Prayer BookSociety

JOURNAL

Lent 2009ISSN 1479–215X

PBS Visit toSt Paul’s CathedralRoger Beckwith onthe AscensionNews fromLocal Branches

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Prayer BookSociety

JOURNAL

A Corporate Act of PrayerMembers of the Society are encouraged to join together in saying the following Collect at the same time in their own homes, at 10.00 p.m. each Sunday evening.

THE COLLECT OF THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Issue No 19 · Lent 2009

ISSN 1479–215X

THE PBS JOURNALEditorial Board:Charles CleallPrudence DaileyProfessor Watson FullerProfessor Roger HomanAnthony KilmisterTim NixonIan RobinsonAdvertising Manager:Ian WoodheadTelephone: 01380 870384

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All contributions, including articles, letters for publication, Branch news and notices of forthcoming events, should be sent to:

PBS Journal, The Studio,Copyhold Farm, Goring Heath, Reading RG8 7RT;or by e-mail to:pbsj@pbs.org.uk(Submission by e-mail is preferred wherever possible)

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THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY

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Patron:HRH The Prince of Wales

Ecclesiastical Patron:The Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Richard Chartres, DD, FSA, Bishop of London

Lay Patrons:The Rt Hon. Lord Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PCThe Rt Hon. Lord Sudeley, FSA

Vice Presidents:The Revd Professor Raymond ChapmanThe Revd Dr Roger BeckwithThe Rt Hon. Frank Field MPProfessor Roger HomanC. A. Anthony Kilmister, OBE

Address for correspondence:PBS Administration, The Studio,Copyhold Farm, Goring Heath,Reading RG8 7RTTelephone: 01189 842582E-mail: pbs.admin@pbs.org.ukWebsite: www.pbs.org.uk

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© The Prayer Book Society 2009. Individual articles are © the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Editor, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization

The Prayer Book Society, like the Church of England, is a broad church which embraces a wide breadth of opinion and churchmanship. Views expressed in the PBS Journal are those of their individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Society or of the Editorial Board.The inclusion of any advertisement in the PBS Journal does not imply that the Society endorses the advertiser, its products or its services

Cover photographs (from top):Anne Atkins with Cranmer Awards winners in OxfordThe Bishop of London with Prudence Dailey and Tony HilderAdvent carols in Stratford-upon-Avon

The deadline for contributions for the next issue isMONDAY, 13 APRIL 2009Publication date19 JUNE 2009

2

As we would expect, the Prayer Book Preface expresses a truth that proves as pertinent today as

the day it was written. And, of course, it does so in memorable language: the Church should not allow ‘too much easiness in admitting any variation’ from its liturgical norm. The famous passage also reminds us that it is wrong to enforce ‘too much stiffness in refusing’ variation. I don’t know if the Prayer Book compilers ever wanted absolute uniformity of liturgical practice and strict adherence everywhere to their rubrics, but what they have written in the Prayer Book suggests not, as does Article 34 (Of the Traditions of the Church): ‘It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or utterly alike; for at all times they have been diverse, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men’s manners …’ In any case, there never was ‘too much stiffness’. A degree of diversity was in practice always accepted. But that was only possible because there was a norm: 1662. For centuries, everyone knew where the Church stood and what its proper liturgy was. This was the state of affairs which stood the test of time so well, and which proved so effective in maintaining the unity of the Church – a Church which always contained diverse kinds of churchmanship. Even those who wished to modify the 1662 services for their own parishes acknowledged that 1662 was the classic Anglican liturgy. And there is a remnant of this feeling even today – although it is the beautiful language that people cite nowadays when they speak of the Prayer Book as the classic Anglican liturgy. But they are only a step away from realizing that the Church would benefi t from embracing not only the language but also the theology and ecclesiology of the BCP. The great advantage of 1662 is that it is so fi rmly grounded in Scripture in both ‘shape’ and language. It is, in the best sense possible, the most orthodox liturgy we have. For this reason, I believe that our hopes for the 1662 book – that

it will return to the centre of the Church – will be realized. There are other reasons. Consider James Mogridge’s article on Shakespeare in this issue of the Journal. In many ways, the language of Shakespeare is like the language of the Prayer Book. It is in a sense ‘old-fashioned’ but also timeless and incredibly powerful. It is also initially diffi cult for many people to understand, but it only takes a little effort for them to realize how wonderful it is. Mogridge shows us that young people can love the language of Shakespeare – and so there is no reason why they should not love the language of the Prayer Book. Also in this issue of the Journal, Roger Beckwith’s sermon on the Ascension

reminds us of one great legacy of the BCP – the Calendar. The yearly cycle of festivals is so well ingrained in our habits that it is impossible to think that things might be otherwise. Everyone can see that the Prayer Book compilers were right about the Calendar. Maybe it’s not too big a leap for the Church to see that they were right about the liturgy too. So, perhaps it is not too fanciful to hope that by 2012 – the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Prayer Book (see Neil Inkley’s article in this issue) – the BCP comeback will be well under way.

Tim NixonEditor

3

ContentsEDITORIAL 3

WISDOM OF THE AGES 4

VISIT TO ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL 6

2012 AND ALL THAT 7

NEVER DESPAIR 8

CONFERENCE FOOTNOTE 10

LISTEN-IN TO SECURE PROGRAMME’S FUTURE 11

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD 12

IN DEFENCE OF KIPLING’S RECESSIONAL 14

OUT WITH THE ‘OLD’ 16

THE SPIRIT ON THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 18

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? 19

OBITUARIES 20

PRAYER BOOKS FOR AFRICA 20

LETTERS 22

NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES 25

FORTHCOMING EVENTS 29

BRANCH CONTACTS 30

Editorial

4

Wisdom of the AgesBy Margaret Laird

Margaret Laird makes a case for greater appreciation of and adherence to the principles set out in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and in particular its Preface.

Since the Reformation, there is no book except the Bible that has been so much written about as the Book of Common Prayer and yet, as the

learned Dr Blunt commented in 1885, ‘So much was never written about any one book, which left so much still unsaid.’ This statement can easily be verifi ed by a careful study of the 1662 Preface, because this alone contains so much which still needs to be said to the Church of England at this crucial stage of her history.

Status and contextThe Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure 1974 provides that any Canon made under it ‘shall be such as in the opinion of the General Synod is neither contrary to, nor indicative of any departure from, the doctrine of the Church of England in any essential matter’ (Section 4.1). In the interpretation section, it provides that reference to doctrine shall be construed in accordance with canon law as follows: ‘The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal’ (Section 5.1). But how does one defi ne the BCP? Section 5.2 of the Measure defi nes it as ‘The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalms of David appointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches and the Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining and Consecrating Bishops, Priests and Deacons.’ The title page of the BCP is in exactly these terms. The next page is headed ‘The Contents of this Book’ and ‘The Preface’ is the fi rst in the list. Thus, it follows that the 1662 Preface is a constituent part of the BCP, and the General Synod therefore, in deciding whether a provision before it changes the doctrine of the C of E, needs to take account of relevant material in the Preface.

The 1662 Preface was largely written by Bishop Sanderson of Lincoln, who was looked upon with great respect by all parties in those days of religious division. As one would expect, it had special regard to the historical context out of which it has arisen. The C of E had suffered severe persecution during the Great Rebellion and it is impossible not to admire the temperate and just tone of a preface written under such circumstances – it is a wise and extremely tactful attempt to restore lasting unity to the Church after such a turbulent period.

Guiding principlesSo what does the Preface contain? Why should General Synod refer to it and how often does it do so? The opening sentence, one hopes, is familiar to practising Anglicans:

It hath been the wisdom of the Church of England, ever since the fi rst compiling of her Public Liturgy, to keep the mean between the two extremes, of too much stiffness in refusing, and of too much easiness in admitting any variation from it.

The less well-known second sentence is a warning based on experience:

For, as on the one side common experience sheweth, that where a change hath been made of things advisedly established (no evident necessity so requiring) sundry inconveniences have thereupon ensued; and those many times more and greater than the evils that were intended to be remedied by such change…

stressing therefore that changes should not be undertaken without due consideration of the consequences. The Preface then outlines other principles to be observed when changes are being proposed:

… of the sundry alterations proposed unto us, we have rejected all such as were either of dangerous consequence (as secretly striking at some established doctrine or laudable practice of the Church of England or indeed of the whole Catholic Church of Christ) or else of no consequence at all …

Thus the 1662 BCP, itself a specifi c formulary of the C of E, defi nitely regarded the national

Church as part of the universal church. Any changes therefore had to be considered in that context, for they could well affect the whole catholic church of Christ, not just the C of E – a fact often ignored by the General Synod. The Preface also states that the BCP

… as it stood before established by Law, doth not contain in it anything contrary to the Word of God, or to sound doctrine, or which a godly man may not with a good conscience use and submit thereto.

This is another principle that the C of E has sometimes overlooked. Recent decisions have not always been in accord with

… the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures.

Consequently, many Church members cannot and will not submit to such changes, and division is inevitable. Another assertion of the Preface is that

… the Body and Essentials … have stood fi rm and unshaken, notwithstanding all the vain attempts and impetuous assaults made against them by such as are given to change

and it stresses that the aim is –

… not to gratify this or that party in any of

their unreasonable demands but to do that which to our best understanding might most tend to the preservation of peace and unity in the Church

– an honourable aim, totally in line with the desire of Christ himself. Yet the C of E, in giving in to the demands of secular feminism, has even changed the nature of the historic ministry, thus undermining the peace and unity which our forefathers envisaged. Despite attempts to fi nd a way forward, division within the C of E seems inevitable, and because the ordination of women has also struck at the established and laudable practice of the whole catholic church of Christ, the unity of the universal church has also suffered a setback. Although the convocations of 1662 recognized that it was impossible ‘to please all’, they agreed to the Preface ‘in good hope’ that it would also be approved ‘by all sober, peaceable and truly conscientious Sons of the Church of England.’ This last sentence implies that the Preface was seen as a safe path marked out for future generations. Sadly, however, the guiding principles of 1662 have too often been ignored by today’s Church, not least by the House of Bishops, and Anglicans are now having to live with the consequences.

