Forgotten

There is a story in the news about William Elliot who was a chorister. Workmen restoring Sunderland Parish Church discovered a note, addressed to a "Dear Friend" stuffed down the side of one of the pews: it was written on the back of a chorister's order of service sheet dated 11 August 1897. The 13-year-old asks whoever finds it not to throw it away but "keep it in remembrance of me".

I have a lot of sympathy for this boy as I feel there was a time when the Church of England forgot about me (as an organist) and I've blogged about this in the past but cannot find where just now.

I also feel somewhat forgotten and betrayed by the Old Chorister's Association (OCA). When I was a chorister we were 'paid' a small amount of money per term and this was kept for us ready for when we left the choir: I only found out when I was about to leave. Although money was worth a lot more back in the 1971 I think I was due something like £3 10s 0d which is about £45 in today's money.

I was required - yes required - to pay a Life Subscription to the OCA: in fact it was deducted before I received my cash. Years later (possibly 15-20) the OCA wrote to say that I would have to pay an annual subscription if I wanted to remain a member. Rising costs of paper and postage had necessitated a review of financial procedures it seems. Given that I had few chorister friends I decided not to rejoin and so I do not now belong to the OCA. My ex-wife was part of the reason for this. To her - and I did agree - the OCA existed to hold an annual dinner at which we had a poor meal (think undercooked chicken) and then had to listen to boring speakers drone on and on. It was not for us.

Similarly with the Grammar School I attended. My mother used to cough up a termly amount of cash for the 'Old Boys' Association' (in the days before it went mixed) which was to serve as Life Membership. Guess what, they wrote to say that such membership would now cost an annual subscription and so I left.

I find this all rather distasteful. One follows the rules and then somebody moves the goalposts. This is very much how the church works. I was appointed organist at the place where I now play and then somebody else was booked to play for a wedding.

A chip on my shoulder - probably.

Why I love Evensong

There is a really good article HERE about this topic. I like Evensong because I sang so many of them as a chorister and have attended and played for many since.

Before I was admitted to the cathedral choir I had to attend to get to know the service and it was possible to sit in the stalls at Peterborough where each seat is labelled with the title of the canon or person whose seat it would be on very formal occasions. As the choir processed in the organist would improvise and the 16' pipes would make the woodwork gently vibrate. This anticipatory music created an atmosphere and the dignity of the choir procession was something one seldom saw in normal life. One had thus already started to focus the mind on spiritual matters - by which I mean one could set aside the world outside and feel comfortable in whatever bubble one had created for oneself.

The order of service was always the same - it had to be as it is set out in the Book of Common Prayer. Whereas (especially these days) communion services can vary a little (perhaps a baptism has been shoehorned in), Evensong was a rock of certainty in an uncertain world.

As a chorister it was the whole point of all the hard work and rehearsal. One could sing and not have to stop to be corrected. Of course, one had to concentrate (especially if standing close to the conductor) and I think it is this single-mindedness which I value having had to demonstrate in years gone by.

I am not 'sporty' but the choir was my chance for teamwork and we all knew what to do. I loved being a bookboy: two of us went over early to set out the psalters, chants books and responses for the service.

The service ended formally with a vestry prayer (actually not in the vestry but with the choir lined up out of sight) and the words and voices of the priests who said those prayers and who thanked us for our singing remains with me. One precentor had his own version of Cardinal Newman's prayer.

Support us all the day long of this troublous life,
Till the shades lengthen and the evening comes,
the busy world is hushed,
the fever of life is over,
and our work is done.
Then in his mercy grant us safe lodging,
an holy rest, and peace at the last.

(yes, 'an' holy rest is what I am sure he use to say, not 'and', and absolutely not 'a')

Nostalgia? Yes indeed. When I go to Evensong now I can forget that I do not really believe in much of what the church is about and lose myself in reminiscing about how, as a boy, I was responsible with others, for giving the congregation a glimpse of whatever heaven they believed in.

If Evensong moves me to shed a tear, it is a tear of sadness because I know I can never have those youthful days back and I doubt that I valued them enough at the time.

The decline of the Church of England

If you put 'The decline of the Church of England' into Google you will get several interesting results. Reasons include

• Women priests having caused divison
  
• Gay vicars
• Disregard for religion in our more secular society
• Errors made by the Church Commisioners within my lifetime when they lost a great deal of money
• Adherence to outdated doctrine and historic prejudices SEE HERE
  

Another website even says, "One day the last native-born Christian will die and that will be that".

