The Prayer of the Church of England

I was delighted to discover this new offering from the Liturgical Commision of the Church of England (the people who write the texts used in services.) It would make a very good Christmas present.

 

Church House Publishing 2012

The book's compilers have collected into one volume some of the most popular and enduring prayers of the Church of England, both old, traditional ones ( from The Book of Common Prayer and other sources) and the more recent prayers from Common Worship that have captured our imagination and are already loved by worshippers up and down the country. Many of these prayers express in a few words thoughts that are too deep for spontaneous utterance - you know the feeling 'I couldn't have put it into words myself, but that's exactly it!'  Many of the texts also make me think and challenge me - can I really mean that? I think this is the heuristic use of prayer - to pray something that is a bit more than you can manage but to feel that you would like to be drawn to that place of grace and understanding. This is prayer that stretches the imagination. A Roman catholic priest who taught me theology once said that the glory of the Anglican tradition is its Collects (short prayers which collect into a brief space complex and profound thoughts.) I predict that this will become one of the Anglican classics of the first part of the twenty first century providing, as it does, an insight into Church of England identity and spirituality. The prayers each have a short introduction to their historical context which helps the worshipper to dig deeper into their meaning.

 I'm sure we've all got our favourite prayers that chime with something very deep within us. One of mine is

Bring us, O Lord, at our last awkening 

Into the house and gate of heaven,

To enter into that gate and dwell in that house

where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light,

no noise nor silence, but one equal music,

no fears nor hopes but one equal possession,

no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity

in the habitations of Thy glory and dominion,

world without end.

Amen.

John Donne 1572-1631

 

 

I also love, for it's wonderful Kingdom theology, the post communion prayer which I think first came in with the Alternative Service Book 1980

 

 

Father of all, we give you thanks and praise,

that when we were still far off,

You met us in Your Son and brought us home.

Dying and living, He declared Your love,

gave us grace and opened the gate of glory.

May we who share Christ's body live His risen life,

we who drink His cup bring life to others,

we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,

so we and all Your children shall be free

and the whole earth live to praise Your name,

thought Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

The culmination of the prayer sweeps the whole world up into the praise of God and this reminds me of Cranmer's placing of the Gloria at this point of the service, after the distribution of the bread and wine - it seems the right place to locate a peon of praise on behalf of all peoples.

 

 

FunKey Newsflash

The FunKey Service at St Mary's Richmond has three bits of exciting news! After less than six months they will soon have their first baptisms AND on September 21st the Archbishop of York will be visiting them to join in with a service AND they have just launched a splendid new blog with absolutely up to the minute info and great pics! Well worth a visit.

http://funkeychurchatstmarysrichmond.wordpress.com/

God bless Roger the Rabbit from the FunKey website

Fun-Key Goings-on at Richmond

Gillian Lund writes about an exciting new deanery venture based in Richmond. The very first event has led to the setting up of a new, monthly service for children, young people, families and friends at St Mary's called the FUN KEY service (yes, I like it!)

The first FUN KEY Service will be on Sunday 29th April

4pm St Mary's Richmond 

God Cares for Ewe

Open to all 

'On Sunday 25th March, St Mary's Church Richmond hosted a Deanery Exploring Easter Children's Event.  Graham Richards the Children and Young People's Development Worker for the Richmond Archdeaconry had held a meeting at The Station in Richmond regarding children's work and provision, and from that came a desire for churches in the Deanery to hold a larger event to encourage future children's work.  After an initial meeting, four weeks before the event at our Rectory, we set to work planning our craft, art, baking and musical activities. 

To cut a long story very short, we were blessed with some very enthusiastic volunteers from the church and area, including some from Richmond Methodist Church.

Prior to the event, Graham emailed clergy throughout the Deanery and between word of mouth, blatant advertising at meetings and local groups, school assemblies and even a global text message being sent out by our local Richmond C of E Primary inviting children to attend.  Although we did not have many guests from across the Deanery we were thrilled to welcome 41 children aged 5 to 11 years old and approximatly 35 adults (parents, grandparents etc) from around Richmond.

