In Communion with Canterbury or the Church Commisioners

The Church of England now has its first female Bishop.  This is a source of great joy for most of its members and of much grief for a significant minority.  The major kerfuffle has oddly not been over the consecration of Libby Lane but over the forthcoming consecration of Philip North as Bishop of Burnley.  The proposed service has the unusual innovation of the consecration not being performed by the relevant Metropolitan (in this case the Archbishop of York) but by Bishops to whom he has delegated the task. While this is absolutely York's prerogative, it is being seen as enshrining a "theology of taint" in as much as only bishops opposed to the ordination of women will actually lay hands on Philip North.

As someone who was Fulham Jurisdiction/FiF at one point, I have to say this is a description of conservative Anglo-Catholic theology I don't recognise. The objection was never phrased in terms of taint but of broken communion. Stuff about "taint" so prevalent on "liberal" websites is as far as I can see fairly hysterical and mainly American.  I think the proposed arrangements are deeply peculiar and un-catholic.  Flying bishops (Provincial Episcopal Visitors) have been ordained in the C of E before but the Archbishop in whose Province they will serve always led the laying on of hands.  This new "hands off" approach seems to solidify the reality of there being a Church within a Church that has been hinted about for years but never before explicitly acknowledged.  References within Anglo-Catholic to things like "the See of Ebbsfleet" or "Apostolic Districts" have built his up, ignoring the legal position of the PEV's as Suffragans of the Archbishop.  That I find un-catholic and a bad idea.  If a portion of the Church is allowed to function with a totally parallel structure of bishops deeply disconnected from their metropolitan, then it is not so much being in communion with Canterbury as being in Communion with the Church Commissioners who pay stipend and pensions.  It's not so much ecclesial communion as administrative communion. And that is a sad state of affairs.

It also begs the question of who are we as Scottish Episcopalians in Communion with in England? The whole C of E or just most of it?

Back!!

It's been almost a year since I last blogged!! I think it fell off during the busy-ness of the vacancy at Church and then in April I moved to a different post within the company and have found my hours rather  less regular and more flexible.  However, lets try again and see if this time I can keep up the habit! Our new Incumbent is settled in and some am I so a wee reboot seems appropriate.

Some thing are pretty much the same. The Church is still in a muddle over same sex relationships. Despite the law changing we still have an ill defined mess. We have had some "guidance" from the bishops http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/006801.html and some reaction from the clergy http://thurible.net/2014/12/18/dear-bishops-scottish-episcopal-church/  Shall we say I'm one of those less than impressed by the College's mind on this one.  I appreciate the clarification of the legal situation but the line taken on Canonical subscription seems unduly rigid.  I rather think that saying it's OK to have a Civil Partnership but not a marriage is dubious.  Given that they are so similar in legal content regarding rights, it smacks of a sop to the theological right wing to come over so heavy handed.  Anyway, plenty of clergy over the years have assented to the Canons without agreeing with every jot and tittle of them (like on Intercommunion) and have indeed ignored the Rules and got off with it. To pick this one out for potential "enforcement" seems more political than sensible.  It's also perhaps worth noting that over 30 of the 50 signatories are clergy of the Diocese of Edinburgh, so it might be rather fiercely debated at our next Synod with a view to accelerating changes to the Canons - which I suspect is not what the Bishops wanted. I suspect they want the much vaunted "Cascade" process to keep that contentious ball in the long grass for a bit longer.

If the Bishops fancy that Cascade is a solution to this issue, then I've some bad news: all it did was make me incredibly angry and utterly determined to change the Canons. Our "Cascade" at Synod was almost as unpleasant as a Forward in Faith conference I attended nearly 20 years ago which passed a motion in favour of a statement from Singapore condemning Same Sex Relationships.  My anger at that that and the hypocrisy involved switched me from Conservative Anglo-Catholicism and brought me back to Scotland on a journey that included accepting the ordination of Women, speaking at Synod in favour of Women Bishops and generally becoming a  lot more radical.  It strikes me as bizarre that an SEC sponsored and designed process should do the same. Bilge was spouted piously and the process did not enable it to be challenged.  If that's what they call an improvement, give me the old fashioned bloodshed of a Synod debate any day.

