Rambling Rector

With Trinity Sunday behind us, it's now a time of gathering expectation as we run like newly shorn sheep for the open gateway that leads into summer's meadow. Having been through my first New England winter, I now realize why Rhode Islanders make the most of opportunities to relax from June - September.

Changing gear is essential. For many years I would take the whole of August off. I didn't really have much choice. Even while working as a priest much of my work involved therapy, either my own or someone else's. The convention among therapists in the UK is that August is a therapy free month, when all therapists disappear from the world and hang out on the mythic island of Regression.

I feel I got cheated last year by arriving at the beginning of June. This meant that I spent last summer working away the anxiety of new beginnings and wondering where everyone else was. This year I intend, like everyone else, to take advantage of the opportunity to shift down a gear or three. During July and August we will move to a new summer schedule for Sunday involving only one Eucharist in the morning at 9am. We will introduce a less formal Eucharist in the evening at 5.30pm. The purpose of introducing a 5.30 evening service is to enable folk, especially those with young families to have the Sunday free and yet be able to worship on a weekly basis.

The style of the service will follow the more experimental structure that some of you experienced with the Lenten Wednesday evening service that preceded dinner and the Lent Course. When humidity is high it may even be possible to worship in the garden. My hope is to be able to offer a style of worship that is spiritually satisfying yet more easily accessible to younger people and children. I do hope that a good cross section of parishioners will find this a much-needed change of pace for the summer, especially those of you with young families.

A second change in June will be the movement of the nave altar further down into the church by simply removing and relocating the two front rows of pews, and turning the side aisle pews sideways to create a three-sided square with the altar in the middle. The thinking behind this is to offer an experience of one possible design for relocating the present nave altar from its current position, hard abutting the chancel steps. The beauty of this experiment is that it is cost neutral and completely reversible. Experience of this experiment together with some earlier designs for relocation of the high altar, drawn up between 2000 and 2003 by the then Worship Space Committee will form the basis for a congregational survey of opinion as to the final placement of the altar, in the fall.

I am tempted to reduce the frequency of my weekly e-message. Given what I have already said it might make sense. That's the pro. The con is that E-News remains my best way of keeping up a low intensity communication with everyone. So haven't decided yet what to do - so watch this space.

See you in Church this Sunday, the Choir's last for the summer.
 

Mark+