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I've been meaning to write about the places we've been to worship in Coventry. It's a fairly short list so far, as we've not exactly had many Sunday mornings here yet without vistors to attend to or suchlike.
A week or so before Christmas, we attended St John the Baptist, which is in the city center (inside the ring road). We arrived a minute or so before the service was due to start, and found that the notices were in full swing. From what we heard, it seemed that someone had objected to the vicar's previous sermon, and had written to the local paper to this effect; we arrived in the middle of a rather self-righteous-sounding rand from said vicar about how if someone had disagreed or misunderstood his sermon, he'd be more than happy to explain it to them. Not the best note to start with! The church was cold, and where we happened to sit, we couldn't see a hymn board. This made for some confusion, as the service sheet didn't have the hymn numbers on either. We got ourselves organised in the end, though. It was a slightly odd service - West-facing celebration at a nave altar, but after the consecration, the priest and servers ran off to the high altar (where you could hardly see them), and then we all trooped up there to receive. There was a choir, but they weren't exactly brilliant. It's a Forward-in-Faith parish, although my informant suggests the congregation may be uneasy about that. The congregation were elderly but friendly, and we were told that the church was only so cold because the boiler was on the blink.
Today we went to St Oswald, in a rather down-at-heel part of Tile Hill. It's a Basil Spence church (the same chap who designed the cathedral), built 50 years ago (jubilee celebrations start soon, apparantly). A very modern-feelingt building, complete with large tapestry at the West end behind the altar (I'm still not sold on these). The vicar was ill, so we had an Irish-sounding chap instead. West-facing celebration again, but from behind the high altar. There was a small choir, one of whom was miked at a time (which wasn't exactly a win). The hymns were played on a hammond organ at an absolute dirge (although the sung parts of the Mass were done at a sensibly quick pace). We had incense and bells here, and plenty of servers (although no Deacon or Sub-Deacon). The sermon rambled, but I think the preacher had only had about 24 hours' notice, so perhaps I should forgive that. The Bible translation they used was odd, too. The Christian Unity service was plugged quite hard, which was good.
Still to consider are St Mary Madgalene, and the Cathedral itself.
A week or so before Christmas, we attended St John the Baptist, which is in the city center (inside the ring road). We arrived a minute or so before the service was due to start, and found that the notices were in full swing. From what we heard, it seemed that someone had objected to the vicar's previous sermon, and had written to the local paper to this effect; we arrived in the middle of a rather self-righteous-sounding rand from said vicar about how if someone had disagreed or misunderstood his sermon, he'd be more than happy to explain it to them. Not the best note to start with! The church was cold, and where we happened to sit, we couldn't see a hymn board. This made for some confusion, as the service sheet didn't have the hymn numbers on either. We got ourselves organised in the end, though. It was a slightly odd service - West-facing celebration at a nave altar, but after the consecration, the priest and servers ran off to the high altar (where you could hardly see them), and then we all trooped up there to receive. There was a choir, but they weren't exactly brilliant. It's a Forward-in-Faith parish, although my informant suggests the congregation may be uneasy about that. The congregation were elderly but friendly, and we were told that the church was only so cold because the boiler was on the blink.
Today we went to St Oswald, in a rather down-at-heel part of Tile Hill. It's a Basil Spence church (the same chap who designed the cathedral), built 50 years ago (jubilee celebrations start soon, apparantly). A very modern-feelingt building, complete with large tapestry at the West end behind the altar (I'm still not sold on these). The vicar was ill, so we had an Irish-sounding chap instead. West-facing celebration again, but from behind the high altar. There was a small choir, one of whom was miked at a time (which wasn't exactly a win). The hymns were played on a hammond organ at an absolute dirge (although the sung parts of the Mass were done at a sensibly quick pace). We had incense and bells here, and plenty of servers (although no Deacon or Sub-Deacon). The sermon rambled, but I think the preacher had only had about 24 hours' notice, so perhaps I should forgive that. The Bible translation they used was odd, too. The Christian Unity service was plugged quite hard, which was good.
Still to consider are St Mary Madgalene, and the Cathedral itself.
(no subject)