The church was a hive of Easter activity, and we used all the space available - we had Chocolate Easter Nest making, Resurrection Bun baking in the MU area (Graham led this event and the church smelled beautiful!), collage and card making up the centre aisle, music making in the Green Howards Chapel with Rev'd John, story telling with plastic eggs to open (and when the children were treated to beautiful buns and juice provided by kind members of the congregation) at font area, jam jar easter decorations in the altar area, pom pom chick making in the middle of the choir area, Nic Shepperd and his Prayer Pool at the High Altar (the sun was shining and it provided a very atmospherid space for everyone) and banner making in the side aisle! 

The children were free to move round the activities at their own pace which worked very well, and towards the end of the event we all went outside to hunt for laminated eggs with our names on them and returned back in to church to claim our chocolate egg prizes. 

The afternoon culminated in a short service with a story and song to pull it all together, led by Graham.

We were very fortunate that a photographer from the Northern Echo visited part way through the afternoon and took some beautiful photographs that were published in both the Northern Echo and D&S Times.

The event has acted as a launch pad for future children's activities.  Rev'd John has always been most enthusiastic to nurture school and church links, and increase the provision of childrens' events and activities in our church.  This Expolring Easter Event provided something fun, interesting and meaningful for children representing all the primary schools in Richmond, and all denominations which has been fantastically encouraging for us as a church.

We have now decided that we would like to hold a children and young person's service on the last Sunday of every month, and our next newly-named FUN-KEY Service for friends and family of all ages is on Sunday 29th April between 4 and 5pm at St Mary's Richmond.  We have already decided on our theme for the service - God Loves and Cares for Ewe!  as the readings for the day are Psalm 23 and John 10 The Good Shepherd!  Our volunteers are already beavering away with the preparations - a large banner with a sheep made out of many different sheep, sheep bisuit/cake making and decorating, cardboard sheep making and culminating again in a time of worship to be led by John with some music making and time to reflect on all we have done together. 

This is then to be followed in June by our now Annual Pet Service when we welcome children and adults to bring their pets to church to give thanks for the love and happiness they give us.

So, it's all go at St Mary's at the moment!'

Keeping Up to Date for Lent

On Wednesday, I discovered one reason why people don't go to church! It was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and I was in the unusual position of not having committed myself to take part in a service anywhere particular. So I went online to find the times of services nearby. Six church websites later, I was none the wiser. Three did not even mention the fact that 22nd February was Ash Wednesday. Two appeared to have no service (or possibly no section to advertise midweek services). One listed the service but gave no time. One had last been updated in November. Hmmm. Rather like a hotel website that doesn't tell you how to make bookings. It was tempting to stay by the fire but then Lent is all about wrestling with temptation....

I did eventually find a service which was welcoming, simple and moving and included the traditional Imposition of Ashes. Ashes are a symbol of both purification (Numbers 19.9, Hebrews 9.13) and penitence (Judith 9.1, Jonah 3.6, Luke 10.13, Matthew 11.21) and have been used by Christians since at least the tenth century on the first day of Lent as a public sign of penitence for sin. At the Eucharist, each worshipper's forehead is marked with a cross of ashes made by burning the palm crosses used in last year's celebration of Palm Sunday. The ashes also remind us of our mortality and our dependence on God for our existence, 'Remember that you are but dust and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.' These words also remind me powerfully that I am an integral part of God's created order, not separate from it or superior to it and not free to squander the gifts of nature for my own needs.

I'd like to suggest that part of our Lenten discipline this year might be to keep church websites up to date so that anyone who suddenly and unexpectedly thinks, 'I'd like to go to church' - and I can't be the only person this has ever happened to - can find the location, time and date of services nearby. Most of us google everything else so you can bet that people who want to find a church are googling too!   

Calling All Prayer Book fans

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

In my days as a liturgy (theology of worship) lecturer, one of the modules I taught every year was the module on the liturgies of the Reformation. Each Lent term we re-enacted the Sarum Rite in Latin, contrasted it with Calvin's Lord's Supper and then ploughed our way through Cranmer's 1549, 1552 and 1559 versions of Holy Communion. As a result I came to rediscover and utterly to love the Prayer Book service of Holy Communion which lingered in my earliest childhood memories. The Church in Wales (we lived in South Wales) first revised its Prayer Book in 1968, long before the Church of England, and so the last time I remembered using Cranmer's service regularly was when I was 9. The cadences of the language had stayed with me, but the discovery of the theology of the Prayer Book and the journey which led to it was something that really captured my imagination and it was always a joy to explore it with the students. (I hope some of them felt the same way!)  We Anglicans always say that the basis of our theology is worked out in our liturgy and certainly, it is to the Prayer Book I would turn if someone asked me to explain why I am an Anglican.

