Armenian Chant

I've been listening to the most amazing Armenian Chant on the web – beautiful, measured, holy. What a long way we are in the UK from the liturgical form which we need. Chant has never, ever been more popular and yet all that most people get fed in church in Scotland is the Victorian Dirge or the Music Group Twang which sounds like Radio 2 o­n a bad day. There is no wonder people turn away from the church to find their spirituality. It is not dreary Anglican Chant that we need either but some kind of nurturing of the tradition which allows people to sing from the heart and make something simple echo in their souls. The nearest we approach this in St Saviour's is the pseudo-Russian version of the Lord's Prayer which we sing. Last Sunday various parts of the choir were singing in different keys to the o­ne that I began in. Goodness knows what the congregation were singing like. I could not hear them and for o­nce did not mind.