A Sermon For Mothering Sunday 2024

This sermon for Mothering Sunday was preached in Truro cathedral on the 10th March 2024

Mothering Sunday, otherwise known as Refreshment Sunday, Laetare Sunday, or mid-Lent Sunday is such a lovely day. It was one of my own mother’s favourite services alongside harvest, and yet I need to acknowledge that it is also bittersweet. It can be a really difficult day for many, especially for those whose relationship with their mother is difficult, or who miss their mum terribly, for those who have lost a child, or who were never able to have one. This mixture of joy and sorrow, comfort and pain, are written within the very fabric of this cathedral. On the North side we see the Black Madonna, full of serenity, gentle happiness and offering comfort, a mother with a young child, yet on the South side we see that same mother, but at the end of her child’s life. In this statue, known as a  pieta. Mary is cradling he body of her beloved son, with huge tears hanging upon her face like upturned nails. An image of utter heartbreak. 

For me though, both of these images are held within the churches concept of mother-ING. My father insisted on calling today MotherING sunday searching the card shops for a card with the correct writing upon it. He would not call it mother’s day, and as a child I found that rather old fashioned. Now I understand better. The ING is actually the most important part of today. Mother ING. It is something that the mother’s within our congregation model for us, and we should quite rightly give thanks before God for our mothers and our children, but the concept of motherING, whilst including that, is actually much broader.

MotherING. The church, that is , you and me, we are called to mother-ING, whether we are men or women, young or old.

Now sometimes that word can have negative connotations, like bothering, or mythering or nagging. But the church doesn’t use it that way. This kind of mothering is something much more positive. In being Mother church to one another we are called to be a community of kindness where we care for one another, feed one another, look-out for one another, and keep one another safe. Making sure our safeguarding policies are correct and looking out for the young and the vunerable is also part of the mother-ing task of mother church. In each of todays readings we see something about how to be good at mother-ing.

Our first reading today was from the beginning of the book of Exodus. A tiny baby, Moses, is placed in the river. His mother has had to give him away in order to save his life. She is the mother who sacrifices that precious time with her son to keep him safe from the Egyptian soldiers. But there, hiding beside the river is someone else. It is Miriam Moses’s older sister, and she is watching over him, looking out to see what happens next, to report back to her mother that he is safe and well and has been found by someone who will care for him. It is Miriam who suggests to Pharaoh’s daughter that she get a Hebrew mother to nurse the baby she has found. The role Miriam plays here is really important, and yet, at this point, she is not even named, but she demonstrates maternal care and how to watch over a vulnerable child to make sure they stay safe. This is Mother-ING. 

The second reading, from 2 Corinthians shows a different aspect of mothering. It speaks of the God who consoles us so that we might console other people. So that we might comfort them. The word consolation is made up of two other Latin words, CON which means with, and SOLUS, which means alone, the lonely one. So giving consolation is coming alongside the lonely one to be with them. Quite often we don’t have to actually say anything, just being there and sitting with someone can often be enough. Being there for someone else when they are in pain and listening to them and letting them express that pain. Maybe even holding a hand or offering a hug if that is the thing that is most needed. Consolation, this is an aspect of mothering too. 

The gospel reading shows yet another aspect of mothering. Now many Christians regard the birthday of the church as being at Pentecost, when the church was filled with the Holy Spirit and the believers were empowered and  sent out across the world to spread the good news of salvation from death. It is true that this was a very important beginning for the church. But there are some Christians who actually believe that the Church in a different sense, the church as a pastoral community was born in this moment we read just now, when a lonely mother who was about to lose her child, was taken in by a young man to be part of his family. This is the moment that marks the beginning of the community of kindness that would grow into the church , even if the disciples had to wait for their empowering to go out and spread that community further. 

And so, on this mother-ING Sunday, let us give thanks for our own birth and our own birth mothers, and for the gift of life itself. Let us celebrate and give thanks for the mothers in our midst, those who nurture and care for the younger members of our congregation, but lets also take a little bit of time to give thanks for all those other who have been like mothers to us, whether they are male or female. Those who have watched over us to keep us safe like Miriam did with baby Moses, those who have come alongside us offering consolation when we needed a listening ear or a helping hand. And let us also give thanks for our church family, our community of faith in the Holy Sprit. That same Spirit Who holds us all together bound within the love of God. Let us pray that we truly will be a family where the lonely can find community, where the grieving can find comfort, where the lost can find a way forward in life, and where we too can learn how to be people who offer consolation and hope and community to others. Amen. 

A Little Sermon for All Souls

This year we had a short sermon as part of our All Souls service when the choir sings Faure's setting of the Requiem at an actual requiem Eucharist. It is a really special service, and includes the opportunity for those present to light candles and remember those they have loved and lost.