Mrs Margaret Laird OBE, BA, is a former Third Church Estates Commissioner and was a member of the General Synod for twenty years.

Editor’s note: The Society is conscious that the subject of women’s ordination (and consecration) is one on which members have a wide range of opinions. In the interests of balance, we would be pleased to receive articles from those whose views are different from Mrs Laird’s.

5

Morse-BoycottBursary Fund

Working to give boys from all backgrounds the benefi t of a superb musical education in a choir school, and to preserve the centuries-old tradition of English Church Music

This Fund provides bursaries to parents of boy choristers at choir schools throughout the UK and continues the work of the Christian educationalist Fr Desmond Morse-Boycott who established a Trust in 1932. Now administered from Chichester Cathedral, it depends entirely on donations and legacies to build the capital from which bursaries can be provided to the needy.

Please give if you can, and preserve this tradition, to:–The Administrator

Morse-Boycott Bursary FundThe Royal ChantryCathedral Cloisters

Chichester PO19 1PXTel: 01243 812492 Fax: 01243 812499Email: admin@chichestercathedral.org.uk

Gift Aid forms available on request

Patron: Miss M. Morse-Boycott Registered Charity No. 313217

6

Visit to St Paul’s Cathedral

The Bishop of London was the preacher at a Service of Choral Evensong attended by members

of the Prayer Book Society at St Paul’s Cathedral, London on Tuesday 4 November 2008. The splendid setting of Wren’s great masterpiece was the venue for another in the series of special events organized to promote the use of the Book of Common Prayer and to maintain and increase the profi le of the Society. The Service more than lived up to expectations. As one might expect from such a hallowed institution as St Paul’s, the service was in the highest traditions of the Church of England. Following the Order for Evening Prayer and with exemplary singing by the Cathedral Choir the Service began with the Introit, Psalm 102, ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come unto thee’, sung to music by Henry Purcell (1659–95). The Revd Laura Burgess, Sacrist and Minor Canon, offi ciated. The responses were sung to a setting by Thomas Ebdon (1738–1811). The fi rst lesson, from Ezekiel 18.21–24 and 30–end, was read by Canon Lucy Winkett, Precentor, and the second lesson from Matthew 18.12–20 was read by Society member and Prebendary Canon of St Paul’s, The Revd Dr Peter Elvy. The Magnifi cat, Nunc Dimitis and the Anthem, Psalm 47, ‘O clap your hands together, all ye people: O sing unto God with the

voice of melody’, were sung to music by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625). The several hundred members present joined in to sing heartily the Hymn, ‘Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round’. The music was played on a replica Tudor Wetheringsett hand-pumped organ and the service concluded with the organ voluntary, ‘A Fantasy’ by Thomas Tomkins (1572–1656). As is usual with the Society’s special services, associated events were arranged before and after Evensong. During the

afternoon members were taken on tours of the building by the Cathedral’s knowledgeable guides who had a wealth of information to impart about its history and its treasures. Among those parts visited were the Chapel of St Michael and St George, the OBE Chapel and the various monuments to the great and the good including an impressive

statue of Lord Nelson (1758–1805) by the distinguished neo-Classical sculptor John Flaxman (1755–1826). In the crypt his tomb is to be found together with those of other Great Britons such as the fi rst Duke of Wellington (1769–1852). The more adventurous of our members climbed the 140 steps to visit the galleries. From here one could look down the length of the nave, the scene of so many great gatherings of state such as Lord Nelson’s funeral on 9 January 1806 and the funeral of Sir Winston

Churchill on 30 January 1965. On display was Wren’s Great Model of the Cathedral and in the library an ancient Prayer Book was open, signifi cantly given the date was 4 November, at the Prayers for Deliverance from the Gun-powder Plot. Climbing further up, members were able to visit the Whispering Gallery high up in the cathedral’s famous dome. Following the service members assembled in the Wren Suite in the crypt of the cathedral for a reception where we drank wine with the Dean, The Right Revd

Graeme Knowles, our Ecclesiastical Patron Bishop Richard, other cathedral clergy and Baroness James of Holland Park.

This event is one of a series devised by Tony Hilder and arranged jointly with Christopher Jefferies. Further events will be announced when details have been agreed.

Clockwise from top left: Prudence Dailey, Bishop Richard Chartres, Tony HilderBaroness James, Bishop Richard Chartres

Martina Ponsonby, Tony Hilder, Prudence Dailey, The Revd Prebendary Dr Peter ElvyDr Timothy Brain QPM OBE (Chief Constable of Gloucestershire), Lord Sudeley

Photographs by Leslie Grout

Ever since London won the right to host the next Olympic Games, the year of 2012 has been before our eyes in every branch of the

media. ‘It isn’t long to go’ and ‘Will we be ready in time?’ seem to be the main thrusts. Members of the Prayer Book Society who watch the years and calculate the intervals will be aware that 2012 is also the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Prayer Book. We shall need to mark the occasion. As the person charged with organizing the 450th anniversary of the 1549 Prayer Book on a national basis, I particularly recall what a rewarding activity this proved to be. York Minster was packed with our members and well-wishers for a great service at which the (then) Archbishop of York was celebrant and preacher and the lay clerks sang music appropriate to 1549. That was for the 1549 book; our activities should be more marked for that of 1662 which remains our normative Prayer Book, duly protected by law. In the theme of ‘It isn’t long to go’ and ‘Will we be ready?’ we should very soon be thinking in the branches about what we might do in 2012. In this regard I am greatly indebted to one of our Blackburn branch members – who was having a ‘clear-out’ – who sent me a copy of the programme for ‘A Pageant of the Book of Common Prayer’ which was held in Blackpool Tower Circus in 1962 to mark the 300th anniversary of the book. This was organized by the Diocese of Blackburn itself – before the Prayer Book Society had come into being, of course. With choirs providing music, the whole of the pageant itself was in mime. All that was heard was the two narrators, the choir singing and organ music. The pageant was divided into ten episodes. I shall outline these but briefl y; they could give people ideas to use in 2012.

Early Years. The coming of more public worship. Service books for monks. Many uses; many rites.William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale and the 1549 Prayer Book. English and printing.Seventeenth Century. William Laud. The Puritans. The Act of Uniformity, Bishop Cosin and the 1662 book.The services of the 1662 book. The Kalendar.Baptism.

1.

2.

3.

4.5.

Confi rmation.Holy Communion.Matrimony.Visitation of the Sick.The Ordinal.

The fi rst four episodes were historical; the last six illustrative of some of the services of the Book of Common Prayer. Of course, much has changed in the last fi fty years but my fi rst reaction was one of surprise that a diocese should have gone to such lengths to mark the 1962 anniversary. It perhaps goes to show the enormous advantage of having only one service book, fi rmly established, which was still the case in 1962. Be that as it may, now that we have a Prayer Book Society with a stentorian voice for our cause, we must ensure that the BCP’s 350th anniversary is not eclipsed by the Olympic Games in 2012.

Neil Inkley is Honorary Secretary of the Blackburn Branch of the Prayer Book Society

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2012 and All ThatBy Neil Inkley

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8

Never DespairBy Eric Woods

A sermon preached at Sung Matins at the 2008 Annual Conference of the Prayer Book Society held at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester on Sunday 14 September 2008.

From today’s New Testament lesson, St Paul’s Second Letter to the Christians at Corinth: ‘… in all things approving ourselves as

the ministers of God, in much patience, in affl ictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned … (2 Corinthians 6.4–6) One of the fi rst things I learned as a priest in the church of God was the uselessness and indeed the positive harm of religious cliché and pious platitude. Indeed, I had already begun to learn that lesson in my early twenties, when my elder brother died and the curate from the parish church came to call. He was kind, and he was well-meaning, but all he could do was to go on about God moving in a mysterious way and my brother being in a better place and time being a great healer. I felt like hitting him. The grief and the agony of loss infl ict deep and painful wounds, and the curate’s bit of religious Elastoplast, though so kindly meant, only made things worse. I was reminded of that when I read through this morning’s New Testament lesson. St Paul is clearly battling with deep divisions in the church in Corinth, and his opponents are usually identifi ed as some of those Jewish Christians who frequently hounded him and followed him wherever he established churches, undermining his teaching and telling the people that they had to observe the Law of Moses. They said that the great themes of the grace of God were not the accurate and authentic Christian gospel, and that people had to be circumcised and meet other particulars of the Law. They represented themselves as being the true followers of the Law. With astonishing arrogance they described themselves as the ‘Christ party’. After Paul had written his fi rst letter to the Corinthians, his opponents apparently took over the church there. He revisited Corinth for a very short time and was rebuffed by these new church leaders. The very church that he had planted now had become so permeated with false Christianity that, when

the apostle himself came to them, they rejected him and refused to allow him to teach within the church. And so his second letter, trying to call them back to the grace of God, is honed by his own experience of suffering for the sake of the Gospel. Every word comes from experience, the experience of a veteran servant of the Lord who has learned his wisdom the hard way, and is determined that suffering and persecution should never be accompanied by bitterness, hatred or a desire for vengeance. I want to spend a few moments refl ecting with you on the mystery of human suffering in general, and then to say a word about the suffering that so often seems particular to those who seek to follow Jesus Christ ‘in the narrow way’. I do so hesitantly, because I know you will all have some personal suffering hidden away – perhaps buried in the past, perhaps painfully in the present: either way, it can be tender of any unfeeling word. The fi rst thing I want to say about suffering may surprise you. It is that, to be truly human, we must have the capacity to suffer. That is true of emotional suffering: you cannot love without becoming vulnerable to hurt or being hurt. Love deeply, and sooner or later you have to pay for that love in the coinage of tears, and you cannot wish it any other way. It is true too of physical suffering. Fire gives out heat, and the heat is often welcome. But that very property means that fi re has the potential to burn, even to burn people to death. And you must have the capacity to feel the pain of it, or else you might not snatch your hand away from the fl ame or the hot stove before you do yourself great harm. That does not mean that all suffering should be accepted in passive resignation. Far from it. The fi re must have a guard, the hob a warning light. Children must be taught not to play with matches. Workers who need a naked fl ame or high temperatures must have protective clothing. There are many kinds of suffering we can and should avoid. Then again, we sometimes have a duty to resist suffering, to oppose it. So much of it is caused by man himself, by greed or hatred or the lust for power. Wherever people starve, wherever cruelty and violence are infl icted, wherever children are abused: there suffering must be fought. The

