• Sermon preached for Lent 1, 2013

    Here’s the video.


    And here is the text:

    One of my favourite stories about St Mary’s is one that I’ve heard several versions of. It concerns one of my predecessors as Provost here.

    He had been here for a couple of months and thought that things were going OK. And then suddenly a letter appeared from a member of the congregation. (It may be that person is still here and just about to write to me in similar terms, so I’m taking a risk in telling this story).

    The gist of the letter was that its author listed the many ways in which the worship of the congregation had changed in those three months.

    See here, the letter writer wrote – see all the changes that you’ve made.

    And in the letter there was a list. In the version of the story I like the best there were 90 points listed but I don’t know whether we should allow a little bit of exaggeration in the telling.

    And the Provost in question had to confess (more…)

7 responses to “Liturgical news”

  1. PamB Avatar
    PamB

    Apart from the outbreak of throat-blessings, I noticed none of this, despite being about three yards from it. Had the Shoes been other than black, however, I’d have spotted them from a mile away. #pedantalert.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      Proof positive that some time spent in a good liturgical finishing school early in a clerical career pays dividends later on.

  2. Revruth Avatar

    I don’t know why but the phrase ‘flailing jellyfish’ has made me laugh so much that I nearly had an accident. We’ve all done it and now it will be made worse by thinking of that phrase each time. Thank you.

    1. Fr Dougal Avatar
      Fr Dougal

      “Provost turns into a flailing jellyfish”? It’s like an episode of Dr Who! Blue Book instead of blue Tardis but otherwise….

  3. PMo Avatar
    PMo

    And it’s claimed that I’m ‘special’!!

  4. Rhea Avatar
    Rhea

    i got a good chuckle out of this. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  5. Andrew H Avatar
    Andrew H

    Sounds par for the course at our Sunday 1030 masses… such events and little mishaps keep us all on our toes. And, of course, invariably performed with due reverence, and in the best possible taste….!

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