What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Predictions 2026

    1. A rocky road to the enthronement of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
    2. Further turmoil and scandal in the Anglican Episcopates of the United Kingdom.
    3. No progress for those hoping for Equal Marriage in the Church of England.
    4. More talk about the Quiet Revival which will continue not to show up in denominational statistics.
    5. Success for BBC Farage TV as Reform make great gains in the May elections
    6. Despite its record in government, the SNP get about 60 seats in the new Scottish Parliament.
    7. Because of its record in government, the Labour party gets terrible results and there is an attempt to remove Keir Starmer as leader.
    8. Despite its record both in and out of government the Democratic Party does well in the November elections in the USA.
    9. Stock market has another volatile year but ends up on this year, but not by much. FTSE is 9,931 at the start of the year.
    10. 2026 is the hottest year ever recorded.
    , , ,

8 responses to “I seem to have been spared”

  1. Erp Avatar
    Erp

    Glad to hear you are feeling better. May you have a good illness free Advent for you and your congregation. (Is blue or purple the Advent colour at St. Mary’s?)

    Reply
  2. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    The colour is purple, though sadly we don’t have a full high mass set for this time of the year.

    In my former congregation, we kept what people called “sarum colours” – blue in advent, unbleached linen in Lent.

    I believe the term sarum colours to be historically incorrect, but I rather liked the distinction between the two seasons.

    Reply
  3. Marion Conn Avatar
    Marion Conn

    Hi Kelvin, glad to hear you are feeling better. In respect to “sarum colours” may i suggest this website, http://anglicanhistory.org/essays/wright/sarum.pdf

    Reply
  4. Erp Avatar
    Erp

    Thanks for the distinction. One of the local churches (non-denominational university with one episcopal priest out of three ministers) here uses blue but I seem to have recalled purple from other places. I’m not sure where they got the blue candles though, they are a very odd shade.

    Reply
  5. Ritualist Robert Avatar
    Ritualist Robert

    Speaking of Sarum, were there medieval uses peculiar to Scotland, Fr Kelvin? Presumably there may have been something like a St Andrews Use.

    Reply
  6. ryan Avatar
    ryan

    Yeah, I think the Sarum rite sounds fabulous, but Advent candles should obviously be purple and pink :-).

    Reply
  7. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    I presume that there was a St Andrews Use, though I’m no medievalist and there may be people better qualified to comment about it than I am.

    There certainly seems to have been a very spectacular Use at the collegiate church of St Mary and St Anne in Glasgow. There is some speculation that St Mary’s (with its side chapel dedicated to St Anne) might have some significant roots in that congregation, which met in a church where the Tron theatre now is.

    The ceremonies (and endowments) of this church were lavish. There is a little about it on wikipedia.

    Reply
  8. Fr Dougal Avatar
    Fr Dougal

    Use of Aberdeen is very well recorded in FC Eels book on King’s College Chapel, rather like Sarum and Bangor.

    Reply

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