Books

 

I took this photo last Sunday and forgot to upload it from my phone. It is the bookshelf behind the organ bench and on it are stored books from yesteryear.

The Church of England managed with the Book of Common Prayer for many years then, at some point, somebody started to update the liturgy. By the time I was a chorister in 1968, Series II communion was pretty well established and a few years later Series III came out. These were again replaced by the Alternative Service Book (ASB) in 1980 a complete waste of time IMHO. Many churches invested cash in buying the volume which was obviously wasted.

Roll on and we now have the dreaded Common Worship of 2000. A more pathetic publication it would be difficult to imagine. Using it for communion services requires one to turn back and forth depending upon which Eucharistic prayer is used: to be fair, once one is used to the cue for the Sanctus one need not bother to follow the prayer, especially as various interjections and acclamations are seldom sung. I do dislike the many rubrics, symbols and icons which are meant to assist navigation of the book.

The line I REALLY hate is "that we may do justly". 'Do'? Who decided this? "That we may act justly" I suppose it means. See here.

The photo above shows the many volumes which are no longer in use, such as hymn books. Many places now use Hymns Old & New in which the harmonies and arrangements are of varying quality and the language has also been changed.

Ah, progress.

The faithful few

Churchyards need care and grass cutting takes time. Often this responsibility rests upon retired folk. Yesterday (on my short break away from home) a chap was cutting the churchyard grass. He must have been in his 80s, or approaching them. Cutting grass is not all that difficult but negotiating headstones, rather than merely repeating up and down routes on a domestic lawn, is far more demanding. Then there are low tree branches to avoid.

As the church loses the faithful through age and death, one wonders what will become of the loving care which has been poured over the grounds over the years. Will others step up to the plate?

Locked Churches

When I was young (I mean 50+ years ago) it was the norm for churches to be open for visitors. Over the years it is nearly always the case that churches, even in small villages (or perhaps particularly there with few 'watchers'), will be locked: they certainly will be in towns. As a young organist I could practise on Saturdays at St. John's, Peterborough because the verger - Mr Bateman - was on duty on Saturdays.

Mr Bateman was very old in the 1970s; I guess in his 80s. He taught me a very important lesson which was not to practise with too many stops drawn. Young organists like to make plenty of noise but to those listening it is just that - noise! He once came to the console and said, "Do you have to play so loud, it goes right through me?" I also feel that some organ music is more for the pleasure of the organist that the congregation and should be saved for a recital.

I have noticed that many modern players (on YouTube) use full organ quite a lot and also the pedal 32' reeds for French music. There is nothing wrong with this but I was taught to have something in reserve. At Peterborough the 32' was quite seldom heard, so the currency was not devalued. My first organ teacher told me that he would not always use the sole pedal 16' bourdon for hymns so that, when it was drawn, it was a real event. With advancing years and organs getting older and more in need of rebuilding (i.e. stiffer action) I do find myself using Swell to Great less because 2 manuals coupled together require some effort on a few instruments.

I wonder why the organ is locked at my church given that the buiding is also generally locked. Belts and braces I suppose.

Yet another sad testament on modern society where it is common for the dubious charcters in society to prey on churches, steal the lead from rooves and throw stones at stained glass windows.

Church language

I am uncomfortable with informal church language and much prefer established, traditional vocabulary such as that used in the service of Evensong, I do regularly notice a few peculiar sayings one only hears in church.

I suppose I can excuse "Let us pray" as the alternatives would be...

• Shall we pray?
• We are going to pray now
• And now we are going to have our prayers
• And now Roger Jones will lead us in prayer

The one which really makes me almost retch is "Please be seated". When do you ever hear that phrase other than in church? I presume it has developed because the alternatives are...

• Please sit down
• And now we sit (for the lesson)
• You may now sit
• We sit as (A, B or C happens)
• 'Please take your seats' might be used at a formal dinner function but 'Please take your pews' does not seem to work
  

At Evensong I have only rarely heard posture instructions because, if there are enough regular worshippers there, they lead the way. It is normal to sit for the psalms and stand for the Gloria, so I have heard "We sit during the singing of the pslams for the 6th Evening" (not that many places do a whole evening's-worth of psalms, as we used to when I was a chorister.)

