By priest and people sungen

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The Anglican spirit is alive and well [I hope]. We have a flower festival on at St Mary's, Barton-on-Humber www.stmarysbarton.org.uk *; Shirley and her crack team of flower ladies have done us proud. We had a grand opening evening, with the great and good of the town turning up in numbers, and all there agreed that the church building is important enough to want to preserve. If this is to happen, we certainly need all the help we can get.

Niche ministry

Probably at one time this niche would have been occupied by a statue. Now it is the home of the flower arrangement that tells us that this is a well-tended if not a well-attended church. I suppose we must be similar to other places - the church diocese-wide/country-wide would not be down-sizing its provision of paid clergy if we were unique in this; the chill wind of the winding down of the church in the western world. I don't expect to see flowers in such quantity and arranged so expertly in this church again in my generation. Scones... evensong... I'm in wistful mood.

Flower Shirley

What is the future of the C of E? Diarmaid Mcculloch argued recently that the C of E has the potential to play a big part in being a unifying influence in a land challenged to make all its inhabitants feel at home. He writes:

"...this established church can be a home for those who go to it to express their doubts as well as their faith. It can be a shelter also for the kaleidoscope of culture, faith and no faith that now makes up our cheerfully diverse nation: an inoculation against the fanatics, both religious and anti-religious."

You can see the rest of this here: DM's letter to RW

Horkstow cake comp

*"Is that the church with the long-haired vicar?"

There are various things that Jesus told us to do, according to the gospels and Paul's letters, and I see no mention of evensong; but it seems to me that evensong is the crown bestowed on the world-wide church by England; after a healthful tea of scones, home-made jam and preferably clotted cream, it is also perhaps unknowingly the biggest evangelistic opportunity around. There have been numerous attempts to set the eucharist to jazz, to light music, to rock etc, and it's still a eucharist; but evensong resists all of these: Taize-fy or Wild Goosify it and it risks not being what it is, which is a very particular collection of hymns, psalms, readings and prayers and above all music of a certain kind. I hear that in Oxford and Cambridge, it is well-attended by students, and if our own sons are anything to go by, jazzy modern church music does nothing to attract the young; they see straight through it as a patronising attempt to get them in and want none of it. You don't have to divulge anything about yourself to anyone but God at evensong, and even that is optional; evensong invites, it does not cajole. You can drift off or soar with the music, you can study the psalms, the words of the hymns, the stones or bricks of the building you are in, you can contemplate your ending with Simeon, or rejoice with Mary in the hope of a world transformed.

Evensingers - we love our flatties

May it never be unsung.