Anyway, it feels sort of therapeutic to be back

To the Bishops of the Church of England: thanks for nothing guys!

The English Bishop's have got themselves in a fine old mess haven't they?  Having (just about) recovered their reputation after the fiasco over women bishop's legislation and their resounding defeat in the House of Lords over same sex marriage, they seemed to doing OK with Archbishop Welby pointing out that their attitude to LGBT people is being seen as morally equivalent to racism and the Pilling Report suggesting very gently that some form of service to celebrate a Same Sex Marriage might be a half-decent idea.  Then they lost it.

It is never a good idea to issue a press release at 2am in the morning.  It looks as if you're trying to bury bad news or sneak something in "under the radar.  You look shifty and duplicitous.  The restating of pretty much the line of "Issues in Human Sexuality" (1991) was a disaster.  It was widely critiqued at the time as a sop to vocal  Conservative Evangelicals, especially following the suppression of the Osborne Report (I remember it well, I was at Theological College at the time).  20 years on and social and public attitudes have moved on massively, so recycling "The Laity can have partners, but the clergy can't" is deeply stupid as more people then than now see it as inconsistent, cruel and unfair.  Which it is.  It is pure stupidity to tell your clergy that the laws says they can marry but they can't unless you have a long establish tradition of compulsory clerical celibacy like the Roman Catholic Church.  It has boomeranged badly, especially as 1 Conservative Evangelical Bishop has already called in his civilly partnered clergy for "a chat", sparking fears of witch hunts in dioceses with Evangelical leadership.

I'm glad I'm in Scotland.  But also hope we don't get too much of a flood of refugee clergy job hunting up here.  We already have a fairly high proportion of imports who don't know the province or it's unique style.  Too many is not good for our identity.

Free at Last?

Getty Images

Now that the funeral's done (and all went well TBTG), I can muse a wee bit on the recent passing of an Act in Scotland to permit Same Sex Marriage.  I'm glad it's happened and particularly so as it more or less completes the Agenda a wee group of us drew up in 1990 as a White paper for YSLD (Young Scottish Liberal Democrats) whose Vice Convenor I then was.  Equal Age of Consent? Check.  Anti-discrimination legislation? Check.  Legal recognition of relationships? Check in two stages.  Recommendation that the State not compel religious bodies to act against their conscience? Check.  So that's it all done and dusted? 

No, not really.  Now the Church has to start thinking about how it intends to respond to the legal changes. And by Church I mean the Scottish Episcopal Church.  What the rest do is their business, not mine.  Our submission to the Parliament during the consultation process was something of a "cop out".  It more or less said that as Canon Law currently stands we define marriage as being between a man and a woman and consequently we would not be able to conduct weddings for Same Sex Couples.  It really didn't point out that we can, following due Synodical process, change Canon Law and would be able to be in a position to conduct Same Sex marriages 3 years from when we started the ball rolling.  We did no ball rolling before the Bill went through, so we'll be at least 3 years behind the rest of Scottish Society were we to start at this years General Synod.  Which is actually pretty speedy for the Church, which any well taught sociologist will tell you is an essentially conservative social institution in function and operation.  I'd rather we'd been proactive in getting ready for this but am not at all surprised that we haven't been.

Currently, as Canon Law stands, I won't be able to do a Same Sex Wedding like I can a mixed sex one.  I'm perfectly happy so to do but the Law requires that Churches as bodies opt in and not just individual clergy.  I tend to agree that that's right and certainly for us Pisky clergy, who claim to be part of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, that's how it ought to be.  We are a college of Bishops, Priests and Deacons and not a Cocktail of Congregationalists (if that's the right collective noun - and if it's not, it should be!).  As far as I am concerned the next step for us is to amend Canon law, opt in as a Church and then allow those clergy who in all conscience cannot conduct such marriages to opt out, as is their legal right enshrined in the new legislation.  So, having changed the World, let us now change the Church!