This was the sermon I gave on that occasion. It was such a hard one to pitch, and I struggled over it whilst preparing. I am grateful to Katharine Smith for providing a sermon which unlocked some of the issues I was struggling with  and helped me crystallise an Anglican approach to All Souls. 

---------------------

All Souls is a beautiful commemoration, and yet one that historically has sat in an uncomfortable place within Anglican culture which has often forged a middle pathway between Catholicism and Evangelicalism. For Roman Catholics  and those who believe in Purgatory the reason for having a Mass for the Dead at All Souls is really clear: to release souls from their temporary stay in the realm of healing and purification, that place called Purgatory, into the eternal bliss of Heaven. Evangelicals have always been warier of praying for the dead, and often prefer to simply remember them.

But when the first world war caused such awful bloodshed and carnage, and when hardly a person in England existed who hadn’t lost a friend, a son, a brother, a sweetheart, the new 1928 version of the prayerbook wanted to help meet the pastoral need of that sea of grief and this prayer was written and approved by the church

FATHER of all, we pray to thee for those whom we love, but see no longer. Grant them thy peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and in thy loving wisdom and almighty power work in them the good purpose of thy perfect will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

But it seems to me that the most natural thing to do when someone has died is pray for them. 

Psalm 139 says:

If I fly to the heavens you are there. If I make the grave my bed you are there also. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 

God is there with them, even if we can’t be, and so we ask God to look after them, to take care of them, to help and heal them, just as we always have done when they were alive. 

Jesus called God, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" and told us that "He is not the God of the dead but of the living." Jesus said this because although to us Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are long gone, to God they are alive, for God is the source of all life and all love. God doesn’t stop loving us when we die, and we don’t stop loving our dear-ones when they die. 

But another reason we might want to do this, is we may have unfinished business with those we love and miss: 

Perhaps there were things we wished we had said, or things we wished we hadn’t said. We might still be angry about things and feel we can’t share that anger with anyone or we may simply feel there is unfinished business...

that there was so much that could have been, which didn’t happen. Or perhaps we simply couldn’t mourn properly at the time for some reason and simply packed our grief away to deal with it later. 

So now is the time, if we are ready, to share that with God, who is simply waiting for us with arms outstretched. This is the same God, who in Jesus, stopped and wept outside the grave of his dear friend Lazarus, even though he knew he was about to raise him to life. Jesus holds out his hands (his wounded hands that went through death themselves) and invites us to place all those things, even if we find it hard to even describe them, into those hands. 

And then he invites us to join in communion - and when we share communion we don’t simply share communion with those present here: We share in communion and join ourselves to each and every Christian who has ever lived. 

In a mystical way we are united with those we loved and lost who are held safely in the arms of Christ. We are one within that wondrous thing called the Communion of Saints and nothing can ever separate us from that joining. 

As St Paul said: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So whatever you feel today, whatever you believe or don’t believe,I pray that you will experience this thing. That You are loved, and that love is stronger even than death. Amen. 

A Sermon for the Eve of the feast of St Thomas

Texts: Isaiah 35 Hebrews 10: 35 – 11: 1  Eve of St Thomas, Apostle 

Sometimes sermons don't get preached. Things happen,  especially in busy churches and cathedrals where the diaries have to be rescheduled, a visiting preacher needs to be moved, and the home team should always graciously step back on those occasions. I love the busy-ness of a place where prayers are prayed every day, and where you never know who is going to come on a visit, so I don't mind the complexity. Anyway, here is one of those sermons that never got preached; a sermon for the Eve of St Thomas the Apostle.

-----------------------

Thomas, as an apostle has a hard time. He has forever gone down in history as doubting, and now the poor saint has me preaching on him not once this year, but twice. [Note to self: he escaped that particular trial in the end!]

However the context of the sermon is very different this afternoon from the one that I preached just after Easter , as I am preaching upon the readings for the eve of the feast. If you want to hear the famous gospel story of Thomas saying “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” and Jesus' famous invitation to do just that, then you will have to wait until tomorrow’s Eucharist. 

Whilst praying and pondering, I was particularly struck by today’s reading from Isaiah. There is an episode in the gospels when Jesus famously quotes from a different part of the book of Isaiah in a synagogue in Nazareth; The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives 
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

But Jesus misses out part of that text. He does not read out “...and the day of vengeance of our God”. We have another reference to vengeance in today’s reading from Isaiah “Be strong, Do not fear. Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped." 

Todays first reading from Isaiah begins so hopefully, with the desert and parched land being glad, rejoicing and blossoming, reminding us that the gospel is good news not just for human beings, but for all of our broken creation which also longs to be restored and healed. We are told not to fear, but then we are also told that God is coming with vengeance and terrible recompense. Those lines almost have the effect of a slap in the face in the middle of a hopeful and comforting reading. Why are they there? And what exactly *is* God’s vengeance and terrible recompense? 

