Our church has not had "live" musicians for years so we have become accustomed to singing to backing tracks (well may you wince, but it usually works quite well). In the current climate we are still including hymns and songs in worship, with words on the screen (or paper for the few who really need it) and folk are told to hum or mutter very quietly.
We've been without an organist for a year or so but our approach has been for me to Sing Very Loudly which is of course contraindicated under the current circumstances.
Since it is now allowed for a small choir to sing, with suitable distancing of course, maybe some services will become less tedious, dreary and austere and more..er.. harmonious?
Well, we hope so. We already have organ/piano music - the logistics of arranging matters so that even 1 or 2 people can sing safely are being sorted out.
Alas, the tedious stuff is provided by FatherInCharge's constant waffling introductions to prayers, readings etc., which I mentioned above.
I appreciate brief introductions to readings, rather than just where they come from: a context is helpful.
I don’t appreciate our priest’s habit of re-reading a verse of the previous hymn. Perhaps he will think he needs to read whole hymns if they are not being sung.
I appreciate brief introductions to readings, rather than just where they come from: a context is helpful.
Yes, up to a point - it's the mini-homily I get fed up with...but today, Himself gave very much shorter introductions, so I wonder if indeed the churchwarden has Had A Chat with him!
I have been to St Quacks today as we are restarting a socially distanced Sunday school. (In practice it is also now only 15 minutes.)
There is now a lectern in the chancel for the ministers, which is well over two metres from the front pews. The confession is based around the Kyrie, and the Gloria is said. The people doing the relevant bits sing the Gospel acclamation and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. As we are eastward facing the latter two are sung to the wall behind the high altar! Fr Duck has a good singing voice so this is not too much of a trial. All the organ music to cover doing things is strictly not hymn based.
One person does both readings and the psalm. The intercessions are a brief period of silent prayer with a short intro from Fr about topics.
We were done in 40 minutes. I would say that over half those in a "vulnerable" group were there.
We've moved our furniture around a bit, so that the altar is nearer to the congregation, and FatherInCharge has his own portable lectern (originally a music stand) in front of the altar (on the chancel step) so that he can be heard whilst taking the first part of the service, and preaching. He wears a neck mike.
Meanwhile, we have another portable folding lectern (a legillium, I think it's called) at the front of the nave, but to one side, for the use of the person reading the OT lesson, the Psalm, and the NT reading. The same person also usually leads the intercessions, and the legillium is equipped with an adjustable mike.
As we are now live-streaming Sunday Mass on The Book Of The Visage, this arrangement works fairly well, and social distancing is maintained.
We are going to try having 1 or 2 people singing during Communion. If that works (the acoustics may be a problem), I may suggest having the Gospel Alleluia, Sanctus/Benedictus, and Agnus Dei sung as well.
ISTM we are all Very Busy Bunnies, finding out what works best for us in line with the guidance we have, depending on our country and/or denominational jurisdiction...
We do not, the PM is supposed to be making a statement at lunchtime and hopefully the detailed guidance will follow soon after. Here in Caerphilly, which has just gone into semi-lockdown, places of worship are remaining open “for now”, as in fact they are in Bolton where things are stricter I believe. As ever, the devil will lie in the detail; the CofE is “seeking clarification”.
A Tweet I have seen thanks to the lawandreligion blog
Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) Tweeted: After contact with Government we hear that there is no change to guidance on places of worship. Worship is the work of God - not a social gathering - and gives the strength to love and serve. https://twitter.com/JustinWelby/status/1303613679901061121?s=20
A Tweet I have seen thanks to the lawandreligion blog
Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) Tweeted: After contact with Government we hear that there is no change to guidance on places of worship. Worship is the work of God - not a social gathering - and gives the strength to love and serve. https://twitter.com/JustinWelby/status/1303613679901061121?s=20
Except that non-believers will regard worship services as social gatherings.
New, English, Covid rules - gatherings of more than six people are verboten. Schools, workplaces, organized sports, and any number of other things are excluded from the ban.
Including Places of Worship, provided they are Covid-safe.
