Wearing the Armour of God
Paul writes in Ephesians 6:
“Be strong in the Lord… take up the whole armour of God… and stand firm.”
The Siege of Derry was a physical battle, but Paul reminds us that our battles today are spiritual – battles of the heart, mind, and soul.
Paul describes armour:
• The belt of truth – In a world of confusion, truth is not optional.
• The breastplate of righteousness – Holiness guards us where we are weak.
• The gospel of peace – We are to stand firm, not as warmongers, but as bearers of peace and principle
• The shield of faith – To extinguish the doubts that attack us.
• The helmet of salvation – Our identity in Christ is our protection.
• The sword of the Spirit – God’s Word as our guide and defence.
This is armour no siege can take away.
And yet Paul uses a word three times in the passage: stand. Not run. Not hide. Not surrender. But STAND.
And so we hear an echo, a historical echo, from the walls of Derry: “No Surrender!”
Not as a political slogan. Not as a battle cry for conflict. But as a spiritual declaration: No surrender of our faith. No surrender of our calling. No surrender of our convictions. No surrender of the Gospel, the Truth entrusted to as believers in the Protestant faith.
4. What the Siege Teaches Us Today as Apprentice Boys
First, it teaches us that ordinary people can change history.
The thirteen Apprentice Boys were not famous. Their education was incomplete. Their apprenticeships were unfinished. They were, in many ways, ordinary boys. But ordinary people become extraordinary when they step forward in obedience. When the elders of the city hid in the upper rooms discussing how to best manage the oncoming forces,
Henry Campsie, William Cairns, Alexander Cunningham, Alexander Irwin, Samuel Harvey, Robert Morrison, James Stewart, Daniel Sherrard, Robert Sherrard, William Crookshanks, Samuel Hunt, John Coningham, James Spike.
All young Apprentices ordinary young lads took action, stood firm and shut the gates in order to protect the city and ensure that Londonderry was not lost for to have lost the gates would have led to the loss of the Kingdom as it was. Yes, they were ordinary. Yet here we are, 337 years later, and we are still commemorating their brave actions on that day in December 1688.
Second, the siege teaches us that leadership matters.
Lundy’s failure and Walker’s and Baker’s courage show that choices made in moments of pressure shape destinies. Today, we need men and women who lead with conviction, humility, principle, integrity and faith just like the joint Governors of the City of Derry during those dark days of the siege we need leaders like Rev. George Walker and Colonel Henry Baker we need leaders with their foresight, their vision and their determination in world that today so desperately lacks strong, moral, leadership.
Third, the siege teaches us perseverance.
The defenders endured 105 days of starvation, disease, despair, and bombardment. Modern life has its own sieges: pressure at work; challenges in family life; struggles with mental health; social pressures to compromise faith; the temptation to give up when life becomes overwhelming.
And yet the Scriptures remind us:
“Having done everything, stand.”
Fourth, the siege teaches us community.
The people within Derry’s walls survived because they endured together. The Apprentice Boys Association today is more than a heritage group; it is a brotherhood our own dear Worthy Governor another Governor Walker when elected to office last year declared that his tenure would consist of unity and togetherness we are united brotherhood and when division creeps its way into our ranks, into meetings, into our conversations be assured that the enemies out there who would long to see us become part of history rather commemorating our history and or heritage rub there hands because where there is division the enemies conquer. Today I urge us each to learn from the siege and those young Apprentices; that our fraternity is one that encourages, supports, and strengthens each other in the faith and in the brotherhood.
Finally, the siege teaches us faith in God’s providence.
The gates were not shut as a dare. The boom 105 days later did not break by accident. The Mountjoy did not sail by luck. Deliverance did not arrive by coincidence.
God’s timing is seldom early but never late.
5. A Challenge for Us, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, in 2025 and in the years ahead.
What does God ask of us today? Not to defend a city, but to defend a witness. Not to man walls,but to build character. Not to close gates, but to open hearts to the truth of the Gospel. Not to shout “No Surrender!” as a cry of defiance, but to declare it as a vow of faithfulness:
No surrender of the truth of Scripture.
No surrender of the love of Christ.
No surrender of integrity.
No surrender of the calling God has placed upon us.
No Surrender to commemorating what is and always will be our glorious heritage won for us by those clouds of witnesses who surrounds us daily and who won this glorious heritage for us who stood upon those Derry’s walls and who defended them; some by committing and sacrificing all they all were and all they had and others by contributing and giving what they could to ensure that we could enjoy the heritage that is ours today.
So dear brothers as we move from this place today we commence our journey toward the coming Christmastide, toward the season when Christ entered our world in vulnerability and humility, we remember that courage is not always loud. Sometimes courage is quiet faithfulness. Sometimes it is quiet obedience. Sometimes it is the steady endurance of a heart that trusts God in the dark times.
Just as the defenders of Derry looked out from the walls and wondered whether relief would ever come, so we often look at our own lives and ask the same question.
But hear again the promise God gave to Joshua:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And hear the promise Paul gives the Church:
“Stand firm… for the Lord is mighty.”
6. Closing Reflection and Invitation to Response
In a moment, as we prepare to give our offering and reflect quietly, upon what God has been saying to us as his people today we will listen to the tune of a favourite carol of mine “In the Bleak Midwinter.” Its final lines bring us back to the heart of the matter. Not the stories of war, not the legends of our forefathers, but the offering of our hearts to God.
And so as we conclude this sermon for this 337th Anniversary of the Shutting of the Gates here in this hallowed hour, and as we share in the giving of our offering of our monetary gifts may these lines be our prayer, our challenge, and our response to the God who calls us to be strong and courageous:
“What can I give Him, Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him – give my heart.”
If those heroes of the siege were to be present with us today they would have many stories to tell but I believe their greatest story would not be about the bloody battles, the days of starvation or deep dark struggle but rather I believe, it would be about the faith and the words from this book, the active, living, Holy Word of God that kept them focused, kept them faithful to the cause and enabled them even in the hardest of times to say my life and my heart is His and in living my life for him I will defend the city he had given and even when enemy might tempt, tease or terrorise our cry would constant be, No Surrender, No Surrender and again I say No Surrender, all because all we had and all we hoped for were His!
May the Word we have heard take root in our hearts, shape our lives, and send us out as faithful witnesses of Christ today, tomorrow and until He comes. Amen.