A while ago I was pondering that, and then something hit me. I believe that all these promises of Isaiah: the blind seeing once more and the captives being set free, the year of the Lord’s favour being announced,  the lame leaping like deer and the speechless singing for joy; these things, these wonderful subversive and beautiful things, ARE the vengeance of our God!


This is genuinely good news for the downtrodden and those held captive; this is good news for those who long for physical healing,  this is good news for those whose knees are feeling feeble and whose hearts are afraid of their oppressors. 

But this is very bad news indeed for those who hold others captive, who oppress others and bring misery to those with weak knees; bad news for those who exploit the disabled and trick others out of their money. Why?  Because liberation is coming and that liberation will take away the power of the oppressors forever. 

You may be wondering what does all this have to do with Thomas? I wonder if perhaps we are seeing this “vengeance” in action in the story of Thomas. 


When Thomas says that he will not believe without seeing and touching, Jesus does not give up on him. He does not say to the other disciples. “Thomas is no longer part of us because he does not yet believe.” 

Instead Jesus offers him an invitation full of justice and joy and an opportunity for restoration. It seems to me that Jesus does that a lot in the gospels. He did it with a dishonest tax collector who was hiding up a tree because nobody would let him get to the front of the crowd. Jesus invited himself to that man’s house for dinner. Jesus also did it with a woman at a well who had a complicated marriage history. He requested a drink and struck up a conversation. In all these cases he simply gave an opportunity for restoration and in Thomas’ case, beautiful, creative, poetic justice. 

I am reminded of our second reading today from the letter to the Hebrews which says “My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back. But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.”

Thomas did not shrink back from embarrassment or fear, but rather when he finally saw Jesus he stretched out his hand, touching and encountering the transformative power of the risen Christ.

So what are the lessons for us? Perhaps we need to ponder our lives to see if we have ever exploited or trapped anyone else in any way. Forgiveness and a new beginning is always there for us. 

But perhaps most importantly. We too need to stretch out our hands in an encounter with the One who made us and loves us, because that beautiful poetic restoration that the "Way of Jesus" offers is open to us too. All we have to do is ask.  Todays passage from Isaiah also refers to a highway of holiness. The highway analogy reminds us that we are on a journey. We haven’t become fully holy yet, but we are walking on that road towards goodness, compassion and love. 

So on this Eve of St Thomas, let us not be afraid to reach out. Let is never feel that we are ejected or thrown out of the community of Jesus-followers because of pst mistakes, but let us encounter the very same Christ who met Thomas and meets us too. Amen. 


   

Being an Agent of Liberation - A Belated St.Peter's Day sermon for St Peter's Bournemouth.

It is wonderful to be here in this place and on such a special occasion, as, finally, once more, we are able to meet for worship. I am reminded of what Jacob exclaimed when he dreamed the angels of God ascending and descending upon a ladder “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” 

I wonder when it was that you were last able to worship in a church building and was it here? 

Or somewhere else?

 It seems so long ago for me that I had to think rather carefully. I thought it would be Romsey Abbey where I usually worship, but then I realised that I avoided church the Sunday just before lockdown because I’d been to the Holy Land and I didn’t want to spread any germs in case I’d picked up a virus at the airport. We thought the trip would be cancelled, but it wasn’t, and we last worshipped in a church building on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It was a service of sung Vespers with the music chanted by the monks of Dormition Abbey. Of course we can worship anywhere and God can draw close to us within our locked homes as he drew close to Jacob as he slept with a stone for a pillow, but humans need sacred space, places which are infused with prayer over the years, places where we too can feel like we are entering the gates of heaven for a brief while. 

It wasn’t very far away from that spot on mount Zion that the action in the first reading today happened. Peter is arrested, chained twice over, and imprisoned between two guards with more lurking outside the door. In terms of security it was completely over the top!  The Judean religious leaders really do not want him to escape. And yet he does escape, because the angel of the Lord releases him. Peter ends up wandering the streets, banging on the door of John Mark’s house, wanting to be let in, but, comically, Rhoda leaves him standing on the doorstep in her amazement. The Syrian church of John Mark’s house is also on mount Zion, a stones throw from where I was worshipping those long months ago.

And so it is that in these two readings we have chains, many many chains, and we have keys. We have agents of incarceration and an agent of liberation. Peter is gifted the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, and promised.  “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Peter is given the power of setting people free. And yet he also experiences incarceration as part of the terrible persecutions unleashed upon Christians in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. 

