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.

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.



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)
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?
03/02/2010 - Forthcoming events of interest
02/02/2010 - Brean Children & Young People's Eucharistic Festival 2010

(Site Relaunched November 27th AD2002)

NB. This panel refers only to new and updated content, and does not include amendments to the coding of the site.

SITE MAP