Not in sole control.

I went to a meeting last night as this upcoming funeral has been weighing on my mind a bit.  What a good thing it was that I did.  Somebody spoke about their experience of going to see an elderly friend who is dying of cancer but who has the most marvellous acceptance and serenity in the face of their approaching death.  Far from being a negative experience, the visit proved to be a very inspiring one for our group member.  Equally, another member shared their recent unsettledness and realised it was because they were probably going to be promoted into a people managing job.  They'd done something like it before but had not been very good at it.  The difference was then they were on the booze and now they're sober.  It was their sense of being back in an uncomfortable place and the loss of power and control over their situation that was disturbing them.  That made sense to me, as I think it's the lack of being sole person in charge that in some ways is unsettling me.  I'm not the one pulling it all together but am part of a team.  This actually seems to be producing a very sensitively constructed service and ritual which is far better that what I could have done alone, but it's quite uncomfortable for me in the sense that I am not the "Actor/manager" running the production.

What I am re-learning is that  I am not all powerful in my own life but powerless in some respects and that I need to hand over my powerlessness and fear to the Higher Power that I experience as God.  When I do that, it all works out and works out well.  Back to Ignatius of Loyola methinks:

Suscipe (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.

Funeral Stresses.

I'm back to an old place at the moment.  As we are in the middle of a vacancy at St Michael and All Saints, I am part of a team sorting out a funeral - which is proving  more stressful than a wedding or a baptism.  Why so?

Partly it's the sense that the pastoral damage created by a badly done funeral is greater and more long lasting than a muffed wedding or baptism.  Literally, a bad funeral can put people off church for life. The stakes are higher if you like.  also you are balancing a more diverse set of expectations/requirements.  What makes this one tricky is that it's being organised by friends of the deceased but there is biological family input as well and the added sensitivity of there being the deceased's 5 year old son and his needs to be carefully considered.  Add to that the fact that this being done in a vacancy, the co-coordinating between 3 non Stipendiary clergy, choir and music team, servers, and service sheet producers means there is always a greater chance of a mistake creeping in due to so many inputs needing to be reconciled.  It's always easier if there is one person pulling the show together and not a committee.  Luckily, communication between all the parties is good and it's proving to be a 1st class example of team work and collaborative ministry.

Ora pro nobis as we work towards a good result on Thursday!

Broadcast memories.

A radiogram like my granny had.

My Sunday mornings are inextricably linked these days to Radio 2.  The alarm clock blasts us awake to the Sunday House presented by a perfectly nice ex-Blue Peter presenter who tends to put in rather more "worship songs" than is to my personal taste and then proceeds on to Clare Balding who generally manages to combine quite interesting spiritual conversations with essentially non religious music.  I prefer the latter, myself.

It struck me today that this represent a major change in religious broadcasting from the days of my youth.  Then it was "Stars on Sunday" with Jess Yates (later drummed out of the religious broadcasting Brownies for an extra marital affair - viewers, then as now, disliked "hypocrisy", which kinda missed the fact that his wife had fathered their daughter by Hughie Green, so he was at least as much sinned against as sinning) or Highway with Harry Secombe whose brother was a Vicar in darkest Hanwell just up the road from where  did my 2nd curacy.  Thora Hird also appeared later on with "Praise Be!"  It was all slightly "hymn sandwich" with comforting piety, although Harry Secombe had a sense of humour and did the human interest stuff very well.  Today however, the presentation has got younger (despite congregations getting older) and more predominantly female - gender balance and all that but perfectly sensible given that most churchgoers these day are women.  What struck today most strongly is that the presenting has moved from white family favourites types to a much more mixed bag.  More women, the 1st black Blue Peter presenter (all after my time when it was John Noakes and Shep) and a lesbian in a civil partnership.  And it's on the BBC - the State Broadcasting agency.  