Kingdom of God needs to break into our world at every point, and we are just as much ambassadors of the justice of the Kingdom of God as we are of its peace, its forgiveness and its grace. And this is not just true on a global plane. What of the loneliness of an elderly neighbour you leave unvisited? The hurt you infl ict with a cruel word or unthinking gossip? We are all of us responsible for so much suffering, either by causing it or ignoring it. But what of the suffering which we can neither avoid nor resist? The illness which suddenly strikes? The bereavement which shatters our world? The opposition or persecution which we have to endure for standing up for what we believe to be true and right? Straight away as we ponder these things we discover that the fi rst thing Christianity does with suffering of this kind is to heighten and accentuate the diffi culty of it. As Christians we claim that ‘God is love’, and therefore we have to face the terrible task of squaring the dark and tragic things in life with that daring declaration of faith. Yet is not so much suffering the direct result of love? If we didn’t care, if we couldn’t love, then sickness, death, broken relationships, rows – all these would matter far less to us. But we do love, and so they hurt acutely. A relationship, any relationship, without pain is likely to be a relationship without love. In fact, if we love, we put ourselves in the very path of suffering. To love is to put yourself at risk, and your heart will often be wrung and sometimes it will be broken. You can only keep yourself safe from hurt if you keep yourself safe from love. And this should remind us that the whole life of Jesus consisted in his putting himself in the path of suffering, the suffering which was the inevitable consequence of his loving. Because it was a costly loving, it was a costly suffering. Jesus’ love for us took him all the way to the Cross. And we must expect to share in suffering for the gospel, insofar as we hope to share in the divine love. So there is a time for all of us when there is nothing we can do with our suffering but be patient, and persevere in prayer. And as well as the sufferings of body and mind and spirit we all experience from time to time, there is also the suffering attendant upon seeing the Church we love wracked by division and torn apart by those apparently intent upon the destruction of everything we hold dear – not just the language and the liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer, but the doctrines to which that book bears

such eloquent testimony. But we must never give in to despair. I believe despair to be a sin, because it is a denial both of faith and of hope. Whoever said that the church should be untroubled and undisturbed? Whenever has being at ease in Zion brought spiritual rewards? The Book of Common Prayer was born out of the Reformation, and the Reformation was one of the most troubled times the Church of God has ever known – and yet it brought its own blessings. Who is to say that God is not working his purpose out in the trials and tribulations our Church currently endures? Of course we all wish for calm seas and an untroubled voyage. But remember that remarkable paradox in the Gospels, when Jesus slept peacefully in a little boat on a rough sea while gales raged around him, and when he was awoken by his anxious disciples he did indeed rebuke the winds and the waves for their comfort, but then roundly rebuked them in turn for their little faith. For we have this assurance, that where we suffer, the infi nitely loving God suffers too; that where we are, he is also. Often the darkness of suffering is the very place where we begin to know the love of God. And we discover that by the grace of God we

9

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can step through the darkness into the bright light of an enriched and more creative life. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews said of Jesus, who wore his thorns as a crown, that Son though he was, yet learned he by what he suffered. And the same can be true of us. So the assurance is always there, that in any suffering, great or small, God is there, waiting for us. And if we are called to bear a cross, then our certain hope is that it will prove a place of victory, for on the other side of the Cross is always the resurrection. Resurrection is something which by defi nition we cannot come to cheaply; we can come to it only by living a costly life. The only way to our resurrection is through our encounter with the Cross. Our little Society must not despair as we travel the troubled seas of today’s Church. Rather, like St Paul, we must go on commending ourselves to all with the eyes to see and the ears to hear and the hearts to understand, ‘by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.’ And for all of that, thanks be to God.

Canon Eric Woods is Vicar of Sherborne Abbey, Dorset, and a Trustee of the Prayer Book Society

10

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Conference FootnoteBy Margaret Drage

Fellow participants in the PBS Conference at the Royal Agricultural College last September may have wondered what it

could have been about the recessional hymn – ‘Now Thank We All Our God‘ – ending the fi nal Choral Matins on the Sunday that had caused this particular member to stop singing suddenly and blink back a few tears quite inappropriate to that glorious paean of gratitude. Well, I’ll confess. I was looking round the chapel, as I sang, at our Society members gathered there: some good personal friends, others long-standing acquaintances, almost all known to me by sight, if not name; and the thought came to me that our presence here, and our fellowship in prayer and song this morning, and for the many years past and – DV – hopefully for the foreseeable future and how the continuing use of our beloved Book of Common Prayer is related to Mother (my own dear departed mother, Enid Drage). For if Mother hadn’t seen Lady Playfair’s protest letter in the Daily Telegraph in 1972 challenging the mighty General Synod’s avowed intent to replace the Book of Common Prayer that she’d known from childhood, and held in her hand at her marriage, by some small smart new slip of a transient service book, a meeting of minds might not have occurred when it did. She realised what the threat could have meant; and rang Lady Playfair to offer the use of our Kensington drawing room in which to hold a gathering of those prepared to stand up and oppose this appalling idea (an action on Mother’s part so atypical as to demonstrate the full measure of the threat, and her horror thereat). It came home to me that the BCP could have been banished to the ecclesiastical museums, inevitably to be joined by the Authorized Version. The Church of England would have lost forever two of its literary and liturgical jewels and the Anglican Communion been grievously impoverished.So, actually, those few tears were tears of gratitude – that Mother, one of the few great spirits I have been granted to know – should have a memorial as truly worthy of her and her fellow protesters as this, our Society, and the book it exists to protect and promote.

‘Listen or lose it’ – that’s the Prayer Book Society’s message over the BBC’s decision to re-introduce a popular

radio broadcast. While the Society welcomes the return of Choral Evensong to its traditional Wednesday afternoon slot, it says its continuation could be dependent on it gaining listeners. The programme, which generally features the 1662 Book of Common Prayer service, had been shifted to Sunday afternoon. This is now used for a repeat. ‘We are all too aware that the BBC is very conscious of what it terms viable audience ratings’, says the Prayer Book Society’s chairman Prudence Dailey. ‘There was worryingly little publicity about the U-turn to reinstate the midweek broadcast, so maintaining and improving listening figures could be crucial to ensure the programme’s future.’ The much-loved broadcast has a long and prestigious history. It is used by both those at home and those travelling to supplement their own spiritual discipline. With a potentially massive worldwide audience, it gives easy access to this traditional form of worship. ‘Nine out of ten of these wonderful broadcasts are from the Prayer Book we work hard to promote’, adds Miss Dailey. ‘And it is the only way some people are now able to engage with Thomas Cranmer’s great cadences, as traditional services in some areas have been replaced by modern liturgy.’ The BBC received criticism

for moving the programme to Sundays and has been seen to have caved in to audience demand, but for how long? The message now is to tune in and enjoy the superb performances the BBC brings us on a Wednesday afternoon.

Trevor Butler is Press Officer of the Prayer Book Society

11

Listen-in to Secure Programme’s FutureBy Trevor Butler

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12

The Ascension of Our LordBy Roger Beckwith

A sermon preached to the Chelmsford Branch of the PBS at Evening Prayer at the Church of St Laurence Barkingside on the Saturday after Ascension Day 2008.

The Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 14, ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus

the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.’ Ascension Day is one of the great festivals of the Christian year, beautifully provided with collects and readings and proper prefaces in the Book of Common Prayer. It always takes place on a Thursday, because it comes forty days after Easter Sunday. The forty days commemorate the fact that, as St Luke tells us at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, which is the second volume of the record he wrote for his friend Theophilus, the appearances of Jesus to his disciples, in his living body, after his resurrection from the dead, went on for forty days; at the end of which period he was taken up (which is what ‘ascend’ means), and a cloud received him out of their sight. St Luke also records the Ascension at the end of his Gospel, where he says that it took place when Jesus had led his disciples out to Bethany, and that Jesus was blessing his disciples as he went up. Not all the Gospels end with an account of the Ascension like Luke, but the Gospel of St Mark does, in the appendix which concludes its last chapter, while the Gospels of St Matthew and St John end with accounts of some of the resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples. However, in one of these resurrection appearances, St John tells us that Jesus announced his ascension in advance. He said to Mary Magdalene ‘Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.’ This is in St John chapter 20, verse 17. We are left with the Gospel of St Matthew, which alone ends simply with the resurrection appearances of Jesus. But in St Matthew, as in the other Gospels,

the resurrection appearances are limited in number and seem only to go on for a time. St Luke tells us that they went on for forty days. And what can have ended them? What else but the Ascension? There are other testimonies to the Ascension in the New Testament. Our text, from the Epistle to the Hebrews, says ‘we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.’ The Epistle to the Ephesians quotes Psalm 68, ‘When he ascended on high,’ and applies it to Jesus, saying that he ascended up far above all heavens (Ephesians 4.8–10). And many passages from Acts, Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews and First

Peter refer to Psalm 110, where God says to the Messiah ‘Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool’, and they say that this is what Jesus has now done in the heavenly places. He has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. The resurrection appearances of Jesus were not just visions or hallucinations. Everyone had to admit that his body was missing, because his tomb was empty. And when he appeared to his disciples, though they thought at fi rst that he was a spirit or ghost, he quickly convinced them that he was not. He said, ‘Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself [his hands and feet were wounded, of course, and thus easy to recognize]. Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not fl esh and

bones, as ye see me have’ (Luke 24.39). Similarly, when doubting Thomas, having been absent when Jesus fi rst appeared to the disciples, says, ‘Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my fi nger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side [wounded by the soldier’s spear], I will not believe.’ Jesus, on his next appearance to the disciples, with Thomas present this time, invites him to do these very things, utterly convincing him that he has risen again (John 20.25–28). At the same time, this very real body of Jesus’s has new powers: it can appear and disappear, and it can enter within closed doors.

