Reliving my youth

I enjoyed Evensong yesterday. It reminded me of my early days as a youthful organist. I still have to concentrate very hard on the pointing of the psalms. This is because

1. When I was a chorister we used the Oxford Psalter, not the Parish Psalter
2. As a chorister I sang mainly Evening psalms (including the whole of the 15th evening) so Morning pslams are rather unfamilar to me
   
3. The chants in the Parish Psalter are not always the best

I willingly joined in with the prayers because I know them so well and they are like friends to me. I can still hear the voice of my aunt saying the General Confession and of the bass lay clerk, Mr Lloyd, saying the Creed as I stood near to him.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the holy Ghost, Born of the virgin Mary, Suffered vnder Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell, The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the holy ghost, The holy Catholic Church, The Com̄union of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen.

And we'll have none of this, 'he descended to the dead' stuff which the C of E seems to have stuck in.

It didn't stick

Yesterday

I got through the wedding yesterday and the organ did not play up. I am glad I went to do some practice as working on my home digital organ can give me a false sense of security.

The couple brought their dog to the service which barked in a few amusing places. The choir was made up of singers from nearby church. They had taken their places by the time the vicar did the pre-service announcements. Of course, one of the them left their phone on which rang just before the service.

I didn't realise it was 'a thing' to wear brown shoes with a black suit, as the groom did. My father would have been disgusted.

Today

I played for two services today. I heard the same readings and heard two different sermons about the same reading from Luke.

I have an Evensong to play for later and I am quite tired today so this post is not very long.

Will it stick?

I am playing for a big wedding tomorrow. Some of the music is on a CD and other pieces are being sung by the bride's friend while the couple sign the registers. I am tasked with playing the hymns and the outgoing music.

The organ is quite small and, although it was completely overhauled in 2020, it takes a lot of effort to play it. I had not had a long practice session on it before yesterday but some faults had become annoying during services and I found out about these during those services!

Yesterday middle C# on the pedals started to stick towards the end of my practice. I discovered that there is not tuning contract with the people who worked on it. I presume the church people think that now it has had money spent on it, that's 'job done'. (Many churches round here do not have tuning visits and some only have one annual visit.)

I emailed the builder but he is abroad and quoted a substantial fee, in his reply, for a service visit had he been able to come.

As I have mentioned before, with falling congregations and services held only one a month, the amount of cash a church takes in is seriously compromised. Organ tuning is not a priority.

I can only hope the C# does not stick on Satruday.

Box pews

This is how it used to be!

I suppose 'church' is seen as a very archaic institution because it holds onto history. Yet, it discards old modes of worship and introduces new-fangled ideas such as "Show and Tell". What a mismatch!

Pournelle's Iron Law

A short time ago I had an email from a blog reader with whom I am in contact. He pointed me to Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy which states

First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

It seems to me (if I have undertsood the point) that this is why organists and vicars are sometimes at odds.

My main goal is to enhance worship with my organ playing. It seems that some vicars (administrators) want to introduce new ideas and throw out tradition thinking that, by doing so, they are actually in the dedicated group.

I hope I have got that right.

More things

 

This is an interesting view. On the wall is an old bassoon, presumably from the days when churches had a music group. Also note the collection box: there were four on the wall, only 1 is clearly visible. Then note the books. Many churches now have books at the back either for sale (to raise funds) or to be borrowed. Finally there is the coffee maker for social time after a service.

Harmonium

I used to have a harmonium when I was young. I do see examples in churches as I visit various places. I don't think this one is in use any more!