[Magdalen] Crazy Sunday schedule

[anthony clavier]

While my older son Mark writes books on priesthood, Stewards of God'
Delight: Becoming Priests of the New Creation, has just been published here
and in England. No doubt you could teach him a thing or two. Michael.

He moves to Oxford at the beginning of January to be Vice Principal of St.
Stephen's House.

Do have a blessed Christmas.

Tony

On Tuesday, December 22, 2015, Michael Bishop <rev at michaelbishop.name
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rev at michaelbishop.name');>> wrote:

> Oops! I claimed to be taking two services at the same time on the second
> Sunday of the month - I can't do that!
> I celebrate the 11am at Radbourne and a retired priest officates at
> Trusley 11am!
>
> ....
> ....
> God bless
>
> Michael Bishop
> rev at michaelbishop.name
>
> Rector of Boylestone, Church Broughton, Dalbury, Longford, Long Lane,
> Sutton-on-the-Hill & Trusley
>
> Diocese of Derby, England
>
> On 22/12/2015 17:56, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
>
>> I will NEVER complain about a Sunday schedule again!!!
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 12:44 PM, Michael Bishop <rev at michaelbishop.name>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I have for 19 years been incumbent ofa group of 8 parishes. I have an
>>> associate priest on two Sundays per month and churchwardens lead morning
>>> prayer thre times perm month.
>>> The normal pattern of services is:
>>> First Sunday of the month
>>> 8am HC (said) - Church Broughton *
>>> 9.30am Mattins  - Boylestone (churchwarden)
>>> 11.00am HC - Sutton (retired priest or me)
>>> 11.15am HC (me or Retired priest) - Longford
>>> 11.00am Mattins - Trusley (Churchwarden)
>>> 3.00p.m. Evensong - Dalbury *
>>> 7.00p.m. Evensong - Long Lane *
>>>
>>> Second Sunday of the month
>>> 8.30am HC (said) - Long Lane *
>>> 9.30a. HC - Church Broughton *
>>> 11.00am HC - Radbourne *
>>> 11.00a.m. Mattins - Sutton (churchwarden)
>>> 11.00am HC - Trusley *
>>> 5.00pm HC - Boylestone *
>>> 6.30p.m. Evensong - Longford*
>>>
>>> Third Sunday of the month
>>> 8.00a.m. HC (said) Sutton *
>>> 9.30a.m. HC Church Broughton (associate priest)
>>> 9.30am Mattins  - Boylestone (churchwarden)
>>> 10.00am Informal Family Service - Longford *
>>> 11.00a.m. HC Dalbury *
>>> 12noon HC Trusley (said) *
>>> 2.30p.m. (winter) or 7.00p.m. (summer) Evensong - Long Lane
>>>
>>> Fourth Sunday of the month
>>> 8.00a.m. HC (said) Church Broughton *
>>> 9.30a.m. HC (said) - Longford (associate priest)
>>> 9.30a.m. HC - Boylestone *
>>> 11.00a.m. HC - Long Lane (associate priest)
>>> 11.00a.m. Informal Family Service - Sutton *
>>> 3.00p.m. (winter) 6.30p.m. (summer) - Evensong - Radbourne *
>>> 6.45p.m. Evensong - Trusley * in winter - churchwarden in summer
>>>
>>> Fifth Sunday of the month
>>> 10.30am United service for all 8 parishes and 2 local Methodist churches
>>> -
>>> HC * if in an Anglican church or  Methodist morning service if in
>>> Methodist
>>> church - the host officiates and the visiting minister preaches
>>> If the service has been in the Methodist church, then there is said HC*
>>> in
>>> one of the parish churches at 6.30p.m.
>>>
>>> Services marked with * are normally taken by me
>>>
>>> This programme of services works for me - and after most services I have
>>> time to stop and chate with the congregation. All congregations are aware
>>> that there could be a late start if I am delayed, but this rarely
>>> happens.
>>> Some of the congregations are very small - to be expected as our
>>> population
>>> is small.
>>> Christmas can get hectic! I have led 6 parish carol services so far and
>>> have a 7th this evening. My associate priest has led one. I have also
>>> been
>>> involved in 8 nativity play performances (5 for our 3 church schools)
>>> together with 2 school carol services. Then I will officate at a 5p.m.
>>> informal Crib Service and 10pm HC & 11.30pm HC on Christmas Eve and
>>> 9.45am
>>> HC & 11a.m. HC on Christmas Day. Others will officiate at other 10p.m. &
>>> 11.30p.m. HC on Christmas Eve and 10.15am HC on Christmas Day.
>>>
>>> I know that there will be a need to make adjustments to this schedule
>>> before I retire in about 18 months time but I have been very happy with
>>> it.
>>> No doubt if I had a wife and/or children I would see things differently.
>>> I
>>> do feel it to a great privilege to minister to all these small