No doubt those whose read the Daily Heil and sic like publications lament this ("left wing metropolitan elite influence", "political correctness", yada, yada, yada).  I can't say I do.  Diversity is a good thing and variety the spice of life.  I'm delighted on the whole that the world has moved on since my youth.  No more NHS heavy framed specs, cooking has advanced beyond boiled spuds, 2 veg (overcooked) and some well done meat (child of the 70's I am - mind you the sausages did taste better as they came from the butchers, not a factory in Ireland).  Generally, the world has improved. Or more correctly, my bit has improved.  There always were and always will be tragedies both personal and global and perhaps we hear more of them now due to rolling news, the Internet and social media.  God may be unchanging but his world isn't and was never meant to be and nor were his people or his Church.  Faith may be the constant but how it is expressed changes according to context and situation and rightly so.  A simple illustration - my granny listed to the radio on her radiogram, I as a kid had a tranny (a transistor radio not a transexual in my young days!).  Now I use a DAB digital radio.  Same stations, different technology, better reception.  Simple isn't it?

Keep calm and carry on.

Isn't it funny how things can resolve themselves with a little purposeful calm?  Before Christmas things were a bit fraught, what with medical worries, Rachel's mum having a funny turn (which may or may not have been a stroke) and a complaint raised against me at work by a member of the public.  All quite stressful.  But by not panicking, following procedures and keeping calm and getting on with the job, all has passed.  The doctor has given me a tablet, the mother in law has belatedly gone to see the GP and said what actually happened and work have just sent a letter to the complainant saying that, after due investigation, I was simply following guidelines and there was no grounds to the complaint.  Once upon a time I'd have been in a total tizz over this and probably as drunk as a skunk in the meantime.  Now I've come through with dignity and reputation intact.  And still sober and in employment.

 

Some words from Matthew Henry 's Commentary on Psalm 31 seem apposite: "God will be sure to order and dispose all for the best, to all those who commit their spirits also into his hand. The time of life is in God's hands, to lengthen or shorten, make bitter or sweet, according to the counsel of his will. The way of man is not in himself, nor in our friend's hands, nor in our enemies' hands, but in God's. In this faith and confidence he prays that the Lord would save him for his mercies's sake, and not for any merit of his own. He prophesies the silencing of those that reproach and speak evil of the people of God."  The Psalm itself is a source of comfort:

 

Psalm 31

 

¹In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
²Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
³For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.
⁴Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
⁵Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
⁶I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.
⁷I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
⁸And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
⁹Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
¹⁰For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
¹¹I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
¹²I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
¹³For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
¹⁴But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
¹⁵My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
¹⁶Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.
¹⁷Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
¹⁸Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
¹⁹Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
²⁰Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
²¹Blessed be the Lord: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
²²For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
²³O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
²⁴Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

New year - Back again!

(Edinburgh Castle just after midnight at New Year!)

After a bit of a break (2 months) it's time to start blogging again.  It has been busy with Church stuff (we're in the middle of an interregnum) and fairly hectic with a new boss at work. We've also had a few wee health scares.  Luckily, they came to nothing (I'm just middle aged, male and need to take a tablet to stop me going to the loo as often).  I am looking forward to a wee break later in the month as we will head off to York.  We did think of Aberdeen, but the hotel costs were rather prohibitive.

A new year can be an interesting experience.  We went to a Watch night service on Auld Year's Night which was part reflection and part looking forward.  That is something we can all do with from time to time.  I have recently restarted my use of a Spiritual director, which involves both those things. Reflecting on what has been and looking towards how things may develop with God.  Partly this was prompted by my need to review my Rule of Life having joined  Rachel in the ranks of the OHP Tertiaries and partly by the nagging sense that I'd allowed myself to drift in terms of  my organised spiritual life.  I've been slotting things in here and there and need to focus a bit.  I'd say my reflection has been profoundly influenced by my ongoing experience of AA.  There I have learnt radical honesty and a willingness to be me and accepted as such.  Ideally this should be our experience of God in  prayer and in the Church.  It isn't always and when it goes sour people can be deeply scarred and wounded. And even driven away from any form of religious observance.  Luckily I was never totally destroyed by my negative experiences in life.  My core of belief and faith remained.  How I expressed it and worked it out in the rest of my life adapted and changed.

