Mozart & Listz...?

Came up in conversation over the Christmas dining table that people find the idea of ‘The Pisa of the Fens’ difficult to take seriously, let alone believe it really exists. So for those who need convincing here is a picture of ‘The Pisa of the Fens’. I have calculated the angle of lean at between 5 and 6 degrees from the vertical. Apparently a more accurate measurement puts it at a greater angle of lean than The Pisa Tower. But there seem to be some dispute about how much that leans anyway. The Pisa of the Fens has had a list since it was built over 100 years ago so it probably has many years of life left in it. There are many leaning buildings in the Fens because of unstable foundations and ground shrinkage after drainage. This building seems to lean as much as the world's most leaning building - or so some say - in Suurhusen, Germany.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Only five services left to go. A couple of crib services – although Baby Jesus and the Wise Men don’t actually get to stay in the stable until Christmas Day or Epiphany; a couple of holy communions and lessons and carols with a brass band. I’ve nearly finished preparing the sermon for midnight communion on Christmas Eve, so I should have plenty of time to wrap the presents. It was very, very cold in church this morning in spite of the overhead heaters – I really look forward to sharing the peace in order to warm my hands up. One of downsides of rural and medieval churches... I could barely sign the service register this morning, my fingers were too cold to move properly. My 3-term attachment in training was to a church with little heating but this is worse. Plus there I was in cassock and surplice, and here I have one layer less because we wear a cassock alb. At least there is room to wear a thin fleece layer underneath, which helps. And, although my head gets some heat from a heater, my feet are on a stone floor… Singing hymns means that temporarily it is as foggy inside – with the breath condensing in the cold air – as it is outside. And this is in probably the warmest of our churches. The welcome is still very warm though and I left after the service with a couple of bottles to cheer up a meal or two.

And now, at long last, all the radiators in the vicarage work. Hurray!!

[The image shows part of the knitted Nativity set given me as an ordination present...]

It's all Greek to me...

Have you noticed that Microsoft could be seen as spreading a subliminal Christian message if you were minded to see it as such? Waiting impatiently as my computer booted, I saw the Windows XP screen as that program came on stream. No Windows Vista yet for me… And for the first time I really saw it – Windows Chi Rho, as XP would be be in Greek. And the same as the cypher for Christ. I don’t suppose that it is intentional but interesting all the same.

(Or am I, probably, the last person in the world to have noticed this…?)

LIght of the world...

Today has been a busy day, even for a Sunday. We have had three services – one at each church – but the collared of us were let off the early morning one while a lay worship leader exercised the skills learnt in the diocesan course. The mid-morning service was a Christingle. This service is a bit of a novelty to me. It seems to have been invented during my years as a non-attender of church. I don’t know – you go away and then when you come back they have invented new services, re-written the Lord’s prayer and introduced something called sharing the peace… I’ve been at a few Christingle services but I don’t really like sweets or dried fruit. Now if those four sticks had something savoury on them – a few kebabs, pickled walnuts, cherry tomatoes or cheesy balls which are all fruits of the earth so why not? – perhaps I might be more partial to them. But children like Christingle services and the church does look very pretty when lit up with all the candles. And because it is a doing thing it means that we can get away from all those Anglican words words words… Actions apparently speak louder than words to at least 66% of us.
Then in the afternoon we had Christingle 2 which I nearly had to do solo with last minute improvisations as the vicar was getting the roof covered where those nice people have stripped the lead from one of the churches again, as well as meeting with the police and getting stuff moved to somewhere dry. It was almost ‘see one, do one’ for me – which seems to be quite common in curacies. In the end it all went well and we had time to enjoy a few homemade mince pies afterwards before dashing off to Service No 3 (or 4), which was a confirmation service.
For the second time this weekend I processed in with the clergy – this still feels like a bit of a novelty, even though I am one of the clergy now. As a deacon my place in the procession is after the lay minister but before all the other clergy. But I have gone up (or back) a notch in the processing pecking order compared with the previous processions in the cathedral where I was placed for part of my training. There I had to walk immediately behind the choir and in front of the person carrying the cross. Now I am following the cross. (Does it really matter who follows who? – yes, in the Cof E. The last person in, of course, is the Bishop, in a reversal of the order of a royal procession where the people of highest status are more or less in the front. It’s supposed to be something about the first being last and the last being first but doesn’t really work like that, I think) Yesterday’s (non-hierarchical) processing was in Ely cathedral in the service of farewell to the Bishop of Huntingdon. It was a very good service with an excellent sermon from Bishop John and some magical musical moments. I am sure that many eyes in the building were at least moist as many of us are very sorry to see him go. Our loss is Worcester’s gain…
All this on top of going to the second parish bingo evening last Friday – yes, bingo is pretty big here and therefore good for raising money. At the moment I feel I could do with a day off rather sooner than it will be, which will be later than usual this week because of post-ordination training.
Only another two Christingle services to go before Christmas…