What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sunday Trading and the Churches

    Dear the Churches of England

    If you campaign against Sunday trading you are going to seem to the People of England to be as bad as you are. Campaign instead for the rights of shop workers of all religions who work at all times and the People of England might be more convinced. If you take on the Sunday trading thing you are going to lose anyway.

    Here in Scotland things have been much more liberal for a long time. We did have quite strict liquor laws which meant you couldn’t buy booze on a Sunday morning anywhere. This meant you couldn’t buy an emergency bottle of wine for communion on a Sunday morning in case it led to drunkenness, which always seemed to me to be a little odd. Even this law has been relaxed now.

    Seriously – the fight against Sunday trading isn’t one that churches can win and look sensible or fair. Please don’t make the rest of us look foolish.

    Remember the Sabbath day and what it was about and keep what it was about holy. It was about making sure workers got rest. It was about making sure there was time for leisure. It was about making sure that there were opportunities for worship. Churches should campaign for all those things. In multicultural Britain these things do not coalesce any more in the idea of one shared day off a week which is inevitably on a Sunday.

    Dear churches of England and the Church of England in particular – pick your battles wisely.

    Thank you for your attention.
    KELVIN

5 responses to “Ordinary Sunday in Eastertide”

  1. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    But, but… this Sunday is in no way ordinary time! It is still in Easter!

    Reply
    1. kelvin Avatar
      kelvin

      You are right, Tom. It is just an ordinary special Sunday…

      Reply
  2. Pam Avatar
    Pam

    Wall to wall gorgeousness from the choir – music to my ears! (Perhaps a video one day)?

    Reply
  3. Augur Pearce Avatar
    Augur Pearce

    I guess the Ascension was celebrated on Ascension Day? Very right and proper; but for those places that can’t achieve a Thursday evening crowd, yesterday would have been a high festival too!

    Reply
    1. kelvin Avatar
      kelvin

      I’ve never been in a church that didn’t keep Ascension on Ascension Day and I’m wondering why there are churches that don’t.

      Is it that the people stopped coming because it wasn’t done well or because they are too lazy to turn out or is there some other reason?

      There is a curious habit in this diocese of having joint regional services on Ascension Day in some of our regions. This has never made me think any better of our regional system.

      Reply

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