The Season of the Epiphany reflects a little of this.  The Magi changed their world view through the process of their journey towards Christ.  So do we if we let Christ direct and mould us and remain open to the possibility that God truly will enter into our lives and make a difference.

All Saints tide.

After a very slobbish morning (snooze until the back of 10) I headed out with the honest intention of a country walk.  Rain stopped play!  So it was off to the Co-Op for a paper, collect the memsahib's prescription and a brunch of Welsh Rarebit (allegedly "a la Fortnums" but I've had Rarebit in Fortnums and it was nothing like).  We went shopping for paint and other domestic stuff later and dined on pasta followed by choc enhanced yogurts and washed down with still lemonade.

It's the eve of All Saints Day and I always value the Feast of All Saints.  I particularly like the Commemoration and thanksgiving for the Saints in the SSF Daily Office and I particularly like the final petition: 

"For the martyrs and peacemakers of our time,who shine as lights in the darkness:

For all the unsung heroes and heroines of our faith, whose names are known to God alone:

For all those in our own lives who have revealed to us the love of God and shown to us the way of holiness."

That for me is the heart of celebrating All Saints: remembering the unremembered, celebrating the nameless who are still utterly loved and valued by God.  I hope and pray to be numbered with them in due course.  No poetry captures the glory of All Saints tide better than these words of Dom Gregory Dix:

"To those who know a little of Christian history probably the most moving of all the reflections it brings is not the thought of the great events and the well–remembered saints, but of those innumerable millions of entirely obscure faithful men and women, every one with his or her own individual hopes and fears and joys and sorrows and loves—and sins and temptations and prayers—once every whit as vivid and alive as mine are now. They have left no slightest trace in this world, not even a name, but have passed to God utterly forgotten by men. Yet each of them once believed and prayed as I believe and pray, and found it hard and grew slack and sinned and repented and fell again. Each of them worshipped at the Eucharist, and found their thoughts wandering and tried again, and felt heavy and unresponsive and yet knew—just as really and pathetically as I do these things. There is a little ill–spelled ill–carved rustic epitaph of the fourth century from Asia Minor:—‘Here sleeps the blessed Chione, who has found Jerusalem for she prayed much’. Not another word is known of Chione, some peasant woman who lived in that vanished world of Christian Anatolia. But how lovely if all that should survive after sixteen centuries were that one had prayed much, so that the neighbours who saw all one’s life were sure one must have found Jerusalem! What did the Sunday Eucharist in her village church every week for a life–time mean to the blessed Chione—and to the millions like her then, and every year since? The sheer stupendous quantity of the love of God which this ever repeated action has drawn from the obscure Christian multitudes through the centuries is in itself an overwhelming thought. (All that going with one to the altar every morning!)"

Alleluia!

Peace in the Church

The ruined Church of St Simon Stylites, Aleppo, Syria.

It's been comparatively quiet on the Church front these days.  Spiky Mike's went vacant in September so my Sundays are largely booked from here into next year when we sincerely hope we will get a new Rector.  The Anglican Communion is currently not too mad due to the retirement of such famed conservative pests as Archbishops Akinola and Jensen.  Their successors are currently less noisy, one because he's very new, the other because he was a Colonel in the Nigerian Army and keeping stum about an African military career is probably not a bad idea.  In the old days of course he'd have ended up as a Dictator rather than an  mere Anglican Archbishop - watching Dan Snow on telly tonight, I discovered that the legendarily corrupt President Mobutu of the Congo/Zaire loved Gregorian chant!  Their American buddies in ACNE (or something similar sounding) seem to be quiet after losing a lot of court cases on property (apart from the Texans, but Texas law is different which is why they seem to execute a lot of rather low IQ people).  The Welsh Woozer (aka Williams of Oystermouth) has obfuscated successfully to Michael Ramsey's old Cambridge College but I think is due to lurk in Edinburgh doing the Gifford lectures soon.  Archbishop Oilwelby  seems to be getting a grip and doing a pretty decent job and the new Pope is fairly putting a new gloss on an old song to great effect.