>>> communities.
>>> The 8 churches spread over an area about 10 miles diameter. 6 of the
>>> churches are at least partly medieval, one  was totally rebuilt 300 years
>>> ago and one built from scratch just over 125 years ago. The tiniest
>>> congregation  (All Saints', Dalbury) can proudly claim the distinction of
>>> having in its church the oldest panel of stained glass anywhere in
>>> Britain
>>> (dating from the early 12th or late 11th century).
>>>
>>> ....
>>> ....
>>> God bless
>>>
>>> Michael Bishop
>>> rev at michaelbishop.name
>>>
>>> Rector of St John the Baptist, Boylestone; St Michael & All Anghels,
>>> Church Broughton; All Saints, Dalbury; St Chad, Longford; Christ Church,
>>> Long Lane;
>>> St Michael, Sutton-on-the-Hill; All Saints', Trusley
>>>
>>> Diocese of Derby, England
>>>
>>>
>>> On 22/12/2015 16:57, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
>>>
>>> Yes, the alternating services between buildings had occurred to me, but
>>>> right now there's too much animosity between the congregations. When
>>>> they
>>>> do combine services, there are folks who won't come. That's something
>>>> the
>>>> interim will need to work on.
>>>> And you're right--the Diocese can't impose a solution. As long as the
>>>> churches aren't receiving diocesan aid, they can keep the doors open.
>>>>
>>>> On Dec 22, 2015, at 11:36 AM, "Charles Wohlers" <
>>>>
>>>>> charles.wohlers at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Reminds me of the situation in Brandon, VT, where my wife Lee was
>>>>> interim for ~2 years. It was a better situation than you describe,
>>>>> however,
>>>>> and may show you a direction to go in.
>>>>>
>>>>> There are also two churches, also about 5 miles apart. One is a largish
>>>>> standard stone gothic building located in downtown Brandon (pop.
>>>>> ~4500);
>>>>> the other is a very cute carpenter gothic wooden church in "suburban"
>>>>> Forest Dale - a much smaller community. Forest Dale originally existed
>>>>> thanks to iron mining & smelting and the church was built by the owner
>>>>> for
>>>>> his workers (a common arrangement, as you probably know). The parishes
>>>>> both
>>>>> date from the 1830's or 1840's or so, and have always had a common
>>>>> rector.
>>>>> When Lee arrived (2006), they still had separate vestries but had long
>>>>> since worshipped together, alternating between the two buildings. Her
>>>>> predecessor, BTW, also had a long tenure - 20 years. While Lee was
>>>>> there
>>>>> the parishes finally merged officially, and now the worship schedule is
>>>>> Forest Dale in the winter, Brandon in the summer. (The Forest Dale
>>>>> church
>>>>> is smaller and so cheaper to heat). There has long been talk of
>>>>> closing one
>>>>> of the buildings, but - which one? One is centrally located but
>>>>> expensive
>>>>> to maintain, while the other is out-of-the-way but cheaper to maintain.
>>>>>
>>>>> So - combining the two parishes with services alternating between them
>>>>> is one possibility, but, as you know, is easy in theory but can be very
>>>>> difficult to accomplish. My personal experience tells me that any
>>>>> desire to
>>>>> merge needs to originate with the parishes, and not with the Diocese.
>>>>>
>>>>> Lee was also interim at two parishes in Fall River, with a schedule
>>>>> similar to what you describe (but only two services, not three). And
>>>>> these
>>>>> were only a mile or so apart, in a city. The parish with the early
>>>>> service
>>>>> always felt a bit cheated, as the priest had to run off to the other
>>>>> service. They also had a common priest for some years. They eventually
>>>>> merged and sold one of the buildings.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just my experience -
>>>>>
>>>>> Chad Wohlers
>>>>> East Bridgewater, MA USA
>>>>> chadwohl at satucket.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Grace Cangialosi
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2015 12:51 AM
>>>>> To: Magdalen
>>>>> Subject: [Magdalen] Crazy Sunday schedule
>>>>>
>>>>> Yesterday I supplied over the mountain in two small churches whose
>>>>> rector left about three months ago. He was in seminary with me, and he
>>>>> had
>>>>> served those two churches for 24 years, though he had been looking to
>>>>> leave
>>>>> for several years.
>>>>> The churches were two of the thirty missions established here in the
>>>>> Blue Ridge by Archdeacon Neve at the beginning of the 20th century. I
