Letters from 29 October to 4 November 2007
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Very Anglican, aren't they?
I read your
leader comment with interest. Evensong and Benediction
as a combination does sound a bit like pastrycook's delight, but it is also uniquely Anglican.
Your comments seem to reflect a typical response from Anglican pews. "There
are elements of the service that confuse us a bit". At my childhood church we had a new vicar who soon became aware of the
general lack of appreciation in the meaning of the Eucharist and at a meeting of servers, organist, and others, he glanced
down from the sanctuary to the empty church before him and muttered "They're very Anglican, aren't they?"
I have long remembered this, and it gives me to think that Anglicanism
is now, and probably has always been, divided between those who have certainties in belief and practice and those who genuinely
express a more "I'm not so sure" feeling.
Robert Parkhouse
St. Agatha, Sparkbrook, Birmingham
Solihull, UK
29 October 2007
Thrice to your Twice?
Hello again! Your delightful essay on Twicing (October
29) brought
back a flood of memories. My childhood, in the 1940s/50s, was one long heady round of Twicing, and it wasn't confined only
to Sundays. Every school day began with Mattins and ended with Evensong, and every Sunday was spent attending (but not partaking,
because in those days one had to be confirmed before receiving Holy Communion) at Eucharist in the morning, followed in the
afternoon by Sunday School, and ending with Evensong and Benediction (when I was at boarding school we also did Compline before
bed). My childhood Sundays, I suppose, could be called Thricing or Double Twicing Sundays!
Nowadays, I have very few opportunities to Twice, and, to be honest,
much as I like Evensong, I seldom if ever, avail myself of even those rare opportunities. My Sunday evenings are spent at the
dinner table of dear friends (he's a priest, she's a lawyer, and their son and granddaughter are also present) who have folded
me into their family tradition since my husband died earlier this year. We eat together, then watch a video (right now we're
halfway through 'Barchester', based on Anthony Trollope's novels - we watch one episode at a time). It is also, in its way,
a sacred time, a celebration of longstanding mutual love and friendship with my fellow pilgrims on the journey of faith.
Thanks (again) for the memories.
Rene Jamieson
St. John's Cathedral
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
29 October 2007
He is the very model of the modern pious Anglican
I loved the article
on Twicing, and recommend as supplementary reading
William Schwenck Gilbert's poem, "The Lost Mr. Blake" which
is right up this alley. It addresses what happens when a regular sinner who only went to church a few times a week marries
a widow who is quite the pious one. It is very entertaining.
Michelle Jackson
Trinity Cathedral
Sacramento, California, USA
29 October 2007
(Ed: We find ourselves wondering what tune Sir Arthur Sullivan would
have composed for singing this poem)
Evensong lives on, in our home
The last time I attended Evensong
was as part of my extra during Lent. I visited several local churches. My own church hasn't had evensong for some 20 years,
however our buildings are used on Sunday evenings by a Special Ministry Focus service for the mentally handicapped and for
their carers, a service totally without books etc. It is usually a special form of Holy Communion. They come from various parts
of the city. As a Pastoral Assistant I am obliged to say/sing the office daily so I have evensong at home saying the office and
being an organist using my keyboard for the Hymns Psalms and Canticles. I can also fit this in with the family arrangements
for the day rather than the fixed time of a church service. Evensong lives on in our home.
David Memmott
St Peter Greenhill
Sheffield, UK
david@memmott.org.uk
29 October 2007
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