Christmas brings such a richness to our singing in church. This causes me to think about the origins of some of the carols we enjoy. Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but they were not Christmas carols, they were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice, being the shortest day of the year; usually it’s the 21st December. The word Carol actually means ‘dance’ or a ‘song of praise and joy’. Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. In AD129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called "Angel's Hymn" should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written in AD760, by Comas of Jerusalem, for the Greek Orthodox Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write 'Christmas carols'. However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that most people couldn't understand. By the time of the Middles Ages, most had lost interest in celebrating Christmas altogether. This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs which told the story. The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries. The earliest carol, like this, was written in 1410 and was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most Carols from this time were only very loosely based on the Christmas story, about the Holy Family and were seen more as entertainment. When Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England in 1647, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret. Before carol singing in public became popular, there were sometimes official carol singers called 'Waits'. They were so called because they only sang on Christmas Eve (This was sometimes known as 'watchnight' or 'waitnight' because of the shepherds who were watching their sheep when the angels appeared to them.), when the Christmas celebrations began. Also, at this time, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so carols once again became popular. Many new carols, such as 'Good King Wenceslas', were also written in the Victorian period. Carol services became common, as did the custom of singing carols in the streets. Both of these customs are still practised today! One of the most popular types of Carols services nowadays are ‘Carols by Candlelight’. The most famous type of Carol service might be the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, where carols and Bible readings tell the Christmas Story. The service was created and performed in 1880 by Edward Benson, who was the then newly appointed Bishop of Truro. The idea travelled around the UK and became quite a popular service to hold on Christmas Eve. However, it was made very famous by the choir from King's College, Cambridge, which was reckoned to be the best Church choir in the world at the time. The Service was first performed at King's College in 1918 as a way of the college celebrating the end of the First World War. In 1919 the opening carol came to be ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and this set the main order and structure of the lessons as it still is today. I hope you will all enjoy carol singing at St. Anne’s this year. Remember, for the Church, the Christmas and Epiphany seasons run right through to the Feast of Candlemas (2nd February), long after most have had their tree shredded and decorations have been returned to the loft. There is plenty of time to sing and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. All at St. Anne’s wish you a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!
It was my great pleasure during the first weekend of July to be involved with the Carnival, re-instituted this year of course after the delay through the pandemic. Unfortunately, I was otherwise engaged for most of the Saturday; however, it fell to me to lead the short open-air service of worship on Sandy Lane for the Sunday afternoon. About 50 people gathered in the strong, evening sunshine; this gave a meaningful number amidst whom, the Church Queen, Scarlet Ann, with her attendant retinue could be blessed. Naturally, the well was blessed too, a Bible reading and prayers for the community of Brown Edge were set amongst three popular hymns sung with determination. It's been a long time since I was present at a village event with such warmth and genuine appreciation for what was taking place. I imagine there are some photos circulating which captured the atmosphere, perhaps there will be associated images within this edition of the Newsletter? The whole event reminded me of the real importance of community against the general backdrop of independence we seem to promote these days. In aiming to be so self-sufficient and independent, financially and practically, I think we become somewhat socially impoverished, any mutuality in our existence becomes lost. I’m sure it was never meant to be so. Whilst at the open-air service, I cited a well-known Christian poet, T.S. Eliot; who asked… “What life have you if not life together? There is no life not lived in community, and no community not lived in praise of God”. I think he had hit on something important which was becoming prevalent even in his own day. Should it really take the formal organisation of such as FoodBanks or the addressing of a refugee crisis to rekindle a sense of mutual accountability and interdependence amongst us? Faith communities, when resourced and supported, can and do, play a major role in promoting social coherence and working for a more just society. Of course, this task is not the exclusive domain of the Church but, as an institution, it has always taken a lead in filling gaps that governments have not filled. It was so centuries ago. Most of our modern hospitals and educational establishments can trace their origins back to Christian