Ship of Fools: St David's, Stanwell, Surrey, England
The Mystery Worshipper
Shipmate
Ship of Fools: St David's, Stanwell, Surrey, England
Advent vigil mass on a cold, rainy evening – but Jesus didn’t come so that we could celebrate and feast
Read the full Mystery Worshipper report here
Comments
East-ish, sort of...
But there's a St David's church here in Kent - it's part of an Anglican Team Parish, and was, I believe, originally built by the Methodists as a Local Ecumenical Project (Parish? - I'm not quite sure what the P stands for!).
It may be that these churches were financed/founded/instigated by people with Welsh connections, I suppose.
The other two churches in the Team are St William (a local saint, but believed to have been from Scotland), and St Alban (England's first martyr), so maybe St David was chosen to make up the trio!
But here's something I truly don't understand. The original draft of the report identified the church as being in "Stanwell, Staines, Middlesex." Fact-checking, I see that the Wikipedia entry for Stanwell identifies it as being in Surrey. And I so I edited the report accordingly.
Fact-checking Staines, I see that its Encyclopedia Britannica entry identifies it as being in the "administrative county of Surrey, historic county of Middlesex."
The church's website linked to in the report (and by Alan29) identifies the church as being in "Stanwell Parish, Middlesex" and its mailing address as " Stanwell, Staines, Middlesex."
So where is Stanwell, and where is Staines? Should I delete the county reference altogether (I was tempted to)?
Staines is deffo in Surrey - I went to Uni not far from there.
It was seeing the reference to Kent and to the east of England that prompted me to put in the link. Residents of classy Surrey would shudder at being associated with the likes of Essex (where apparently Jesus was not born for the lack of three wise men and a virgin!)
Originally the USA, I'm afraid!
Liturgy geek alert - according to the regulations attached to the modern Mass and Lectionary at least the Alleluia (and Lenten replacement) and Holy, holy etc have to be sung at all masses.
Well it looks like you've stumbled over a bone of contention. The area was historically, it seems, in Middlesex but has been put relatively recently into Surrey. It looks like some like to emphasise that they are still Middlesex.
I'd probably stick with Middlesex of that's what they want to use.
Love that stuff too ...... catholic in all things.
However, I really wanted to comment on the style of the church which reminded me of a number of post-war Roman Catholic churches I have been in - designed as a sort of segment of a circle rather than a standard rectangle. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool is probably the most famous example, but I was in the parish of one in Leicester (corner of Uppingham Road and Goodwood Road) whose name escapes me. A strange design and not one I've seen in churches of other denominations - expecting, of course,, to be corrected by others here.
It's many years since I did Latin, but my recollection is that the disputandum means arguing, discussing etc rather than accounting.
My point, though, was that I'd rather attend a low Mass without music than to sit through the stuff commonly heard in Catholic churches. The Wikipedia entry for "Shine Jesus Shine" quotes Damian Thompson, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald, as saying that it is "the most loathed of all happy-clappy hymns."
Judgements of taste of course go both ways.
Damian Thompson ...... snigger.
But - whence the dedication to Dewi Sant? It is indeed unusual, outside Wales, I believe, and one presumes some Welsh connection, somewhere.
Just as an aside, is there a reason why you don't include the postcode?
I know it isn't a thing worldwide, but here in the UK it is probably the easiest way to identify the location of a particular church.
I just looked up the "official" version of the address, and it looks like it doesn't include the county at all.
English counties are pretty stupid, but in my opinion you'd be better either using the address supplied by the church in question or the "official" one supplied by the post office.
I know it is just a small editorial decision but people do get touchy about such things.
No, I can't. GDPR forbids me from knowing the true identities of our reporters, including their e-mail addresses. This adds a level of difficulty to the editing process that didn't exist pre-GDPR, where I knew who the reporters were and could communicate freely with them. I have to rely on my judgment and common sense when resolving issues of ambiguity. Several sources I found via fact-checking stated that Stanwell is in Surrey, not Middlesex. And so that's what I went with.
At any rate, let's leave questions re editing decisions for the Styx, or for a Higher Authority.
Via fact-checking, I do rely on information found on the church's website, if it has one, to verify or (sometimes) to flesh out data supplied by the reporter. In this case, since there was a contradiction between what the reporter wrote and what the church's website said, on the one hand, and what Wikipedia and other sources reported, on the other, I made the decision I thought best.
I don't see how knowing the postcode would enhance the reporter's account of his or her experience at the service attended. At any rate, I've learned my lesson. Miss Amanda's New Year's Resolution No. 1: Omit references to counties. (She's also resolved other things that she won't bore you with here.)
But, as stated above, let's take questions re editing decisions to the Styx, shall we?
Don’t I know it. I live in an area where people have argued for the last 50+ years whether it’s South London or Surrey
And great was the rejoicing in these parts when our postcodes were changed from L for Liverpool to CH for Chester. Sadly the anticipated reductions in insurance premiums didn't happen.
I suppose it depends on whether they are buying or selling property. You'd be surprised at what vendors here call Upper North Shore when it's 15km away.
And great was the rejoicing in these patts when our postcodes were changed from L for Liverpool to CH for Chester. Sadly the anticipated reductions in insurance premiums didn't happen.
Please, Miss Amanda, do keep the county in the church address for UK reports. Like the State for US reports, it provides a valuable instant reference to the appropriate part of the country.
John Holding, Host in Ecclesiantics
You presumably went to a University that was near Stained but on the other side of River. The other side of the river is deffo in Surrey, Staines is deffo in Middlesex.