Service notes: Saint Ewold's, Barchester

Not bad. Not bad at all. Considering that I drove in from four hours away (I was at a conference over the weekend) and plopped myself down in the pew still trying to catch my breath, I had a good, worshipful experience at Saint Ewold's.

There was the usual pale, balding, skinny gay guy at the "organ." (I'm a pale, balding, fat gay guy, so I'm allowed to say that.) He had apparently given up legato for last Lent and never took it up again. He played too loud -- if I can't hear myself sing, the organ is too loud, because I sing way too loud -- and added passing notes and curlicues of the sort that you would expect from a Baroque composer on crack playing a theatre organ. Still, the hymns were well-chosen and the tempos were good.

The opening words of the liturgy -- you should be sitting down for this -- were "Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Not "Good morning," not "Please stand for the opening hymn," but an actual acclamation of praise to the Blessed Trinity. And we proceeded to do the liturgy as it is in the Book. The celebrant didn't even feel the need to introduce the Creed. He just stood up and, in defiance of all laws of physics, people started saying it.

Plus, this congregation can chant. (It may be that they can sing too, but I couldn't hear them over the organ. But the singing of the Sursum Corda, Great Amen, and Lord's Prayer was unaccompanied, and it was quite good.) They should sing more of the service, because they're good at it.

The lessons were read very well, which completely went to waste because everyone but me had his head in the lesson leaflet. Those leaflets are an abomination before the Lord.

And the sermon was good. I mean, it wasn't Lancelot Andrewes or anything, but it was theologically sound, it commented on the Scriptures, it was well-delivered, and I really meant the "Amen" I gave at the end. Standards of preaching actually seem to be quite high in the Diocese of Barchester. Plus, the Rector is a Texan, and the voice of God is more discernible when it takes on a Southern accent.

Alas, after the blessing, they had the announcements and so forth, which really tends to undo whatever the liturgy itself just did. But in general, Saint Ewold's does a good service. We might want to rethink the vestments, though. They look like something Bob Mackie would have designed for a Carol Burnett Show Eucharist skit.