Eternal God,
hear your diverse people
as a world unites in prayer and compassion
for the people of Newtown Connecticut.
We pray for all involved in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Bless with your kindness those who speak to the broken-hearted.
Bless the teachers, paramedics, medical staff and police
with courage, skill and wisdom.
Bless those who mourn.
Bless those who grieve
and comfort the bewildered.
Help us each to build a world safe and fit for children.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
9 responses to “Never mind the quality, feel the width”
-
Gosh, you’ve hit an apparently tender spot there. As someone who was originally brought into the church – and I mean the whole shebang, not just a particular building or denomination, though that was important too – by beautiful music and dignified liturgy, I have been asking for an aspiration towards excellence for the past 30 years or so. But is it not the case that for many people that smacks of an elitism that sits ill with their idea of ‘being church’ (a vile phrase, therefore I use it not)? The idea that as church is for all, you’re not allowed to look for certain standards in music, in reading, in serving …
I could go on, but I don’t need to. You’ve said it. Go for it! (And please delete the earlier comment, in which I was so carried away by my parenthesis that I forgot to finish the original clause) -
I was thinking about all of this yesterday. It is choir holidays at the moment and yesterday the choir were singing down in Englandshire. It might have been expected to be a bit of a flat day here. However, there was none of that. We had a good turnout and wonderful worship both morning and evening. No sign of a summer slump and it was obvious that people came expecting something good even without the regular musicians.
Summer Sung Evensong last night attracted 37 souls. That’s 35 more than might have been expected to turn up seven years ago.
Now, we’ll all be thrilled when the choir come back and put the icing on the cake in a few week’s time – they are full of fabulousness, but yesterday was good proof that we are not simply a one-trick musical pony.
-
Well as you know we don’t have a choir in my church, tho’ many years ago there was a great one with children and adults. But we can still produce a frisson, and the reaction of visitors bears that out; it’s just that not everyone seems to see what produces said frisson.(I know. It’s not just us, but …)
-
Excellent points and something of an encouragement to me at the moment.
The new set up is much better on my phone, by the way.
Fp
-
[…] it for six, it’s not just cosy log-rolling for me to affirm his point. This morning, Kelvin says what great many people won’t: that excellence and forethought and diligence and attention really do make a tremendous difference […]
-
Preaching. I have a wealth of experience of hearing terrible preaching, and a wealth of hearing good. The gulf between the two is immense. I have NO IDEA how one can persuade those who cannot, really really cannot, preach to do something to raise their game. I think you hint the way is probably to persuade those who can, REALLY can to raise their game too. HOW? How when the attempt to hold a music day fails,and people generally find that a much easier thing to approach? Teaching preaching is something at which I am good – if you ever find a way, I will come along and help coach.
-
[…] worship Posted by Fr. Sam Keyes on July 23, 2012 | 0 comments Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St. Mary’s in Glasgow, wonders why more people don’t consider the obvious […]
-
Couldn’t agree more about the music days either, Rosemary – we’ve held several singing workshops here, and unless they are tied in to fundraising and a BBQ the attendance tends to be thin and the usual suspects – who can generally sing quite respectably anyway – turn up.
-
but thankfully, you do a really good BBQ so there is hope yet.
-
Previous Posts
-
Summer Lightning
I have a major computer failure following a thunder storm here tonight. Presumably some kind of surge reached the computer. This seems particularly hard to take as I had unplugged the CPU as soon as the lightning started to crack. This post is coming from the laptop – the main computer won't start at all…
-
Book Review – cev youth bible ? Edited by Nick Page
This edition of the Bible is aimed at teenagers. Well, perhaps it is aimed at Evangelical parents and other relatives looking to buy a Bible for teenagers, which is nearly, but not quite, the same thing. The Contemporary English Version is a Bible translation which uses a restricted vocabulary. It is a fairly progressive translation,…
-
Upcoming Books
I had a look through the up-coming religious books on Amazon to see whether there was anything that I was likely to want to review. There is a depressing swathe of Kabbalah books on their way, presumably cashing in on the Madonna nonsense.Continuum are also about to publish a new edition of Barth's Church Dogmatics,…
-
Reviewing
I’m sent copies of books to review from time to time – they get published in the Episcopalian newspaper. Today someone sent a copy of the bible. It is very tempting to write a review as though neither I nor any reader had read it before at all. However, I think that there are things…
Leave a Reply