Cathedral News

No. 411 February 2014 CATHEDRAL NEWS From the Cathedral, Isle of Man COMMUNITY, WORSHIP, CULTURE Suggested Donation—£1 On 19th January, the Reverend Ian Brady, Vicar of St Thomas’ Church Douglas, was installed as the Canon of St German (Canon Evangelist) during Choral Evensong. Why do we need a “Dean” and a “Vicar”? On Sunday 26th January I was delighted to announce that The Revd. Ian Faulds has agreed to become Precentor and Vicar for Peel and will take up this post on 1st March. It is therefore perhaps a good time for us to reflect on what the different roles of the Dean and Vicar are. I hope this helps: Dean Nigel Area of Responsibility Dean Vicar Primary Geographical Focus The parish of the West Coast The old parish of Peel and its five churches Focus of Pastoral Care The leaders and staff of the Leaders and congregation of Parish of the West Coast Peel Particular focus of Ministry Encouraging the strategic Pastoral care of the congre- in the Parish development of the five par- gation at St German’s and ish churches, especially the the development of congre- development of the Cathe- gation and community dral in the life of the diocese connections as a place of excellence Particular Focus of Ministry Bishop’s Leadership Team Precentor (leading and outside the Parish developing diocesan developing the Cathedral strategy, Mission Partner- music and worship) ship Leader, various diocesan committees, vocational development and training Particular Gifting Development (rather than Communications and media maintenance) Particular Church Interest The development of young Manx Church and local people in ministry history Particular interest outside Gardens Farming, Scouting church circles Development of staff Ensuring staffing level appro- Encouraging the develop- priate to the Vision of the ment of St German’s staff five parish churches and Ca- and the ministry of the con- thedral gregation Remuneration and hours Stipendiary full-time: Paid Half-time “house for duty”: the equivalent of a An honorarium with residentiary canon in the expenses U.K. Particular sector Chair Cathedral Quarter Responsible for care of responsibilities at the Trust with its aim of raising funerals at the Cathedral and Cathedral £10 million in 5 years (with others) baptism and marriages HRH The Royal Princess visits the Cathedral There was a hive of activity on 21 January when HRH The Princess Royal visited a number of locations across the Island. Residents of Peel were delighted to welcome The Princess as she stopped off at the Cathedral to meet key individuals involved in the £10 million development campaign, of which she has agreed to be Patron for its five-year duration. Bishop Robert Paterson was on hand to welcome Her Royal Highness as she arrived: “The Isle of Man has an immensely rich history and culture. I am delighted that the Cathedral is leading the way for the Island in providing a first-class visitor destination for all and we are thrilled to have the support of The Princess Royal as we embark on our fundraising challenge”. Businessman and owner of Bishopscourt, John Morphet, was also at the Cathedral in his capacity as Chairman of the fundraising campaign: “I was honoured to be offered the role of Chairman for this important development campaign at the Cathedral. What a great opportunity it gives for the Island to invest in its future and create a resource that can truly serve the whole Island, not only in worship, but through extensive community and visitor facilities”. Please look at the new display in the Cathedral to find out more about the development campaign. Amy Stevens, Comptons Editor: Christiane Litman [email protected] 840383 The editor is happy to publish articles and photographs from contributors but they do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or the Cathedral. Please submit articles for consideration by the 25th of each month. Launching a new logo In line with the development campaign, the Cathedral has launched a new logo, incorporating themes from renowned Manx artist Archibald Knox. Some of Archibald Knox’s finest treasures are held in the Cathedral and the unusual design of the new logo is based on his artistic style. The logo also incorporates images of the Bishop’s crozier (staff), a fish and the letter ‘G’ for St German. The Very Reverend Nigel Godfrey, Dean of Cathedral Isle of Man, said: “We wanted a symbol that was modern-looking to reflect the exciting changes that are underway at the Cathedral. It is also intended to incorporate our artistic and religious heritage – hence the references to Knox and the Bishop’s crozier. The fish has a strong Christian tradition – as well as being synonymous with Peel. Finally, we felt the need to incorporate movement in the same way as the Three Legs of Man symbol is a dynamic design. After all, the