London and Southwark Company of Servers Festival



The London and Southwark Diocesan Chapters of the Company of Servers gathered recently at St Saviour's Pimlico for their Summer Festival meeting. It was a service of Choral Evensong and Benediction, at which I had the joy of being the preacher. Fr Matthew Catterick, the Vicar of St Saviour's, hosted the event.

The ministry of server is an important lay ministry in the Church. As I said in my sermon, I understand that just as servers have the privilege of honouring Christ present in the sacraments and the sacred assembly in the liturgy, through bearing lights, censing the gifts and the people, in dignified processions, in preparing the altar for the sacred meal etc., so they can be first among the laity in the world, serving Christ who is present in everyone we meet, and honouring his beloved children. The "Liturgy after the Liturgy" the Orthodox call this.

We do not have a chapter of the Company of Servers in the Diocese in Europe. As the organisation describes itself as "A community for all who serve God at the altar within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion" perhaps we should have one. The Diocese in Europe includes 40 of the 160 countries of the Anglican Communion, after all. I found those gathered at St Saviour's Pimlico to be committed to their ministry, serious about dignified and worthy liturgy, and good fun!

Is any server in this diocese interested in exploring the formation of a chapter?   



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more