• From the dank crypt

    1962 door - 500px

    We’ve been clearing some old documents out of the dank crypt this week and one or two interesting things have emerged. Not least a couple of photographs from 1962.

    We forget now that we photograph anything and everything all the time that in previous decades a photo was relatively rare.

    This one was taken at the church door in 1962 and used in a stewardship brochure. I’ve already posted it on Facebook and there have been a few comments to the effect that it is interesting that the congregation was using a picture of an ethnicly mixed group of people in order to ask for money in 1962. The internationality of the congregation has ebbed and flowed through the years and feels very much who we are at the moment so it does seem significant that this image was used at that point in the congregation’s history.

    And then there is the dog. We do like our dogs at St Mary’s. Then and now.

    The only other thing I have to say is – “hats!”

5 responses to “Review: Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt – Richard Holloway”

  1. Tony Whatmough Avatar
    Tony Whatmough

    Like you, I found Richard’s book greatly moving. It reduced me to tears on many occasions. But one thing I’ve found interesting over the years, is the effect on so many priests of the Kelham training. I’ve met many over the years, with different styles of preaching, but there is something distinctive about them all. Not all of them regarded Kelham with approval: one described it as a theological Borstal, but whatever, it made an impression on them, and like Richard, it has been life long. I wonder how many other theological colleges have done that?

  2. John MacBrayne Avatar
    John MacBrayne

    Am reading it now. Not quite sure what to make of it to be honest, although thus far I have detected the age old problem of an individual confined by the strictures of an organisation….and a desire to move beyond that and back to a simpler life…not finished yet though!

  3. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    ‘It is a book that must come top of the list of recent books which someone seeking to understand the modern Scottish Episcopal Church needs to read.’
    What a teaser! What other titles would you place on this list?

  4. Allan Avatar
    Allan

    ‘Consummate attention seeker’, eh? Well, well……
    And it’s ‘He who’ not ‘whom’. Just saying.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      It takes one to know one.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Saddam Verdict etc

    I don’t suppose that it will surprise anyone that I’m against the death sentence in general. In the particular case of Saddam Hussein, I wouldn’t have thought that executing him would help Iraq much even if I were in favour. A further upsurge in violence is not going to help anyone wherever it comes from.…

  • Atheist forgiveness

    I rather enjoyed reading this essay from an atheist philosopher who, from his hospital bed, forgives those who are praying for him. Thus: What, though, do I say to those of my religious friends (and yes, I have quite a few religious friends) who have had the courage and honesty to tell me that they…

  • Having Kept the Feast

    Last night’s service was absolutely beautiful. I’ve never heard the Duruflé Requiem live before and it was tremendous celebrating the Eucharist with all that going on. For me one of the most moving bits comes early in the Kyrie. I love the Sanctus too though it sounds as though the angels are singing their holy,…

  • Keeping the Feast

    It is All Souls Day – the Day of the Dead. The main celebration (and it always is a celebration) here is a full choral requiem (Duruflé) at 7.30 pm this evening. Gentle beauty. Strong memories. Powerful reflections. Black vestments. On this day, we remember by name in prayer those who have died. Never a…