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Hallo again to all. We're in the midst of what seems a cruelly dark moment in the world: a dreadful attack on the Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan, a murderous rampage at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, all piled on bleak situations in the Middle East, Africa, and God knows where else. It's easy to despair. But we cannot and will not. Pray for peace, hold on to hope, and thank God for those who will work tirelessly to bring comfort and love in the midst of darkness and hate. All Saints Church in Peshawar held its first service
on 27 December 1883, St John's Day. The Bishop of Calcutta,
the Right Reverend Ralph Edward Johnson, wasn't able to be
present, as he was travelling elsewhere in his large jurisdiction.
But he no doubt visited that parish church many times
in his episcopacy of more than 20 years. He was a physically
large man, with an impressive bearing. Gaiters! How long has it been since we wrote the word. Many years ago, when we were younger with more time on our hands, we decided that what the world needed — well, at least the Anglican world — was a full-scale investigative report on this now long-lost article of clerical dress. We ploughed deep into history for reports of clerics wearing gaiters, from whatever sources we could find. We sent out a call to Anglicans Online readers for memories of gaiter-wearing clergymen. We turned to search engines for any scrap of gaiter-sighting they might unearth for us. After several weeks of hard work, on a Sunday night, way back in the year of Our Lord 2000, we unleashed 'Through the Years with Gaiters' to the world. And we thought we were done. Not that gaiters were boring us (well, a little perhaps), but as far as we were concerned, they were firmly tucked into the glass cabinets of history. From time to time through the years, someone reading the gaiters report would comment on some aspect of the study, sometimes thanking us or occasionally correcting a typo. But gaiters were dead.
However Bishop Evans got his gaiters, he is indeed wearing them. In this complex and often callous world, such a little thing makes us smile. Now we'll freely admit that gaiters didn't hold the Church of England together in the nineteenth century, but 'how beautiful were the feet' they encased as deacons, priests, and bishops went out from England to share the Gospel. We may find it delightful to think of George Augustus Selwyn living roughly in New Zealand, getting round in his boat to the little churches in his diocese, and speaking Maori — and doing so in gaiters. This seems to us a wonderfully Anglican combination. We cannot bring back gaiters nor the world in which they were an ordinary part of ecclesiastical dress. But we can rejoice when, contrary to all possible expectations, they appear. We hope that will make you smile, too. See you next week. |
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