Like us, St Peter has experienced lockdown, a different kind of lockdown to the one we have had, but the feelings of shattered plans and dreams, sadness, and mourning for lost friendships were, I’m sure, very similar to some of those feelings we have experienced.
Peter has just lost James the brother of John, a dear friend who walked the dusty roads with him and Jesus, and Peter’s plans for a new loving community of believers are in tatters.

At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles the early moments in the history of the church were really exciting. The group of believers were growing exponentially, and they had set up a community where no-one was in need, because everyone shared their goods with the poor and cared for one another. It seems to me to be like a tiny prefiguring of the welfare state, or the NHS which was born 72 years ago today. 

But then the hard hand of persecution swoops down and brings pain and destruction. Many of Peter’s friends flee for their lives to neighbouring countries and the church is scattered far far away. It looks like a disaster. These were uncertain and troubled times, no-one knew who would die next, nowhere was really safe. Who could they trust? Again, that anxiety is something we must all have experienced  in recent times, fear of strangers and even friends as we battle an unseen enemy and refrain from touching one another. 

If we go to our gospel reading this day we are reminded that Peter wasn’t always called Peter. He was originally a fisherman called Simon who makes an extraordinary, almost blasphemous sounding declaration to Jewish ears.  Peter does not only call Jesus the Messiah, but also the Son of God.

When we hear that word “Messiah” many of our minds are coloured by the Christian worldview of Jesus. We use the Greek translation of that word, Christ, almost as a surname. But the Jewish world thought differently. For them the Messiah was the anointed one, a king anointed with oil to liberate an oppressed nation.  King Cyrus of Persia is referred to as a Messiah in the Hebrew book of Isaiah because through him the Jews were liberated from Babylon. 

Thus it is that Peter proclaims Jesus as the King of Liberation, and not only King of Liberation, but Son of God Almighty. 

What are the first actions of this new unmasked liberator?

They are re-naming, and gifting. Simon is renamed Peter/ the Rock.  And the liberators next action is particularly interesting. He gives Peter a virtual set of keys. It is almost as if Jesus was saying “You call me liberator. Now you go and liberate some people for me.” 

Jesus wants Peter to participate in the very act of liberation launched by God himself , and I believe that those keys were not meant for his hands alone. The Messiah-Liberator, and Peter the Rock want to share those keys with the church, that is, us. We too are called to be agents of liberation. Jesus will build his church within us, within you and me, and also within those who cannot be with us because they are locked down: and the gates of Sheol - death, and the fear of death, and disease, plague and pestilence,  will not, will never, prevail against us!

If we go back to those turbulent times in the Acts of the Apostles, in the early church the very disaster brought about by their persecution was the very thing which spread the good news of Jesus far and wide. As the believers fled they brought their stories of Jesus, his life, his works, his death and his resurrection with them. They brought hope to those who had no hope, and a life of loving service to those wrapped up in the chains of their own selfishness. 

And the same seems to be happening on lockdown too. As Christians have met virtually, on You Tube, on Facebook, in zoom rooms, in prayers shared over the radio or television, over the telephone, prayer cards posted through doors, in the loving service of food parcels or those running errands for others, the church has grown and spread.

There have never been so many people in England publicly sharing daily prayer together in so many different ways. And I loved it when I heard a few weeks ago that so many Christians were sharing coffee or worship together over Zoom that they broke the internet! Or rather they broke Zoom. 

But in order to continue to be agents of liberation we need one thing. We need to hold onto the rock of faith. The level of need and sorrow and anxiety and pain in our world can be utterly overwhelming which is why we need to keep grasping onto that rock of faith so strongly held by Simon Peter that he was named Rock, and we need to stubbornly keep being agents of liberation whenever we see oppression of any kind. 

But we also need to be agents of incarceration, of binding as well as loosing, stamping down on prejudice, locking up hate, chaining down cruelty and selfishness wherever we see it, including stamping down on the selfishness within our own hearts when we discover it there. We cannot do it alone, but together, in the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ: through a well timed phone call, through a kindly greeting across a garden fence, through a letter, an email or in a million other ways, we can bring people to experience a spiritual freedom that reaches beyond the locked doors, and brings hope. 

Now to the Messiah, the Liberator who is able to keep us from falling be all might, majesty, power and authority, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.

Instrumental Music and Liturgy

Now that we seem to have been given the go-ahead to open our building for worship I imagine a number of ministers are scratching their heads as to the way forward with the use of music in church. We are not allowed to sing or use wind instruments which involve humans blowing into them, but music has always been an important part of our worship. With all these problems in mind, and because I have used instrumental music behind liturgy many many times, I thought I would give some pointers and options for using instrumental music in worship, whatever your church tradition or preferred musical style. Here I have given pointers for those churches which have no musical resources; those which have an organist; and those which have percussionists, a band at their disposal, or some classically trained string players. 