Covid-safe, or Covid-secure, is of course a misnomer. What it actually means is "the business / organization has modified their normal practices to reduce the risk of transmission", including 2m separation of people where possible etc.
But 30 people 2m apart in a church is still a more risky activity than 8 people 2m apart in a garden.
New, English, Covid rules - gatherings of more than six people are verboten. Schools, workplaces, organized sports, and any number of other things are excluded from the ban.
Apologies. I was forgetting for a moment that not everyone lives in the UK. Even so, I thought I was coining a phrase, only to hear it on TV, used, I think, by BJ himself.
Yes, it does - despite the urgent pleading a while back to 'Bung Back A Beer For Boris (or Britain)'.
O, and weren't we told at some point that it was an Englishman's inalienable right (or some such tosh) to enjoy a pint with his mates?
I'm beginning to wonder (very naughtily) whether we could get away with singing congregationally in church, on the basis that we'd only be breaking the law in a specific and limited way?
But no. I think we have more sense than to do that, at any rate just yet.
(If the were go ing to make is more psychologically “sticky” they should have gone with the rule of either 3 or 7.)
My fathers CofE church did zoom services through lockdown (and encouraged them to share bread and wine Along with the communion service I am not sure exactly what the theological status was).
They are back to services in church limited to 30, 2metre distanced, face mask, hand sanitiser and spaced along the communion rail to receive in one kind only (wafer) given into the hands with tongs - then return to seat to consume.
Each Australian state has its own rules. We (North Queensland) had to Zoom using "holy karaoke" - downloaded Youtube or other recorded music - from early March, then from early July we could record/stream 5 live musos. Then end July, real church, max 30 congregants, then increased to 50, the current limit in our building. We can have another 30 in an outdoor covered area, 4 in the kitchen and 3 in each lavatory 🙂 So we have to hold two morning services to fit everyone in, and I have to break my custom of baptisms in a Sunday service, they need to be on Saturday or outside of Sunday service times. Lessons learned from Zooming will stay with us, we still broadcast on Vimeo and burn to DVD for vulnerable members. People who would never set foot in the church, participate in the online services.
The Uniting Church Assembly gave permission for online communion during the pandemic. This isn't the place to discuss its merits, except to say that Australia's finest theological minds formulated that permission. This will horrify some of you; others might find it a helpful pointer. We have adopted them because intinction isn't allowed. Were we to use wee glass cuppies, they would have to be washed at 60C.
There hasn't been a case of COVID-19 within 1,000km of us since Easter, so our situation is very different to many Shipmates'.
Pianist + her husband (so in the same bubble) sang two worship ditties, with my fellow-Reader some 2 metres away, also singing (behind his mask).
Alas, fellow-Reader was completely inaudible, but the other two sounded fine. They were facing at 90 degrees to the congregation, and I don't think they were trying to sing through their masks (I had to leave the church to Pay a Visit - let the elderly understand), so didn't take all that much notice...
A modest start. A 'proper' hymn next time, perhaps ?
.
This morning six choir members who have been rehearsing on Zoom these past months sang for the first service back in church, well spaced out in the chancel.
We sang two hymns:
Angel voices ever singing
O praise ye the Lord
Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus ( Addington Service)
During Communion:
Among us and before us
Shout for joy, both from the Iona community.
We're still not permitted live singing so it was recordings of me singing today. A few hiccoughs as I hadn't had a chance to test the equipment (and for various reasons the sound system is a bodged together mess) but by the 3rd hymn all was as it should be. I do have my reservations about whether forcing the congregation to sit through 5 rounds of me singing solo every Sunday is the right way to go.
Is this for an audio service? I get recordings of hymns from You tube and only have a recording of self singing to husband's accompaniment when the hymn I want isn't available (or the only recording is even worse than we would be - actually we are not too bad, husband is professional!) The elder who helps me put the services together - doing the technical wizardry with my recorded files, -was all for using groovy new hymns at first (well, what he thinks is groovy and new - about 1980s or 90s) but I have convinced him that while things are so strange for people anyway, introducing new hymns is not a good idea. This meant that I didn't have to critique his taste!
