No. 397 September 2012 St. GERMAN’S NEWS From the Cathedral and Parish Church of St. German, Peel Worship, teaching and service (Suggested Donation – 70p) Feast of St German 15th July The new puppet of St German in procession from St Patrick’s Isle to the Cathedral to celebrate the feast of St German. Diary of the Parish of the West Coast September 2012 3rd Inauguration of The Parish of 1930 St John’s the West Coast (see opposite) 4th Concert by Musicale: Singing 1945 Cathedral enthusiasts 8th Island Spirituality Network 1000 - 1600 St John’s Mill Margaret Silf, Author and Retreat Leader - The other side of chaos Breaking through when life is breaking down 11th Concert by Metropolitan Silver 1945 Cathedral Band 13th Mothers’ Union Diamond Jubilee 1430 Ballasalla Afternoon Tea 14th Possible Nepalese night tbc St James Dalby 15th Soup Stop 1230 - 1400 St James Dalby 18th Concert by King Williams 1945 Cathedral College: youthful voices and instruments 22nd IOM Organists Association Recital 1500 Cathedral by Dr Peter Litman 23rd Evensong 1600 Bishopscourt 25th St German’s Cathedral Liturgy 1810 The Deanery Group Meeting 30th Service to celebrate 350th 1530 Cathedral Anniversary of the Prayer Book Society Regular Services at the Cathedral Sunday 0830 BCP Communion 1030 Eucharist 1530 Choral Evensong Wednesday 0930 BCP Eucharist Monday – Friday 0900 Morning Prayer Monday – Saturday 1730 Evening Prayer The Voice meet during term time at 10.30am on Sundays in the Corrin Hall Editor: Chris Hutt [email protected] 840428 The editor is happy to publish articles from contributors but they do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or the Church. Please submit articles for consideration by the 25th of each month. Historic moment as parish churches in the West combine The group of Church of England parish churches along the west coast of the Island has been realigned to form ‘The Parish of the West Coast’ Skeerey yn Clyst-marrey. On the evening of Monday 3rd September, at a service at St John’s Church led by Bishop Robert, the parishes of Patrick, German, St John’s and Michael, come together as one to mark the inauguration and to welcome the Very Revd Nigel Godfrey as first priest in charge of the new parish. All four historic parishes share a boundary with the sea – yes even St John’s! Within these parishes there are five churches: St James, Dalby; St Michael and All Angels, Kirk Michael; Holy Trinity, Patrick; St German’s Cathedral, Peel; and St John the Baptist, St John’s (often known as The Royal Chapel). Under the Western Pastoral Scheme all of these will jointly become parish churches. This is a new status for Dalby, which up until now has been a chapel-of-ease. Nigel Godfrey said ‘With Dalby now having a designated Local Minister in Cheryl Cousins, the church has reached the stage of maturity as a congregation that it can be aligned equally with these other churches.’ The Cathedral will continue to have Cathedral status. Nigel Godfrey, who is also Dean of the Cathedral, commented ‘We are determined as Christian communities living in different localities that each parish church will strengthen and develop its own style and gifts in co-operation with local ministers so each place can focus on its pastoral care and mission. We want more than one or two priests running around churches just taking services.’ The combined parishes have on the team Revd Margaret Burrow, a non-stipendiary Local Minister with particular responsibility for Patrick; Canon Malcolm Convery, part- time Priest with particular responsibility for Michael; Revd James McGowan, Curate of the Parish; and Lay Readers Nigel Dempsey-Moore, Steve Hamer, Robert Quayle and Iaen Skidmore. The new combined parish will have a single Parochial Church Council (PCC), replacing four separate ones. Each church community will have a team which oversees local need and reports regularly to the PCC. The reorganisation follows a consultation process instigated by the Manx Church Commissioners in compliance with the Bishop of Sodor and Man’s Recommendations for Mission and Ministry that were agreed by the Diocesan Synod (the church’s Tynwald) in September 2009. This is the second combined parish to be formed, following the inauguration of the new parish of Andreas, Ballaugh, Jurby and Sulby earlier this year. In the words of the Bishop’s Recommendations “This (reorganisation) will result in smarter, lighter and more effective working and will reduce costs.” The Very Revd Nigel Godfrey, Dean of St German’s Cathedral If you are going and would like a lift or can offer lifts please let Val know. Worship at St German’s From September 1st 2012, the pattern of Sunday worship at the Cathedral is changing. In the last edition of the Parish News Peter Litman described the new pattern. The