Category: Religion

Most people know the joy of communal singing and a church, with its acoustic qualities, provides an ideal setting. Like a classic pop song a good hymn has a strong melody and rousing lyrics, with enough repetition for it to be memorable and easy to learn. The Church of England was quite late in embracing hymnody (the singing of hymns), with their first hymnal (book of hymns) only being approved and published in 1820. Choir and organ eventually replaced the minstrel band of old and led the congregation’s efforts.

Anglican hymnody became so widespread that every school assembly, public meeting, military ceremony and family gathering reverberated to the sound of (mostly) tuneful voices. The solemn hymn ‘Abide With Me’ (1847 lyrics: Lyte, 1861 tune: Monk) is even sung with gusto at major football and rugby matches.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) from Hampshire began the 200-year golden age of hymn-writing in English and Charles Wesley (1707-88) from Lincolnshire (brother of Methodist founder, John) made a vast contribution too, with around 6,500 poems. Some lyricists wrote their own music but many hymns are set to folk melodies or later compositions, e.g. ‘To Be A Pilgrim’ (1684 lyrics: Bunyan, 1906 tune: Vaughan Williams). Here it is sung by folk artiste Maddy Prior:-

(Image: Peter Burka at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The first Christian monks would ring handbells to summon converts to prayer and by the 7th century the abbeys had larger bells incorporated into the building. A few centuries later, almost every church had a tall steeple to house either a static or swinging bell in a belfry. Its height allowed the metallic clangs to be heard over the hurly-burly of city or farm. The art of bell-ringing (campanology) developed with the addition of more bells and better control mechanisms.

The bells, which were deemed sacred and often had names, were sometimes attributed with supernatural powers. They were rung several times daily, on special dates and for notable events. Unfortunately, some bell-ringers regarded the bell-towers as drinking havens but in the 1600s there began to be societies which provided properly trained bell-ringers, e.g. the Company of Ringers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, established in 1612 and still operating today. Fabian Stedman (1640-1713) from Herefordshire ~ the ‘Father of Bell-Ringing’ ~ wrote two instruction manuals, in 1668 and 1677.

The use of church bells greatly reduced after the World Wars, but there has been a resurgence of interest in bell-ringing in recent decades, both as a leisure pursuit that promotes teamwork and as physical exercise.

(Top image of church bells in Staffordshire dating from 1200 and 1400: Geoff Pick at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

With so many different religions bumping along together on these islands, the concept of facilitating better understanding and co-operation between them was perhaps inevitable and certainly admirable. The Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom (IFN) is a charity that was founded in 1987 after extensive preparations and research by John Brian Pearce (1935-) beginning in 1984.

Pearce later became an IFN Director. The first co-Chairs were Rabbi Hugo Gryn and Bishop Jim Thompson, supported by co-Vice Chairs Dr. Indarjit Singh, Dr. Mughram Al-Ghamdi and Om Prakash Sharma.

The IFN offers membership to various types of multi- and single faith groups around the country (currently numbering 176) and arranges seminars, joint initiatives, consultation and information services, including a directory. It encourages inter-faith sports and social activities and has contributed to the school curriculum for Religious Education. It has also worked with the Commission on Racial Equality.

Though its aims may seem idealistic and even unthinkable for some, the IFN’s shared Act of Commitment voices a hope that is entirely in keeping with the British psyche, that:-

“We commit ourselves,
As people of many faiths,
To work together for the common good,
Uniting to build a better society,
Grounded in values and ideals we share…”

(Image: Catholic Church England & Wales at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The leader (‘incumbent’) of a Church of England parish church is known as a vicar, the equivalent of a priest, and his/her title is Reverend. The role is earned after several years’ training and at least three as a curate (assistant vicar). The Bishop of a diocese (region) appoints the vicar to a vacancy. A rent-free house, called a vicarage, is traditionally a substantial part of the job’s perks.

The vicar wears a long black cassock under a shorter robe called a surplice. The cassock has a stand-up collar with a front gap by which a white insert is displayed. Over the shoulders hangs a long fabric stole, sometimes richly embroidered. The vicar may have a team of helpers covering administration, music and some of the preaching and teaching. There are also the Church Wardens and the Verger.

Centuries ago the vicar frequently lived on an upper floor of the church but after clergymen were allowed to marry post-Reformation, more comfortable accommodation was deemed necessary; hence the building of vicarages either adjacent to the church or very close by. Today, large vicarages have generally been sold off and replaced with small, modern properties, while some vicars make independent arrangements.

(Image: The Diocese of York at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Before the Norman Conquest of 1066, Britain’s practice of Christianity was ‘orthodox’, i.e. faithful to the original beliefs and texts, periodically confirmed by major theological meetings elsewhere. However, in 1054 disagreements caused the ‘Great Schism’ whereupon Eastern/Greek-speaking and Western/Latin-speaking churches separated. The Western ideology arrived with the Normans, for whom supreme religious authority was personified by the Pope in Rome alone, which was unacceptable to the East.

