For the past fourteen years this column has been published as being a View from the Pew, but as memories of church interiors begin to fade I am now beginning to wonder if the column would be better titled as being View from the Churchyard. On the other hand, given the alacrity with which the novelty of ‘Virtual Religion’ has been taken up by top church authorities, it can only be a matter of time before a guitar playing parson, pens a first line for a trendy hymn with a catchy tune, that might go something along the lines of:
“When lockdown finds you lonely in your room, Seek solace sure, by logging into Zoom”.
But: as worshippers have always known, you do not need a building in which to express those existential ‘feelings’ about origins and meanings which come naturally to the human mind. Religious buildings have been closed throughout history and the Old Testament records many times when people were denied opportunity to worship where and when they wanted.
The early Christians too were denied access to Synagogues and so went to numerous other places until they could build their own Churches. Catholic Priest and Monk, Martin Luther was denied access to Catholic Churches, Baptists were denied access to buildings taken over by Henry VIII, and the Anglican Priest John Wesley was later denied access to those very same buildings. In Wesley’s case, he was banned for preaching a scriptural message to newly industrialised rural folk that was seen as a threat by the established order. The ban on Wesley however resulted in the spectacular growth of the Methodist Church which, in turn, contributed to the establishment of groups such as the Co-op Movement, Trades Unions, and the Labour Party. Personally I find it ironic that, three hundred years later, the hierarchical Establishment of the C of E now appears to draw its main ideas and modish values, from the self-same groups whose existence is owed to the work of the man they rejected, viz. John Wesley. What a turnaround! Truly, as wrote William Cowper (1731–1800), ‘God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform”.
But mention of mystery and earlier mention of Zoom, reminds me that an informant was watching Zoom and was astonished when he heard it announced that no Church in this Benefice will be opening until August at the earliest. This was confirmed by an email on the very day that my wife and I went to the re-opened Trumpet Inn for their fish pie speciality. In the true spirit of innovation and enterprise the staff there had worked out how to safely deal with customers, without impeding on space or losing any of the personal service people need whilst eating with friends. Needless to say, one topic of conversation was that if small spaces can be organised to meet the needs of people, why can’t the same be done in larger building with much more room and fewer people per square metre.
At the end of the meal we left the pub by an exit door in the dining room so as not to cross paths with any other visitor. Well done the Trumpet.
During the lockdown a friend has continued to send us inspiring tales of how people cope with those difficulties which arise when quangos and civil service committees fail to properly do the forward emergency planning we pay them to do.
I have known this particular friend since she was a young lady. I first met her to rehearse a vocal duet we had been asked to perform during a concert of Mozart music, but it was only when looking in my record book that I discovered the date of that Gloucester performance was 1969, 51 years ago. This came as a great surprise because …
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