The See of Ebbsfleet
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The Rt Rev'd Andrew Burnham SSC
The Rt Rev'd Andrew Burnham SSC,
Bishop of Ebbsfleet

LIFE & MISSION IN THE
SEE OF EBBSFLEET


EBBSFLEET & RICHBOROUGH LENT APPEAL

Diocese of Ho, Ghana

Our Lent Appeal this year is for the very poor Diocese of Ho, Ghana, whose bishop, Bishop Matthias, has links with Ebbsfleet and Richborough. Please be generous: we are trying to provide them with a Four-Wheel Drive vehicle to cover very difficult terrain. Canon Bernard Dagnall formerly of Newbury is Bishop Matthias’ Commissary.

Please make cheques out to the Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s Mission Fund and write Ho Lent Appeal on the back of the cheque to ensure that transactions are properly accountable and audited.


Friends of the Ordinariate

A group indicating interest in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus.

Joining the list commits no-one to any particular course of future action, and the list is confidential.


EBBSFLEET EXTRA

CLICK HERE to download the March 2010 issue of Ebbsfleet Extra, a monthly newsletter for the See of Ebbsfleet, incorporating the Bishop's monthly Pastoral Letter and news about the life of the See.
(B&W version)


Ebbsfleet Chrism Masses 2010

Saturday March 27th @ 11.30am
Holy Nativity, Knowle

Tuesday March 30th @ 11.30am
St John, New Hinksey, Oxford
directions

Wednesday March 31st @ 11.30am
St James, Wednesbury

Priests and people in the South West are invited to attend the Plymouth Chrism Mass which is to be celebrated by Bishop John Ford, Bishop of Plymouth on Wednesday March 31st at 7.00pm at St Peter, Plymouth


Paschal Stational Masses


Tuesday May 4th @ 7.00pm
St Mary, Bathwick

Wednesday May 12th @ 7.00pm
St Paul, Charlestown

Tuesday May 18th @ 7.00pm
Coventry

Thursday May 20th @ 7.00pm
Birmingham


Ebbsfleet Young People's Eucharistic Festival

Saturday June 12th
Brean Lesiure Park, Somerset

Brean 2010

CLICK HERE for further details


Press Release from the Holy See on the Publication of Anglicanorum Coetibus

FULL TEXT


Anglicanorum coetibus

Apostolic Constitution Providing for Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans Entering into Full Communion with the Catholic Church

FULL TEXT


Complementary Norms

Complementary Norms for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus

FULL TEXT


The Significance of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus

Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda SJ, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University

FULL TEXT


Statement by the Bishops of Ebbsfleet & Richborough on the Apostolic Constitution on a Personal Ordinariate for former Anglicans

WE WARMLY WELCOME news on Tuesday 20th October of the forthcoming publication of a Apostolic Constitution outlining a fresh initiative in the search for Unity with the Holy See which many Anglicans in the Catholic tradition have prayed for and pursued. ...

CLICK HERE to read more


More Ebbsfleet Events

Bishop Andrew's Diary


The Bishop of Ebbsfleet's Pastoral Letter - March 2010

Sing a New Song to the Lord

T MAY seem odd reading about Church Music in the rich months when we contemplate the Passion and celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. And yet this is the season of the year which has most engaged serious composers and when musicians have to rehearse hardest: think of the number of musical items sung during the Easter Triduum, from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day, much of it without instrumental accompaniment. In churches where music is simple and resources modest, there are particular challenges and opportunities at this time of year. An able cantor singing alone and facilitating congregational participation can produce results as arresting and beautiful as anything in a cathedral or monastery.

The Anglo-catholic tradition had a finely developed musical tradition before the liturgical upheaval of the 1970s and some of that, like those rows of sturdy terrace houses pulled down about the same time, now seems to have been better than what has replaced it. And yet, since 1970, there have been a burst of hymns and worship songs, one or two durable mass settings, and a number of new ways of doing church music. Some, at least, of this will last a while longer.

Many churches have maintained the robed choir. Often this is no longer a way of engaging the children of the parish in the worship of the church but an adult activity. It is important to realise that adult activities do not in themselves win admiration and sympathy from onlookers. Bells have to be rung properly and music has to be performed well if they are to earn a place in people's affection and attention. Other churches have more informal arrangements: music groups, cantors, choirs singing without uniform from the back or side of the church. Again, the kind of tolerance people show for little children reading unintelligibly or singing out of tune is not readily extended to adults messing up in these areas.

We are at another time of upheaval. Just like the 1970s, new liturgical texts are emerging, a new faithfulness to original texts is demanded, and a new respect for traditional music and words increasingly fashionable. This is a very good time for each congregation to talk and think about music and, indeed, about the whole way we approach the celebration of the liturgy. As Bishop John Richards, the first Bishop of Ebbsfleet, used to say, 'what we need are centres of excellence'. Not centres of virtuoso performance or elaborate settings but a rethink of what can be done really well. There indeed is a challenge as Holy Week and the Easter Triduum approach.

May God bless you as you walk in the way of the cross and discover it to be the way of life and peace.

+Andrew

This pastoral letter may be downloaded as a PDF file for display purposes by clicking here,

or as an RTF file for easy copy-and-pasting into pew sheets and parish magazines by clicking here.


Pastoral Letters from previous months can be accessed by clicking here.


Most-recently updated pages

08/03/2010 - Ebbsfleet Extra - April 2010 (B&W version) New
08/03/2010 - Bishop Andrew's diary
05/03/2010 - Home page
05/03/2010 - Bishop Andrew's Pastoral Letter for April 2010 - Is RITA right? New
03/02/2010 - Forthcoming events of interest
02/02/2010 - Brean Children & Young People's Eucharistic Festival 2010

(Site Relaunched November 27th AD2002)

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The Bishop of Ebbsfleet
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Tel: +44 (0) 1865 390746
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