2012 is, of course, the 350th Anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer. The British Academy is hosting a major event to celebrate, with a series of reflections that will bring together leading scholars from theological, liturgical and eccleioslogical disciplines. Supported by the Prayer Book Society and Hymns Ancient and Modern, the symposium will take place on 28th march 2012, 10.45am - 5.15pm at the British Academy, London SW1Y 5AH, and is followed by a drinks reception. If you would like to go, you can book on

http://www.britac.ac.uk/

I very much hope it will lead to a publication so if you can't get there, watch out for subsequent news on their site. 

Pepping Up Your Preaching

Thinking about my address for next Sunday's Plough Service at Kirkby Malzeard, as I am, my interest was caught by a website called 'Roots.' Actually it turned out to be absolutely nothing to do with ploughing but it was interesting! It turns out that this organisation, recommended by Bob Fyffe, the General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, is dedicated to producing good, flexible resources for preachers and worship leaders. It is designed for use with the Revised Common Lectionary (the calendar of biblical readings which churches use throughout the year and which help to ensure we have seasonally appropriate readings while also covering a broad range texts from the bible on a three year cycle.)  

The Roots partnership brings together writers from a range of churches and other socially active Christian organisations. All the writers are experienced worship leaders, teachers and preachers. The materials produced are for adult worship, all age worship and work with young people and children. They aim to 'help grow disciples of every age.'  Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church says, 'Over the past ten years Roots has gone from strength to strength, continually flexing to adapt to the needs of a changing church while ensuring a strong lectionary-based focus.' They bring out two magazines every other month - one with fresh ideas for adult and family worship and the other with ideas to use when working with children and young people in all kinds of situations, worshipping, studying, having fun. The adult version includes bible notes and theological reflections designed to help with preaching.

Visit their website on http://www.rootsontheweb.com/

Oh! and do come to the Plough Service at St Andrew's Kikby Malzeard at 10.30am on Sunday Morning 22nd January!

Choral Tradition at St Mary's Richmond

On Sunday morning the choir at St Mary's Richmond were second to none! They gave quite the best rendering of William Boyce's Examine Me that I have ever heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egSHmBCjpm4 
(not St Mary's but the only youtube recording I can find!)

St Mary's has a well established choral tradition and 5 of its members have been awarded the RSCM Gold Medal - an award made to only 30 singers each year. This perhaps gives you some idea of what they are capable of. The choristers are aged 6-18 and they are a lively, engaging group who happily chat away about sport and art and holidays and hair dressing courses they are taking, yet, at a moment's notice, are capable of depths of concentration and musical discipline most of us would find out of our reach. Colin Hicks, the Organist and Music Director clearly knows how to train and inspire - and also how to make the Harrison and Harrison organ (one of the best in any parish church in the country) the true servant of each genre of music, producing a wide and subtle range of sounds. The choir look and sound as though they are loving every moment of it and so, of course, this lifts the worship and the spirits of the worshipper. 

Ruth Gedye Window, Richmond St Mary
Artist Alan Davis

After the service, which included an interesting and thoughtful sermon by reader, Joy Hornsby, I spoke to one parent who was telling me that all her children had been in the choir - actually starting at another church and then transfering to Richmond. It had been a wonderful start for them all, helping their confidence, allowing them to make friends and travel and, in one case, leading on to a career. As you wander round the church there is also visible evidence of the central place that music has played in the life of young people in Richmond. Ruth Gedye sang with the choir from age 8; sadly, when she was 18, she died from Leukaemia.  A glorious window has been designed and dedicated in her memory; the artist is Alan David of Lythe, Whitby and the inspiration for the window came from Ruth's favoutrite anthem, O Thou the Central Orb (music by Charles Wood and lyrics by Henry Ramsden Bramley.) 

      


Ruth Gedye Window, Richmond St Mary

Artist Alan Davis, detail



O thou the central orb of righteous love,

Pure beam of the most High, Eternal light of this our wintry world.

Thy radiance bright awakes new joy in faith, Hope soars above.

