Let me explain. At 10.15 on Wednesday morning I was due to give a talk to the Shipley Retired Men's Forum in Shipley Library. As there is very restricted parking by the library and I had some equipment to off load I asked the booking secretary if I would be able to park near the library. "Yes", he said, "Just go into the library and explain that you are giving us a talk and they will issue you with a parking permit."
This would have been fine, if the Shipley Retired Mens Forum was the only group meeting there at 10.15, but when I arrived at 10.00 the parking area looked to be already full. There were two taxis parked by the side of the library, occupying enough space for a double decker bus, so I asked one of the taxi drivers if he could move to one side so that I could park. He did so, but when I pulled into the very restricted space I couldn't fully open my door, and get out!
I eventually parked in the space reserved for the library staff, blocking in two of their cars, but fortunately none of them needed to move their cars during my talk. Shortly after the end of my talk I had to play for a funeral at St Margaret's Church Frizinghall.
Thursday afternoon I had another funeral to play for at St Margaret's Frizinghall, and a combined choir practice was scheduled at Bingley All Saints church on Thursday evening. This was so that all the singers who would be making up the choir for the new Vicars induction service could have a practice of Panis Angelicus and the five hymns to be sung during the service.
Two elderly ladies had requested that I give them a lift, and before I collected them I went down to church to make sure that the heating was on for the practice. If it isn't, the best description of the church would be - think freezer!
I had tried to ascertain exactly how many members would be making up the choir, and which voices they would be, but like the best laid plans of mice and men....... some choirs just supplied me with a number of people who would be attending, and to make life more complicated one choir couldn't attend the joint practice, and had, at the last minute, pulled out of singing Panis Angelicus. I had worked out a processional plan, and a seating plan on the numbers I had been supplied with, and just to complicate matters, three extra bodies turned up for the practice - I now had 37 bodies to fit into the choir stalls. A huge shoe horn would have been of great assistance at this point! I added extra seats to one end of the four choir pews and we just about got everybody seated!
Earlier on in the week my Meriva had been showing InSP on the milometer which tells me that the car is "In Service Period" - ie it needs its annual service. So at 08.30 on Friday morning I was down at JCT600 in Shipley, and as they didn't have a courtesy car available I had to wait until my car had had its service.
At 19.30 on Friday evening there was a practice arranged for all those involved in the Induction Service. At the end of this practice I had gathered all the information I needed to know how and where I could seat the various voices in the choir stalls, but as a communion service was involved it meant that all the choir members would have to vacate their places to receive communion and then get back into the same places ready to sing Panis Angelicus. This was not quite as straight forward as you may think, due to the fact that the front choir stalls have access at both ends, whislt the rear choir stalls only have access at the altar end.
I carefully arranged that the first person out of the choir pew was the last person to receive communion (and consequently the last person out of the choir pew was the first person to receive communion) so that they returned to their original seats.
The new vicar then suggested that it would be rather nice if we had a crucifer (Cross bearer) to carry the processional cross and lead the choir in. This person would have to be drawn from the ranks of the combined choir.
Brilliant idea! Choose one of the last people who were to be seated so they could still occupy their correct place in the choir stalls when all the choir had filled into the seats.
Leading out of the choir stalls for the recessional hymn would entail a different order, due to the fact that the ladies could exit from the congregation end of their stalls, whilst the men could only exit from the altar end. Again, careful planning ensured that the sopranos, were followed by the altos, who in turn were followed by the tenors and eventually the basses.
All would have been fine except on Saturday, 30 minutes before the service was due to start four extra choir members turned up, and I only had space to seat three of them, by adding yet more chairs on one end of the choir pews.
I lined the choir up in their processional order, gave out the copies of the music to the hymns, and the copies of Panis Angelicus, and left my deputy organist to send them merrily on their way, whilst I played some voluntaries for 20 minutes before the commencement of the service. My deputy was accompanying the Communion Hymn and Panis Angelicus whilst I conducted.
We had a full church, with a forty strong choir, about thirty supporting clergy and a congregation of 250+. A coach full of the new Vicars previous parishioners from Upper Norwood in London made the journey to her induction.
The Bishop of Bradfod (The Very Reverend Nick Baines) instituted the Rev Beverely Mason as priest in charge of Bingley All Saints and St Aidan's Crossflatts.
The Rev. Beverley Mason
Licensing Service Booklet
A superb spread of food, tea, coffee and wine was available for all in the Parish Hall at the conclusion of the service, and it was almost 19.00 before Dot and I left!
I played for the usual Sunday Service, and we had arranged to go out for a meal with our next door neighbours, so we visited a local Toby Jug Inn (The Beeches) in Keighley for Sunday lunch - which we managed to eat at tea time!
Glancing ahead on my calendar I see that it looks to be another busy week!
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