›

Ship of Fools: St Peter, Tawstock, England

The Mystery WorshipperThe Mystery Worshipper Shipmate
edited September 2020 in The Mystery Worshipper

imageShip of Fools: St Peter, Tawstock, England

A parody of Mattins – with heart in hand

Read the full Mystery Worshipper report here


Comments

  • Alan29Alan29 Shipmate
    Hymns? Singing is forbidden in England.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    Yes, I wondered about that. Maybe they were breaking the law in a specific and limited way, like the government?
    :wink:

    Also - the officiant was not vested, so may perhaps have been (say) one of the churchwardens, authorised to take non-Eucharistic services? This is becoming more common in rural multi-church benefices.

    27 is a fair-sized congregation for a country church, especially in these days of Ye Plague, though I'm not sure it's entirely fair to say that the service might be intended to bore children...I'd like to know a bit more about the service itself, as it sounds as though it might have been a modified or shortened form of BCP Mattins. Rural churches often have to try to strike a balance between traditional and more contemporary forms of worship - not an easy task.

    Given the difficulties of the time, and the fact that many (most?) Sunday Schools/Clubs etc. are not functioning, 7 Small People in church is encouraging.

    BTW, welcome back @Urganda - keep up the good work!
  • UrgandaUrganda Shipmate
    We sang in masks
    I think it was shortened BCP Mattins (with added Gospel)
  • Alan29Alan29 Shipmate
    Urganda wrote: »
    We sang in masks
    I think it was shortened BCP Mattins (with added Gospel)

    Still not allowed even in masks.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    I'm afraid those are indeed the instructions, despite the *government's* example of selective law-breaking!

    I think a shortened form of Mattins is not uncommon these days in country parishes, where a Eucharist is not possible. It's perhaps at least within the spirit of the rubrics, if not the letter, to modify according to circumstances.
  • UrgandaUrganda Shipmate
    Wouldn't it be nice if we were allowed to think for ourselves?
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Urganda wrote: »
    Wouldn't it be nice if we were allowed to think for ourselves?

    You are. However, you don't get to make your own laws.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    Just so - but, just for clarification, are you @Urganda referring to the mandatory wearing of masks, and no congregational singing, or to the (possibly unofficial, but common) modification of a BCP service?
  • Amanda B ReckondwythAmanda B Reckondwyth Shipmate
    Let's be careful not to let this thread wander away from Urganda's experience at this service specifically, to a discussion of the ban on congregational singing and the mandatory wearing of masks, generally.

    @Amanda B Reckondwyth
    Lead Editor, Mystery Worship.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    Certainly, Miss Amanda, but I did wonder whether the MWer was perhaps not too much in favour of altering/shortening a prescribed form of service.

    BCP Mattins can be a tad long-winded, so, if sometimes there are Small Christians in church, ISTM legitimate to do some judicial pruning.

    Using the Sunday Eucharist Gospel, for example, also allows some week-by-week continuity, if this is read each Sunday in each of the Benefice's churches, no matter what sort of service is being held.

    Perhaps this practice is being followed in the Two Rivers Mission Community (lovely name!), of which this church is a part.
Sign In or Register to comment.