Come quickly come and let Thy glory shine, gilding

our darksome heaven with rays divine.

Thy saints with holy lustre round Thee move as stars about

Thy throne, set in the height of God's ordaining counsel

as Thy sight gives measur'd grace to each, Thy power to prove.

Let Thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin.

Our nature all shall feel eternal day. In fellowship with thee,

transforming day to souls erewhile unclean, now pure within.



Ruth Gedye Window, Richmond St Mary
Artist Alan Davis, detail



Thank you, St Mary's Richmond, for an uplifting  Epiphany Sunday and for the choral tradition which inspires us all year round and which can be enjoyed by young and old, storing up for us experiences and memories, texts and images, music and friends that see us through a life time.



Ruth Gedye Window, Richmond St Mary

Artist Alan Davis, detail

with Bamburgh Castle





Ruth Gedye Window, Richmond St Mary
Artist Alan Davis, detail





Rise in Church Attendance

Ripon Cathedral Watchnight Service 2011
from the Cathedral Facebook Wall

Some good news! An article by Peter Oborne in the Telegraph, today, seems to support the impression one has from taking Christmas services - a creeping up of the number of people coming to worship at Christmas and over the New Year. Certainly, at Ripon Cathedral there were 400+ for midnight Communion at Christmas, 1,300 for the Boxing Day pilgrimage and over 600 for the Watchnight service on New Year's Eve, followed by a pretty decent number on Sunday morning when people were obviously not just sleeping off hang-overs and late nights. There has been a steady, gradual increase over the past few years. This seems encouraging in a fairly sparsely populated area (200,000+) where there have also been good attendances at many parish churches over the Christmas period. Of course, there are also lots of services where many churches simply don't count heads over Christmas - all the carol services, Christingle and school services, for example. We should keep records that include these, too, instead of just recording numbers at services of Holy Communion. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8970031/The-return-to-religion.html

Oborne (whose wife is a priest at a London church) is writing from the London perspective where church attendances are growing more rapidly that in other areas of the country, but my own view is that certain kinds of worship are engaging more people in worship and these can vary a great deal from place to place. Cathedrals and churches with choral traditions are increasing their numbers; so are churches which have a number of smaller, shorter services for different kinds of worshippers; churches that are experimenting with non-traditional times and days seem to be drawing new worshippers in - Saturday and Sunday late afternoon, for example; 'cafe church' is very popular in a number of our town and rural churches. Oborne suggests that it is easier to grow your congregation where there is 'one church, one vicar'. While that may be superficially true, in fact I think it is the warmth of welcome and the quality of the care taken over worship that count - it may be easier to ensure these things happen where there is a single priest, but that isn't necessarily so. Well organised multi-parish benefices where there is a committed, sometimes quite small team of people involved can achieve these things, too!

Carols at Thornton Steward

St Oswald's Church, Thornton Steward

St Oswald's Church, Thornton Steward is approached down a long lane leading from the from the village. Driving out to the annual carol service on a dark and frosty evening, you can be forgiven for wondering if you have taken a wrong turn until, suddenly, through the trees - there it is, the lights flickering in the darkness! A dedicated member of the congregation waves a greeting and ushers you into the car parking spaces and there is a truly warm Wensleydale welcome. This church has been here since 1086 (the village, meanwhile, has moved a mile or two away) and today it is still lit by gas lights and candles and the enthusiastic singing accompanied on a foot-pumped harmonium. The site is almost certainly of Saxon origin or even earlier - Thornton Steward features in three of the best maps showing Saxon influence noth Yorkshire as a place of importance.

Decorated for Christmas

The church was beautifully decorated and surprisingly warm and it was three quarters full. We enjoyed a traditional service of lessons and carols followed by mulled wine, mince pies and all sorts of tempting snacks. I could not help but look around and be moved by the fact that the local community has been worshipping like this for so many centuries with little change. Some of the carols we sang could well have been sung two hundred years ago in much the same fashion. As we sang and listened, the story of the incarnation - God's dealings with the world - emerged in time honoured fashion and the sense of joyful anticipation that settles on congregations every year was there among us. Thank you, Thorton Steward, for a wonderful start to the celebration of Christmas! 

