[Magdalen] Jeff Sessions Brought Up On Church Charges

[Roger Stokes]

On 22/06/2018 23:56, Donald Boyd wrote:
> Liturgical style in university and theological schools in general 
> would tend to be "higher" than in most congregations.  As my 
> (Methodist minister) father would have said, "That's where they'll do 
> things right, even if nowhere else." 

That's the context in which you will probably have sufficient people 
with enough basic understanding to be able to have a more elaborate 
liturgy celebrated with some sense of order and purpose. That is far 
less likely in most churches out in the community. Seminaries are also 
meant to be training people to officiate with dignity and some sense of 
knowing what they're doing and having some decent liturgy when the 
people gather is good preparation.

> And I would think that an Easter liturgy being televised would likely 
> be the most elaborate of the year (equaled only by Christmas Eve, 
> again often observed with a midnight service rarely encountered in the 
> average congregation).

With the shorter travel distances this side of the pond Midnight Mass is 
still relatively common over here. For some people it's the one time of 
the year they go to church. I suspect that in an increasing number of 
cases the service may be moved earlier in the evening because a 
significant part of the congregation don't want to be out late at night 
and/or problems with drunks. In more rural areas it is likely to have 
disappeared in many parishes because the solo priest cannot be in all 
the churches of their benefice at the same time. There will be one for 
the group of churches.

Roger