Please do bear in mind whatever local guidelines you have been given and the most up-to-date advice from the government. I note that current guidelines (I am writing this on the 29th June 2020) say that  'all services should be completed in the “shortest reasonable time”', but would argue that this does not rule out the use of music entirely. However, some of the ideas I have written about here may have to await a future easing of restrictions. 

Churches with no musical resources

Firstly, perhaps you have no musical resources at your disposal apart from a decent stereo. If this is the case then I do strongly encourage you to have a go at adding instrumental pieces behind your liturgy. Firstly you will need someone to operate the stereo. Do not try doing everything yourself! Be encouraged and reassured that, unlike streaming, for live worship you need no special licenses to use any commercial instrumental track (sacred or secular) in an act of worship, because Divine Office is exempt from PRS fees. (Projecting words to songs is a different matter, but as we are not allowed to sing anyway, this is irrelevant).  If your church PA is only designed for the spoken word bring in a decent household stereo system and hide it somewhere discrete. Place the speakers so that they are pointing towards the congregation but make sure that no-one sits too close to them (or they will complain that the music is too loud, whilst those further away cannot hear properly).

So where might be good places in the liturgy to add pre-recorded music for those who have not done this before?

1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").

2 -During spoken intercessions.

3 - During the Eucharistic Prayer. 

4 - During the distribution of communion. 

5 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").

Let's begin by thinking about beginnings and endings. It is good to have a rousing and inspiring piece to end and act of worship. I actually think it is harder to choose a piece to begin an act of worship as some pieces that would work very well in some contexts would not work at all in others. A good guide is to have a look at the upcoming readings. I am writing this post on the 29th June, and so the upcoming gospel contains these words "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Perhaps a version of "O rest in the Lord" from Mendelssohn's Elijah may therefore fit the theme and set the scene. I believe that in our current context we should be very wary of playing hymns because the congregation will be tempted to sing along. The RSCM publication "Sunday by Sunday" (which a member of your church, a neighbouring organist/director of music or your diocesan worship advisor may already subscribe to) has other suggestions of anthems that may be appropriate for the day. I do encourage you to join the RSCM if you are not a member though as the work they do to support musicians in church is more important than ever in these troubled times and if you join you will get "Sunday by Sunday" posted to you for free.  Do beware of using "showstoppers" at the start of your service - save these for the end. (By "showstoppers" I mean rousing pieces which it is very hard to follow without a sense of anticlimax). Test a piece of music at home by playing it, and then following it with the opening responses of your act of worship to see whether it fits well. One thing to beware of is the start and finish of any piece of music, including one played from the stereo system. Never simply stop a piece of music midway without fading it gently away. Never simply switch off a PA without turning down the volume. You do not want to disturb or distract others and an annoying "Clunk" will do this.You may also need to do some volume adjustment at the beginning of a piece if it starts really quietly, and then, gently and subtly, turn it down midway if it gets too loud.  If there is more than one track lined up on your CD or electronic device then beware letting it drift on to the start of the next track. Check your volumes in the building itself before the congregation arrives so that the volume does not cause feedback or distortion at the loudest part of the track. (Many classical pieces have large contrasts in volume so do be aware of this). 

Choosing a piece for the distribution of communion is a comparatively easy task. Although it is tempting to play a hymn, once again I would discourage this, as it will be very difficult to stop a congregation singing along. A choral piece, an instrumental piece, or a song that is not well-known may be more appropriate. Have a look at some of the works by modern (20th and 21st century composers) such as John Tavener, Jonathan Dove, James MacMillan or Kerry Andrew who write inspiring and mystical pieces.

If you wish to use music behind the spoken word, this can be really effective but it needs a little careful thought. As I have mentioned before many classical pieces have strong contrasts in volume, these are unsuitable for playing behind the spoken word as it generally drowns it out. Also most pieces with lyrics distract from the words being prayed (although if the song is in another language such as Latin this can sometimes work). Again, try out the piece in advance, speak over a track and see if the volume works and do a soundcheck in the building. Think about the "mood" of the piece. Does that suit the mood at that point in the liturgy, does it enhance the words or add a sense of mystery and Transcendence?  When I used to run the Transcendence services in York Minster we used instrumental music almost constantly to undergird the liturgy so it can work almost anywhere if the correct piece is chosen, but for those unused to blending music and the spoken word I would suggest being sparing and beginning with the intercessions and the Eucharistic Prayer. You will discover that having music behind words means that periods of "silence" (or rather periods of reflection) are more available to you without it seeming awkward. A pause may be made after the consecration, or after a bidding in the intercessions and time can be given for private prayer and reflection whilst the music undergirds the holiness of the moment. 

