Serving citizens
SOMEWHAT to my surprise, I have just turned 75, at which age one has to stand down from active duties as Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Oxfordshire. One of the duties that I will miss is the citizenship ceremonies at which the DL, acting on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant, welcomes those who have recently become British citizens and subjects of the King.
They each have their own individual story of how they came to Britain, and why they made the decision to seek British citizenship. It has been clear from all the ceremonies that I have been involved in that they are all very proud to be British subjects; and certainly, from the life stories that I have heard at Oxford Shire Hall, those who have become citizens are all making a contribution to the local community.
Thousand ages
ANOTHER reminder that the world may now perceive me as being “old” is a letter from the Bishop of Oxford, informing me that I am no longer a Lay Canon at Christ Church Cathedral, but have become a Lay Canon Emeritus.
This year is the 500th anniversary of Cardinal Wolsey’s founding of “Cardinal College”. To mark the milestone, the cathedral recently celebrated a special service of solemn vespers with some wonderful music, including a truly beautiful new setting of the Magnificat by Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King’s Music.
Almost all the other music at the service was by composers who were connected with Christ Church, including John Taverner, appointed by Wolsey as the first Informator Choristarum of Cardinal College, where the cathedral choir has led worship in an unbroken tradition since the 1520s.
For a former Member of Parliament for Banbury, the appointed psalm for the service was, appropriately, Psalm 84, from which the motto of the borough of Banbury derives: “The Lord is my sun and my shield.” It includes the celebrated lines “For one day in thy courts: is better than a thousand. I would rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God: than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.”
Also appropriately, given that we were celebrating Cardinal Wolsey’s munificence, among those present at the service was Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, who was created a cardinal last year. The Dean referred to him as “the cardinal of Oxford”.
Only time will tell whether the Lord will spare me to be present in 2042 for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the creation, by Henry VIII, of the diocese of Oxford, carved out of Lincoln; and, in 2045, of St Frideswide’s Priory becoming Christ Church Cathedral. My father lived until he was 96; so I suppose, theoretically, it is possible.
Words of wisdom
IN DEFERENCE to my age, I am seriously considering amending my entry in Who’s Who under “Pastimes” to include “Attending funerals, memorial services, and giving eulogies”.
Giving a eulogy is a serious responsibility. One is conscious of speaking simultaneously on behalf of the deceased and also on behalf of their family and friends. The eulogy cannot be too long, but it has to be much more than some sort of end-of-term report on the individual’s life. Little one can say will mitigate the deep sense of loss that many at the funeral will be feeling, and, if grief is the price we pay for love, for many the price is a heavy one.
But one can try to emphasise the life well lived of the deceased, and express hope that all the good that can come out of love is not lost, and that the meaning of life extends beyond life itself.
A eulogy has to give sorrow words. Trying to identify the most appropriate readings for each person, depending on their age and circumstances, I find two pieces particularly helpful: the first, the passage from the Wisdom of Solomon which begins, “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and there shall no torment touch them. . .” And, to conclude, words from an early Christian prayer: “Give them rest with the devout and the just, the place of the pasture of rest and of refreshment, of waters in the paradise of delight whence grief and pain and sighing have fled away.”
Devolved powers
I AM the parish clerk of St Ethelburga’s, Bishopsgate, in the City of London. In the first half of the last century, a long-serving vicar of St Ethelburga’s was the Revd William Geikie-Cobb, who was willing to marry divorcees. Indeed, in September 1935, Winston Churchill and much of London society were at St Ethelburga’s for the wedding of Churchill’s daughter, Diana — a divorcee — to Duncan Sandys.
For nearly a century, Church of England priests have had the discretion whether or not to marry divorcees in church. Surely the time has come to apply the same principle to equal marriage? To allow an individual priest to decide whether they will marry, or bless, same-sex couples, or pray for the commitment of a same-sex partnership, if they consider it appropriate.
Means of grace
THINKING of birthdays reminds me that I spent my 60th birthday in York. I was attending my first General Synod as Second Church Estates Commissioner, explaining to the Synod that, while it was a matter for them whether the Church of England had women bishops, what Parliament would not accept would be the Synod’s trying to fudge the issue by seeking in some way to have second-class women bishops.
I was very pleased when, in due course, I was able to take the women-bishops Measure through Parliament, and to secure time from the whips to introduce primary legislation to ensure that bishops who were women were fast-tracked to the House of Lords.
It is difficult now to imagine the Church of England not having bishops who are women, and noteworthy that Lord Evans of Weardale (who chairs the Crown Nominations Commission for the next Archbishop of Canterbury) is reported as observing that many of the 11,000 respondents to the consultation on what they want in the next Archbishop of Canterbury have suggested that they would like the next Archbishop to be a woman.
Divine assistance
FOR the past nine years, I have been a governor of Ripon College, Cuddesdon, where we are seeking a new Principal to replace the retiring Bishop Humphrey Southern, who has given Cuddesdon shrewd and wise leadership over the Past decade.
I worry for the future of residential theological training, and, at some point — soon, I hope — the Archbishops’ Council and the General Synod will need to give thought to the future of theological training. The Church of England really needs to work out how many theological colleges it requires, where they should be located, and what they should be delivering; but, much more importantly, there is a fairly pressing need to give thought to how we encourage more people to come forward for ordination.
There is a strong tendency in the Church of England at every level, whether it be parishes thinking about Parish Share or the General Synod seemingly ignoring the post-Covid fall in ordinands, simply to think that “The Lord will provide.” In my experience, he very often needs a helping hand.
Sir Tony Baldry was Second Church Estates Commissioner from 2010 to 2015, and chair of the Church Buildings Council from 2015 to 2019.