"I am utterly shocked and saddened by the devastating effects of the consequences of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who is caught up in this terrible event; the families of those who have died; those who have been injured; those who await anxiously for news of their loved ones and for all who are providing humanitarian relief.

This calls us to respond in as generous a way as possible and I therefore add my call that we respond to the emergency appeals now set up, and I encourage congregations over the coming weeks to make donations and to consider a special collection for the emergency appeal."

The Primus also broadcast the 'Thought for the Day' on BBC Radio on 28 December. His words were:

"I’ve just arrived at the studio from Aberdeen Airport where I’ve seen my son off on a visit to the west coast of America. Even at this early hour many were waiting for flights to various parts of the world and I reflected how my parents and grandparents would have been astonished at the ease of travel to places which for them would have been a once in a lifetime journey. The world has become a small global village, and sometimes we can lose a proper perspective of distance.

These past two days I have also remembered another occasion 6 years ago when I bade farewell at an airport to this same son – this time on a gap year project to the country of Sri Lanka. Then it seemed a long distance away. Yesterday he and I watched the television pictures of the scenes of devastation in Sri Lanka and other countries around the Indian Ocean as the tidal waves caused by the earthquake wreaked havoc along its shores. Places he had visited, beaches at which he and his friends swam – now scenes of tragedy.

For those families and friends in this country who know loved ones in those affected areas, it has been and still is a time of great anxiety. It is then that distance becomes real, for you cannot simply rush round to their home and hold a hand or offer some help. At this moment you can but look and pray and wait for news.

But this is when our understanding of the world as a small global village holds significance – to realise that despite the distance and the differences of our world, we all share as human beings those same emotions of grief and fear, as well as at other times joy and happiness.

When a tragedy takes place of the appalling magnitude of that in the Indian Ocean this small global village can and does unite in a shared grief, and in a common commitment to help those who have suffered most."

+ Bruce Cameron