taken at the Eden Project a couple of years ago.
my entry for Photo Friday here.
photo Friday: dark
Reply
Monthly Archives: November 2010
a rolling reformation?
Yesterday I took part in quite a unique event. I deaconed at an All Souls Day eucharist at the Rochester Bridge Trust. Not only was the experience unique but the location of the Bridge Chapel was also quite special being built in 1387 as a place for travellers to pray. During the reformation worship in this chapel was stopped and it, sadly, ended up being a storeroom until 1937 when it was restored as a chapel.
I quote from the service booklet regarding the service:
‘The service on All Souls Day 1990 was the first celebration of Holy Communion in the Bridge Chapel since the Reformation., and the annual All Souls Service has now become a continuing tradition commemorating the founders and benefactors of the bridge. The form of mass used daily in the Bridge Chapel during medieval times would have been the Requiem Mass, and today’s Commemoration has been modeled on that service.’
It was an interesting experience and the irony of the situation, while dressed in black vestments and listening to our lay clerks since in latin, of me as a pioneer in this setting this cause me, and a fellow priest sitting in the front row, to smile.
As I listened, however, I was struck by two thoughts. The first was the beauty of the music as the lay clerks sang which was quickly followed up by my thoughts of inaccessibility. By that I mean I could not just listen to the music and words as I do at evensong. To understand the worship I needed to be able to read the translation which felt quite cumbersome. I guess, then, that the reformation and its putting of the ‘the word’ into the vernacular was a good thing!
As I reflect today, however, and especially after a KCME morning in which we were reflecting on worship I was struck again by the need for a rolling reformation outlook as we attempt to worship in a way that engages people in the place they are at. Language, symbols and meaning seem to be constantly changing in our society (e.g. the current meaning of the word ‘sick’ to describe something as ‘excellent’) which I think means if we are to remain relevant then we need to be constantly looking at how we use language and symbolism – God may be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow …. but our understanding grows and our language develops and so we should welcome experimentation and change as surely this is the only way people will be able to have access to their God?
Sunday pt 2 partaaay to party
When I do the 8am service on a Sunday, rather than rush home I wander to Wetherspoons and have breakfast before then wandering back for Matins or the Eucharist service. Yesterday morning, there was a group of people in fancy dress at 9am who had started their halloween celebrations quite early. They were quite possibly half cut by the time I got there which means they were drinking before they arrived. As I sat I reflected on how far removed we can be as church from the reality of the lives of those I am seeking to connect with.
What relevance do we have as a faith to connect with those that enjoy partying at 9am in the morning with alcohol? How do we even start to get alongside people in these situations to simply start to understand where they are coming from. I love drinking – but I could not start partying that early. I don’t criticise those that do, I simply want to try and understand how they can manage it and why they do. I guess that a challenge of the whole church as we slowly but surely drift away from the everyday reality of the cultures around us.
In the evening another extremity yet again as I welcomed Churches Together in Medway to the cathedral for the saints Alive service which is essentially a praise party alternative to Halloween and this year we commissioned 13 Street Pastors who will be working in the Rochester High Street areas on a Friday and Saturday night. These are amazing people who deserve your prayers – and they always need more people to get involved so why not get in touch about the next training course! (that’s my recruitment bit as a’member of t’committee!’)
The evening was a good evening. The worship was lively and the songs were well known to the evangelical world. Peter Marchand gave a great talk on unity and challenged the local churches on the reality of having a genuine ‘one church’ outlook which meant not only working together but trusting each other and still working together when we don’t agree on stuff. I could hear some fidgeting as his words were hitting raw nerves of some of those present. I think Peter is a brave man and what he said last night was excellent!
I guess our prayer now is that this sure word from God will filter into the hearts fo the local churches so that we see something happen …. I hope this becomes so!
It was great as well to catch up with some old friends at the end of the service which brought my day of extremities to a good close.
Sunday pt 1: the wonder of BCP? (did i say that??!)
Yesterday I experienced some of the extremities of my role as a pioneer curate, charged with developing a new way of being church, while based at a cathedral which by many is seen as very traditional in its out look and practice.
My Sunday started at 8.00am as it was my turn to preside at the 1662 Book of Common Prayer service of Eucharist. I do find the language of this service quite a challenge to me but there are some parts where God causes me to think. I particularly like the BCP language after we have shared bread and wine which seems to capture more of the mystery and responsibility of the meal than the Common Worship text does.
In the BCP yesterday we read at the end of the service:
Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, who have duly received these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and passion of thy dear Son.And we most humbly beseech thee , O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
whereas in CW we say:
Almighty God, we thank you for deeding us with the body and blood of your son Jesus Christ. through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen
CW seems to go down the power line with the image of being sent out for mission quite aggressively. The language seems quite dry compared to the BCP which is quite artistic in its language here as it calls to mind our mission responsibility by reminding us that the mission we are called to has already been prepared by God. With this language it seems to me that is easier to remember that I am called to see what God is already doing and join in. BCP language reminds me that we are called by God, to work with God, and incorporated by God in some mysterious way into the Body of Christ.
I believe that it should be quite hard to leave a BCP service without having eyes reopened to what God has already started and is calling us to do in partnership with him. I guess, for that reason, it is a shame that we have lost this language from our Eucharists for the majority of those in church. Maybe we, as the gathering, should be looking at BCP language as as well as CW language as we share eucharist together.?
The Shiny Headed Prophet 