It used to be said that the Forsyte Saga - which was televised by the BBC in the 1960s - rang the death knell for Parish Evensong.

I would also suggest that two World Wars will have had an effect, certainly WW2. People (of faith) have always struggled with disaster and the 'Why did God allow this or that to happen?' question.

For those - like me -  who are divorced and who married in church there is another question. I had my marriage blessed by God and yet it failed: what was the point? Thinking about the marriage vows now, particularly the 'for better or for worse' one, this is a really inappropriate vow to expect a young couple to make when, after many years of life experience, they will realise that the person they married is not the same person after many years. It was probably a good vow in the past when the nuclear family was important and there was no welfare state but, in the late 20th/21st centuries I think it was/is almost cruel to make couples say things in public which MAY turn out to be impossible to carry out and uphold.

Thus, many people see the church (and all organised religion) as a way of controlling people. Way back in history there was the threat of hell fire.

The church no longer has a grip on society. Has it got any kind of grip on itself?

Church building updates 2

[Continuing from yesterday]

What I have noticed in some churches is the use of data projectors which, of course requires the installation of a huge white screen. At one church in Warwickshire they have not included a white screen but there are huge monitors at intervals fixed to the pillars of the nave.

I know that some churches do not use hymn books and have the hymn words projected. As a cynic I think this is to allow members of the congregation to raise their hands whilst singing as if to say, "Look, I know the words off by heart".

These data projectors also allow the service leader to show videos and the use of media is increasing in non-conformist (and evangelical) churches as well as C of E places.

This, to me, all seems part of a move to make going to church seem like being at the cinema or even at home (now that people have large home entertainment systems)

Ah, progress.
 

Church building updates

The Church of England has a massive stock of property in the form of historical buildings - churches! These vary in age from the ancient to the modern. Over the last 50 years or so (perhaps less) some churches have installed toilet facilities and some have gone further and built kitchens where coffee and even simple meals can be prepared.

Clearly, building a toilet into a 'medieval' church or even a church built at any point up to 1900 (and beyond) could be a contentious issue. {Hmm, topic for research - how old are England's churches?} as is any form of renovation. This particularly applies to bells and organs: I will dwell on the latter today.

I know of a place where, on the one hand, the organ is historically linked to the church because the builder was the son of the then vicar, Holdich. I see the historical importance. However, that organ is so in need of repair that it cannot really cope with decent church music although it gets through hymns OK and will probably keep going. This does limit the kind of accompanied music the choir can attempt although a good organist can adapt.

What holds churches back (other than lack of funds) is the woeful holding on to relics from the past which are no longer fit for purpose in the 21st century. An application for lottery funding to repair the organ mentioned above resulted in the instruction that it had to be returned to the specification it had when it was built: i.e. it had to have the full pedal board removed (added in the 1970s) and revert to a 15-note pedal board using only the 15 pedal pipes Holdich had provided. The application was halted by the parish.

I agree that there must be a faculty system to stop building and structural disasters, but I have always felt that refusals to update a church (without just pandering to a passing fashion, which is the danger) hold the church back from serving the people who use it.

This is a huge debate and removing all the pews from a church to be replaced with modern seating is one example of a divisive issue. However, with falling numbers in congregations the church needs to take a close look at itself and enter the 20th (even the 21st!) century.

More tomorrow.

Do I need to be religious?

"Do I need to be religious?" is not my question, but that on the website telling the world about the choir at a university church where I was organ scholar from 1979-1981. (I have just been contacted by the current organ scholar as the scholarship was set up 50 years ago: they want to celebrate and involve past scholars.)

The answer they give is "No! Definitely not. Some choir members are Christian, some belong to other religions, the majority aren't religious at all. What brings us all together is our love of choral music."

This would have surprised me in my university days but was probably the case even back then: I just hadn't thought about it as it would have blown my mind! I did have a friend who received communion each week but I discovered that he was not confirmed. When I enquired of the vicar if this was OK, the reply was that the sky wasn't going to fall in and that my friend just did not realise the significance of receiving commnuion. When I was younger I thought you could only receive communion if you were confirmed, rather as you could only drive a car (alone) if you had passed your test.