Similarly, the Ascension of Jesus was not just a vision or hallucination. When he had come down to earth, he had not just taken a body for a time, he had taken a body for all time, and it was in his body that he ascended to heaven. Our Saviour is not just God but also man, and he has not just a human spirit but a human body too. He was a spirit without a body only for the three days that his body lay dead in the tomb. But then he took his body again, restored to life and endowed with wonderful new powers. When we die, we may become a spirit without a body for much longer than that, but our spirit will be with the Lord, in paradise, if we have repented and put our trust in him, and there we will meet the spirits of all others who have done the same. In the presence of Jesus we will be happy, happy as never before, but the completion of our happiness will only come when Jesus returns to earth, and raises our body from death to a new and endless life, like his own, reuniting it to our spirit for evermore. St Paul tells us about these things in First Corinthians chapter 15 and First Thessalonians chapter 4. It is often said today that heaven is not a place; but since the Bible always speaks of it as if it is a place, this may be the nearest our mind can attain to a right idea of it. It would probably be safe to say that heaven is like a place. But what kind of place? The Bible pictures it as a glorious place, like the court of a king. God the Father is the king who reigns there, and his only-begotten Son, to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given, is now seated in the place of honour at the right hand of the Father’s throne. The Holy Spirit is also there, like lamps of fi re burning before the throne. They are three Persons but one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God the Son, having died to save mankind, has sent out his followers to preach his Gospel throughout the world, and, having ascended into heaven, is now empowering them and defending them from the throne of the universe as they do it. But heaven is not only a glorious place, like the court of a king, it is also a holy place, like the temple of a God – the true God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in that temple, as our text said, Jesus is the great high priest that is passed into the heavens, the one who sympathizes perfectly with our weaknesses and temptations, being himself a man; but who, being also God, and without sin, is alone worthy to draw near to his holy Father and to intercede with him for his people on earth, in all their needs and frailties and transgressions. For as the Epistle

to the Hebrews says, ‘Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefi led, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens [there is the Ascension]. He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them’ (Hebrews 7.26,25). King of Kings, and great high priest, that is what Jesus has ascended to be. And, as such, he is ready to save us to the uttermost, if we put ourselves in his hands. Let us end with two prayers. First the Collect for Ascension Day:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

And the Collect for the Sunday after Ascension Day (which is also the Sunday next before Whitsun, when we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit):

O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Revd Dr Roger Beckwith is a Vice President of the Prayer Book Society

13

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In Defence of Kipling’s RecessionalBy Tom Foxon

Those of my generation will remember singing this hymn, to the haunting setting of Dyke’s Melita, in schools and on parade

grounds on Empire Day and at war memorials on Remembrance Sunday. It has since fallen out of favour and I would be surprised to hear that it is now sung anywhere in this country, although it is still used during the annual April Anzac Day services in Turkey. Both Sullivan and Elgar considered setting it to music but never got round to it. I understand that Edward Naylor has written a more recent lyric. Apparently a jingoistic celebration of the British Empire at its height, (it was written for Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897), Recessional is far from that. It is in fact a reminder of eternal truths. Empires arise and are doomed to fall, to trust in material power is to build a house on sand. The demise of the British Empire was then still far in the future but, in 1897, Britain’s trade position was precarious and a warning about complacency was timely. We have learned nothing from the lessons of history. Sometimes it seems that man is doomed to keep on repeating his mistakes for ever. The latest casualty is the great fi nancial empire centred on the City of London. Hubris piles Pelion upon Ossa until the whole unstable structure collapses like a house of cards. Let us examine the hymn and its sometimes diffi cult wording.

God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-fl ung battle-line, Beneath whose awful hand we holdDominion over palm and pine –Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,Lest we forget – lest we forget!

The Invocation is followed by a statement of the situation as it was, an essential prerequisite to suggesting a remedy. In 1897 Great Britain did indeed have ‘dominion over palm and pine’ although Kipling reminds us that it was held only by permission of the Almighty and we are exhorted not to forget that fact. The relevance today is that we still exercise a great deal of infl uence through the operations of the City of London.

The tumult and the shouting dies;The Captains and the Kings depart:Still stands thine ancient sacrifi ce,

An humble and a contrite heart.Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,Lest we forget – lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away;On dune and headland sinks the fi re:Lo, all our pomp of yesterdayIs one with Nineveh and Tyre!Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,Lest we forget – lest we forget!

There is nothing diffi cult or objectionable in these verses. Kipling reminds his listeners of the inevitable fate of empire and calls them to humility and repentance. Not so the next, and most controversial, verse,

If, drunk with sight of power, we looseWild tongues that have not thee in awe,Such boastings as the Gentiles use,Or lesser breeds without the law –Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,Lest we forget – lest we forget!

15

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Here we have a warning against prideful boasting, perhaps even to be interpreted as a condemnation of jingoism. It is the comparisons that are problematic in today’s society. George Orwell suggested that ‘lesser breeds’ referred to the Germans and went on to claim that the poem is a denunciation of power politics. Today we may choose to interpret ‘lesser breeds without the law’ as all those who conduct their earthly affairs with disregard to the laws of God. Kipling was not a Jew, although he had Jewish connections, so ‘Gentiles’ can be allowed as poetic licence although it has been suggested that it referred to Russia.

For heathen heart that puts her trustIn reeking tube and iron shard,All valiant dust that builds on dust,And guarding, calls not thee to guard,For frantic boast and foolish word –Thy mercy on thy people, Lord!

Those of us who are familiar with Kipling’s other works will know that he had a high regard for the indigenous peoples of empire and regarded their religions with respect. We should not, therefore, interpret the reference to ‘heathens’ as being to those of other religions. Clearly, ‘heathens’, like ‘lesser breeds’ refers to those who rely entirely on material

things to achieve and maintain power, forgetting him who is the source of all power and who can, and does, bring all their efforts to destruction. There have been many commentaries on the Recessional. Chris Patten thought it was a warning not heeded. What we in the Prayer Book Society and other church-goers have to consider is whether it deserves to be brought out of obscurity and used again in church services and on Remembrance Sunday. It is a hymn with a timeless message and, as such, it deserves to be heard. If necessary, the fourth verse could be omitted and ‘heathen’ changed to ‘foolish’ without losing much of the meaning.

Tom Foxon is a committee member of the PBS Gloucester Branch, and attends St John the Baptist, Chaceley, Gloucestershire, at which all services are 1662

16

Out With the ‘Old’By Neil Inkley

There is one thing that the protagonists of the new liturgy (and of no fi xed liturgy at all) have done which is very successful.

It isn’t that their new liturgy is aesthetically beautiful, nor that it is memorable, nor does it make theology – quite a diffi cult subject anyway – markedly more intelligible to the uninitiated. Nor is it that they have even sought to take what is already there and bring it into the common parlance of today. What it is, is that they have succeeded in having most people, most of the time (and that often includes us in the Prayer Book Society) calling the Book of Common Prayer ‘the old prayer book.’ ‘Old,’ especially in this day and age, is automatically pejorative. Our task is to fi nd another defi ning adjective with positive undertones, and to secure its widespread use. ‘Normative’ doesn’t quite fi t the bill; it is not suffi ciently part of everyday language. ‘Proven’ sounds good to me – but it probably lacks a universal appeal. Somewhere out there, there must be a PR man who could come up with just the right word and then achieve its very widespread usage. It is the way that hearts and minds are won. After all, we speak not of just any ‘old’ Prayer Book.

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Promoting the SocietyMembers who own cars and wish to promote the Society as they drive around the country, can do so by taking advantage of the free window sticker that we have produced (see picture). I would suggest they are attached either on the rear window or on the rear nearside passenger window. For those of you who have not used them before all you have to do is to moisten the side with the words on and press it on to the window from the centre outwards. If you would like one all you have to do is to send a request to the Society offi ce at The Studio, Copyhold Farm, Goring Heath, RG8 7RT, enclosing a self-addressed stamped foolscap envelope. Supply at the moment is limited so fi rst come fi rst served. Donations, although by no means obligatory, would be gratefully received.