The warmth of worship was tangible

John Wesley's instructions for singing (1761)

• Learn the tunes well.
• Sing them exactly as they are printed without altering or mending them.
• Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can.
• Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.
• Sing modestly. Do not bawl so as to be heard distinct above others, that you may not destroy the harmony.
• Sing in tune. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before it nor stay behind it and take care not to sing too slow.
• Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself or any other creature.

What excellent advice which we might follow at our carol services this year! It is amazing how singing heartily and with enjoyment for an hour uplifts the spirit and opens us up to God!

Christingles

St Mary's Richmond is holding a Christingle Service on 27th November at 4pm to which everyone is most welcome! The music will be by Upbeat and Anacrusis and Scott Lund will be speaking. This is a very atmospheric service full of fun, awe and meaning for everyone taking part. Do come and join in if you live in the area. Many churches will be holding Christingle Services before or just after Christmas - there will certianly be one in your area. The custom in Anglican churches is for the money given at Christingle services to go to the Children's Society

http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/

The Children's Society does inspirational work with children and young people who live on the streets, who have run away from home, who are refugees or who are disabled. They work with young people who are part of the youth justice system and with children who carry responsibility as carers. Please visit their website and consider whether you could give something towards their work this Christmas. I have worked in parishes where they have enabled children to see their parents at Christmas - and you cannot imagine the joy that creates! I have also seen how their work can enable a child who has run away to ring home and say 'I'm OK' which brings unbelievable relief and the possibility of reconciliation.   

At Christmastide 1747, in Germany, Bishop Johannes de Watteville wondered how he could explain the love of Jesus. What did Christmas really meant to the children?  The Pastor gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon with a prayer that said, "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children's hearts". This was the first Christingle service. Today, a Christingle service is celebaretd in most parishes around Christmas. A story of the origins of the Christingle that is often told is that there were three children, who were very poor, but wanted to give a gift to Jesus. The only thing of value they had was an orange, so they decided to give Him that. The top was going slightly green, so the eldest child cut it out, and put a candle in the hole. They thought it looked dull, so the youngest child took a red ribbon from her hair and attached it round the middle with toothpicks. The middle child decided to place a few pieces of dried fruit, chocolates and nuts on the ends of the sticks. They took it to the church for the Christmas Mass, and the priest, realisng the love that lay behind their gift, took their it and showed it to the whole congregation as an example of a true understanding of the love of God, shown in Christ and in His birth into the world at Christmas. He explained the meaning of the Christingle 

•  the orange represents the world which God created and loves, 
•  the red ribbon around it represents the blood of Jesus who died for love of the world,
• the dried fruits or sweets on cocktail sticks represent the fruits of the earth and the four seasons,
• the candle in the centre of the orange, represents Jesus Christ, the light of the world illuminating all things.

Festival Evensong for Remembrance Sunday

Royal School of Church Music

Ripon & Leeds Area

Festival Evensong for Remembrance Sunday

 St. Mary’s  Church Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Sunday 13th November
6.30pm

Singers are invited to join the choir of Richmond Parish Church, under the direction of Regional Director Gordon Appleton for a Festival  Evensong on the occasion of  Remembrance Sunday.  The Organist for this event will be Andrew Christer.  The service will be led by Revd. Antony Kirby, Curate of St. Mary’s.

Timetable:

Rehearsal at 3.30pm in the choirstalls at St. Mary’s Church followed by refreshments.  

Remembrance Sunday Choral Evensong at 6.30pm. 

Choral Music to include:

View me Lord: Richard Lloyd

Responses by William  Smith of Durham.

Magnificat and Nunc  Dimittis in A by Herbert Sumsion

Psalm 24, setting by Philip Marshall.

Anthem: ‘Greater Love hath no man’  John Ireland.

and

‘We will remember them’  from ‘In Proud Thanksgiving’ by Sir Edward Elgar.

All music can be provided on the day.

There is no charge for this RSCM event and we encourage all singers to come and share in this event.  

You do not need to be a member of an established choir to come and sing.  Come and be part of this event.

