• Sermon preached on Trinity Sunday 2014

    The truth is, I’ve not preached on Trinity Sunday. I think I have preached on Trinity Sunday in my time at St Mary’s but certainly not many times and certainly not for a number of years.

    You see – I’ve been in charge of the preaching rota.

    But lo. Here I am having spent a couple of weeks off sick, now back to work. I’m grateful to colleagues for picking up various bits of work whilst I was indisposed.

    One of those bits of work that I had to ask someone else to pick up was devising the preaching rota….

    …and here I find myself – first Sunday back at work, preaching on the Holy Trinity.

    Am I fighting fit? Yes!

    Am I cowed by having to preach on the Trinity? Certainly not. (more…)

5 responses to “Evensong for Advent Three”

  1. annie t Avatar
    annie t

    Couldn’t agree with you more about ‘Jesus Christ the Apple Tree’. It was sung, at his own request, at the great Michael Mayne’s Funeral in Salisbury Cathedral and the preacher on that occasion said the following: ‘And perhaps most of all, those strands of simplicity and humility that are the harbingers of gratitude and grace caught in three musical choices with which we celebrate Michael’s life today. Elizabeth Postern’s ‘Jesus Christ the Apple Tree’ – if she never wrote another piece (and I know nothing else by her), this wonderful essay in simplicity would earn her reputation.’ I’d like it sung at my own.

  2. emma Avatar
    emma

    Evensong is wonderful. Compline is almost as good…. “Brethren, be sober, be vigilant……”.

  3. fr dougal Avatar
    fr dougal

    I remember the then Provost of St Andrew’s Cathedral Aberdeen Donald Howard describing Evensong as being “like a relaxing soak in a hot bath after a busy Sunday”. He had a point.

  4. Martin Ritchie Avatar
    Martin Ritchie

    When I lived in Glasgow I travelled from the darkest southside to St Mary’s for evensong most weeks. Now, I’ve been to many stunning evensongs in grand cathedrals and college chapels over the years but St Mary’s Glasgow is hard to beat for the intimacy of the experience and the absence of pretension – as well as the high musical standards! Keep up the good work.

    With you on Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. Great text. I’ve recently used a setting in the Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems which uses a traditional folk melody to stunning effect – even simpler than the Poston, but just as effective!

  5. Harry Monroe Avatar

    Our little choir, Angelus Singers, was formed, and still exists, to sing Evensong in churches where no choir exists.

    In my write-up about the value of Evensong, I said that..’You cannot go away angry, after Evensong’, and I still believe that.

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