Doubtless there is both grief and joy in the Church elsewhere (plenty enough for all in Egypt and Syria).  My own little bit and the bits I look out at is all Quiet on the Western (Rite) Front at the moment.  The prayer from the Prayer Book seems to be apt: 

"O Lord Jesus Christ, Who said to Your Apostles: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you," regard not my sins but the faith of Your Church, and deign to give her peace and unity according to Your Will: Who live and reign, God, world without end. Amen."

With Angels etc

I've been remiss about blogging of late - perhaps it's using Facebook more that has led to this.  But it's been fairly busy with 2 weddings, loadsa Church services as St Michael's is now vacant and hunting a new Rector and a working wife. Yes, I sometimes have to cook the  tea when I get in now!  I've also been touring the country - met up with Mum in Dunfermline and bumped into the organist from the Church I went to in Lochgelly when back in Fife.  I was also away with work in beautiful Dumfriesshire (need to explore that neck of the woods a bit more) and we had a trip to York for the OHP Tertiaries AGM (memsahib is one and I'm gently in the process of joining her) which I mostly enjoyed but bits of the AGM reminded me of why I hate Church gatherings - pedants being potty about minutiae which make b**ger all difference to anyone who isn't an insider.

Anyway a nice pikkie from a Church in Rome i visited years ago for Michaelmas seems in order and also a wee thanksgiving for the aid of the heavenly host over the years;

O glorious Prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King, and our admirable conductor, thou who dost shine with excellence and superhuman virtue, vouchsafe to deliver us from all evil, who turn to thee with confidence, and enable us by thy gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day. 

V. Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ 
R. That we may be made worthy of His promises. 

Laughs at the Gallery.

The real Francie and Josie.

Well, after a very long waking night and an all too brief snooze, we headed off to a Fringe do - a comedy cafe (whatever that is) at the Portrait Gallery.  The 1st act struggled a bit - nerves, a jolt from an early audience response that wasn't malicious (i.e. not heckling - " Remember to breathe, dear." actually) but which did throw her (she was a relatively young comedienne).  No 2 was fairly amusing in a speccy Scottish geek sort of way, no 3, an Aussie with a odd looking musical instrument that looked like a cross between a kazoo and a child's keyboard connected by a hoover tube, was really quite good with a splendid repertoire of 90's hit music (not a patch on the 60's IMHO).  Phil Jupitus was again excellent (saw him last year).  A short break ensued and then a Francie and Josie tribute took the stage.  They were superb. I roared with laughter and totally forgot my sleep deprived grumpiness.  it finished off with a talking heads session between Susan Calman and Forbes Masson (who is a Falkirk Bairn much to my surprise) which was both amusing and intelligent.  My major grump was the wait for the doors opening and the fact the acts started rather later than timetabled, but otherwise it was most enjoyable.

Here beginneth the Festival(s).

Palestrina, this week's composer.

Yes it's that time of year again in Auld Reekie!  Actually, the Film and Jazz Festival have been and gone but the Fringe is now with us and I'm already booked in to hear "Two Old Gits" a dialogue between Tony Benn and Richard Holloway which should be interesting.

It also means a change of musical gear in Church and this morning the choir will hit us with Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli.  The settings are advertised as "Experience mass setting in their original church context" in the Fringe brochure (a slight liberty, as the Palestrina's original context was the St Peter's in Rome but hey!) and the tag line is "Music, liturgy and Incense!"  It's also the current Rector's last Sunday with us as he's going to teach Latin and be Chaplain of a fee paying borstal for the middle classes somewhere in Surrey as of the beginning of September. (Oh joy, an interregnum - a year of the Vestry playing "Hunt the Vicar", whilst the retired and Non Stips run around madly trying to keep the show going).  Pray for us!

Ignatius of Loyola

Statue of St Ignatius in the Gesu Church Rome.

