"Messy Church"

 

I. CAN'T. EVEN.

Father Hunwicke has a post about the appointment of an English church. Both IN England, and belonging to the CHURCH of England.

So, English.
Really, really English.

I was recently looking round an Anglican country church ... and I was struck by the oddity of its arrangements. There were two side chapels. The South chapel was decently set out with a veiled aumbry and a white light (albeit electrical). In the argot of old, we would have used the term 'Moderate High Church'. But the matching altar to the North was arranged for ... prayer. There was a large candle on the step before the Altar, its live flame burning brightly; there were the usual accoutrements for prayer: prayer trees, magical stones; there was an educational display which, among other things, told visitors that the bread and wine of the communion service remind Christians of Jesus.
How revealing; that whoever was responsible for such dispositions had no natural inclination to feel that the place for prayer might just possibly be before the Blessed Sacrament Reserved. Faced with two chapels, she invited people to use for prayer the one which did not contain the Reserved Sacrament (let us not on this occasion get into a discussion about what that aumbry really contained). And the notice board revealed that one was invited to attend "Messy Church", which I suspect does not relate to the French Messe or even to the Italian Messa.

Augustine of Canterbury would be so proud.
(I can only say that when I was young and stupid, when I intended to be a Catholic priest, I intended to be very high indeed, Latin processions and Benediction and all, so it doesn't necessarily follow that nonsense follows from allowing women to play at priestly duties - it may well  be that womenpriests follow from nonsesne.)