Since those far off days my thinking has changed. I feel nostalgic about my days as a chorister and I am so glad I had them. However, my religious thinking has changed and I really do take the position Christopher Hitchens had. One of these is (summed up) "God created mankind and left us alone for thousands of years until the point when he decided to intervene and send Jesus to sort us out". There is more to it than that of course.

Another very good point is about the 10 Commandments. Why did God not include one such as "Thou shalt not abuse children". Hitchens says that God missed the opportunity to create 10 good rules and that there are clear signs these rules were actually made up by men. The video below explains how he would have revised them.

Ringing

I posted in 2019 (pre-pandemic) that I was fed up with bellringing. Largely I still am, so I invited a friend round for coffee and a chat (Hello JM!) but it had to be short as I was due on a Zoom call.

A few suggestions were considered and, afterwards, I did dig out my methods book to revise the 4 easier surprise major methods I used to ring. Cambridge and Yorkshire Major are pretty familiar; after all, I was ringing Yorkshire in 1981 when I did my PGCE but I have not progressed much since then. I learnt Lincolnshire and Superlative but need them so little these days.

I am not suggesting that I want to be ringing multi-methods peals or new methods, just that it is a "man cannot live by bread alone" situation.

Learning new things is a process which changes over time and one's reasons for doing so also change. When one is a child one likes parental attention when one has achieved something new: "Look at me Mummy!" When I was a young organist the flower ladies took an interest in me and encouraged me so I practised harder.

In the early days of ringing one passes through various firsts.

• 1st quarter on the treble
• 1st quarter inside
• 1st treble bob
  
• 1st quarter in a particular method
• 1st quarter of surprise
• 1st quarter as conductor
• 1st peal
• 1st Major / Caters / Royal / Cinques / Maximus
  

I have grown out of bothering about 'firsts' but there are many ringers who have not! In the Ringing World you will find

• Circled the tower
• Circled the tower as conductor
• Complete the Standard 8
• Completes the Alphabet!
• Has now rung a peal on every day of the year (not the same year)
• 100th peal together (persons A and B)

What I really need is a ringing friend but I've never had one although I have friends who are ringers. I've never had a phone call of the type "Hi John, I'm going to the Wednesday practice at Bongtown; do you want to come?" (I tried to teach my [now ex-] wife to ring but it was a dismal failure and my children were not interested.)

Bellringing is very much a pastime in which there is a great deal of one-upmanship, I feel, and there is a hierarchy or pecking order. Ringing also involves people and 'there is nowt so queer as folk' to the extent that ringers get set in their ways and acquire bad habits. On the flip side I know 3 ringers (2 now in their 70s and 1 in his 80s) who are a delight just to watch ringing. Two of them ring a heavy bell with absolute ease, whilst the third makes it look more physical but in a balletic kind of way: he is very tall so has had to work on his skills.

Having written all this, it seems to me that whereas ringing was a way of making friends in the past (although teenagers can fall out, believe me) I am essentially a lonely person - probably because I am a perfectionist and I don't like to take risks. Thus my jaded view of bellringing is caused by the fact that it is not yielding the close or multiple friendships which I feel others in the fraternity seem to have.

I seem to be invisible. I have been to quarterly or monthly meetings and everyone else has been engaged in conversation whilst I have stood on my own - ignored. I cite an older previous post.

Paying the Organist

Being an organist requires a lot of skill (well, to do it properly it does) and I am reminded of a story my father once told.

A chap needed his washing machine (or some other appliance) mended (this is going back into the 1960s) and the engineer fixed it by turning a nut charging the man £37 0s 3d. When the man exclaimed that all that had been done was to turn a nut, the reply was, "I charged 3d for turning the nut and £37 for knowing which nut to turn".

Similarly with playing the organ. I have acquired a vast amount of experience over the last 49 years but I only accept the fee the church can afford: let's face it, most of them are skint with the odd exception. However, I do expect to be paid as motivation to get out of bed

A long time ago I was very annoyed when the churchwarden where I had been organist for some years let it be known that he begrudged paying the mere £33 per quarter because, he said, I ought to do it voluntarily - like the flower arrangers!

I left not long afterwards.