Churches with an organist (or pianist)

Once again I suggest a breakdown of places where organ or piano music would work well (which is similar to that of pre-recorded music, with one addition). 

1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").

2 - A "responsorial" psalm. 

3 - During the intercessions.

4 - During the Eucharistic Prayer. 

5 - During the distribution of communion. 

6 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").

Organists are familiar with playing introits and voluntaries, and most have a large collection of them. They may also have anthems in their repertoire which can be played during the distribution of communion. They may also be able to play variations upon hymns in such a way that the congregation is discouraged from joining in, but they still recognise the tune coming through at various points in the liturgy. 

Many organists will be less familiar with playing underneath the liturgy although there is a tradition known as the French Organ Mass which was popular in the Baroque period. In some of these Masses the organ played throughout the whole of the liturgy and in others it only played for some sections. However it is good to be aware of two things with respect to Organ masses. One is that in the times when these were popular the mass itself was in Latin and virtually inaudible, and secondly that the practice itself was banned by the church as being distracting to the liturgy. Personally I think this was rather a shame, but it is good to be aware that the organ music should be there to enhance the liturgy not to compete with it, and that the words themselves need to be audible. With this in mind, voicing needs to be thought about very carefully and only the quieter stops should be used. There are many pieces which can be played throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, and in this position it is actually possible to play a version of a hymn tune or song as the congregation will be less tempted to sing along because liturgical words are being spoken. This is also true of the intercessions, and short hymns, worship songs, or Taize chants could be used during the spoken biddings of a set of intercessions with the congregation responding with a spoken response (perhaps based upon the words of the chant or song used). 

This brings me to the subject of the responsorial psalm. These have been used in the Roman Catholic tradition for a number of years, and many Anglican parishes have also found them useful. A number of them can be found in hymns books and there is a section at the back of the New English Hymnal. Common Worship Daily Prayer also has a "refrain" printed at the top of each psalm so that they can be used in responsorial form, although no music is printed in this book.  In their more usual form a choir or cantor sings the verses of the psalm and the congregation responds which a short sung refrain which is easy to learn. This form of psalm singing has the advantage of being biblical but also visitor-friendly, as the sung response is short enough for a visitor to learn. In our current situation (July 2020) where we are allowed public worship but not allowed to sing a responsorial psalm can be led by an organist (or instrumentalist) and a reader. The reader can read the spoken response, inviting the congregation to repeat this each time (the printed text is therefore not needed). The reader can then read the verses of the psalm slowly and prayerfully with an organist playing quietly underneath them. When the verse has finished the organist stops and the reader and congregation read and repeat the response before continuing the music and speech for another verse. These psalms can be broken up in a number of different ways, but I would suggest that the longer texts in Common Worship may work better than short texts, and that fewer spoken responses and longer verses would also work more effectively in this context. 

Churches with a band (or string players).

At the present time (July 2020) some of the band will able able to lead music in worship, but not singers, and the instruments will need to be socially distanced. In this context it may be better simply to have a piano, guitar, or harp leading and please bear in mind, that, once again the sound balance of the music against the spoken word is important. Some of these suggestions will also be relevant for those churches with a choral or classical music tradition who have access to string players. As with my other suggestions instruments can undergird and enhance the liturgy at several points in the service, and they may indeed wish to play sensitively throughout (except perhaps during the sermon). For the beginning and end of a service perhaps an unfamiliar worship song from a different tradition or secular song with spiritual lyrics could be played on the PA to lead into the worship event. Places to look at for these may be Resound Worship, CJM music or Poor Clare/Lacey Brown. Classical pieces may also be used which invite prayer and contemplation, and some of these pieces may already be in the repertoire of band members. Once again I would suggest that band members avoid using the tunes to worship songs except at moments where liturgy is already being spoken to avoid the temptation for congregation members to sing along. Fragments and variations of tunes can be used and they can be taken both from the worship song repertoire, but also from appropriate rock and pop tunes and old hymns  Do bear in mind, that, even though the words are not being sung, congregation members will probably know them and start singing them in their minds. The words to "Bridge over troubled water" would bring to mind lyrics of sacrifice and help in a time of trouble, but (to use a silly example) "Bootylicious" by Beyoncé may not invite the right kind of prayer and contemplation. When we were doing a Fresh Expression in York a few years ago we often found the music of Coldplay to work very well as backing to liturgy, and their lyrics often have spiritual content. 

I would also encourage band members to consider leading a responsorial psalm, and Isaac Everett has an excellent setting of the psalter (the Emergent Psalter) which gives some suggestions and keys in which to improvise for those unfamiliar with this method. 

There are many worship songs written on the theme of Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross, and these would make an excellent backing track to the Eucharistic prayer. 