objective is to give a monthly cycle of services where people can experience and engage with different ‘forms’ of Anglican liturgy, ranging from a formal choral setting led by a group of ‘professional singers’ (known as Schola), a ‘traditional parish eucharist’, through to a much more informal service with music led by the Cathedral music group where people can engage with the Word in a variety of ways. The Anglican tradition has always been one which seeks to find a balance between ‘word’ and ‘sacrament’, and so each of the main Sunday services will include Communion. The group Schola will include Graham ‘Tufty’ Nash, Christiane Litman, Juliet Tranter and John Wright, and will lead a more formal ‘Cathedral Eucharist’ on the first Sunday of each month. The Nave Choir comprising the ‘old’ choir and some new faces will lead the music on the second and fourth Sundays; these two weeks will be a sung ‘Parish Eucharist’. The third Sunday of each month will be the ‘Worship Together’ Service. This service will be much more informal – few, if any vestments are worn, music is led by the music group. Each month has a set ‘theme’, and is planned and co-ordinated by a team. If you would like to know more about the group, are interested in joining, or would like to see a service with a particular theme do get in touch. Children and Families Worker The Cathedral has been participating in the SUMT ‘Gapper’ programme which placed a gap year student with local churches for 20 hours a week alongside, a programme of training and development in leadership skills and Christian discipleship. Over three years we have been privileged to have firstly Sam Rotchell, followed by Ruth Walker, and then last year Oskar Forbes. SUMT’s objective was always that the ‘Gap year’ programme would help some churches moved towards being ready to appoint full or part time youth workers of their own. At the AGM in April it was unanimously agreed that from September this year we would appoint a full time Children and Families Worker. The ‘staff team’ drew up a job description, advertised and appointed an interview panel comprising Jackie Allan, Bob Jeavons, Maddie Porter (Care for the Family), Gill Poole and me. We sent out over 20 application forms, received eight back, and interviewed two people. We were pleased to appoint Ruth Walker on a three-year contract as our first full time Children and Family worker. Ruth begins work in September and will be living in the ‘flat’ at the Deanery. Over the past three years our ‘Gappers’ have established the Voice and The Caterpillar Club among other things, and we hope that this work will continue. We decided to move on to working with children, young people and families, forming partnerships with other organisations on Island so we can engage with and support the wider community of Peel. Ruth, as Children and Families Worker will require investment from our community – in prayer and practical support as she settles into life in Peel – and financially as the Cathedral finds ways to honour its commitment to her. We are currently just over half way to our target to pay Ruth’s salary and expenses. We will ensure that she is paid in full. However, if we are short in ‘allocated’ funds we might have to divert money from elsewhere in the Cathedral budget to cover the shortfall. If you would like to know more about what Ruth will be doing, or you are able to commit yourself to supporting her work financially, or as a prayer partner do get in touch with Revd James McGowan. James McGowan Favourite Hymns Let all the world in every corner sing, My God and King! It is the custom to sing a hymn in the middle of our Tuesday concerts; not only does this provide welcome relief from sitting on hard pews, but it emphasises in a gentle way that St German's is God's house and whatever we do there is ultimately to His glory. We try to choose hymns that are well-known by most worshipping Christians, whatever their denomination. Recently we sang Let all the world in every corner sing. This lends itself to singing lustily, but is a little unusual, in that it has only two verses and seems quite modern although dating from the early 17C. It is another of the poems of George Herbert (1593-1632), a Cambridge academic, courtier, MP and writer of speeches for James I. He gave up all this to enter the priesthood, and in 1630 became Rector of Bemerton, a small parish near Salisbury. Within 3 years he died of consumption, but in the meantime wrote a wealth of fine poetry. After his death several of his poems were turned into popular hymns, the first of these being Let all the world, published in 1633 in a collection called 'The Temple', all of whose items were written to be sung antiphonally – that is to say, either by two choirs, or by a choir and congregation.