Churchyards

Readers will realise that I am an organist and bellringer so I have hung around churches for much of my life. In 2012 I took an interest in gravestones and have spent my time taking photographs of them before they erode away and the inscriptions cannot be read. What would I do if churches did not exist? (You may well ask!)

I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday at the church and nearby cemetery at Alwalton. Sadly the vast majority of the churchyard headstones had become illegible. An earlier photographer had taken some good shots of these but had not shown the whole of each headstone so I went along to try my hand.

This was a well kept churchyard: so many are not, because maintenance costs money (you see, money again!) or relies upon volunteers.

I rang a quarter peal at Alwalton in my youth (1976) but I have never played the organ or been to a service there.

Glory Holes

Most congregation members do not get to see behind the scenes but, as an organist, I have done so.

All churches seem to have a 'glory hole': that's a phrase I picked up many years ago but, if you Google it, be careful! It is a thing, but not widely known.

In such a place one will find cleaning equipment of all kinds: brush, mop, dustpan and brush, broom, cloths of all kinds. Then there are flower arrangement stands, oasis (floral foam) and all manner of other things. I've seen lantern sticks, buckets, disused hymn books and many a kitchen sink. Then you find old scenery from a pantomine, stalls from a church fête and a hoover.

These glory holes are often near the organ, choir vestry or belfry (or actually in the ringing room in one church I know) and a very old cupboard is often involved.

Much of the junk could be chucked out but it isn't. OK, keep the cleaning materials but much of the rest is simply hoarding.

Language changes

The quality of diction in the UK is declining and speech is changing. I thought I had blogged about the glottal 'T' previously but I cannot seem to find it.

My post today concerns a new book of the Bible which I heard about yesterday from the vicar: it was the 'Axe of the apostles'. Now 'Acts' is perhaps not the easiest word to pronounce as it involves so many formations - A in the vocal folds,  C is air (think K) coming from the throat and  T-sss is a tongue motion away from the front teeth follows by a hiss - try it!

In the future, if people still sing hymns, the language will have changed. As a boy I learnt how to say THEE when THE was before a vowel but, these days it is often always heard as THUH.

 "Let all the world" is a hymn which involves both 'Thuh' and 'Thee' but I suspect it will only be 'Thuh' in years to come - "...THEE earth is not too low.."

The church asking for more money

I am cross. I went to play at a church today and in the space of 45 minutes I only played one hymn. The 'hour long' service lasted 80 minutes!

After my pre-service music the first hymn was announced at 1105 (5 minutes late). As it is Lent there is no Gloria and the Gradual hymn has been dropped since post-Covid singing has re-started. I could have turned the wind off.

The reason is that the sermon was exceedingly long because it was about money. Then it dawned on me - we are near the end of the Tax Year and people are being urged to rethink their giving. I have heard all this before.

What was annoying is that it was all dressed up to fit in with the theme of God's generosity but the sermon was essentially a detailed explanation of how the Parish Share or Quota works.

For me, this amounted to a lecture and is one of the reasons people do not come to church. Who wants to sit and be lectured for 20+ minutes when you have (presumably) come to worship. We all know the church needs more money to meet expenses. Surely a polite request would do just as well, with the offer of more details for those who are interested.

Poor choice

I was able to take the place of a bellringer at a wedding today. As we waited, the last hymn of the service was "All Things Bright and Beautiful" sung to the tune of the same name, composed by W. H. Monk.

I have to say I really dislike this hymn.

One wonders why it was chosen. Gone are the days when brides select hymns because they sang them at school: I cannot imagine this bride sang it at school. It was not selected for a love of tradition because the out-going music was not played on the organ but by a CD (I didn't hear the entrance music).

What I suspect happened was that the couple discussed the service with the vicar who said it was normal to have two hymns (because this is a church service) and they were presented with a list of common wedding hymns compiled by some well-meaning, but totally out of touch, person. Or, it could have been the BBC!

40-50 years ago it was common to have Crimond at a wedding ("The Lord's my Shepherd") because the Queen had it. "Lead us heavenly father, lead us" was another common choice.

It is about time people put more thought into wedding hymns.

(Posting again today in case I don' t have time tomorrow)

What is Worship? [2]

Setting aside the service of Evensong which, for me, is the ideal form of worship (about which I shall write on another occasion) I thought I had better explain what I would like from a Sunday service.

