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| St Mary's, Newington |
The first impression of my new parish is of feeling loved and wanted by a whole group of people and for what seems like no reason whatsoever. On a stormy Tuesday night they came to my putting-in service, having prepared mountains of Jambalaya rice and patties, all togged up in their Sunday best and ready to sing their hearts out. Bottles of champagne appeared on the doorstep. Afterwards, the party in the church lasted until midnight. Wonderful.
I didn't invite anyone to my induction service at St Mary's, Newington. I've had my fill of polite rejections since resigning from St Paul's – too many unconvincing smiles in the street by former friends and colleagues who suddenly wouldn't break step to say hello. It is a miserable thing to have to face but, as I went through the long list of people I invited to my induction at St Paul's in 2009, I just couldn't work out who among them were still my friends. And I didn't have the emotional strength to decode all those nicely written excuses that middle-class people would come up with for not attending.Grandpère and I had a similar experience in the groves of academe when he was a somewhat unwilling whistle-blower for telling the truth upon being asked. Some folks wouldn't even look at us. Others gave us a cold greeting and made it clear that no conversation would follow. The shunning hurt, but, since I never thought of any of those people as friends anyway, it was not as painful as if friends suddenly stopped speaking to us. GP suffered more than I, because he worked at the university and was demoted. Had he not been tenured, he probably would have been fired. Two of his co-workers without tenure were terminated.
I laughed at Giles' references to 'the pathologies of the English boarding school system', Philip Larkin's poem 'This Be the Verse' on 'mum and dad', and the establishment. One way or another, 'they' get us all.
Read Giles' entire column. It is excellent.
Giles' series on his life in the new parish is titled Loose Canon. And why not?
UPDATE: From it's margaret in the comments - Psalm 55 ( a portion thereof)
For had it been an adversary who taunted me,
then I could have borne it; *
or had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me,
then I could have hidden from him.
But it was you, a man after my own heart, *
my companion, my own familiar friend.
We took sweet counsel together, *
and walked with the throng in the house of God.
It was excellent, indeed. I made the mistake of reading some of the comments left by the mostly unidentifiable. I never cease to be amazed at the nastiness anonymity affords. I guess I should learn to get over that!
ReplyDeletesusan s., I find the comments at the Guardian are some of the worst
ReplyDeleteyeppa --this is where the psalm that says --you were my own familiar friend, we walked together in the house of God.... and then BLAM.
ReplyDeleteyeppa. it hurts.
This was quite good. Thanks Grandmere.
margaret, you know.
ReplyDeleteEchoing you and susan s. it was excellent indeed! as is "This Be The Verse."
ReplyDeleteAnd you have to love "the putting in service" lasting from X to midnight complete with champagne on the doorstep. How fun!! Makes me think of "We welcome the newly baptized into the house of God."
It is so too bad that our society can be replete with snubbery for all the wrong reasons. I have learned over the years to stay the course for what is just. I hope that we too will remain "loose canons."
And how about the jambalaya, Bonnie? Jambalaya and champagne. It happens around here, too, at wedding receptions and other celebrations.
ReplyDelete"Nobody draws blood like academics," said Vartan Gregorian.
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, before Tom worked in higher education, I had such idealized concept of life in the academy that I was shocked when I met the reality. Gregorian is spot on
ReplyDeleteYes! jambalaya and champagne. It also made me think of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE
Friends of Grandmere Mimi should converge upon St. John's Parish in early fall armed with cases of champagne for The First Annual Loose Canons party.
Bonnie, that's the perfect song. I have it on an old vinyl album, and I have the song in my iTunes collection, too.
ReplyDeleteHere it is: Psalm 55 ( a portion thereof)
ReplyDeleteFor had it been an adversary who taunted me,
then I could have borne it; *
or had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me,
then I could have hidden from him.
But it was you, a man after my own heart, *
my companion, my own familiar friend.
We took sweet counsel together, *
and walked with the throng in the house of God.
Thanks very much, margaret. I believe I will add the words from the Psalm in an update to my post.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely service. As Lay Chair of the Deanery, I attended it, and was part of a very packed congregation. There was an unidentified bishop in the congregation: he wore a jumper to conceal his purple clerical shirt but was rumbled anyway. I have no idea who it was.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that really annoyed me was the fact that the Area Dean, who is my co-chair of Deanery Synod, did not involve me in welcoming Giles into the Deanery and his new parish. I have complained about that in an official forum last week and I suspect that some action will be taken on that.
I didn't eat anything in the bunfight as it was in a very small room at the side of the church: his parish hall has been condemned as unsafe. I did have a glass of very good wine, though, and connected with lots of people you only see at services such as this one.
The Bishop's sermon was better than most of his offerings. And everyone should get a gander at the flying pyx, which is suspended from the canopy above the high altar and, when required, is lowered by a cord, rotating around and flaring out the fabric cover like a witch riding a broomstick.
The backstory to the parish is very heartening: up until around 10 years ago, the parish was very much against woman priests. Now there is a woman curate (who is delightful) and the parish is fully inclusive.
Loose cannon? My sense is Giles and George (Bishop Packard), Gene, margaret and others are more 'Blessings at Large' but the 'vested interests' of which still shamelessly calls themselves the 'official' Church, aren't up to such bounty.
ReplyDeleteChris, thanks so much for the on-the-scene account of the wonderful celebration. And what good news that the parish is fully inclusive. If you find out who the bishop was, please let us know.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I think the 'loose canon' play on words is just right for Giles. You are right; Giles, along with the others you name, are indeed 'blessings-at-large' in the churches.