initiatives and many are still meaningfully linked. Our diocese has over 200 church schools, including of course, St. Anne’s CE (VC) Primary! Between them they educate some 45,000 pupils. I have no doubt that through the commitment of their teaching staff, the diocese’s Christian Distinctiveness Advisers and their associated parish priests they try to make these places both beacons and examples of what a caring, supportive and just community looks like. On one level, from my perspective, I would love to see a return to the days when parish churches and chapels were a strong and well-supported focus of each and every community. Alas, if that were to become a realty, they would probably need to take a different form so as to address the needs of today. In one respect, basic human needs don’t change; meaningful and supportive relationships will never be indispensable; I am heartened as I visit congregations around the Archdeaconry and meet those who are relatively new but can articulate quite clearly what they find attractive amidst their new friends and what encourages them to stay connected. Sometimes life throws things at us that cause us to go looking for help and support; many still remember that that Church is there for them at such times. My appeal is that many more would pluck up the courage (I know it takes some) and return to Church, or even explore it for the first time. There are life-changing discoveries to be made and a real sense of community to recover. Blessings, Terry
Eternal God, our heavenly Father, we bless your holy name for all that you have given us in and through the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth. We give you thanks: for her love of family and her gift of friendship; for her devotion to this nation and the nations of the Commonwealth; for her grace, dignity and courtesy and for her generosity and love of life. We praise you for: the courage that she showed in testing times; the depth and of her Christian faith and the witness she bore to it in word and deed. We pray for our Sovereign Lord, King Charles, and all the Royal Family, that you might reassure them of your continuing love and lift them from the depths of grief into the peace and light of your presence. Amen.
Moving around the 187 churches comprising the Archdeaconry of Stoke-upon-Trent (yes, it’s big!) and having contributed to the Anglican ministry in Brown Edge on a number of occasions recently, it dawned on me that I don’t come across many churches dedicated to St Anne. In fact, a little research tells me that though the Church of England has over 16,000 church buildings, only 103 of them are dedicated to St Anne; this compares with 2368 dedicated to St Mary for example. So who is St Anne? Well, simply put, Anne was The Blessed Virgin Mary’s mother, or to put it another way, Jesus’ grandmother. These facts are not mentioned in the Gospels as we have them in our Bible, but they do appear in literature of the second century thought authoritative. Furthermore, Anne was married to Joachim. Sometimes a church dedication (or patronage) arises from a church’s location and an association with a particular saint. This is why we have a disproportionate number of local buildings dedicated to St Chad who became the first Bishop of Lichfield (known as Mercia then) in the year AD 669. The patronage of particular professions by saints has also influenced choices. For example, most English coastal towns have a church dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and fisherman, and churches dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples, are often found near the medieval gates of fortified towns. In a similar fashion, the choice of St Catherine was favoured by many institutions as she is also the patron saint of educators and philosophers. Sometimes, dedications were determined by the date on which the church was consecrated inasmuch as if that date is a saint’s feast day, it took the saint’s name. This was the case with a former parish which I served, viz., St Mark’s of Basford which was consecrated on 25 April 1915 – as it happens, the only Church of England church to be newly constructed consecrated during the First World War. But even this possibility doesn’t help us with St Anne’s; the memorial for Anne and Joachim (celebrated together) in both the Anglican and Roman Catholic calendar falls on 26 July and we know for sure that St Anne’s was consecrated on 1 June 1844 by the Bishop of Lichfield (The Rt Revd John Lonsdale). So, why was Brown Edge parish church dedicated to St. Anne, it remains something of a mystery. Unless a reader of this article knows better, one suggestion is that a benefactor had a relative named Anne whom they wanted to honour. However, for now, I favour the following possibility I’ve unearthed: apparently, as the mother of Mary, a devotion to St Anne grew as the patron saint of miners because of a medieval comparison between Mary and Christ and the precious metals silver and gold. St Anne's womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were ‘mined’. Now, in the early 19th century many of the inhabitants of Brown Edge were miners who worked at Chatterley Whitfield and other mines. The benefactors who gave land for the church, and contributed to its building, included the owners of these mines, notably the mine-owner Hugh Henshall Williamson (1785–1867); perhaps that’s the most likely reason for the dedication. What do you think? Having noted a ‘free’ evening in my diary on 26 July, I’ve offered to preside at a special service of Holy Communion to mark the church’s patronal festival (probably at 7.00pm) – why not join us? Blessings Terry The Revd Prebendary Terry Bloor - Associate Archdeacon (Stoke-upon-Trent)