This is set in an imaginery church which has bells, a choir and a decent organ (which does not have to be large)

• 1000 The bells start to ring. For now, assume that the ringing chamber is not in the church and the ringers' chatter cannot be heard inside: also, the bells do not hinder the pre-service music
• 1025 The organ starts to play some atmospheric music (and the bells stop).
• 1030 The choir and clergy process in to the Introit hymn
• 1034 Opening prayers from the Order of Service. No improvised welcome, chat, announcements, faffing about or unnecessary delay. This is important because I want to get on.
• 1037 Kyries, Gloria, Readings
• 1045 Gradual hymn
  
• 1049 (Timings are approximate) Gospel etc.
  
• 1054 Sermon
• 1103 Creed
• 1105 Intercessions
• 1110 Offertory hymn
• 1104 The Peace - but there will be no moving about, chatting, kissing, hugging. (I'm with Mrs Beamish)
• 1108 Eucharistic Prayer (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei) etc.
  
• 1115 Distribution of Communion
• 1118 Communion Anthem (or hymn)
• 1123 Final Prayers
• 1125 Post-Commnuion hymn
• 1129 Dismissal
• 1130 Closing voluntary

What could be easier? Notices can be on a pew sheet which does not need reading out and there can be chatter over coffee in the church hall. We will have given an hour to God and we can get on with life.

What is worship? [1]

I cannot really remember a time when I did not go to church. As a boy I was sent to Sunday School although my parents were not very consistent in sending me along. Once I became a chorister and involved with church music I pratically went every week - yes, there have been gaps.

Were it not for the music I do not suppose I would go to church. I have never really been moved by or deeply involved in prayer, nor do I see the point of corporate prayer when someone else decides what one is to pray about. I do not include in this the Evensong prayers as they are more of a ritual and have a familiar pattern; like wearing a favourite cardigan.

At school we were taught that ACTS was a way of making sure worship had all the necessary elements. Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication. I suppose any god would be grateful if his/her creations participated in such activities.

The trouble I have with church is that there is too much education, history, explanation and interpretation, the last of which gets my goat, along with teh dreaded supposition. I once attended a service when the sermon giver tried to imagine what Moses looked like. It was all guess work and a waste of time.

Humans can only concentrate for so long and sermons should be short enough to make a point and only long enough to cover the essentials.

More later.

My first service

I took up the organ in 1970 and played for a few services at a Methodist church (where a relation of nime played) when she had to be away.

My first official service as an appointed organist was in 1972 on Low Sunday which I believe was April 9th, the Sunday fater Easter. I remember the start of the service very well because the organ console was behind a screen and there was amost no view of the altar at all, except for a wobbly mirror. The priest and his server came out at 0930 and started to mumble prayers so I waited and waited for the first hymn to be announced. After what seemed an age, a churchwarden came to the organ and told me I should be playing the hymn: kick off, then all went well.

I used to be paid £18.75 per quarter which amounts to £75 a year. That felt like a lot for a 14 year old: today it would be about £266 per year which is not a huge amount.

The best way to learn something is to do it and I applied everything I had learnt from my organ lessons and from page-turning for my teacher.

Happy days.

Photocopies

I am amazed by the number of churches who use photocopied music. These days, when there are fewer choirs (so it seems), a communion setting is still sometimes used but the same few get trotted out and have established themselves as common currency. These include those by Dom Gregory Murray, the Thorne and Addington (Shephard) settings and a couple of others whose names escape me this morning.

When I am booked and I ask if the music is available I am told, "There is a copy on the organ" and this turns out to be a photocopy, sometimes neatly placed in a plastic covers of some sort to make a book.

At the church where I regularly play it is genuine copy although now, sadly, out of print. It has always seemed to me to be against the spirit of Christianity to break the law by photocopying music. This is done because it is known that checks are seldom made.

When I was a choister we had psalters and proper sheet music. These days I know of places where a dedicated choir service book is prepared for each service.

Dupuytren's

I am aware that I have the early stages of Dupuytren's contracture but I have known this for several years so my hope is that it is progressing slowly. I have a nodule on my left palm beneath my 3rd finger but, as yet, my fingers are not affected. Thus it seems to me that I ought to do as much organ playing and bellringing as I can, whilst I can. My research tells me that this is not caused by wear and tear or overuse: I am just unlucky: or lucky if it is not yet affecting me. I had thought of taking a photo of my hand but this image (of a right hand) will have to do.

