Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 January 2008 16:53:07
The vicar had a surprise after choir practice - as we held a celebration of his first year in post. It was like the feeding of the 5,000 as what seemed like a tiny iced fruit cake was cut up and passed around the assembled crowd with enough to eat and more left over.
We also celebrated the vicar's birthday on Sunday by singing the Sweeney Gloria to a Jazz rhythm (he would have liked a whole Jazz Eucharist, but this is Creamtealand where we don't take very kindly to too many enthusiastic innovations all at once). The anthem, 'O for a closer walk' (Stanford), seemed very ordinary by comparison. It was the children of the vestry group who stole the show, however, with their feather-encrusted Holy Spirit doves and a rather bedraggled newly-baptised teddy bear.
We were surprised to see a congregation at Evensong, as the heavens decided to open just as people would have been putting on their coats to come to church. Those who made the effort were able to sing two Psalms (46 and 47), the first being particularly appropriate to the weather outside, and hear 'Listen sweet dove' (Ives) plus the upbeat voluntary, Toccata in Seven - Rutter, presumably another attempt to remind the vicar he is getting older.