It's for in church - no organist currently so our pre-lockdown practice was me leading unaccompanied singing. Generally I pull a midi file from hymnary.org or a score from musescore, tweak it a bit and record in audacity. I'm considering putting a shout out on our facebook page and asking people to record themselves singing along to one of the midi files and then blending the recordings. I've done it with multiple recordings of myself to add the harmonies so doing it with other voices shouldn't be too hard.
Ah-ha! See how the *government* has brainwashed you, as you repeat their slogan even before they've released it...!
I thought the slogan was "hands-face-space"? (Which makes me feel like it's an extra verse for head, shoulders, knees and toes)
And Toe Knee Hand Cock.
You forgot Arriba Abajo Al centro Y Pa’dentro
Anyway on a more relevant note St Posh's locally has a "professional" (semi, paid pocket money) choir and I was there for Evensong today. It was very weird though my singing along to YouTube church annoys even me so it was better than listening to myself.
When I was an eager young lay person doing my first home communions-by-extension, my incumbent had a 'bread only' box for me to take out and about. In the vestry, when he was preparing it for me, he used to dab the consecrated bread with a glass stopper dipped into the consecrated wine. Unnecessary, perhaps, theologically. But it seemed significantly important to the recipients; and it felt as if we really were sharing the wine, too.
I could post in it, for a sufficiently flexible definition of "today". Though actually I've been singing at church since early April when the producers of the provincial online worship figured out how to include hymns.
When I was an eager young lay person doing my first home communions-by-extension, my incumbent had a 'bread only' box for me to take out and about. In the vestry, when he was preparing it for me, he used to dab the consecrated bread with a glass stopper dipped into the consecrated wine. Unnecessary, perhaps, theologically. But it seemed significantly important to the recipients; and it felt as if we really were sharing the wine, too.
I'm trying to reclaim that practice in this diocese -sadly "intinction" as a word has been hi-jacked by the post-HIV practice of dipping grubby nose-wiping fingers in the wine
Comments
We've been without an organist for a year or so but our approach has been for me to Sing Very Loudly which is of course contraindicated under the current circumstances.
Well, we hope so. We already have organ/piano music - the logistics of arranging matters so that even 1 or 2 people can sing safely are being sorted out.
Alas, the tedious stuff is provided by FatherInCharge's constant waffling introductions to prayers, readings etc., which I mentioned above.
Austere is Good...
I don’t appreciate our priest’s habit of re-reading a verse of the previous hymn. Perhaps he will think he needs to read whole hymns if they are not being sung.
Yes, up to a point - it's the mini-homily I get fed up with...but today, Himself gave very much shorter introductions, so I wonder if indeed the churchwarden has Had A Chat with him!
No - but he did have quite a long chat with me after service, as we had several matters to discuss!
I'm not complaining - he does a really good job as a prayerful pastor, but I just wish that sometimes he'd let the liturgy speak for itself IYSWIM.
There is now a lectern in the chancel for the ministers, which is well over two metres from the front pews. The confession is based around the Kyrie, and the Gloria is said. The people doing the relevant bits sing the Gospel acclamation and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. As we are eastward facing the latter two are sung to the wall behind the high altar! Fr Duck has a good singing voice so this is not too much of a trial. All the organ music to cover doing things is strictly not hymn based.
One person does both readings and the psalm. The intercessions are a brief period of silent prayer with a short intro from Fr about topics.
We were done in 40 minutes. I would say that over half those in a "vulnerable" group were there.
We've moved our furniture around a bit, so that the altar is nearer to the congregation, and FatherInCharge has his own portable lectern (originally a music stand) in front of the altar (on the chancel step) so that he can be heard whilst taking the first part of the service, and preaching. He wears a neck mike.
Meanwhile, we have another portable folding lectern (a legillium, I think it's called) at the front of the nave, but to one side, for the use of the person reading the OT lesson, the Psalm, and the NT reading. The same person also usually leads the intercessions, and the legillium is equipped with an adjustable mike.
As we are now live-streaming Sunday Mass on The Book Of The Visage, this arrangement works fairly well, and social distancing is maintained.
We are going to try having 1 or 2 people singing during Communion. If that works (the acoustics may be a problem), I may suggest having the Gospel Alleluia, Sanctus/Benedictus, and Agnus Dei sung as well.