Radio 4 Sunday Worship

I am not playing at the church this week so I rose at 0800 and was cooking breakfast whilst listening to Radio 4. On came Sunday Worship from Down Cathedral, Downpatrick. I am not a great fan of this programme but there was sufficient atmosphere to keep me listening: I am glad I did.

The first hymn is not often sung around here; it was "God whose city sure foundation" (WESTMINSTER ABBEY) although I am used to slightly different words ("Christ is made the sure foundation"). Later the choir sang Stanford's "Jubilate" which I do not often hear because Matins (which I used to sing as a chorister) is a rare service these days - not that this was Matins.

It took me back to the time when a church where I had been organist for just 2 weeks did a Radio 4 Sunday Worship. The BBC is up against time constraints and what you hear is not the normal service with all the gaps, faffing about and time-wasting which can plague English church services. No, the producers have a rehearsal and time everything to the second. When we did it, some people received communion but the majority received once we were off-air. Thus my concluding voluntary happened some 20 minutes before the service ended and Radio 4 went back to the studio. To be fair tne BBC do package the service up into a neat little product. They thus avoid too music music or speaking at a time and the service has pace and variety.

It seems to me that moving from one item to another swiftly and without patronising chatter is what I seek in worship as it keeps me focused. In my universe, focus and attentivenses is what I can offer to whatever God I believe in at the time. I cannot do with the oft heard, "And now we turn to page 43 of our blue books and join in the prayer which you will find at the bottom of the page". I know, I know, this is helpful speak for visitors but, honestly, how many churches get visitors these days?

Choirs

I was a cathedral chorister in my youth and I went on to be organ scholar at a university where I trained a good choir. After university I moved near my present location and became organist at a United Reformed Church: there was a small choir of some 8 old people and my then wife 'halved the average age all by herself' (not true, but you get the idea).

Church choirs are getting fewer and further between I feel. At the two churches where I now play #1 has a few faithful souls who lead the signing (after all that's what a choir is for) and #2 has the same but with a more even mixture of men and women. I am not in charge of these choirs. I often feel that, when just 2 of them turn up it can look rather odd when they put on their robes and call themselves the choir.

I cannot see a solution to this. A good choir needs regular rehearsals and a decent repertoire. It was sad, at the URC church, to have to churn out the same, very dated anthems on a rota basis. People do not wish to be recruited into choirs these days and everyone has pressures on their time.

There is an upcoming RSCM talk on the changing face of church music. I wonder if I ought to attend. I am amused it is on April 1st!

Playing the correct notes

When I started to play for services in my teens there would always be wrong notes. My organ teacher might play a single wrong note in a service which would annoy him intensely; thus it used to annoy me when I did the same. As I improved the wrong notes reduced in number and, over many years, the occasional wrong note used to annoy me less; I realised nobody is perfect.

In fact, in service playing there are factors which are far more important that the correct notes

1. Tempo (although it is difficult to please people and I do tend to play too fast)
2. Registration (making the organ sounds suit the words)
3. Dynamics and balance (if there is a choir)
   
4. Prompt starts - being ready, especially in commnuion services when one has to follow a long prayer and start the Sanctus, for example.
   
5. Avoiding prolonged use of reeds (if you have them): avoiding too much mixture sound whilst avoiding a muddy effect from too muny 8' stops.
   
6. Generally tidy and rhythmic playing which leads a congregation well.

Yes, wrong notes are to be avoided but they quickly pass and it is the overall impression which sticks with members of the congregation.

That said, when I record a video for YouTube I do get annoyed when I play wrong notes and this causes many retakes. Some I have to let go as "smudges" and sometimes I have to splice together more than one 'take'.

When I visit a new church and organ I realise that I am not going to be 100% comfortable at the console and I will make slips. But, if the 6 points above are observed, I can feel that I did a good job even if I am occasionally internally disappointed.

Listen to the organ next time you are in church. How many unintentional errors do you hear? Clearly, if the organist has failed to do any practice or is just incompetent, that can really destroy the mood of a service. If I get to that point I shall stop.

