4 responses to “Counting our many blessings – Scottish Episcopal Statistics”
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
-
-
Previous Posts
-
O Rex
O King of the Gentiles and their desired one, the Cornerstone that makes both one: Come, and deliver humanity, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth. Amen. To make divinity out of desire – this is the very stuff of a faith worth believing in. God’s love is always erotic, always looking for a response,…
-
O Oriens
O dawn of the East, brightness of light eternal, and Sun of Justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Amen. Thousands of people are reported to have applied for tickets to see the winter solstice sun shine into the Newgrange tomb this week. (20 tickets only are…
-
Priests Alarming
Here is one of the pieces that was read at the first Civil Partnership ceremony in Edinburgh yesterday. It is by Walt Whitman.WE two boys together clinging,One the other never leaving,Up and down the roads going—North and South excursions making,Power enjoying—elbows stretching—fingers clutching,Arm’d and fearless—eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,No law less than ourselves owning—sailing, soldiering, thieving,…
-
Civil Partnerships
It was quite touching to see the first Civil Partnerships being registered today in Edinburgh. Rather more dignified than the goings on in Belfast yesterday. Interesting to compare the contribution of the churches to this. Over the water, Ian Paisley’s lot turned out in force to shout pretty vile slogans at the couples going to…
Leave a Reply