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17

Getting Prayer Books ‘Out There’The part that the Prayer Book Society plays in placing BCPs out in the ‘worshipping community’ can sometimes be overlooked. During 2008 it sent 633 books to thirty-seven locations to ensure that every new ordinand starting training had a copy of their own. The Edith Matthias Prayer Book Trust sent out 565 books to support eight applying parishes with copies which enable the maintenance or the re-introduction of Prayer Book worship (the parishes met twenty-four per cent of this cost and the Trust the remaining seventy-six per cent). Meanwhile the Branches Ordering Scheme secured 167 copies – largely of a ‘superior’ edition – at an expenditure of £1593 against a list price of £2450. That is 1,365 copies of the Book of Common Prayer placed in a single year. Since the Edith Matthias Trust was begun in 2000, eighty churches have been assisted by it in the supply of Prayer Books

Neil Inkley

Are you a calligrapher?A few years ago, the Society produced a Christmas card with the Collect for Advent Sunday printed on the front of it in an italic typeface. The concept was very popular, but the design of the card could perhaps have been more decorative. For 2009 we hope to produce a similar card featuring either the Collect for Advent Sunday or the Collect for Christmas Day with hand calligraphy and illuminated lettering. Unfortunately, engaging the services of a professional calligrapher would push up the cost and make the project uneconomic, and we are therefore looking for a volunteer. Are you skilled at calligraphy and illumination, and might you be willing to take this on? If so, please contact Mrs Clare Fox at the PBS Offi ce by telephone at 0118 984 2582 or e-mail pbs.admin@pbs.org.uk)

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18

The Spirit on the Book of Common PrayerBy William Doyle

Whether or not you have been brought up with the Book of Common Prayer or have recently made its acquaintance, you will not

have failed to have been moved by the exquisite language, which conveys the depth and riches of the Christian faith, embracing a spirit that defi nes what it means to be truly Anglican. It is not merely the incomparable language, which is soundly scriptural, but the connectedness which permeates the BCP, bringing those who love the Prayer Book, not only to treasure and nurture it, but to sense a familiarity with its ethos and primordial nature. As the faithful gather and follow the rubrics and the priest utters the words of cherished prayers and litanies, a spirit of devotion settles on the congregation and urges the soul to submit to the eternal God with a deep desire and longing for his holy presence; during such moments, the soul may glimpse a knowledge, that for a while may remain a mystery, until through the Holy Ghost, a gleam of light dawns and enriches the life of the pilgrim. It can happen in the pews or later, because there remains in our natural selves, at a primordial level, a yearning for connection with that which is holy, beautiful and right; we sense that we have been disconnected from our origins, divided from God, which we should not have been, but have inherited it. This fragmentation has wounded the soul, so we search for solace which the world, with all its attractions, cannot give. I see this dis-connectedness as being the root problem of the identity crisis so prevalent today. Whenever it is my privilege to conduct services using the BCP – a vital part of our cultural heritage – I sense this spirit of connectedness drawing the past to the present and there in the presence of the angels, cherished prayers are heard embracing the beauty of holiness; at the same time, the Holy Ghost on the word, carries a revelation of the tender love of God to the souls of his children occupying the pews, feeding the human spirit with divine sustenance. This has nothing to do with the priest, although he/she may have uttered the words on which the Holy Ghost rests; it is God’s work entirely. As the Holy Ghost rested on Thomas Cranmer and moved him to prepare his work, giving us the treasures of the BCP, that same Holy Ghost rests on God’s Word and fulfi ls its purpose. In these days of ‘high street buzz’, social changes and busyness, people long for moments of quiet spiritual restfulness; I suggest the Prayer Book service offers this opportunity and as we worship God,

we give back to the Father all he has given us, so that we may be identifi ed with him. It is this connectedness that we need to re-discover and permit to enter our devotions, otherwise we shall fail to embrace a relationship that includes the whole of created life, as well as a failure to trust the Holy Ghost to move us to Christian action, whether it is in service, worship, or personal beliefs; after all, if we cannot relate to the things we can see, how can we form a relationship with God whom we cannot see? The BCP belongs to the Anglican tradition and the traditions of Christianity itself. Neglect and efforts to consign the BCP to silence will rob generations of people of priceless rites and prayers; it is time for everyone to reclaim their Christian traditions. The BCP forms an anchor to these deliberations. May we each discover the Spirit which embraces all that God has created, making us one, as the Lord Jesus and the Father are one.

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19

When Will We Ever Learn?By James Mogridge

We’re told that the language of the Prayer Book is too diffi cult for the young.

On the last day June 2008 I was at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, for the fi rst Schools’ Regional Celebration of Shakespeare, an event marking the culmination of an initiative by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) which began in 2006 with the establishment of their Learning Performance Network. Thirty-fi ve schools, primary and secondary, are involved in a partnership with the RST, each becoming a leading school in the teaching of Shakespeare in its region. The co-ordinating schools work with a cluster of other schools in the area, giving students opportunities to explore and gain experience of Shakespeare’s work through performance. Through INSET days and in-school workshops with RST practitioners, each school creates a short, devised production inspired by Shakespeare texts which are performed and celebrated at a Regional Shakespeare Festival. Nine regional festivals took place throughout March and April 2008. One school from each festival was invited to perform at the Regional Schools Celebration in Stratford on 30 June, illustrating the range and breadth of schools taking part in the network. Throughout the day there were nine performances – four by primary schools and fi ve by secondary, one of which was a boys’ secondary school (years nine and ten) with a wide range of complex learning needs. The students had the run of the Courtyard Theatre, the RST’s temporary theatre while their main house is being redeveloped. Each school had been allotted a brief period beforehand to familiarize themselves with the building, the stage, lighting, effects and so on. It was a superb day of celebration of language, talent and youth fostered through the RST’s manifesto for Shakespeare in Schools in which they want to see young people doing Shakespeare on their feet, seeing it live and starting it earlier. There were performances based on Julius Caesar, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear and A Midsummer-Night’s Dream. There was one composite production based on Shakespeare’s Fools.

In general the fi nished performances were created by interspersing simplifi ed scenes from the original play with additional scenes improvised by the children. The quality of the speaking from the youngest (year fi ve) to the oldest (year ten) was uniformly effortless and faultless in the daunting setting of the thrust stage and cavernous space of the Courtyard Theatre. A primary school teacher wrote of her children: ‘The Shakespearean language has never been an issue for them.’ Why do we short-change the young? They are capable of understanding so much more than we give them credit for. A great deal of their literacy work in school centres around poetry which most children love and even write. When I was teaching I was always struck by the fact that the poetry anthologies in the library were the books which wore out fi rst. Michael Boyd, the Artistic Director of the RST, said in his welcome ‘I have an eight-year-old daughter: lots of words are diffi cult for an eight-year-old, so seventeenth-century diffi cult words present no new problem to them.’ So is Prayer Book seventeenth-century language really beyond the modern generation?

James Mogridge is a retired priest and headmaster in the Diocese of Peterborough

Jonathan Driver Jonathan Driver died at the early age of forty-one on 30 December following a short illness. Jonathan was the Honorary Secretary of the London and Southwark Branch of the PBS and before Gareth Hardwick became Branch Chairman a few years ago there was an interregnum during which Jon acted as Chairman as well as Secretary. It was typical of him that he rose to the occasion with aplomb and panache. He was a good-humoured and kindly man who liked to present a gruff Yorkshire persona for general consumption. For a while he really held the Branch functions together and continued to give his time and enthusiasm as Branch Secretary after the new Chairman had taken over. He held the Society in high esteem and the time he gave was signifi cant in that he was also a Croydon councillor and at the time of his death was Mayor of Croydon besides doing a full time job as a teacher of history although he had a degree from the University of London in Theology. He was also a member of the PCC of St Michael’s Church, Cornhill. He was a true Christian both in his faith and in his work and had many friends who will remember him fondly. He will be sadly missed for his industry, for his companionship and for his good humoured presence which was appreciated at our committee meetings. I have many fond memories of annual PBS conferences which I attended with Jon and of the fellowship and sense of belonging that we both enjoyed there. The Prayer Book and the Authorized Version of the Bible were important to Jon for the light and the truth which they and they alone contained. I am honoured and proud to have known him and to have counted him as a friend. He will be very sadly missed for all that he brought to this world. I am sure we will all give thanks for his life and pray for those who now mourn this truly honourable and unforgettable man.

David Dufour

Elizabeth WrightElizabeth Wright, the redoubtable Honorary Secretary of the Canterbury Branch, died on 19 June. As well as locally, she was well known to many in the Society since her attendance at the Executive Council, and at the Branches Representative Council which replaced it, was assiduous. She also attended Annual Conferences. Elizabeth spent some part of her working life on the non-academic staffs of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Haileybury School. That said, her own outlook was highly academic and she was a doyen of English usage. One of her particular dislikes was the use of the form ‘Revd Smith’, incorrectly omitting a Christian name, an initial, or the alternative use of ‘Mr’. Her husband died many years ago and she threw herself heart and soul into the Prayer Book Society and the service of Canterbury Branch members until very poor health diminished what she could do in her last few years. She fought ill-health with amazing courage. With compound illness and requiring skeletal brace she made her way to the Annual Conference in Oxford and BRC meeting in Crewe. Her fi nal attendance at a BRC meeting in London necessitated her engagement of a private hire car and drivers to bring her from Broadstairs to London and back again – all done at her own expense and which she didn’t want publicized at the time ‘to avoid any fuss’. It was sad to see a previously so commanding fi gure restricted beyond measure.

Neil Inkley

20

Obituaries

Prayer Books for Africa: Volunteer urgently needed!

We are very grateful indeed to Ian Robinson for getting this most worthwhile scheme off the ground. He has now asked to be relieved of the administration: the task is, he assures us, not onerous, and no particular skills or experience are needed, other than an aptitude for practical organization. If you think you may be able to help, or to fi nd out more, please contact Mrs Clare Fox at the PBS Offi ce (e-mail pbs.admin@pbs.org.uk). Members of the Society wishing to support this scheme are encouraged to complete and return the form on the opposite page with their donation to the PBS Offi ce.