Use of Percussion 

Using percussion may be a possible way forward in introducing creativity within worship in those churches which are used to having lively and noisy sung worship. A song could be played upon the PA system and congregations (after being warned not to sing-along) could be encouraged to play along with drums and shakers. The volume of the song would need to be high enough to cover the use of percussion whilst not damaging hearing.  

Drums can also be used as musical responses to intercessions. For example a simple rhythm such as "Lord Jesus hear all our cries" and "Jesus hear us" (using the latter for shakers and the former for drums) can be used and improvised upon for intercessions. The leader raises their hands as a signal for the drumming to stop, and then guidelines of intercessions can be added before a further period of drumming and prayer. 

To avoid having to disinfect the instruments after use, the congregation could be encouraged to bring along their own drums (buckets, tubs, wooden spoons, placemats and plastic tubs of rice also work well). The congregation should also be warned not to swap instruments between family groups, but plastic shakers could be deposited in a bucket at the exit and easily cleaned with disinfectant. Do not damage drums which use real goatskin (such as djembes) by using disinfectant upon them if they do get contaminated in some way. Instead, wearing gloves, put them away for a few days until they are safe to touch once more. Plastic drum skins should be OK to use disinfectant or soap upon, but always check manufacturers instructions.

Rumours Of Hope

Last week I helped cut a video meditation for the Rumours of Hope Easter Vigil. It was a privilege to be part of such a historic event. It was also wonderful to have representatives of different parts of my life within the same vigil; cathedral Precentors and musicians, but also new monastic communities and those who have worked with the Fresh Expressions movement. To make life easier from a copyright point of view I thought I'd use a piece of my own music as backing, and then remembered "Vigils", which seemed rather aptly titled. It had originally been part of a planned seven piece ambient album; one piece for each of the ancient monastic offices, with the music reflecting the time of day. However, I ran out of inspiration and only Vespers and Vigils were ever written. Maybe one day I will go back and write Lauds and Terce and all the others!

The video itself contained many pieces of footage that I collected when I was still working for the Visions community in York, including footage of tourists leaving the South door of York minster which was taken from the offices of St Michael-Le-Belfrey opposite. It also contains images taken in Northern Ireland, Istanbul, Jordan, and the Holy Land. Visions began in 1989, and is one of the longest running Alternative Worship communities. They used to be connected to St Michaels (some members still are!), meeting weekly to hold worship in the ancient church of St Cuthbert in York, and working as a "small missional community", reaching out to the club goers of York in the 1990s, and later to the arts communities. In (2013?) Visions were asked to move out of St Cuthbert's to make way for a "house of prayer" but they do services in All Saints North Street in York from time to time... Now, after this virus, (like everyone else!) they meet virtually via Zoom, but they have, since 1989, also met midweek in each others houses, and it was their pooling of time, money and resources that enabled me to be employed by them in the first place, 

Anyway if you want to find your way to other pieces of music by me they are all on my Abbess site on Soundclick, although I haven't written any electronica recently. If you like any of the pieces they are free to use in worship (including your church online broadcasts). I may go back to writing at some point, but I am prevented from doing so at the moment because the computer I used to use with the synthesiser software on it needs fixing! In recent years, I have been working with choirs (helping to found the Winchester Cathedral Junior Choir) as I believe that singing is a great (and very natural way) to reach out in mission and help young people learn music. I've also been doing some work with percussion, and, had this virus not hit, I would have been planning launch events for my new Rhythmic Psalter. As things stand instead I have been editing videos and some of these will appear on my YouTube channel. The Transcendence trust website is also a useful portal for resources and events. I work part-time for the trust, but I am also on the lookout for a church job that would slot in alongside this...In the meantime, like everyone else, I am in lockdown, but I am grateful to have the time to explore lots of previously unreleased music and video footage.

This blog is normally used for my more traditional liturgy postings and my other blog (Canon Sue's Creative Liturgy Blog) is the one to go to for the creative stuff. 

Being an Abbess - A sermon for the Ethelfleda Festival

Texts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Gospel: Matthew 13.44-52

I used to think that St Ethelfleada was a local saint whose fame had not spread very far from Hampshire, but recently I changed my mind! One of the tasks I have in my new job is to attend national gatherings of Fresh Expressions Associates at Swanwick conference centre in Derbyshire three times a year. At one of these gatherings I was queueing up for the bar (as you do!) and  overheard a couple of snatches of conversation from the person in front of me. “Ethelfleada...Romsey”. And so I asked. “I hope you don’t mind me butting in. But I’m fascinated to hear that you just mentioned Ethelflaeda. I’m preaching at the Saint Ethelflaeda festival this year in Romsey.”

