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| 2656: St Nicholas
with St Mary Magdalene, Chiswick, London |
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Mystery
Worshipper: Andy the Albanian.
The church:
St
Nicholas with St Mary Magdalene, Chiswick, London.
Denomination:
Church
of England, Diocese
of London.
The building:
Documentary evidence of a church on this site dates back to
1181. The present building is mostly late-Victorian Gothic,
having been rebuilt in 1884 to a design by the 19th century
Gothic Revivalist John Loughborough Pearson that preserved the
15th century tower. Quite traditional inside, with original
pews, choir stalls and chancel screen. Rather square in shape,
with side aisles not much narrower than the nave – presumably
dictated by the site.
The church:
Nothing particularly visible to an outsider. However, I did
glean from their website that they are an inclusive community
who worship in the tradition of Catholic revival in the Church
of England; that they sponsor bell ringers, a book group, a
playgroup for pre-school children, and English classes; and
that they also have ties to a church in Angola.
The neighbourhood:
The church is tucked away between the A4 dual carriageway and
the Thames, next to Fuller's brewery, with which they have a
longstanding relationship – Mr Smith of Fuller Smith and
Turner provided much of the funding for the 1884 rebuilding.
Walking away from the Hogarth Roundabout toward the church,
one seems to go back in time about a year per yard. Chiswick
Mall is lined with multi-million pound properties, but on the
other side of the roundabout is a large council estate. As so
often in London, affluence lives cheek by jowl with deprivation.
The cast:
The Revd Jackie Cameron, associate priest, presided, assisted
by the Revd Andrew Downes, curate, in the liturgical role of
deacon. Malcolm Smith, churchwarden, preached. Members of the
congregation read scripture, led intercessions and ministered
at the eucharist.
The date & time:
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 9 February 2014, 10.30am.
What was the name of the service?
Sunday Eucharist (Parish Mass).
How full was the building?
A congregation of around 80 in a space that could have sat perhaps
four or five times that number.
Did anyone welcome you personally?
A smile and greeting as I was handed the hymnbook and service sheet.
Was your pew comfortable?
A comfy pew, yes.
How would you describe the pre-service
atmosphere?
Low-scale conversations going on between pew neighbours, many
people sitting quietly. It felt more like "waiting for
it to start" than "reverently preparing ourselves."
What were the exact opening words of the
service?
"Good morning and welcome to St Nicholas."
What books did the congregation
use during the service?
Again from their website: "We use the contemporary English
services from Common Worship." We were, however, given
just the Celebration Hymnal and a service sheet.
What musical instruments
were played?
Organ, replacing the one that was destroyed in a fire set by
vandals in 1979.
Did anything distract you?
Outside noise from aeroplanes. There was also a gentleman who
left his pew and walked around several times using his iPad
as a video camera.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip,
happy clappy, or what?
Once again from their website: "We use modern services
and readings with traditional music and ceremonial." I'd
describe it as moderate smells and bells, processions and robes.
Exactly how long was the
sermon?
11 minutes.
On a scale of 1-10, how
good was the preacher?
8 – Churchwarden Malcolm Smith sounded rather like a columnist
from a national newspaper: self-aware, slightly humorous, urbane.
A very literate style, well structured.
In a nutshell, what was
the sermon about?
He spoke on the gospel reading, in particular Matthew 5:13 ("You
are the salt of the earth"). Salt improves the taste of
other things by disappearing, by spending itself. It preserves
things by keeping them fresh. We, not someone else, are the
salt. We are called now, not later when we've had time to get
better at it.
Which part of the service was like being in
heaven?
Coming forward at the distribution of the eucharist and being
in the sanctuary with a ministry team that modelled every visible
type of diversity: lay and clergy, skin-colour, gender, age,
able-bodied and disabled. Absolutely wonderful sense of a fully
inclusive community.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
The intercessions: the words were super, but there were too
many of them, delivered with no real space between them, and
they sounded "read" rather than "led."
What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
Nobody talked to me. The clergy and laity who had taken part
in the service were all engaged in conversation with someone;
those who stayed for coffee were clustered in many groups, all
talking animatedly. They seemed a very friendly bunch, but they
didn’t notice me. (Actually I got more eye-contact and "good
mornings" from passers-by in the high street afterwards.)
How would you describe the after-service
coffee?
Decent coffee in a china mug, along with a nice biscuit. I didn’t
see whether it was fair-trade.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
7 – The good preaching and the overall sense of a really
inclusive community would certainly draw me back another couple
of times, but if nobody talked to me then, I’d go elsewhere.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a
Christian?
Yes. You don’t see a group like this gathered and sharing together very often.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
The diversity. |
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| The Mystery Pilgrim |
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| One of our most seasoned reporters makes the Camino pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Read here. |
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