Organ tuning

It occurs to me that being an organ tuner is likely to be a precarious occupation from a financial point of view. As churches were closed during Lockdown tuners were not visiting; they are now and I assume most tuners have a contract with the churches they service. One church I know only has (and only needs) an annual tune which currently costs £100 for 7 stops.

In the past tuners would attend at least twice a year (possibly more) and they called their visits by the season: "We are just arranging our round of Harvest tunings and would like to attend your church on..." was the typical wording.

With full, accompanied services taking place probably once a month in each church of a Benefice some organs are no longer played weekly. Also, some of the churches near me do not have (m)any reeds stops and the flues stay in tune pretty well.

As more churches turn to CDs for hymn accompaniments or to worship bands, this may not be the time to enter to industry!

Heating

In the 1970s when I took up the organ, churches were not always cold places in the winter. In fact, when the organ tuner was due to work in a church they would send a postcard to ask that the church be heated to the normal Sunday temperature. This was never a problem for the second place I played at because the heating was on all the time.

Nevertheless, organists are able to function in some low temperatures. The 'person in the pew' may like to think that a church should be as warm as their lounge and that they should not have any discomfort: this is impossible. Church heating should be sufficient to take the edge off the cold. It has been very cold in the 2021-2022 winter or I am just getting old.

There are various forms of heating: hot pipes and/or radiators seem less popular but I may just be imagining that. Many places I go into have electric radiant heating or elements (like an electric fire) suspended from the ceiling. One church I was at in the 1980s had huge gas radiant heaters installed and the humidity they produced (or failed to eliminate perhaps) played havoc with the organ. Another church installed modern radiators and placed one underneath the organ: they had to install a new organ a few years later as they had baked the old one. I told them at the time but nobody listened.

Recently I have been to a church where the heating had been put on far too late (because somebody forgot to go and do it (there being no timer) so I was frozen to the marrow. Another time (same place) there was air in the system to the boiler cut out.

Church - a temperature lottery!

Quality tunes

There are several hymns which have what I regard as quality tunes. These include

• All my hope of God is founded (Tune Michael)
• Christ Triumphant, Ever Reigning (Tune Guiting Power)
• How Shall I Sing That Majesty (Tune Coe Fen)

There are, of course, plenty of hymns with good tunes. A good tune is something one enjoys singing and which has not become banal from frequent repetition. At my last school we had a restricted diet of some 40 hymns and a few kept coming round, such as "Servant King" (which I do not care for!)

Yesterday we had "O Jesus I have promised" which I mentioned in a previous post. Whilst I much prefer it sung to Wolvercote, Hatherop Castle is not too bad especially in the brass band arrangement I found.

Sadly, hymn singing with gusto and delight is becoming quite rare these days because singing standards are falling IMHO.

Enjoy the excellent tunes while you still can.

I need more formality

Whilst I agree that church can be too stuffy, I dislike informality bordering on chaos. I like a church service to have a clear start. If there is a choir and they process in at the start of a service, this acts as a signal that the service is about to start. What I do not like is when the vicar emerges from the vestry like a gameshow host exiting the wings of the stage and bellows "Good morning!". This is often followed by a series of notices which can take 5 minutes.

As an organist I play atmospheric music before the service and the procedure above negates all I have hoped to achieve.

Similarly, at the end, we need to go from the communion to the post-communion hymn and then the blessing and voluntary. There should be no waffle after the hymn: this happens in many churches.

So today, after my first service, I had to go a few miles across the Benefice to play for a Cafe Service; the first I have ever attended. The start of the 'service' was disorderly with a cry of "shall we make a start then?". I did not need to play music before or afterwards.

The 'service' was pitched at the childen who were present to a large extent so it was a bit like being in Sunday School. In places I felt awkward as people were asked to talk about occasions when they had resisted temptation.

The vicar took the first service and attended the second, but did not take it. Afterwards I made a point of having a private conversation to bury the hatchet and move forward from the events of the last few days.

I am glad it is all over.

Not looking forward to it

I am not looking forward to going to church tomorrow as it will be the first time I've seen the vicar since yesterday's events which caused me to edit a post. I don't think I can look the vicar in the eye. I've done nothing wrong but I am the one who is affected.