>>>>> served two of them from 1991-2000. There are only about six still
>>>>> open, and
>>>>> the two where I was yesterday are the only ones with parish status.
>>>>>
>>>>> I supplied early last summer for a combined service there, but I'd
>>>>> never
>>>>> done the whole Sunday schedule until yesterday. I cannot imagine
>>>>> putting up
>>>>> with it for 24 years!  The two churches are about five miles apart, and
>>>>> there are three services. The 8:00 service is at Grace; there's no
>>>>> music,
>>>>> because they don't have an organist. It's their main service, and
>>>>> twice a
>>>>> month they have breakfast afterwards.
>>>>> The 9:30 service is up the road at St. Stephen and the Good Shepherd.
>>>>> They do have an organist, so there's music. Nothing after the service,
>>>>> and
>>>>> anyway, I had to leave right after the service to go back to Grace for
>>>>> the
>>>>> 11:00 service. There's no opportunity for fellowship with the 9:30
>>>>> congregation because of the tight schedule. Still no music at 11,
>>>>> though
>>>>> they did ask if we could sing one of the hymns listed in the bulletin
>>>>> for
>>>>> 9:30. So we did two a cappella. There was one little boy who came with
>>>>> his
>>>>> grandparents; he was the only child I saw all morning. There was
>>>>> nothing
>>>>> after that service, either. Each church has its own budget and vestry,
>>>>> and
>>>>> they barely speak to one another. One church did its best to make the
>>>>> former rector's life miserable. He was never paid diocesan  scale.
>>>>>
>>>>> Obviously he didn't do anything to change all that, and they basically
>>>>> called the shots for his entire tenure.  All three services were Rite
>>>>> II,
>>>>> but I was astonished to learn that they've never had Lay Eucharistic
>>>>> Ministers in the service. In fact, they looked at me as if I had two
>>>>> heads
>>>>> when I asked about it! At one service a retired priest asked if I'd
>>>>> like
>>>>> him to help administer the chalice, and I was glad to take him up on
>>>>> it.
>>>>> They had also never had a lay person do the Prayers of the People! A
>>>>> woman
>>>>> came to me before the last service and asked if she could read aloud
>>>>> the
>>>>> names from the prayer list, since they hadn't done that in a long time.
>>>>>
>>>>> The total attendance for the three services was about 43. They've been
>>>>> told they will need to have an interim, and they can't start the search
>>>>> process for awhile, because there will need to be some changes. I just
>>>>> can't imagine someone wanting to go there under the present
>>>>> circumstances.
>>>>> There is a lovely rectory across from Grace Church, but there's no
>>>>> garage,
>>>>> so it's always obvious whether the rector is at home or away.
>>>>>
>>>>> Folks were very nice to me and said they hoped I'd come back, but I'm
>>>>> not sure about that. They've apparently bein given the
>>>>> name of a possible interim, but I think she lives a couple of hours
>>>>> away. It's a little over an hour for me, but I know the road over the
>>>>> mountain like the back of my hand. Having three services in and of
>>>>> itself
>>>>> isn't too bad--lots of bigger churches do that. It's the running back
>>>>> and
>>>>> forth that's exhausting. They did give me the option--said they leave
>>>>> the
>>>>> choice of having the third service up to the supply priest. If s/he
>>>>> doesn't
>>>>> want to do the third service, it's just cancelled. The senior warden
>>>>> said
>>>>> they usually only have 8-10 people at that service. There were 12
>>>>> yesterday.
>>>>>
>>>>> I know there are lots of little churches like this, including the two I
>>>>> served before, which are struggling with mostly lay leadership and
>>>>> monthly
>>>>> visits from  a priest, but I don't see much future for them unless
>>>>> there is
>>>>> a totally new model. Working ecumenically with other churches in the
>>>>> area
>>>>> would be a possibility, but for many folks that's almost unthinkable.
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess the question is whether they should be closed or continue to
>>>>> limp along until folks die off. There is no growth potential in that
>>>>> rural
>>>>> area.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>
>

-- 
The Rev. Tony Clavier
Vicar: St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Glen Carbon IL
and St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, Granite City IL