What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sermon preached on 22 July 2012

    Here’s what I said on Sunday

    A number of years ago, when I was in my curacy, I was working in another Cathedral in Scotland. I was as interested in communications then as now and became convinced that we needed a clear corporate image, the better to represent ourselves to the world around us.

    Inevitably, there was some debate about what to use. We didn’t want to use the building because the church isn’t really all about buildings. We didn’t want to use a cross because that’s what so many churches have used and because it didn’t say anything particularly significant about who we were.

    In the end, we decided that we were going to use something which represented the fact that we were a cathedral – the place that the bishop calls home.

    (Well, I think historically, bishops tend to call their cathedrals a lot of other things, but that is another story and need not concern us for now).
    (more…)

16 responses to “General Convention Press Briefing”

  1. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    People who run cathedrals in the Scottish Episcopal Church are called Provosts, in England and in the US and in much of the rest of the Anglican world they are called Deans.

    For a while, old cathedrals in England had Deans and new cathedrals had Provosts. They made them all deans a few years ago.

    In Scotland we also use the word Provost for the civic leader who would be called a Mayor in a lot of other places.

    Deans in Anglican Dioceses in Scotland are similar to Archdeacons in England or Canons to the Ordinary in the states.

    Reply
  2. susan s. Avatar
    susan s.

    Thanks… So is calling you a dean a forgivable sin? Is it a step up or down for a provost to become a dean?

    Reply
  3. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    Calling me a dean is an understadable mistake. If hierarchy matters, I rank behind the bishop and the dean at diocesan functions. I rank behind the bishop alone at cathedral functions.

    Usually I find that such hierarchical niceties have been worked out as a result of disputes of rather a long time ago.

    Reply
  4. susan s. Avatar
    susan s.

    Thanks, again. I enjoy reading your blog.

    Reply
  5. brad evans Avatar
    brad evans

    “Evangelical Faith, Apostolic Orders(?)-Increasingly Irrelevant Organization”

    Reply
  6. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    Bless you, Brad.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Re-membering

    What is the opposite of remember?[Forget?]Well, in a sense, the opposite of remember is to forget. We do a lot of remembering in church, but what we are doing is not simply not-forgetting. Neither are we simply calling to mind.For the sake of this sermon, I invite you to consider that for the type of…

  • The Anglican view of Marriage

    I'm indebted to another member of the clergy for forwarding this o­n to me yesterday – it brightened up the day and made me laugh a lot:?The actions taken by the New Hampshire Episcopalians are an affront to Christians everywhere.  I am just thankful that the church's founder, Henry VIII, and his wife, Catherine of Aragon,…

  • Christmas

    I've just received my first Christmas card. It is from a company wanting to sell me Church Copyright licences – a business which I find unpleasant enough at the best of times. I hope that I am not being too Scrooge-like by putting it straight in the bin. I have a feeling that a lot of…

  • Gunpowder, treason and plot

    I rather like bonfire night, but the cat does not. Last night she spent part of the evening hiding under the dining room table refusing to come out until the banging noises stopped. I ended up under the table trying to convince her that life was worth hanging o­nto for a couple of days and…