To register yourself for this event please contact

Colin Hicks 07854 028621

Email: colinhicks@btinternet.com

Harvest

Harvest celebrations have been taking place all round the archdeaconry. If you have any photos of your parish's special services send them in and I'll post them on the blog - or any good ideas, things that worked well that we can all try out next year! On Sunday evening our most northerly parishes celebrated up at St Romald's, Romaldkirk with a service that included prayers for the farming community and the presentation of gifts including an empty bowl to remind us of our responsibility towards those who do not enjoy rich harvests or even enough to eat and drink. The service was led by the Ven. Stephen Adesanya and the choir sang a harvest anthem. There was a suitably sumptious spread in church afterwards and it was lovely to find there were guests from London and someone who had newly moved into the village as well as people from across the parishes of Laithkirk, Romaldkirk with Cotherstone and Bowes. It was wonderful to enjoy the warmth of hospitality and fellowship.



 On Sunday morning, the cathedral celebrated Harvest with the help of some members of the Bethany Project from Tanzania and you can read all about this on the cathedral website. Bishop John preached and the cathedral band played.

http://www.riponcathedral.org.uk/

God, the beginning and ending of all things

in Your providence and care, you watch unceasingly over all creation;

We offer our prayers and thanksgiving that, in us and in all people,

You will may be done according to Your wise and loving purpoes

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We pray for all through whom we receive sustinance and life,

for all farming families who work so hard, often in adverse conditions,

to provide our food and look after our countryside,

for packers, distributors and retailers.

We pray for young people in farming, for Young Farmers clubs,

for those studying at argricultural college and for the next generation of farmers

as they bring new skills, energy and vision to the care of the coutryside

and the produstion of food in sustainable ways.

We pray for governments and aid agencies in areas of the world

where there is disaster, drought and starvation,

for all involved in agricultural research who face the challenge

 to produce more food for a growing world, without harming the environment;

grant us all generous hearts in the face of immediate crises.

We offer ourselves to Your service, asking that, by the Spirit at work in us,

others may receive a rich harvest of love and joy and peace.

Amen.

Cathedral Worship

Attendance at Anglican services is generally static or falling slightly, but cathedrals are bucking the trend, recent research shows. Midweek attendance, particularly, has doubled over the past decade. There is an increase in the number of adults and children coming to worship regularly. The research singles out St David's cathedral in Wales where visitors said they found the cathedral 'spiritually uplifting' and gave the 'sense of peace' as a reason for their attendance. So I was interested to read the following passage in Alison Pearson 's novel How Does She Do It? about a harrassed working Mum with two children and a high powered career (recently made into a film featuring Sarah Jessica Parker):

 [p.133] Cathedrals are built to inspire awe. Sacred fortresses, they look as though they have been lowered from heaven onto a hill. St David's is different....I love this place. The ancient chill that fills your lungs when you push open the door - the trapped breath of saints, I always think...St David's is one of the few places that bids me be still. And here in the nave I realise that, these days, stillness is an unaccustomed, even an uncomfortable sensation.. The cathedral is timeless and my life.. my life is nothing but time... I find my mouth forming words no one can hear: 'Help me.' 

The value of stillness may be underestimated by churches. Are services sometimes too irreverent, too noisy, too geared to standards generated by the world of entertainment when what many people long for is space and stillness in which they meet God?

Just a thought - maybe we should make sure that, in every church, there is a regular service for those who are drawn to quietness, simplicity, silence.  

AfternoonTea

One of the the most popular things we started in the parish where I was Vicar in Nottingham was an afternoon tea for older people. As well as providing a slap up tea and lifts, we always had a speaker and a short service. It just seemed to meet a need - a place to come for friendship and the exchange of news and for uplift, a prayer and a chance to discuss issues of interest. So I was interested to read, recently, that apparently afternoon tea is back! Statistics suggest that while many of us are cutting back on eating out (including, it seems on alchohol) we are compensating by splashing out on afternoon tea. Sales of scones have gone up 42% in the last year while cream doughnut sales have soared by 51%! Restaurants like the Savoy in London and Bettys in Harrogate are reporting that afternoon tea is currently the fastest growing part of their business. Afternoon tea had fallen out of favour in the eighties when American style coffee shops became popular but it would appear that the British are returning to their roots in a time of recession!  