Cathedral is unique and belongs to the whole of the island and so reaches out much further than a parish church could do”. The new logo has been launched to coincide with the 2014 ‘Island of Culture’ and a number of events will be held in the Cathedral precincts. The cathedral website www.cathedral.im will be kept up to date with information on events and developments as they progress. Amy Stevens, Comptons Great Hymns — “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” Hymns come in many types: their words can range from translations of ancient texts to simple worship songs, and their music from early plainsong to modern-day 'pop'. Those which become favourites don't seem to fall into any particular category; there is something about them that seems meaningful across the boundaries of generations and cultures. Dear Lord and Father of mankind has consistently been near the top in polls of hymn popularity over many years, both in Britain and in North America. Why should this be, when at first sight it seems no less 'Victorian' [I use the word in a nu- anced sense] than others that have disappeared into obscurity? This hymn has rather an unusual background. It was written by John Greenleaf Whitti- er (1807-92), a member of a Quaker family tracing descent from one of the Pilgrim Fa- thers who had arrived in Massachusetts in 1638. Brought up in a farming family, John's Quaker beliefs led him to join the campaign against slavery with great passion, as a journalist, poet and author. After slavery was abolished in 1865, he continued in the public eye as a writer, including much poetry inspired by his Christian beliefs. Whittier would not have expected extracts from his poem 'The Brewing of Soma' (written in 1872) to be sung in church; apart from his Quaker dislike of singing in worship, the poem refers to an hal- lucinogenic drink made from fly agaric! Soma was used in Vedic rituals among some Eastern religions because it could cause a state of religious frenzy, and Whittier's purpose in the later stages of his poem (running to 17 verses*) was to compare this effect with the stirring of emotions through the music and ceremonial of Chris- tian worship. We sing today the last six verses of the poem, exactly as Whittier wrote them. They were turned into a hymn by the English Congre- gational Minister William Garrett Horder (1841-1922), and first published in 1884 in 'Congregational Hymns'. In preparing part of the poem for publication as a hymn, he made several alterations to Whittier's words, perhaps having an ear to Victorian sensi- bilities; for example, 'the heats of our desire' became 'our pulses of desire'. More re- cent hymnals have the verses as Whittier wrote them, and that is how we sing them today. The tune we use is known as 'Repton', and derives from an alto aria composed by Sir Walter Parry for his oratorio 'Judith' (1887), replacing rather dull tunes to which the hymn was set in various earlier hymnaries. This inspired pairing of hymn and tune was first made in 1924 for the robust singing in Repton School Chapel. Somehow Whittier's words and the music of Parry combine in their emotional and spir- itual appeal to make this a great hymn that retains its popularity, with organists as well as with congregations. Those players with a comprehensive instrument under their control can go from a thunderous 'earthquake, wind, and fire' in the penultimate line to an ethereal 'still small voice of calm' at the end. What relevance do these words have for us, in our times? The clue is in the last verse, which alludes to the story of Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kings 19). Nothing had gone right for him, and he felt worthless. He yearned for God to show him a new purpose, but no message came through an earthquake, nor in a hurricane, nor a great fire. Mov- ing as these great events were, it was not until peace and calm prevailed that God made contact with Elijah as a 'still small voice'. The Holy Spirit cannot communicate with us if our daily lives – and sometimes our church services, too – are full of noise and distraction. God yearns for those quiet times when our hearts and minds are open to his gentle prompting. Don Roworth * The complete poem can be found at www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/soma.htm. Cathedral Isle of Man Diary — February 2014 Sunday 2nd February—Presentation of Christ at the Temple Candlemass Eucharist 10.30 Cathedral Evensong Procession of Light 15.30 Cathedral Mon 3 King William’s College sing 18.30 Cathedral Candlemass Tues 4 PCC meeting (West Coast) 19.30 St John’s Wed 5 Diocesan Synod 19.15 Ballakermeen High School Sat 8 Study Day All Saints Sunday 9th February—The Fourth Sunday before Lent Eucharist—Preacher Rev Canon 10.30 Cathedral Dr Jules Gomes Evensong

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