tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post3459657348104368049..comments2024-03-28T11:52:35.171+00:00Comments on Woolgathering in North East England: Michael Sadgrove's Blog: That SermonAquiloniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15098649175728796819noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-87558093406464619272018-05-24T11:26:12.884+01:002018-05-24T11:26:12.884+01:00Trevor Beeson (another retired Dean) wrote an inte...Trevor Beeson (another retired Dean) wrote an interesting letter to the Times (22/V/MMXVIII) in which he expressed the view that Michael Curry's sermon was "seriously misjudged". In fact, it seemed to me to be two sermons - one on "love" and the other on "fire". Beeson went on to write that "a wedding sermon should be addressed primarily to the bride and bridegroom, who are themselves ministers of the sacrament". Martin Luther King and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin were mentioned by name but I don't recall hearing the names Harry and Meghan being mentioned during the 14 minute long oration?Father Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04902961006821419938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-44734430521281376082018-05-24T10:53:14.589+01:002018-05-24T10:53:14.589+01:00Oh dear, Michael. Lovely thoughtful post, some str...Oh dear, Michael. Lovely thoughtful post, some strange responses!<br />I didn't watch the wedding, and therefore have seen or heard very little of the sermon. I didn't notice Charles "smirking" all the way through. Maybe he tried to smile a bit? And, assuming heaven and hell exist, and are even remotely as we imagine them to be, perhaps God will see to it that heaven is not troubled by anyone who has not repented of wrong doing. Myself included. But it is not up to me, thankfully, to make that decision.<br /><br />As far as the point of the blog is concerned, I am taking the first service for many years this Sunday. Trinity Sunday. Apart from Mothering Sunday, probably the Sunday most avoided by clergy in the whole calendar. So at least I have experience. I think I would hold to what I was taught in my training, its purpose is to show God. And for anyone worrying about nerves and so on, it's so not about you! It can take a while for that to sink in. Performance? Yes. You have to get the performance values right. I realised how important that is when I sat through a funeral where the priest constantly turned up stage. Back to the audience. Never seen it before, but it looks all wrong I can tell you! I used to be a performer, a semi-professional singer. If I sang in church, how did I deal with that? Granted it's not about me, how can I justify offering less than my best to God without blowing everyone else's socks off? Part of the answer was to stop singing in church. But even so, whatever I am doing, I try to do my very best. I rehearse readings, I go through the service, I put in bookmarks, I email the churchwarden. And no, I'm not nervous, I know what I'm doing. But it has to be the best I can make it. With God's help.Athenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065436976563532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-68363075744634951312018-05-22T19:59:56.276+01:002018-05-22T19:59:56.276+01:00Yes, yes, let's not split hairs over minor poi...Yes, yes, let's not split hairs over minor points of dogma such as whether the Bible is the word of God or whether what Jesus taught really matters, let's all just love and accept each other unconditionally and all trot happily into heaven along with the unrepentant paedophiles, mass murderers and adulterers, after all God loves everyone so why would he not welcome them into heaven too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-13913800424522464602018-05-21T22:02:48.966+01:002018-05-21T22:02:48.966+01:00Within the church I hear a lot of excitement about...Within the church I hear a lot of excitement about 'the sermon' which was impressive and inspirational. However I don't hear much acknowledgement of the fact he also made a classic error of moving from a great sermon to try to preach another one, and therefore losing the impact. He was enjoying it too much and did not want it to end, so needlessly kept going and in fact lost impact because of that.Rosemaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049363442010829300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-84672648556123819142018-05-21T12:31:01.714+01:002018-05-21T12:31:01.714+01:00'A preacher who found his voice and embodied h...'A preacher who found his voice and embodied his message.' Absolutely. It was thoroughly authentic. It was also very good, in that setting and for that congregation, that the Gospel was articulated in a way that many will have found both different and challenging.<br /><br />I am slightly nervous about all the excited and (if I'm honest) wrist-slashing talk of preachers needing to reassess the way they preach the light of Michael Curry's sermon - not least the media hype that might persuade some clergy to collude with the view that, if we all preach like that, it will make more of an impact than the way we currently preach. That sermon communicated so effectively precisely because Michael Curry was being Michael Curry - with all the cultural, historical and personal factors that have shaped his preaching. If I preached liked that, people would say I was simply acting. It would be a clear triumph of style over substance. I would fail in my fundamental responsibility to nourish the people of God on scripture, tradition and reason. There are ways of being direct, and of not being afraid to tell it how it is, and still be completely authentic. I think Bishop David Jenkins is a prime exemplar of how to be passionate and intellectually rigorous, for example.<br /><br />What was really disappointing - and thoroughly predictable, I fear - was the skittish reaction of an heir to the throne (and future titular head of the C of E) who sat there smirking throughout the sermon. Ditto many of his 'personality' friends. By contrast, the bride, her impressive mother, and her family were engaged, expectant and attentive. It tells me something very significant about the English character, and our inability to receive anything from those who are different.David Connellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-4468393438808212562018-05-20T07:31:57.838+01:002018-05-20T07:31:57.838+01:00Thank-you so much for this timely response to THE ...Thank-you so much for this timely response to THE sermon - it was clever (and generous) of ++Justin to suggest PB Michael Curry. For his admirers, there was little surprise in the content of the address - in fact some of us had been playing Michael Curry bingo (https://episcopaldiocesefortworth.org/fun-with-presiding-bishop-michael-currys-preaching/) - but his delivery was so authentic, so heartfelt - an unapologetic appeal straight to the emotions. And I, for one, longed for the Anglican Communion to respond by taking The Episcopal Church in our collective arms, welcoming back to the fold, and agreeing in the name of God's love that love for one another is more important than hairsplitting differences over dogman.Lay Anglicanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16731735543104129849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6861480576960760833.post-53833878180235214882018-05-20T06:11:56.044+01:002018-05-20T06:11:56.044+01:00It is interesting, having not heard the sermon, I ...It is interesting, having not heard the sermon, I was at the Cathedral for the licensing of fellow LLM's who had made it to the end of their training. A joyous occasion for them and their families, and those of us who'd trained alongside many of them, and were licensed last year. But the coverage has been hard to hear, with criticism. I intend to download the full text later today to read it for myself.<br /><br />I think that it was a great idea to invite him to preach at the Wedding, because his church is leading the way in many ways on inclusion and loving each other, which is so controversial in some quarters, but I think is a debate, which is still causing pain in the CofE.UKViewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18114944341930758335noreply@blogger.com