Many country (and town) churches are branching out into cafe style services and it does seem that there may well be something of a niche to fill here. People really enjoy getting together in a relaxed atmosphere and mingling chat with some focused discussion around a theme or topic. Add an opportunity for some quiet or a little music to listen to or join in with, and you have a winning mix. Church services have always reflected something of the culture in which they arise and there is no reason why relaxing to eat together and linger over a pot of tea should not be part of our worship together as Christians, to which we invite our friends and visitors! In fact, Jewish worship from which Christian worship sprang, was and still is centred around two homely meals - the Passover and the Sabbath;  so churches that base some of their worship around meals are returning to their deep roots.

If you haven't tried it, why not consider at least one worship event a month which is based around a simple meal like afternoon tea?

Mozart; Traces of Transcendence

W. A. Mozart: Unfinished portrait by Lange 1782

I've been re-reading Hans Kung's little book, Mozart; Traces of Transcendence at the same time as I've been teaching a module on Worship for York St John's University. I first read the Hans Kung book years ago and was quite disappointed by it.  I thought perhaps I had missed something in it so I decided to give it another go. But try as I might, once again, I couldn't find the depth of understanding of music I was hoping to discover. Yes, it sets the phenomenon that was Mozart against his historical, political and religious background and (for my taste) tries to squeeze the work of Mozart into theological shapes that suit the writer's understanding of the Mass but were probably not entirely in the mind of Mozart himself. But the reason the book disappointed me was that Kung either portrays music as a vehicle for concepts carried by tradition and words, or he tips over into a slightly mysterious and emotional approach to music which makes grand claims about bliss, transcendence and universal appeal.  True, he acknowledges that 'The music of this incomparable composer is accessible to anyone who is open to it. It really does not need words.' But his entire discussion of Mozart's motivation and achievement in composing religious music is based around the history and content of texts and theological concepts.

All this has set me wondering. One of the students on the module I've been teaching chose to give a presentation on why he percieves music as a distraction from worship rather than an aid to it. His main argument centred around the fact that music often obscures our hearing of texts and therefore our apprehending and understanding of the concepts and emotions they carry. In a way, both Kung and my very thoughtful student seem to have taken the same approach to the place of music in worship and I would say that they have fallen into the same trap.

Music is not principally a medium for carrying words or for communicating the same concepts that texts express. It is not some kind of parallel or alternative way of communicating the same thing. To say it with words and play it in music does not help us say the same thing twice over. Music is a 'language' or, I would prefer to say, a means of communicating that stands in its own right and operates on its own terms. It conveys truth in a complex manner and in a different way from language. It has an intelligence which is quite separate from language and linear, reasoned thought. And the reason we reach for all the superlatives to speak about composers like Mozart and Bach - sublime, transcendent, universal, divine - is that they were masters of the means of communication that is music.

Why do Mozart's Agnus Deis move us? Not, I think, because of his theological understanding of the sins of the world and the reconciliation and peace brought about by the cross but because, as he himself tells us, 'I never lie down at night without reflecting, young as I am, that I may not live to see another day.' Why do his Dies Iraes have power to warn and terrify? Listen to the darkest parts of Don Giovanni and you will begin to perceive the strength of the wrath of God when it is pitted against evil. Why does his music point us toward things transcendent? Listen to the final chord of the (incomplete) Lacrimosa; it conjures up hope by being the obverse of the final chord of Purcell's Dido's Lament which conveys utter despair. Of course, it communicates a feeling of hope per se, but I can only find a reason for that hope by contrasting it with music that does the opposite; to say that is hopeful because the composer is 'thinking of eternity' does it an injustice.  Ultimately, I think you can only respond to Mozart's music as music: any religious or theological insight (cognitive or affective) that emerges is most clearly grasped through parallels and contrasts with other music or with Mozart's own music. I once played the double bass for a performance which sought to portray the crucifixion and resurrection. A lady asked my fellow performer, a pianist, 'Did you think of God as you were playing?' 'No, madam,' he said, 'There are about 15,000 notes in the piece we have just played. I mostly thought about getting them all in the right order.' Yet the music elicited stories of deaths and suffering and inexplicable experiences of the presence of God from other members of the audience in ways that showed that many in the room had thought about or experienced again things they identified as death and God-found-through-death.        