21

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22

Letters

From Stephen R. Beet

David Fuller’s scholarly article detailing the development of eucharistic liturgy was a delight to read. Unlike many scholars today, he succeeded in putting over complex issues in a simple and extremely interesting manner. Although writing from an obviously ‘catholic’ standpoint – preferring the doctrine of the 1549 Prayer Book – he provides us with a very strong argument for the exclusive use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The Church of England has until recent years successfully held together people of entirely opposing views, both Protestant and Catholic. All were more or less content to use the Book of Common Prayer. The new liturgies have polarized opinion to such an extent that the religion of the evangelical is now almost unrecognizable to the Anglo-Catholic (if such a person still exists in the Church of England today) and vice versa. One now wonders if they are worshipping the same God! Dr Fuller has exposed a weakness in the present organization of the Prayer Book Society: it is clear to me that the catholic theologians responsible for many of the new liturgies have used a similar understanding of church history (to that of Dr Fuller) to justify dramatic departures from the language and structure of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. While Dr Fuller is content to use the Scottish Prayer Book, which contains many elements of the 1549 Prayer Book, the liturgical reformers for the past forty years have not been so content, and have seized the opportunity to compile (one might almost say ‘concoct’) liturgies more in keeping with their extreme catholic theological views. Although 1662 is protected by law in England, it is not so in Northern Ireland, where the old Irish Prayer Book has been replaced by a new Book of Common Prayer, compiled as a result of an unholy alliance of Romanists and extreme Protestants.

Those wishing to use the old book are persecuted for their beliefs. This could easily have been the position in England had the Prayer Book Society not taken the stance it did. The Prayer Book Society now needs to develop a pro-active strategy of providing scholarly assistance to those members throughout the whole of the United Kingdom who are fi nding it impossible to worship according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (or the old Irish Prayer Book). We need a team of scholarly classical Anglicans on hand and capable taking on and remonstrating with those responsible for the demise of the Prayer Book. This facility seems at present lacking. In my view the only liturgy capable of holding together our broken and fragmented Church of England is the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. In this and the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible we have all things necessary for salvation.

Stephen R. Beet13 rue Principale, 87320 Thiat, France

From Captain N. I. C. Kettlewell

I am writing in response to your request for comments on John Hunwicke’s article ‘Cranmer’s Continuities’. Clearly he is not in Salisbury Diocese! Here if you celebrated Common Worship Order Two you would open the door for any priest to take any of the, said to be, 4000 possible service variations on offer in CW. Our village church is fairly traditional – we used the Prayer Book but had one service a month from the ASB. When CW was published we had some experimental services and then chose a service not unlike the ASB we were used to and had it printed. The new semi-illiterate version of the Prayer of Humble Access was deemed a covenant stopper! It then became clear that if one took the Collect from CW then the whole service must be taken from CW. Thus a Prayer Book service would be

based on Order Two but open to any variation the celebrant might choose without any consultation with the PCC. Worse, we found our carefully chosen CW service was regularly set aside and we were treated to way-out versions sprung on us fi ve minutes before the service, having been downloaded from the internet and printed off by the celebrant. It was made very clear to us that if the PCC had agreed to CW in any form then it was free for the priest to vary it in any way he or she chose. The only alternative was for the PCC to vote to revert entirely to the Book of Common Prayer. With wise advice from our branch chairman Ian Woodhead, and our learned liturgical advisers and carefully steered by our team vicar, the PCC chairman, we voted unanimously to do so. We recently hosted our PBS branch meeting followed by sung evensong much enjoyed by all. We use the (green) Shorter Prayer Book which provides the options to which John Hunwicke refers (even though it does not contain the Forms of Prayer for use at Sea!).

Captain N. I. C. Kettlewell, RNThe Old Rectory, Newton Toney, Salisbury, Wiltshire,SP4 0HA

From Trevor G. Cowell

I have just received my fi rst bundle of literature since joining the PBS – and how interesting it is! My church in the parish of Longford, Diocese of Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the few worshipping exclusively according to the BCP (Holy Communion and/or Morning Prayer) and this continues my own life-long adherence (I am seventy) to the Book of Common Prayer. This began as a child in Nelson, Lancashire, at St Bede’s under the vicar the Revd Fred Bamber and then the Revd Allan Wordsworth, continued in Australia from 1951, and has been broken only by interruptions enforced

23

by some of the ‘newer fellers’! But, either recalcitrant or faithful, this congregation soldiers on in the face of snide criticism mightily aware of the awesomeness of the BCP – quite apart from its infl uence on the life of all those who worship at Christ Church, Illawarra – one of two continuing churches in the parish. I am honoured that the PBS has accepted me as a member – I am a recent enrolment into the New South Wales Branch of the PBSA – and happily made my subscription even though seriously disadvantaged by the plunging Aussie dollar! As with many things we do in life once we commit to something it arises ‘why didn’t I do this years ago?’ and it is so in both these memberships. And I think it has to do with a realization that a battle against mediocrity in worship has to be fought and will probably only be won when ‘all who profess and call themselves (Anglicans)’ re-engage with the Book of Common Prayer and insist the forms be re-established in their parishes – particularly in rural parishes. And an insistence from the lay leadership of parishes who are alarmed at declining numbers in the pews or dissatisfi ed with other continuously changing forms of worship that this be so. In reference to which Peter Bolton (‘Does Your Church Use the Book of Common Prayer?’ PBS Journal Trinity 2008) makes appropriate reading. All that and more ensures I am proud to have joined.

Trevor G. CowellPerth, Tasmania, Australia 7300

From Barry Williams

You (perhaps unwisely) invited comment on John Hunwicke’s article entitled ‘Cranmer’s Continuities’ – pages 22 and 23 of the Advent PBS Journal. Mr Hunwicke’s piece is unfortunate, not merely for its inaccuracy, but also because it plays directly into the hands of those who accuse the Prayer Book Society of being merely lovers of Cranmerian prose or, worse, of being ‘Prayer Book Fundamentalists’, accepting only the exact wording of the Book

of Common Prayer 1662 for every service. Mr Hunwicke asks, for example, ‘Do you really wish to discontinue in your parish all use of hymns which … are not allowed in the Rubrics of the Prayer Book?’ This is the sort of inaccurate nonsense that has been aimed at the Prayer Book Society since its inception and is one that has been fi rmly resisted at all levels, most particularly by the late Jack Trefusis and by Tony Kilmister. Moreover Mr Hunwicke’s statement is misleading. The Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer do not allow or disallow, or encourage or discourage, hymns. Hymnody, with the ‘Glory be to thee, O Lord’ at the Gospel, was considered in the case of Read v Bishop of Lincoln (1892), A.C. 644 P.C. and held to be lawful, as was the Agnus Dei. Turning now to the article by David Fuller entitled ‘Eucharistic Reformation’. Fuller is not the fi rst member of the Prayer Book Society to state, tacitly or expressly, reservations or criticisms of the 1552/1662 service of Holy Communion. However, the PBS Journal may not be the best place to express those reservations. The reality is that unless some enthusiasm is shown for that service, it will remain a liturgical backwater in most, if not all, parishes. Apart from the Chapels Royal and Inns of Court it seems to be mainly used at 8.00 a.m. on a Sunday or as a mid-week sop to the faithful few. There is little for the Society to do now about Evening Prayer or Evensong, for when there is an evening service it is the BCP that is most often used. Please see the account of Prayer Book Evensong on page 15 of the Advent issue of the Journal – I hope they used the whole service, not starting with the responses and fi nishing after the anthem as so often happens. But the real struggle is with 1662 Holy Communion and, I suggest, it is now a matter of theology fi rst. Perhaps you would commission some articles enthusing about the theology of the 1662 service

of Holy Communion. Without an appreciation of the theology and the Biblical content there is no hope of persuading folk that it should take its rightful place beside the newer and less satisfactory liturgies.

Barry Williams

From Neil Inkley

It was good to see David Fuller’s name in print in the Advent Journal, somehow renewing the old friendship from his days in Blackburn. Like David, I have a high regard for the 1549 Rite. However, I fear that one possible interpretation of his article’s conclusion – that 1549 is preferable to, and might replace 1662 – is a most dangerous one to have set running. The 1662 Book is safeguarded by being enshrined in the Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure. Were there to be any attempt to vary that to make place for something else (say 1549), I would doubt in the present church climate, that any enshrinement at all would actually survive. Whilst many may be inspired by

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1549 I hope no one will feel drawn to campaign for a change to give it supremacy over 1662. When rough seas are raging it is better to rely on the sea wall that one has rather than tear it down, hoping – just perhaps – to build another.

Neil InkleyHonorary Secretary, Blackburn Branch 6 Knot Lane, Walton-le-Dale, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 4BQ

From Anthony Kilmister

However good (or bad) the versions of the Prayer Book that appeared before and after the 1662 book may have been they are in legal terms neither here nor there. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is the only version upheld by parliament and is the only version offi cially upheld by the Prayer Book Society – however much individual members might like this or that other version. To try and alter that would be to undermine not only the book in the eyes of parliament but also to undermine the work of the PBS over the past three dozen years.

Anthony Kilmister Northwood, Middlesex.

The Board of Trustees endorses the statements made in Mr Kilmister’s letter above.

From Mary Hopson

I am just back from this year’s Prayer Book Society conference at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. It was the fi rst such conference I had been able to attend for many years and I would like to say how wonderfully reinvigorating I found it. I have belonged to the Society almost since its inception and I must admit to having been in need of reinvigoration, both with regard to the Society and to the Prayer Book itself. At any rate, I found it all splendid: the various – and very varied – talks, the services in the beautiful chapel, the accommodation and meals, the surroundings and, by no means least, the fellowship and the opportunities

to have one’s, sometimes controversial, say, both formally and informally. I very much hope I shall be able to attend next year’s conference.

Mrs Mary HopsonTregate Castle, Monmouth, NP25 5QL

From Geoffrey Howarth

The objection critics make to the BCP is not so much that it is archaic or irrelevant but that its language is too cogent or forceful for modern man. They do not like to ‘acknowledge and bewail’ their ‘manifold sins and wickedness’, nor care to be reminded that they have ‘provoked most justly God’s wrath and indignation’ against them. Their remembrance is not grievous unto them, nor is their burden intolerable. The language of the Litany is, of course, far too strong for their sensitive ears and they approve of the choir ending the Venite at verse seven. We have become too anthropocentric in our theology and liturgy, and need to meditate often upon Article IX and remember that we are saved not to be made happy, but holy. Far from being irrelevant, the BCP is exactly what some modern Christians require.