It's one of my favourite saints today - Ignatius of Loyola.The readings recommended for the office were particularly apt.  Isaiah 61:10 - 62:5 reflects well Ignatius's joyful proclamation of the Gospel.  Romans 8:18-27 covers so much of his life.  The suffering from his wounds at Pamplona, his struggles at Manresa, and the prayer that comes from contemplation that is beyond words using the Ignatian method.  Whilst I would describe myself as having moved on from my deeply Ignatian phase of spirituality these days, I remain grateful for his influence and the tools his approach gave me.  So today I remembered those who introduced me to his approach - Donald Nicholson and Gero Mcloughlin SJ and prayed also for the 1st Jesuit Pope, Francis.  Ignatius's courage vision and discipline remain an inspiration for all Christians and a source of blessing for many.

A horse, a horse!

Dugs frae Fife!

Well, we went to the horse show.  And it was rather fun to be honest.  I enjoyed seeing the foxhounds from the Fife Hunt (not that I knew there was was a Fife hunt until then) and herself took multiple shots of big horses jumping over fences - she was last seen editing out all the blurry ones and the multiples of a rear view of a horse... But I did quite enjoy the skill involved.  Anyway, there was music from the bandstand  if I got seriously bored (including an opera wumman doing most of the background numbers from Inspector Morse with the background of Hopetoun House which was very Inspector Morse-ish) and vintage vroom-vrooms including an E Type Jaguar!  We could have gone and shot at clay pigeons, but we decided to enjoy the sunshine instead.

Foodwise we had great fun - hog roast on a bun with apple sauce for lunch!  Proper traditional ice cream cone, pork, leek and pancetta pie for dinner another day and yummy homemade shortbread for munching with tea.  When we got back I did the cooking (yeah, I know typical male making a a song and dance about something the other half does daily) but I have to say with some pride that I do a rather decent Risotto Primavera!

Sacred Concert.

We went to an excellent concert tonight in my natal Burgh at Dunfermline Abbey as part of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival -  Duke Ellington's "Sacred Concert" - one of my favourite jazz works. If you've never experienced it, then listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8deXgk9mAJE .
Sadly, the star attraction, great jazz pianist Stan Tracey ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Tracey ) was ill and his son conducted.

Despite that it was superb, although the unexpected sound and light effects provided by the Almighty added a bit of excitement!  The heavy rain running back to the car wasn't much fun but it was a pleasant interlude.  Our next next interlude at the week-end is a horse show - a new experience for us plebs! (I blame the missus!)  We went to Dalmeny House at the week-end and saw much Napoleonic memorabilia and were given a viewing of the Sevres porcelain by the Countess who appeared from nowhere with a Sheltie in tow.  Personally, I preferred the Sheltie, but pottery really isn't my thing.  Still it was fun and culturally broadening.  Good stuff.

St Swithun's Day.

 

Shrine of St Swithun, Winchester Cathedral.

I am very definitely not going to complain about the weather!  It's been very warm for the last few weeks, so this year we can claim to have had an actual summer (quite unusual in Scotland).  Now, if it holds up and medieval saintly legend are to be trusted, tomorrow being fine we should get 40 days more good weather.  For July 15th is St Swithun's Day - and it was/is alleged

 

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain

For forty days it will remain

St Swithun's day if thou be fair

For forty days 'twill rain nae mare

 

Actually, there is some science to support this pious hokum.  Around the middle of July, the Jet Stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. So I'm hoping that the saintly bishop will pull it off this year and grant us good weather for the Edinburgh Festivals.  Come on Swithun, do your stuff!

The joys of being Pisky.

St Adrian's Episcopal Church, Gullane, East Lothian.

You would think that preaching in a little country church would be a mildly unmemorable experience after 20 years of ordained ministry.  And up to a point it is.  Not being one to "dumb down" whilst still being accessible (I hope) in a sermon, on Sunday I used a simile from the autobiography of H. A. Williams, sometime Dean of Trinity College Cambridge and monk of the Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield.  I hasten to add that I did attribute it to him as I despise plagiarism from the pulpit and it's my way of saying "I'm not very original but I am well read!".  I was more than slightly surprised when someone came up afterwards and commented "It was nice to hear Harry Williams mentioned - he taught me Greek at Cambridge"!

