What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sermon preached earlier on Mary and Martha

    I preached this a couple of weeks ago but forgot to post it here too.

    So, there I was, walking down Whitehall on holiday a few days ago. I had a ticket for the theatre in my pocket and I was in a hurry to get to the show.

    And I was thinking those happy thoughts that you have when you are on holiday. I was thinking – “Why did I think it was a good idea to come to London in July… in a heatwave”

    But anyway, I was on holiday and apart from melting like the tarmac all around me, I was happy.

    On I went. Downing Street on my left. The Cenotaph on my right.

    The Scottish Office. Banqueting House.

    I was on my way to the old Whitehall theatre, now masquerading under another name.

    Walking up Whitehall is something I’ve done countless times. I often stay in Westminster when I’m back in London. I know the sights and sounds well enough. I don’t consider myself a tourist when I’m there – after all I used to live down there.

    And then suddenly, something caught my eye. Something pulled me up short. (more…)

4 responses to “Counting our many blessings – Scottish Episcopal Statistics”

  1. robin webster Avatar
    robin webster

    I wonder if the church has thought sufficiently about making it possible for someone who is in a 9-5 job and perhaps is out of town on weekends to attend church? Should early evening weekday services, or early morning ones not be more in evidence?

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      There are churches which have early morning services – if I’m honest I know of none that is terribly well patronised by people who are heading out of town for the weekend.

      The question has certainly come up before as to whether it would be possible to establish a regular congregation in a city like Glasgow which met for a main weekly service at a time different to Sunday morning. (There are one or two services like this in the City of London, I think).

      St Mary’s tried for a time to use the 5-7 pm weeknight slot for events and services. This had been dropping off before I came here and it was hard to see a way forward for those slots. Good things came out of the experiment but it is interesting that the ones which continued and took on on a life of their own were not liturgical. The poetry group, for example, came from this time.

      I’m aware of a city centre church in Edinburgh which has just started to have a Saturday vigil mass like many Roman Catholic churches have. That doesn’t answer the question about people going out of town for the weekend but it is interesting that they are experimenting with that at the current time.

      Reply
      1. Jo Avatar
        Jo

        I do recall a church adjacent to a large factory that managed to hold a lunchtime communion service on a weekday. Only really works if everyone takes their lunch break, and has it at the same time, of course.

        On the wider point there are those of us who would be regular attenders at Episcopalian services were it logistically feasible. I would certainly consider myself an Episcopalian even though it would take a 28 hour round trip to enable me to attend on a Sunday. I can’t imagine there are more than a few dozen folk in that situation nationwide, of course.

        Reply
        1. Kelvin Avatar
          Kelvin

          Thanks Jo – I’m aware of a number of people who regard themselves as members of St Mary’s who can’t physically get here for reasons of geography. I’ve been trying to think through what might be done to make such links stronger for a while.

          Reply

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