To make this incident all the more interesting the lady concerned was actually from Wales (even further from Hampshire) and was a Quaker. “Oh yes, she said. “I enjoy wild swimming, and I was just saying that because Saint Ethelflaeda used to immerse herself in ponds and sing psalms at night, she should be the patron saint of wild swimming!”

It seems to me to be entirely understandable that history would focus upon the more spectacular tales of Saint Ethelflaeda; the light streaming from her fingers after her candle was extinguished at Matins, the Queen discovering her praying in the fountain at night ....yet it seems to me that the message most pertinent for our times here in Romsey Abbey, is the fact that Saint Ethelflaeda was an Abbess and a good abbess, who built up and cared for those within her community and those in need outside it - an inspiration to us all to care for others. 

When this Abbey was founded in Saxon times it was placed under the rule of Saint Benedict and this is what the rule says about the election of an Abbess. 

“In choosing an Abbess the guiding principle should always be that the woman placed in office be the one selected by the whole community acting unanimously in the fear of God, or by some smaller part of the community....Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching must be the criteria for the one to be made Abbess, even if she is the last in community rank.”

"Goodness of life" and "Wisdom in teaching". A wise teacher would be sufficiently knowledgeable that they could make sensible decisions about the future direction of a community, and one who led a good life would be resistant to the temptation of corruption that power can sometimes present, and who would also be generous to those in need. What gleanings we get from the historical records testify that Ethelfleada was both these things. 

On this occasion, and at this particular point in the life of Romsey Abbey, it seems to me that it would be good to consider the subject of community further and what makes good and healthy community. We are at the point in time where new communities are about to be birthed, and yet older, more established communities need to be nurtured and cared for too, “Like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,” as the gospel reading for today's feast reminds us. 

At times we are all called to be community leaders, like abbots or abbesses of our own communities - in small ways or larger ones, temporarily or for a long period of time, for one project or event, or for something more longstanding. 

For eighteen years I functioned as an Abbess of sorts, to what would now be called a new monastic or small missional community called Visions in York, although I was originally employed as a musician before I trained for ordination. We met for worship in another Saxon building, St Cuthbert’s in York, and started a number of new services and events, including Transcendence, a multimedia High Mass which took place in York Minster. Visions taught me a great deal about living and working in very close proximity with people. We didn’t all live in the same house, but we did pool some of our resources. Visions also taught me about the power of creating something together, and the power of “we” rather than me. I learned about healthy community relationships and what healthy disagreement might look like too. Sadly in the mid 1990s I also saw was bad community looked like. Friends of ours in Sheffield were part of a community called NOS which went bad, where power and people were manipulated by one arrogant authoritarian leader, and a number of close friends lost their faith because they were so badly wounded by the experience of having their self-worth shredded. We were so worried by witnessing this that we brought in a church colleague who was a spiritual director and group dynamics counsellor to work with us to check that our community relationships were healthy. She reassured us that we were in no danger of going in a similar direction, but also taught us how to become even healthier. She taught us that it was easy for loud voices to monopolize any conversation, but it was important to create ways for the quieter voices of the deep thinkers to be heard; through creating opportunities for written feedback, but also by the simple process of noticing when someone is sitting quietly in a meeting and inviting them to speak. 

Whatever we lead and whoever we lead, one of our greatest inspirations should be the text of our epistle this morning from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and I am certain that it has inspired many abbesses over the years, including St Ethelflaeda. 

“For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body”.  

We all belong.    

We all have a part to play. 

Some of us are ears - the listeners, those who offer pastoral care.

Some of us are eyes, the artists the visionaries, the dreamers. 

Some of us are the practical hands, those who arrange the chairs and make the coffee, those who clean and clear up. 

Some of us are like sweat glands. We may not feel visible but that does not mean that we aren’t included. Maybe, like sweat glands, we stop everything from overheating and turning into a terrible argument.

Some of us are the knees, quietly praying for those in pain, essential, supporting and undergirding everything else, for as the psalm says “unless the Lord builds the house the builders labour in vain”. 

In fact Paul assures us that some of us who feel they are unimportant or invisible are in fact indispensable. We simply couldn’t manage without them. A good and wise Abbess, like Ethelfleada would understand how to empower and release those unseen and invisible ones into their giftings, knowing that they need to learn before their gifts will be fully realised, but they will learn in a supportive and loving community environment. The Abbey’s work in more recent times with young choristers is a marvellous example of this but I also look forward to seeing some of the new ways that this will happen in the new services and communities of the future. 

So finally, let us all be inspired today by the stories of Saint Ethelflaeda, but rather than letting it rest there and letting her light fade, let us use her example to be abbesses and abbots in our lives too, spotting and nurturing the talents of those we know, building community amongst our friends and neighbours and enjoying the diversity of the wide net that is the Kingdom of God where there is a welcome and a place for everyone.  Amen.