I emailed to show that my booking for the wedding had been confirmed (by sending back the email which said so) and mentioned that I felt I needed to reassess my commitment to playing at the church. I received a reply that it was not fair to say that after one single error. I have never formally been appointed as organist.

Nothing about it not being fair to have booked me and then to have booked somebody else, claiming forgetfulness.

I had a restless might last night as this issue has affected me deeply; I had to lie awake working out why I was so affected. In short, a situation has arisen which affects me negatively but I have no come-back and have to live with the consequences which are

• loss of earning
• I had adjusted my diary to fit in with this wedding
• my position at the church does not seem to be clear cut
• I have had yet further reinforcement of the feeling that people can ignore me on a whim (local issue, nothing to do with church)

This problem has reminded me of something in my past which happened to me which I brought to the attention of the people who needed to sort it out. I was told to 'man up': I was only 7 at the time.

WhatsApp

One good thing about church in the 21st century is that communication seems better. We have a music WhatsApp group to which we have just invited the vicar. Thus, yesterday's problems with a hymn are now sorted and it has been replaced.

As I had guessed, it was not well-known and the choir cannot get together to rehearse. Added to that, numbers short for Sunday. All in all I am glad I did not spend time sorting the hymn out although I may need to do so moving forward, ready for when we do have it.

Later Edit

I spoke (wrote) too soon. Communication has not worked!

Some weeks ago I was booked to play for a wedding in early April. Today, I happened to WhatsApp the vicar for details of the music. The reply was, "Oh I've booked somebody else because I didn't think you wanted to do it". I had confirmed by email and told her what my fee would be as she had no idea.

I feel dejected having planned my holiday to make myself available for the wedding.

Purify my Heart

On the back of yesterday's post about poor arrangements in Hymns Old & New, I've just looked at Sunday's hymns and find that they include "Purify my Heart" (Refiner's Fire).

The arrangement is pretty dire and the harmony sickening with far too many secondary dominants which I do not hear when I listen to the hymn on YouTube.

In fact, it is a lot easier just to follow the guitar chords - although those make no sense in places. How can F#m represent BMaj9 (or even F#9/B)? Also when the music says B, why does the guitar say Bm?

Hymn books

When I was young I was given a copy of the English Hymnal for my birthday: I had asked for one. My father wrote a message in the front and it is very precious to me. I have mot used the 'EH' for many years nor have I seen it used. I also have the New English Hymnal which I have used.

As a boy I also obtained a copy of Ancient and Modern (Revised) which we used at university in the 1970s-1980s.

Since then the book which has followed me about is Hymns Old and New (a green book) and now there is a revised and even larger version of that. I do not like it. Some of the arrangements are poor as is some of the language. The keys of the hymns have often been lowered because people cannot sing these days.

At the weekend I was able to use Ancient and Modern which has 2 volumes. This seemed pretty decent to me although I only looked at 4 hymns. The subtitle is 'Hymns and songs for refreshing worship'. At school (2005-2021) we used the BBC 'Songs of Praise'. In that volume "Shine, Jesus Shine" fits on 2 pages and can be open to a view. In Ancient and Modern the organist is expected to turn over for the chorus and turn back. What idiot thought of that?

O Jesus I have promised

I have agreed to play for a Cafe Service on Sunday 6th March. The request came in an email asking if I would like to become organist at a nearby church (15 miles away) where the organist has given in her notice with immediate effect: I already play once a month in another church in the Benefice. The trouble is time. My Sunday morning would potentially be as follows:

• 0840 Leave home to get to church A
• 0905 Set up music (ring if invited) and play before the service
• 1040 Finish voluntary and depart for church B
• 1100 Arrive at church B
• 1115 Service
• 1220 Service ends
• 1255 Arrive home - over 4 hours from leaving.

The Cafe services 'starts' at 1050 with breakfast which would be going in as I arrive; I will have had my breakast already and it will be elevenses time.

There are only two hymns in the Cafe Service so it is a long time for me to be there and do very little: I get bored easily and - I regret to say - the religious aspect of the service means little to me. I am much more and Evensong kind of guy. I like the structure and flow of the service. I find that chatty, informal and 'modern' services leave me cold. That said I do dislike too Anglo-Catholic a style so I guess I am typically midde-of-the-road.

I may have to grit my teeth!

One of the hymns is "O Jesus I have promised" to the modern (i.e. not so modern) tune.