Your answers

Many churches built in the 19th century and dedicated to the Holy Trinity are Evangelical. Why is this? Did any other new parishes of a different tradition ever use this dedication? [Answers, 21 June, 12 July]

I wish to testify to the "height" of Holy Trinity, Reading, well before 1900. My mother's family lived in the parish, and, though her parents went to (lower) churches elsewhere, several of her siblings were ardent worshippers at their parish church - until two aunts followed the curate to "Rome" around 1916.

One of my uncles acted later as subdeacon at high mass at Holy Trinity - and one cousin (an altar boy) relished the memory of helping to create the earthquake at Tenebrae. My uncle's position was that the Established Church was the true Church, and the Pugin Church of St James in the Forbury represented the "Italian Mission".

Alison Adcock (aged 94) Oxford

Holy Trinity, Shoreditch (now demolished), was on the first floor of the building, with a boxing ring on the ground floor. The church, inone of the worstslums of London, the Old Nichol, provided "muscular Christianity" under Fr Jay. . .

(The Revd) John Chamberlin,North Shields, Tyne and Wear

At Holy Trinity, Shoreditch, the priest-in-charge was the Revd Paul Philip Levertoff DD (1875-1954). A Russian-born Hasidic convert to Christianity and a noted Jewish scholar, he was appointed in the 1920s after a period as librarian of St Deiniol's and visiting Examiner in Hebrew at Leeds University.

As a "Jesus-believing Jew", he celebrated a Hebrew/Christian liturgy of his own creation (Meal of the Holy King), based on both the Torah and the Book of Common Prayer. The Revd Dr Ken Leech (Answers, 12 July) wrote a moving obituary for the Church Times about Denise Levertov, my late grandfather's youngest daughter, in 1997.

Richard T. Strudwick, Leeds

Your questions

Is there any provision for the Sunday collects to be chosen - say, by the preacher - to echo that day's Principal Service Gospel? The Gospel for Trinity 9 (Jesus's teaching on prayer) seemed well matched with Trinity 10's collect. Again, Trinity 10's Gospel (rich fool) might be matched with the choice of the collect for Trinity 12 (or indeed any other). If a connection were made in this way, collects might come less "out of the blue".

M. A. W.

Address: Out of the Question, Church Times, 3rd floor, Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TG. questions@churchtimes.co.uk 

WE WERE sorry to learn of the death on 24 July of Christopher Haffner, whose contributions to this column over many years were much appreciated. We will publish an obituary next week. Editor