Pockets of interest in restoring Orthodoxy existed in the 18th and 19th centuries but little resulted until immigrants from Eastern Orthodox countries like Greece and Poland in the 20th century brought it with them. There are currently more than 100 Orthodox parishes in the UK, including many Russian and Serbian communities. The British Orthodox Church, now autonomous and the only all-English-speaking Orthodox church in the UK, was established in 1866 as an outpost of Oriental Orthodoxy though it faced stiff opposition.

The first Greek Orthodox church in London dates to 1677 but it was short-lived. It would take another two centuries for Orthodox churches to be properly established and in 1922 the first Orthodox bishop in Britain was appointed as head of a new ‘Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain’ under the hierarchy of the ‘Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople’ (Istanbul).

(Image of inrior of St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, London: John Salmon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Until the 21st century most Britons knew The Lord’s Prayer by heart, as they recited it every weekday morning in school assembly and, if they were church-goers, in Sunday worship. It is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how to communicate with God.

It appears in the New Testament in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4 in slightly different versions and without the last three lines, which were added by the early Christian clergy. One traditional English translation is as follows:-

Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,
For thine is the kingdom,
The power and the glory
For ever and ever.

Amen

In 1998, a daily ‘act of worship’ was made a requirement for schools, perhaps as this was disappearing, but it made no difference. State school assemblies today bear little resemblance to those of the past and parents have the option of withdrawing their child from any religious element.

(Image: pixabay.com / Public domain)

South Wales may be the site of Britain’s first Christian church, established by St. Ilid who  in 37AD fled from the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, which had not yet ventured north into Britain. The church was open-air and round, much like a Druidic meeting-place. The men would file into the circle and the women would gather outside. Ilid would then have preached from the centre. Naturally, this is difficult to prove and there are conflicting stories, including one that claims St. Ilid was actually Joseph of Arimathea.

For hard evidence of the first churches, it is Northumberland which seems to yield the most relevant archaeological finds and in 2020 the fragments of a chalice etched with Christian symbols was unearthed at a Romano-British fort at Hadrian’s Wall, to much excitement.

However, the oldest surviving (though modified) church is in Canterbury, Kent. St. Martin’s Church dates from around 590 and functioned initially as a private Christian chapel for King Ethelbert’s wife, Queen Bertha. The missionary, St. Augustine, is also said to have worshipped there on his arrival in 597, before the King allowed him to add a cathedral and an abbey, with all three buildings now classified as World Heritage Sites.

(Image: pickpik.com / CC0)

The Church in Wales (CiW) acquired its name in deference to The Welsh Church Act of 1914, which referred to the Welsh area of the Church of England in those terms. Although many wanted to call the newly-formed branch of the Anglican Communion the ‘Church of Wales’, it was judged prudent to stick to the legal wording.

WW1 delayed the actual creation of the CiW until 1920, whereupon the four Welsh dioceses were split into six. Each diocese has a Bishop, one of whom is also the Archbishop of Wales. Under the Bishops are the Archdeacons and the Deans. CiW beliefs centre around Jesus Christ, baptism, the Bible and the Holy Communion. There are around 42,000 followers today, the peak numbers having occurred in the CiW’s early days.

The CiW centenary was marked by a plan entitled ‘2020 Vision‘. This reorganised the 900 parishes but kept the dioceses intact. There are now ‘Ministry Areas’ which comprise several parishes and are served by a ‘team’ of travelling clergy and laypeople. The aim is to have leaders with specialities, such as inducting newcomers, speaking to children or providing music, all in anticipation of reviving interest, re-engaging with the community and re-energising the CiW profile and its clergy.

(Image: Ceri Thomas at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

When the Church of Scotland (CofS) was confirmed as that nation’s Established Church in the early 1700s, the other main branch of Scottish Reform Christianity set itself up formally as the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC). Like the presbyterian CofS, it conducts baptism and communion, but it also offers confirmation, holy matrimony, confession, ordination and healing, in a similar way to the Church of England, Church in Wales and Church of Ireland, .

‘Episcopus’ is Latin for ‘bishop’ and an episcopal church is run by its bishops, who are the authority figures. The SEC has seven of these and each has a region, or diocese, of Scotland. Each diocese has one cathedral, but Argyll & The Isles diocese has two; one for Argyll and one for The Isles. The bishops elect a top bishop, called the Primus (inter pares) ~ first among equals.

Every SEC service has the same timetable in accordance with the Common Book of Prayer. The SEC maintains that it enjoys and benefits from its independence from a national tie and this is seen in the occasional policy difference with its Anglican neighbours. It is also regarded as straddling the divide between Protestantism and Catholicism, a position that encourages “lively debate”.

(Top image: Bill Harrison at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)