The Revd Geoffrey HowarthBeeches, Snainton, Scarborough, YO13 9AF

From Stanley Ward

I read with interest Neil Hitt’s helpful article on the Book of Common Prayer for use in personal devotions, in the Trinity issue of the Journal. Personally, I have the excellent ten CDs, each from a different cathedral choir, covering every one of the 150 Psalms in the Prayer Book words. I aim to listen (with Prayer Book

open) to one Psalm each night before going to rest. The CDs are available from Priory Records Ltd, 3 Eden Way, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 8FY (01525 377566).

Stanley WardMill Villa, School Road, Rayne, Braintree, CM77 6SS

From Frank Field MP

Is it possible to appeal for a copy of the 1928 Prayer Book, size 5˝ by 7˝? It doesn’t matter what condition it is in as I wish to have it bound with other material. Is there a member who could sell me a copy please?

The Rt Hon. Frank Field MPHouse of Commons, London,SW1A 0AA

David Fuller writes: May I through the pages of your Journal offer my sincere, abject, nay grovelling, apology to the Chairman and members of the Scottish Prayer Book Society? As an adjunct to a paper that was published in the Advent 2008 edition I inadvertently referred to myself as a member of the Scottish Branch of the Prayer Book Society, a title that became defunct some years ago. I ask that the members of this distinct Society put my aberration down to a lack of attention to detail and nothing more sinister – I should have known better and taken more care.

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24

News from the Branches

25

Chester A most enjoyable morning was recently spent at St John’s Church in Guilden Sutton, near Chester. It was, of course, the annual local heat of the Cranmer Awards. A happy group of expectant and excited youngsters accompanied by friends and families, gathered to hear young voices read aloud sections from our dearly-loved Prayer Book. The assembled gathering was in for a real treat. Our three distinguished judges, the Rt Hon. Frank Field, MP, Dr Anne Davidson-Lund from CILT, the National Centre for Languages in London, and the Bishop of Stockport, the Rt Revd Robert Atwell, all expressed delight at the high standards of reading and expression attained by the youngsters. We were also honoured to welcome Merriel Halsall-Williams, the national co-ordinator for the Awards. In keeping with the time-honoured local tradition, all competitors were awarded a certifi cate signed by the judges and a commemorative medallion, and our two winners, Nathan Carroll and Alex Cook now look forward to attending the National Final.

Many thanks to all concerned, especially the Revd Mark Hart for kindly allowing us to host this happy event at his beautiful church.

CoventryThe branch enjoyed a day out in the countryside in September when we met to say Morning Prayer at Sutton-under-Brailes in the south of

the diocese. Over twenty members assembled in the car park of the Cherington Arms and in warm autumn sunshine we walked the mile or so across the fi elds to the church of St Thomas Becket where the vicar led the service and Roger Fifi eld, formerly Branch Chairman, played the organ. Several parishioners joined us for the service. We then returned by the way we had come and had lunch together in the pub. It was generally agreed that it had been a worthwhile and enjoyable occasion and that the branch committee should try to organize two such events in 2009.

The branch heats of the Cranmer Awards competition were held in King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon on the evening of 14

October. The branch started holding heats only in 2006, and it was heartening this year to hear a number of excellent readings. In the event both heat winners are pupils at King Edward VI School. The photograph above shows Sam Gorick, senior winner (on the left) and Roderick Storey,

junior winner (on the right) fl anked by the two judges, Mrs Margaret Hunt and Richard Cole. This is the fi rst time that we have used this venue (which includes William Shakespeare among its former pupils) and we expect to return there next year. For some years the branch has been holding a Service of Preparation for Advent, based on the Prayer Book,

on the Saturday before Advent. This year’s service was prepared by the Revd Dr Tony Upton who sadly was

unwell on the day, so the worship was led by the Revd Dr David Pym. It was held in the Guild Chapel in Stratford-upon-Avon, and attended by over fi fty members and friends. The photograph above was taken during the fi nal hymn. Afterwards those present moved across the road to the Falcon Hotel for tea and biscuits. Since it was fi rst held several years ago the

attendance at this event has steadily increased.Photographs by Chris Hall.

Lichfi eldThe main events within the branch area since the last report have been the diocesan Cranmer Awards heats and the annual autumn gathering. The Cranmer Awards heats were again held at Moreton Hall School as part of the Shropshire Festival and attracted a very pleasing number of competitors, who demonstrated a high standard of reading. Poppy Parker, from Abbeygate School, won the junior event and Polly Booth, from Moreton Hall School, won the senior. Both are to be congratulated on their excellent reading skills and we wish them well when they represent the diocese in London in February 2009. On 23 November members gathered in Stafford to attend a celebration of High Mass, using the liturgy of the 1549 Book of Common

26

Prayer at St Chad’s Church. St Chad’s is both a beautiful and an interesting church, dating back to 1150 AD and contains some of the fi nest Norman stone carvings in the Midlands. We were able to participate in a splendid service, which was enhanced even more by the choir’s excellent musical contribution. Our thanks go to the Revd Fr Michael Fisher for arranging the service and to him, his churchwardens and congregation for the very warm welcome which PBS members received. Our thanks also go to ordinand Anthony Hutchinson, who preached a most interesting and thought-provoking sermon. Members may wish to note that a service of BCP Matins (sometimes diffi cult to fi nd these days!) is held at St Chad’s every Sunday at 10.00 a.m. as well as the Eucharistic celebration at 11.00 a.m. We were also very pleased to see Mr Peter Hardingham (Regional Trustee, Midlands Region) at the service and thank him for making the long journey from Northamptonshire to join us for the occasion Following the celebration at St Chad’s, members moved to the Swan Hotel, which is very conveniently situated across the road from the church, where we enjoyed a splendid lunch, after which we were addressed by Mr John Scrivener, Editor of Faith and Worship and Regional Trustee (North West Region), who covered a wide range of matters pertinent to the Society. We thank both Mr and Mrs Scrivener for making the journey from Chester to be with us.

NorwichChurch VisitOn the third Sunday in September our branch was invited to St Peter’s Church at Sheringham by our member Gerald Fisher, who is a chorister there, and members of the congregation who us a very warm welcome and a sumptuous buffet tea which was followed by a memorable Choral Evensong and anthem, led by Fr Andrew Lane. This is an ideal outing for a society such as ours and we are most grateful to the members of St Peter’s for the invitation. We were also very pleased to note that as a result of mentioning the Cranmer Awards to them, two of their choir competed and one of them was

highly commended.Cranmer AwardsWe are most grateful to our president, Lord Howard of Rising, for continuing to make all the arrangements for our Cranmer Awards heat, held at his church, St Lawrence’s, Castle Rising, near King’s Lynn, where twenty contestants from several schools and St Peter’s choir competed for places in the fi nals. They were again judged by Anne Robinson, who praised the contestants and gave them some very friendly advice on the value of public speaking to inspire confi dence in life. We are pleased that she enjoys her visits to Lord Howard to judge this competition for us and that she gave the Cranmer Awards some very welcome publicity by featuring an account of her visit in her diary in the Spectator.

The Junior winner (seen above with Anne Robinson) was Callum Chapman, a pupil at Taverham Hall School, Norwich, who read passages from the Forms of Prayer Used at Sea, and he will now go forward with the senior winner, Jonathan Wilde from Norwich School, to the fi nals on 25 February 2009 at Suttons Hospital, Charterhouse School.The Revd Martin Ackland BeniansWe are very sorry to report that the Revd Martin Ackland Benians, who was chairman of Norwich Branch for some years in the 1980s, died on 12 October 2008.

Oxford On the afternoon of Thursday 6 November, young people from

schools and churches in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire travelled to Abingdon School to participate in the Oxford Diocesan Heat for the 2009 Cranmer Awards. The heat was held in the school chapel, which provided a calm and reverent setting for the candidates to declaim their selected passages. In addition to the judges, the candidates were also aware that they were declaiming in front of the specially invited guest writer and broadcaster Anne Atkins. The texts chosen from the Book of Common Prayer ranged widely and included selections from orders of service, the Psalter, Collects, Epistles and Gospels, prayers and thanksgivings; all refl ecting the beauty and majesty of Thomas Cranmer’s writing. Standards were, again, very high and the judges deliberated long before they were able to declare the winners. In the junior section (11–14 years) Amelia Stewart of St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne, was the winner, with James Jenkins (Abingdon School) second and Harry Bell (Abingdon School) highly commended. James Yan of Abingdon School won the senior section (15–18 years) with Zander Cornish-Moore, also from Abingdon School in second place. The two winners were each awarded a cash prize and, together with the second-placed entrants, received a presentation Prayer Book. Addressing the candidates before presenting the prizes Anne Atkins said, ‘I think it is terrifi c that you are all here and that you have chosen such a great thing to be part of. As you know, you are speaking the English language at its best. It was the golden age of the English language and the riches of the Prayer Book are fabulous. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t recognize that. ‘However’, said Ms Atkins, ‘even more rich and wonderful and exciting than the language that you are speaking, is the content of what you are speaking.’ Amelia Stewart and James Yan will now represent the Oxford Diocese at the National Final, to be held in London in February 2009. They will each also be invited to read a lesson at the Oxford branch’s annual Carol Service at the Church of St Thomas

the Martyr in Oxford on Saturday 6 December. The branch organizers, Stan and Marian Hope, said that the success of the heat had, once again, been due to the enthusiasm of the candidates and their schools, and the generosity of their hosts at Abingdon School

Peterborough The Peterborough Branch held a service of Evensong for the feast of St Michael and All Angels on Sunday 28 September in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Burton Latimer, by kind permission of the rector and churchwardens. There were three priests, a very good choir of twenty – from St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Abington – and a congregation of fi fty at this splendid event. After the service everyone perused the bookstall and partook of refreshments, prepared by a willing team of church members. Our thanks go to the Revd James Mogridge who led the service, Canon John Westwood who preached the sermon, the Revd Quentin Chandler who gave

the blessing, and the excellent choir and organist. Mr Brian Mutlow was a key fi gure in the organization, Mr John Souter read a lesson and prepared the service sheets and Mrs Mary Stewart read a lesson and ran the bookstall.

