Sunday confusion

I was sorry for the vicar today who had really wanted to focus on Christ the King being the theme of the day: indeed the hymns were suitable for that.

However, she had to preach a sermon on Safeguarding because somebody had decided that today is Safeguarding Sunday. I cannot find anything about it on the C of E website (lots about safeguarding itself, obviously).

 

Who are these people who came up in the search? I imagine each diocese has its own materials as Leicester does. It was there that I found an answer to my previous question which is...

Safeguarding Sunday is an annual awareness-raising campaign coordinated by the charity Thirtyone:eight to give churches an opportunity to show their communities that they take their safeguarding responsibility seriously and to explore together as a church what safer places look like.

A new hymn

I will be playing a hymn which is new, to me, on Sunday. I quite like it though. It is by Bernadette Farrell.

The service is a special one for the recently bereaved.

A Special Commemoration Service

I played for the two Special Commemoration services today at different churches in a benefice; I could have done three but I was not available.

The first was attended by about a dozen people and the singing was not very enthusiastic (I was told by my friend who came with me).

The second service had ringing beforehand (half-muffled) so I grabbed a rope: it was very well attended. Various uniform organisations were represented (British legion and the Brownies): banners and flags were presented at the start and the whole affair was dignified. The singing was lusty.

To be honest, had I got into a time machine and travelled back to the first half of the 20th century (say 1950) the atmosphere and type of person there might well have been the same. This was a sort of worship one does not see very often except, perhaps, in cathedrals

Busy

I am playing for three services tomorrow. One of those will be my last at a certain church. The other two are special memorial services for Her Majesty.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

We were all floored by the sad news yesterday of the Queen's passing. She was not well and it was not, perhaps, a surprise: that does not mean it was not a shock.

The closest I ever got to the Queen was about 20ft. The occasion was the distribution of Maundy money in the 1970s when ex-cathedral choristers were drafted in to assist recipients who needs pushing in their wheelchairs.

I had a phone call earlier this morning to play for a service so I have had to brush up the organ part to Fauré's "In Paradisum"

Queen Elizabeth has been a stabilizing force for the country in my lifetime. Let's hope Charles carries on the good work.