ISTM we are all Very Busy Bunnies, finding out what works best for us in line with the guidance we have, depending on our country and/or denominational jurisdiction...
He puts it quite well, though...
What is the New Rule of Six?
New, English, Covid rules - gatherings of more than six people are verboten. Schools, workplaces, organized sports, and any number of other things are excluded from the ban.
Covid-safe, or Covid-secure, is of course a misnomer. What it actually means is "the business / organization has modified their normal practices to reduce the risk of transmission", including 2m separation of people where possible etc.
But 30 people 2m apart in a church is still a more risky activity than 8 people 2m apart in a garden.
I thought the slogan was "hands-face-space"? (Which makes me feel like it's an extra verse for head, shoulders, knees and toes)
*sigh*
They're getting into my Head, and making it feel funny-peculiar...
And Toe Knee Hand Cock.
Still less risky than God-knows-how-many people in a crowded pub. At least in church we are all masked, fairly quiet and generally sober.
Yes, indeed. And we all know this, which makes the government's nonsense even more contemptible.
O, and weren't we told at some point that it was an Englishman's inalienable right (or some such tosh) to enjoy a pint with his mates?
I'm beginning to wonder (very naughtily) whether we could get away with singing congregationally in church, on the basis that we'd only be breaking the law in a specific and limited way?
But no. I think we have more sense than to do that, at any rate just yet.
@Alan29 was of course referring to what some cultures call a rooster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hancock
But you knew that...
My fathers CofE church did zoom services through lockdown (and encouraged them to share bread and wine Along with the communion service I am not sure exactly what the theological status was).
They are back to services in church limited to 30, 2metre distanced, face mask, hand sanitiser and spaced along the communion rail to receive in one kind only (wafer) given into the hands with tongs - then return to seat to consume.
The Uniting Church Assembly gave permission for online communion during the pandemic. This isn't the place to discuss its merits, except to say that Australia's finest theological minds formulated that permission.
This will horrify some of you; others might find it a helpful pointer. We have adopted them because intinction isn't allowed. Were we to use wee glass cuppies, they would have to be washed at 60C.
There hasn't been a case of COVID-19 within 1,000km of us since Easter, so our situation is very different to many Shipmates'.
Part of the COVID-safe industry plan to which we sign up.
Pianist + her husband (so in the same bubble) sang two worship ditties, with my fellow-Reader some 2 metres away, also singing (behind his mask).
Alas, fellow-Reader was completely inaudible, but the other two sounded fine. They were facing at 90 degrees to the congregation, and I don't think they were trying to sing through their masks (I had to leave the church to Pay a Visit - let the elderly understand), so didn't take all that much notice...
A modest start. A 'proper' hymn next time, perhaps
This morning six choir members who have been rehearsing on Zoom these past months sang for the first service back in church, well spaced out in the chancel.
We sang two hymns:
Angel voices ever singing
O praise ye the Lord
Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus ( Addington Service)
During Communion:
Among us and before us
Shout for joy, both from the Iona community.
What a privilege to sing again.
(Among us and before us...is one of my favourites
It's for in church - no organist currently so our pre-lockdown practice was me leading unaccompanied singing. Generally I pull a midi file from hymnary.org or a score from musescore, tweak it a bit and record in audacity. I'm considering putting a shout out on our facebook page and asking people to record themselves singing along to one of the midi files and then blending the recordings. I've done it with multiple recordings of myself to add the harmonies so doing it with other voices shouldn't be too hard.
You forgot Arriba Abajo Al centro Y Pa’dentro
Anyway on a more relevant note St Posh's locally has a "professional" (semi, paid pocket money) choir and I was there for Evensong today. It was very weird though my singing along to YouTube church annoys even me so it was better than listening to myself.
I could post in it, for a sufficiently flexible definition of "today". Though actually I've been singing at church since early April when the producers of the provincial online worship figured out how to include hymns.
I'm trying to reclaim that practice in this diocese -sadly "intinction" as a word has been hi-jacked by the post-HIV practice of dipping grubby nose-wiping fingers in the wine