.jpg)
What do you do with a long chancel? That was a very live question in the 70's; and it became important for me in my second living as an Anglican clergyman. All Saints Hessle had been remodelled in the 19th Century,the aisles being made almost as wide as the nave. With a narrow Chancel Arch it meant that only a third of those in the church had any sight of the High Altar. Accordingly, not without opposition, we planned a more visible altar, which might be used either Eastward or Westward facing. The High Altar had its big six candles restored,and the central altar could be moved (for instance for weddings) when the long chancel once more came into its own.
This week we were sent a card from Hessle, with on it a picture of the church interior. It was good to see how well the alterations have stood up, indeed been further improved. A very gifted artist, Nancy Lamplugh, made a version of a mediaeval hanging rood. That has given a much needed focus to the freestanding altar. Whereas we had used a Laudian altar cloth, the new frontal encroaches less on the space on the footpace. Our friend who sent the card wrote on the back "The changes (hard-earned) made such a wonderful difference to All Saints". I learned a great deal from the experience - not least the workings of the Church of England's faculty jurisdiction and the running of a Consistory Court. It was all worth it in the end. Seeing how some Catholic churches have been rather insensitively handled since Vatican II maybe the working of Faculty law is part of the Patrimony which the Ordinariate could bring with it from Anglicanism? Certainly consultation rather than imposition is necessary when pastoral relationships are at stake.
Friday, 22 November 2013
Memories
What do you do with a long chancel? That was a very live question in the 70's; and it became important for me in my second living as an Anglican clergyman. All Saints Hessle had been remodelled in the 19th Century,the aisles being made almost as wide as the nave. With a narrow Chancel Arch it meant that only a third of those in the church had any sight of the High Altar. Accordingly, not without opposition, we planned a more visible altar, which might be used either Eastward or Westward facing. The High Altar had its big six candles restored,and the central altar could be moved (for instance for weddings) when the long chancel once more came into its own.
This week we were sent a card from Hessle, with on it a picture of the church interior. It was good to see how well the alterations have stood up, indeed been further improved. A very gifted artist, Nancy Lamplugh, made a version of a mediaeval hanging rood. That has given a much needed focus to the freestanding altar. Whereas we had used a Laudian altar cloth, the new frontal encroaches less on the space on the footpace. Our friend who sent the card wrote on the back "The changes (hard-earned) made such a wonderful difference to All Saints". I learned a great deal from the experience - not least the workings of the Church of England's faculty jurisdiction and the running of a Consistory Court. It was all worth it in the end. Seeing how some Catholic churches have been rather insensitively handled since Vatican II maybe the working of Faculty law is part of the Patrimony which the Ordinariate could bring with it from Anglicanism? Certainly consultation rather than imposition is necessary when pastoral relationships are at stake.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like the picture especially the Cross of San Damiano - a similar one you blessed after the fire when I was at St. Francis, Barkingside.
ReplyDeleteI'm not opposed to nave altars in principle (though I do not like the way they advanced ad populum celebration) but I fear this is just as aesthetically insensitive and uninspiring as most of the Vatican II remodellings. But not having destroyed the High Altar and being removable are great virtues, and should be heartily applauded.
ReplyDeleteHmm, Faculty Law, I've had mixed experience of how that works, in the last Anglican church I attended the problem wasn't faculty jurisdiction, but the Victorian Church Society who had the proposed nave altar platform lower by a few inches so as not to obscure a small memorial brass plate. The church now has been totally reordered with the old high altar removed but the reredos remaining and the original sanctuary and choir now a dining area open to hire. But, it "better serves the community".
ReplyDeleteI suspect the problem was understood through the prism of the later Liturgical Movement. It was taken as a given that sight of the altar was to be enforced; but those whose faith benefited from it would have chosen to sit centrally anyway, and those who chose otherwise had the opportunity to do so. Perhaps what was replaced was the truly pastoral liturgy, a significant element of the patrimony that was forgotten in the desire to ape English Catholicism's interpretation of the Spirit of the Council?
ReplyDelete