PortsmouthNicholas Hurst, a Trustee of the PBS, represented the Society at the induction of the Revd Reuben Preston as vicar of St Matthew’s Bridgemary, Portsmouth, and also chaplain to Bridgemary Community College. Mr Hurst, a friend of the priest, presented a large altar book version of the Prayer Book, saying how he hoped that Cranmer’s inspiring liturgy would inspire congregations and encourage them to desire a wider use. Mr Hurst said that the new priest had a wonderful opportunity: ‘He is only thirty-three years old and, as a young vicar and chaplain in such an important city, he is perfectly placed to inspire young people to have a greater appreciation of its value.’

RochesterAs usual, Rochester ran its heats for the Cranmer Awards in conjunction

with the Bromley Festival. The numbers taking part have shown a welcome increase over the last few years and the competition in 2008 was exceptionally strong. The winner in the senior class was Jamie Povey, a pupil at Trinity School, a voluntary aided Church of England comprehensive school at Belvedere in Kent. The junior winner was Felicity Cliffe, a pupil at Farringtons School, an independent Methodist foundation. The heat was held at Farringtons as it will be in 2009.

27

Traditional Choir Trust The Traditional Choir Trust was started in 2002 by

Dr John Sanders in Gloucester who formed a group of Trustees to run the charity whose objects were:

“To give grants, bursaries and scholarships to boys otherwise unable to attend recognised choir schools. To encourage and financially assist choir schools, cathedrals, Chapels Royal, collegiate churches, university chapels, parish churches and other choral foundations to maintain the ancient tradition of the all-male choir.”

Upon Dr Sanders’ death in 2003, the Trusteeship was handed over to the Dean & Chapter of Chichester Cathedral who have instigated boy chorister scholarships. More funds are urgently needed to support other scholarships to ensure the continuing survival of the boy chorister in service. The Trust relies entirely on donations and legacies to build capital from which bursaries can be provided.

Please give if you can to: The Administrator

Traditional Choir Trust The Royal Chantry, Cathedral Cloisters

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Email: admin@chichestercathedral.org.ukGift Aid Forms available upon request.

Patron: The Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford Registered Charity No. 1092940

(left to right) James Jenkins, James Yan, Zander Cornish-Moore, special guest Anne Atkins, Harry Bell, Amelia Stewart and Diocesan Organiser Stan

Hope in Abingdon School Chapel

Committee members (right to left) Mary Stewart, Brian Mutlow, Alan

Palmer and the Revd James Mogridge chatting after the service

A group, including the rector, enjoying the refreshments

Felicity Cliffe, junior winner

The Branch gave leather-bound enlarged Prayer Books to the eleven deacons ordained in the diocese at Michaelmas. We were the fi rst branch to make these presentations and have now presented a total of 123 since we started ten years ago. From the many letters of thanks we have received, they seem to be much appreciated. We were fortunate from the start of this venture to have the support of our bishop. He once said that the diocese gives the ordinands Bibles, the PBS gives them Prayer Books and, on their ordination to the priesthood, he gives them portable communion sets, so that together we supply all they need for their ministry. In the summer, branch members visited St Bartholomew’s, Otford, and were made very welcome by

their new vicar, the Revd Richard Worssam. At choral evensong the choir led us in a celebration of the music of Vaughan Williams who died fifty years previously. Organist and choirmaster Kevin Grafton who is one of our members had prepared a brief résumé of the range of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s church music and the many hymns which owe their popular tunes to him. The choir sang the anthem ‘O clap your hands’ written in 1920 and also his settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis written in 1925 ‘for village choirs’ – although Kevin noted that ‘with its constant changes of metre and mode … it was clearly not aimed at less-competent village choirs!’ Next year we plan to re-visit St Botolph’s, Lullingstone, combining

morning service there with a visit to nearby Lullingstone Roman Villa, which boasts one of the earliest Christian ‘house churches’ in Europe.

SalisburyAdvent Carol ServiceThe Salisbury Branch of the Prayer Book Society held its eighth Advent Carol Service on the day before Advent Sunday. This year, for the fi rst time, it took place at St Catherine’s Church, Netherhampton. The Vice-Chairman of the branch, Miss Sheila Houliston,

and her sister Miss Eileen Houliston compiled a varied programme of Advent carols and hymns. Readings were from the King James Bible and the church was fi lled with branch members singing enthusiastically. The bells were rung before the service, which was conducted by the priest-in-charge, the Revd Mark Wood. After the service, members adjourned to the Grasmere Hotel, Harnham, for lunch. The Chairman of the branch, Mr Ian Woodhead, said it was an excellent event, with a full church and several new members of the branch joining us. Autumn MeetingNewton Tony Village Hall was fi lled with members and friends for the autumn meeting of the Salisbury Branch of the Prayer Book Society. The Chairman opened the meeting with a report of the excellent publicity gained at the Bell Ringers’ Road Show and the success of the Society’s Annual Conference at Cirencester. The speaker, Mr Richard Seal, organist emeritus at Salisbury Cathedral from 1968–97 gave a fascinating account of the differences for an organist between versions of the Psalter. Coverdale’s translation of the Psalms (Prayer Book) – beautiful, traditional and not pointed. The Revised Psalter – clearer and pointed, although he often ignored or altered the pointing. The Alternative Service Book – not easy to sing, lines too short, it was meant to be said. At question time Mr Seal described the girls’ choir which he founded in 1991. He found girls keener and harder working than boys. Their sounds are different so they do not sing together, except at big festivals. The speaker was thanked by branch committee member Mike Rowlandson. After tea, Evensong at St Andrew’s Church, Newton Tony was conducted by Mr H. C. Head.The Chairman of the branch Mr Ian Woodhead said ‘This well-attended meeting was enthusiastically received and obviously fascinated our audience.’

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BlackburnSaturday 9 May 2009.11.00 a.m. Blackburn Cathedral, Branch Festival. Choral Eucharist sung by Octavius. Celebrant: the Rt Revd the Bishop of Blackburn; Preacher: the Dean of Westminster (the Very Revd Dr John Hall).

Sunday 14 June 20096.30 p.m. All Saints’, Pendleton.Evensong with refreshments afterwards.

ExeterIn the Spring of 2007, Dr Judith Maltby of Corpus Christi, Oxford, gave a talk on the history of The Book of Common Prayer, from ‘Cranmer to the Commonwealth’ in Exeter Cathedral. The evening began with Evensong in the Choir, followed by a short organ recital, then the talk in the Chapter House. A reception in the refectory concluded the evening. We are delighted that Dr Jeremy Gregory of Manchester University has agreed to give a talk in the spring of 2009 on the next stage of the BCP history, from ‘The Restoration to the end of the XVII century’.It is hoped for the use of the cathedral again and to arrange a similar programme to the one in 2007. Members and friends are most welcome to attend and more details are available from the Branch Secretary on 01548 580615. (The date of this event had not been decided at the time of going to press.)

GuildfordSaturday 14 March 2009. 4.00 p.m. Charterhouse. The Lent Service at Charterhouse is to be held on a slightly earlier date to avoid clashing with a service in Oxford commemorating the anniversary of Cranmer’s martyrdom.

Saturday 13 June 2009. 2.30 p.m. Charterhouse. The AGM will be held at Charterhouse and will be followed by Evening Prayer in the Founder’s Chapel.

LeicesterSunday 15 March 20094.00 p.m. Choral Evensong at

Swithland St Leonard. Gary Lee, Lay Reader and former Diocesan Funding Director, will preach. Parking is available in Main Street outside the church. Refreshments will be provided after the service.

Thursday 23 April 2009.7.30 p.m. St. George’s Day celebrated at St Mary de Castro, Leicester. Everyone present receives a red rose. Prayer Book Society members have been invited to attend this event.

Saturday 2 May 2009.3.00 p.m. St Bartholomew’s, Kirby Muxloe. The Revd Tom Ringland will lead the service and Mr Peter Webster will play the organ. Refreshments follow at the end of the service.

Saturday 9 May 2009.10.30 a.m.–12.30 p.m. Coffee morning hosted by Derek Lewin. PBS member Derek Lewin kindly hosts his annual coffee morning (bring and buy and raffl e) for our Leicestershire Branch at his home, ‘The Firs’, Mill Road, Arnesby, Leicester, LE8 5WG

(0116 2478574).

Monday 29 June 2009.7.30 p.m. St Peter’s Day at Mount Sorrel Church. Prayer Book Society members are warmly invited to attend the Patronal Festival. July fi eld trip. Date and venues to be confi rmed in a separate mailing.

ManchesterSaturday 7 February 2009. St Anne’s, Tottington. Time and details to be announced.

Saturday 2 May 2009.St James’, Hope, Salford. Time and details to be announced.

NorwichWe have arranged a further visit to Stanta (the Stanford Battle Area) following our very successful visit in 2007, and plan to see the other two churches at Tottington and Stanford with Evensong in West Tofts again. The proposed date is 18 April 2009 (this could be changed for operational reasons).

29

Forthcoming Events

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All visits by appointment only.

E-mail: rachdcurator@tiscali.co.uk

Tel:01264 773144 (Ext) 4248

Contact: The Curator, Mr David Blake,Museum of Army Chaplaincy,

Amport House, Amport,ANDOVER, Hants, SP11 8BG

The Museum of Army Chaplaincy

31

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