Mozart once said he did not trust people who were not religious; clearly he was a person of faith and someone who had an experiential relationship rather than a scholarly relationship with the Roman Catholic faith of his time (and, to be fair, Kung does make this point.) He strove for truth in his music. I am not sure that the words or the marriage of the music with the words are at all the point. Perhaps I am a purist when it comes to music in worship. I have no objection at all (unlike my student) to music being used as a vehicle for texts. It helps us interpret them, it beautifies them, it comments on them, it fixes them in our memories and it enables us to join in and and participate by singing or listening. But the real point of music is that it has the potential to communicate truth in and of itself. Let's avoid being sentimental about it, however! Bad or inappropriate music does this badly or not at all and even sublime music can only reach falteringly for penultimate truth, just as sublime words or visual images do. For the purposes of worship, we ought to let music speak for itself from time to time and strive for standards that are appropriate to our setting, neither over reaching our abilities nor settling for the lowest common denominator. And if we can't do this, an absence of music enables text, word and silence to speak.        

Markenfield Hall

What better way to spend a weekend afternoon than visting one of England's oldest continuously inhabited houses? Markenfield Hall stands as a moving testimony to the history of the region from before 1310 until the present day. It is first mentioned in the Doomesday book, was expanded by the Markenfield family who played a significant part in the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) and the Rising of the North (1569) during the Reformation period, and then developed by the Grantleys from the eighteenth century until its recent twentieth century restoration by the Grantleys and the Curteises. The Markenfields were a loyal Catholic family who contributed at great cost to themselves to the resistance to the Protestant Reformation. Although the chapel was briefly used as a Protestant place of worship it eventually fell into disuse. Fittingly, it was restored in 2001 and Mass is regularly celebrated in the chapel today. Anglican (BCP) services are also held frequently. House and chapel are briming with history - stories from almost every period that bring the families who inhabited the house to life. Sir Ian and Lady Curteis open their home to the public for 28 days every year and the services in the chapel are also open to the public. It is an enhchanting and hospitable and place where you feel that you are touching the deep roots of English history!

http://www.markenfieldhall.com/

The Hall is situated on the A61 between Ripley (Harrogate) and Ripon.

Help for Worship Leaders

Mark Earey's new guide to Common Worship (the services used by the Church of England) is well worth a look. It's called Finding Your Way Around Common Worship and is published by Church House Publishing. At the Reformation, Cranmer (the author of what became the Book of Common Prayer) objected to the fact that the services of the medieval church had become so complex that the priest needed an armful of books to celebate mass (or an exceptional memory!) He sought to put everything needed into one book. As I struggle with my order of service, my book of collects (seasonal prayers), my bible, hymn book and reading glasses, I often reflect that we seem to have returned to the situation he was trying to avoid!  

However, there is good reason!The texts that we have available today render our
worship more flexible and allow us to highlight particular occasions in the church and secular year with appropriate words and to use metaphors and images drawn from scripture and the Christian tradition that resonate with the season. The texts offer a rich encounter with the Christian story. The sacrifice is that most of us no longer have many texts we know off by heart.

Mark's book is an excellent and easily followable introduction to making sense of the the whole range of material available to us in Common Worship. The book is essentially practical and has charts outlining the key features and elements of services, tips on where to find vital information, frequently asked questions, a glossary, and useful information such as the main themes and relative lengths of the 8 eucharistic (Communion) prayers. He also points out that, returning to the 'responsible freedom' of the early church fathers, there are places in Comon Worship, under Canon B 5.3 (for those of us who like the technicalities) where you can adapt and change the words as long as they remain 'reverent and seemly' (and presmuably theologically authentic?). Hippolytus (a 2nd century priest in Rome) left us a record of the worship of the early church in his Apostolic Tradition which tells us that the first churches took precisely the same approach. These are Hippolytus' instructions for the bishop saying the eucharistic prayer at an ordination,
'It is not necessary for him to utter the same words that we said above as though reciting them from memory, when giving thanks to God; but let each pray according to his ability. If indeed he is able to pray with a sufficiently solemn prayer, that is good. But if anyone who prays recites a prayer according to a fixed form, do not prevent him. Only, he must pray what is sound and orthodox.'
Common worship does not go quite as far in the freedom it gives us, but it does require a similar kind of approach to presiding at worship in which the person leading and planning worship engages with the texts and makes them live.

Mark is Co-Director of the Centre for Ministerial Studies at Queen's Foundation, Birmingham and has also been responsible for many earlier quides to particular aspects of Common Worship