Categories: uncategorized
Date: 12 October 2009 10:18:39
Went AWOL from church this week, as I sorely needed a holiday. So where did I spend it? At three other churches (well, two cathedrals and a church to be precise). Talk about a busman's holiday! Our favourite was St. Davids Cathedral, where we heard two evensongs - one sung by the boys and one by the girls. The girls' choir, unusually, is the main choir at St. Davids. It showed - as they sang with poise, while the boys sang with enthusiasm. It was very enjoyable to listen, along with a sizeable congregation, to the variety of sound. In contrast, Brecon Cathedral don't pretend to have anything other than a parish church choir (all local people, non-auditioned). Their mixed treble line have a sweet sound (although the influences of a casual pop-music style haven't been completely eradicated) and the music chosen for them to sing in the treble-only evensong was particularly fitting (much of it, I suspect, written or arranged by their own choir master). They found it harder to blend with the adults at the full evensong, where the music was rather too challenging. I was disappointed at how few there were in the congregation - a few more proud mummies wouldn't go amiss. The third church was an historic village church now in an overgrown suburb of Cardiff. A delightful vicar with a bubbly, ironic sense of humour led us through the service. The liturgy had been made very simple (rather too simple for my preference, although the congregation seemed quite happy with it) and the theology in many of the songs virtually non-existent. It seemed rather out of keeping with both the age of the building and the wisdom of the priest. However, I came out feeling refreshed and glad I'd gone, so perhaps there were other, not so obvious benefits to attending this style of church. Now, having had a good break, I'm looking forward to returning to my own church next week.