Categories: uncategorized
Date: 04 January 2010 06:04:36
The three kings arrived at the crib early - conveniently on a Sunday. Today, I think the vestry group had the most productive time, illustrating the arrival of the kings, the gifts they brought, and giving serious consideration to which gifts they could bring. Meanwhile, our service appeared to progress with lightning speed, despite (or perhaps because of) the cold. 'Bread is blessed and broken' (Iona) was a simple, but effective anthem for our first foray, without choir practice, after Christmas. Several people said how much they appreciated the organ interlude in 'We three kings' (Hopkins, Common Praise). By the evening, we were up to usual form, with a complete Festival Evensong for Epiphany. Although the lower parts had to tone down their enthusiasm in order to provide a balanced choir, due to several soprano absences. The Sweeney responses and Stanford in C were standard fare; 'Eastern Monarchs' (Lang) sung effectively in unison. It was just a pity that we could not fit our warm, wooly winter coats underneath our cassocks. Next week, I'm bringing a hot water bottle!