It is risky for a Scottish Pisky to assume that any given congregation is theologically less literate than the cleric preaching.  I can think of a housing estate church in Glasgow where the organist is the son of a deceased Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford.  He's probably very theologically literate indeed!  Equally, it is risky to assume that the congregation are as theologically literate as you are.  The finer points of Nicene soteriology are perhaps not the forte of the average Mother's Union member without careful explanation and some indication of their relevance to life in Christ today.  I count myself lucky to have been a curate in a church where my more abstruse homiletic offerings were met with the pertinent  query "And what's that got to do with the price of Spam in Govan?" from a wee Glasgow wifie in the congregation!  The obscure high falutin' of a recently qualified theology graduate was briskly earthed with the requirement to incarnate my theological theory in real life.

Scottish Episcopal congregations I find can handle theology rather well if it is clearly explained, earthed and not wrapped up in the technical lingo adored by specialists.  They can follow an argument and engage with a train of thought quite skillfully.  Their intelligence and responsiveness is one of the joys of being a Pisky priest.

Thoughts on reading the paper.

I was leafing my way through my beloved London Times snoozepaper (OK, I know it's owned by the Dirty Digger, but better that than the Pornmeister in Chief of the Daily Excess!) when I began to chew over their comments on the introduction of the Same Sex Marriage Legislation in the Holyrood Palais de Comedie. 

 

They first posit that Our Glorious Leader, Chairman Eck risks "infuriating the Churches" with this.  Well, he'll certainly annoy the RC hierarchy in Scotland - all 3 of them currently in office and not sick, retired very smartly at 75 or currently off praying in a monastic institution somewhere in Europe.  Aberdeen, Argyll and Glasgow are the only 3 sees operating on full power at the moment.  Given that an awful lot of laity seem to ignore Catholic teaching on contraception, I suspect most ain't too bothered about what LGBT's do re marriage.  Will he annoy the Kirk or only the 10 congregations talking of leaving out of a total of 1400?  OK, he'll really annoy the Wee Frees.  But then again, nearly everyone seems to do that.  And the Piskies? We're really difficult to annoy.  And we're playing moderate to canny in public.  Officially we seem to say that Canon law does not permit SSM's to be celebrated in Church.  Which is true.  It also glosses over the fact that it is fairly easy to change Canon Law and we could fairly quickly reposition ourselves in the event of the Civil Law changing.

 

The commentary by a former editor of the Scotsman slightly baffled me.  "In the modern era it has long been accepted that gay couples have the same civil rights as heterosexuals when it comes to forming partnerships".  Really?  Assuming the modern era started in 1960 (when sex was first discovered by the general public), then it was 1967 when making love ceased to be a jail sentence if you were a male aged over 21 and some 30 years later when the age of consent was finally equalised.  In Scotland, male homosexual acts (or bonking as we used to call it) even in private between consenting adults were totally illegal until 1981 (1982 in Northern Ireland).  The age of consent only equalised in 2001.  In 1990 I wrote a paper with 2 colleagues arguing for the legal recognition of Same Sex Relationships at the request of the then Convener of the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats. I was the Vice Convener (no pun intended).  Willie is now the Supreme Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems (I had a coffee with him at Holyrood a wee while ago).  One of my co-authors is now dead and the other is happily Civilly Partnered to the Chief Exec of Manchester Pride!  The fact that we were still having to argue for legal recognition of any form in 1990 - a mere 23 years ago suggests that LGBT couples have only been seen as having the same civil rights as the rest of the populace  for a very short period of time by a good many people. Civil partnerships are less than 10 years old.

 

The fact is we've come a very long way in a relatively short period of time.  It can feel that the current climate of relatively positive attitudes towards LGBT people has been there forever.  It hasn't.  Indeed, in may less enlightened and socially progressive corners it is still a long way off.  But I suspect the momentum that has now built up is irresistible and the opposition of the least progressive elements of the Churches will in due course be overcome.  After all, some bits of the Church were very slow to follow Wilberforce on abolishing slavery.  But we all now celebrate him as a hero.