As we began
During the
processional hymn, the clergy filed into the church, in resplendent vestments, rich
in colour, the Bishop of Manchester, The Right Reverend Dr. David Walker, with
mitre and shepherd’s crook and always to my fascination, sandal-shod, bringing
up the rear.
He was the president
of the Easter Sunday Sung Eucharist as a surveyed the church in which I stood,
barely a seat vacant, the fullest it has been since before the pandemic. The
worship conventions suffused in the mystique and mystery of Latin hymns sung by
the lay clerks, but for the English translations, we would be in another heaven
of tongues roaring like thunder to our hearing.
Onto the new
The sermon was
predicated on newness excerpted from part of the Collect, “Lord of all life and
power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order
of sin and death to make all things new in him.” We were
encouraged to begin to see the new in a new from that which we once knew. The
new normal will never be back to normal, but it has to be a better normal in
every aspect of life.
After the dismissal,
we were in for a surprise treat, the Bishop said we could follow the clergy out
in the recession where we would all congregate outside on the grounds of the
church, socially distanced with essential safety measures to then sing the
recessional hymn together. For the first time, we sang as a congregation in well
over a year, it was uplifting and rousing. The first line introducing us to the
amazing story of Easter. ‘Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son.’ [Wikipedia: Thine be the
glory]
After a short chat to the Bishop, leaving church, I
thought I will get a few things from the shops, it never dawned on me as I have
rarely been in the UK at Easter to realise that like Christmas Day, the main shops
and shopping precincts are closed for Easter Sunday. I guess you always find
that you learn something new.