And then, after months of planning, it was suddenly all over. After sleepless nights, worrying whether there would be enough chairs and sandwiches, everyone had a seat and there were practically twelve baskets of fragments left over once the multitude had been fed. What a multitude; what a feast; what an occasion. If you're not with me yet, then the chances are you were not in All Saints on the afternoon of Sunday 16th November, The Feast of St Margaret of Scotland, for Christine's ordination to the priesthood.
But, of course, it's not all over; rather it's just beginning: another stage in Christine's life and ministry; another stage in the life and mission of All Saints. That new beginning was made manifest the following Sunday, 23rd November, The Feast of Christ the King, when Christine celebrated her first Mass at the 10 o'clock Solemn Eucharist. For one reason alone, it was quite a test: Christ the King has the longest Preface of any Season or Feast in the Church's year, and if you can sing that, you manage just about anything. Christine did sing it and she managed all the rest of it extremely well.
At the end of Mass, Christine was presented with a card and her gift from the congregation: a copy of that invaluable work of reference, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Afterwards, Fr Ian remembered a priest once telling him that the clergy need only two books: a Bible and The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. So now Christine is fully equipped!
The event itself and the preparations beforehand were a great team effort and I would like to thank everyone who took part in any way: from moving those chairs and making those sandwiches, to singing in the choir, to arranging the flowers, to preparing the service booklets, to helping Christine get herself ready to take on the responsibilities of priesthood.
Elsewhere, the day to day life of the church goes on. Following the end of our financial year on 30th September, Sheila Smith undertook a great deal of work, completing three sets of ledgers and three sets of paperwork (for church, bookshop, and cafe) before hauling three large boxes down to the accountants for the preparation of our ever more complicated accounts. Given the accountants' commitments, the accounts will not be ready for an AGM before Christmas, so we shall be looking at a date early in the New Year, to be announced as soon as possible.
With every blessing
Fr Jonathan
THANK YOU FROM CHRISTINE
Thank you seems an inadequate word for expressing my sincere gratitude to all who were involved in making my ordination last Sunday such a memorable occasion. Being banned from much of the planning and preparation I can only hazard a guess at how much went into making it such a seamless event. How did we manage to fit everyone in!
During this week I have received numerous messages from guests expressing delight in being part of the occasion. In addition to the awe inspiring service that flowed so seamlessly, the beautiful music and flowers, everyone loved our church, our lovely building and courtyard. They commented on the warmth of the welcome they received on arrival and the hospitality after the service. One guest realised, during the service, that our church was the one her father had spoken to her of - he had sung in our choir 60 years ago and she will be bringing him back!
It was an honour for me to invite guests 'home' to meet my All Saints family, thank you for all you did to make them so welcome.
Christine