I think my hatred of the phrase "Please be seated" is rooted in the patronising nature of the instruction which reminds me of the controlling nature of instructions uttered at Infant school. Praying was always prefaced with "Hand together, eyes closed."

There is also an element, in the phrase, of allowing people to do something which they really want to do but feel they should not do until invited. Being silly for a moment (and it is my blog) I can imagine

• Please feel free to break wind
• Please cough freely
• Please unwrap a toffee and crumple the cellophane
• Please feel free to let your child wander around church uninhibited

Once again, church language depends upon the person taking the service and, as priests become younger (in relation to me) and perhaps not from a church background they will use more chatty forms of speech.

When I was a chorister the Precentor used the neat phrase, "In the English Hymnal, number 51" Whereas, elsewhere, I have also heard the dreadfully patronising, "We turn now to our green books and find hymn number 51 which is on page [whatever it is] and we stand to sing".

Church Floodlighting

I said (yesterday) that I would blog about this and it ties in with other posts.

I attended a cafe service today (the 2nd of 2!) at which the leader again asked for feedback on the local Eco project. They are collecting old spectacles, plastic and doing other environmentally good things. They do not (as far as I know) have church floodlights - I will need to check.

It is a fact, however, that many churches allow people to sponsor floodlighting. Google 'sponsor church floolighting' and you will get hits. I found THIS and THIS.

I really object to churches being floodlit as this contributes to light pollution and it costs money. Yes, I know that the church does not pay, as the cost falls to the sponsor, but I find it totally unnecessary.

I may well join the International Dark Sky Association and do some research for them.

So, on the one hand the C of E is trying to be Eco-friendly and on the other it is burning fuel to light up buildings.

Confused? I am.

Yesterday - April 1st

My post yesterday about Organ Blowing caught out a few people although most realised it was a prank. I received the advice to phone the Bishop, or just resign. The point was made that what I had written was so plausible, these days, that those 'fooled' had thought it true. Add to that the fact that I generally do not go in for April Fool jokes. Had I tried to tell somebody those 'facts' face to face or over the phone I would have corpsed.

What I also did yesterday was to ring for a wedding. Who gets married on April 1st? My wedding was on April 2nd, 39 years ago because we avoided 1st: in the end the joke was on me but that's another story.

The photo below is the inspitation for this post. It is typical of the wiring found in many churches. Some places have been rewired but it seems the thing to do is to leave old distribution boards in situ, although I think these are all in service. This is another church feature which ordinary visitors do not often see.

Things which need power are

• Lights
• Organ
• Heating (radiant or the boiler pump)
• Sockets
• Alarms (if fitted)
• Data projectors (see a previous post)
• Floodlighting (the subject of a future post!)
• Clock winding motor (if fitted)

Any other ideas? Please comment if you think of any.

Blowing

To say I am annoyed is an understatement. I have just checked my emails to find one from the PCC of the church where I play once a month. It says that, due to the rising cost of electricity, I am not allowed to use the electric blower any longer: it has been disconnected.

Luckily, the organ has retained its manual blowing handle and the PCC are in the process of putting together a rota of people to man the bellows and watch the mouse as it wavers up and down during organ use. My concern is that, although many instruments do retain their hand blowing apparatus the leather in the lower section of the bellows may have dried out and become less flexible. This could result in cracks and ultimately leaks.

No calculations have been done to ascertain how many kWh the organ actually consumes but it has been decided that all hymns which have more than 4 verses would have had to have had their extra verses omitted. As a result, it was felt that a change to manual blowing was preferable.

Over a period of time a log book will be kept and in it the titles of my post-service voluntaries will be written, together with the number of pumps required to furnish sufficient air for the performance. Should I extended fermata by too much, or draw extra stops in subsequent performances (on a whim) which I did not use in the calibration exercise, then my pay will be docked by 30p per pump.

Currently the blowers lined up are as follows

• April 2nd A. Gale
• May 1st G. Borborygmus
• June 5th S. Puff

Needless to say I am looking now for a church which will allow me to play the organ as much as I like and without the need to enlist a companion with plenty of stamina.