Between Dawkins and the Pope

Today my mother was with me.  She was a devout Episcopalian and she raised me in Christ Church in Fairmont, WV.  I was an acolyte, crucifer, and, at times, in the choir.  I attended Episcopal church camp at Peterkin in Romney, WV, where (slight gloating) I received a prayer book from the bishop because I was a "model camper" (one of 6 recipients in my camp, and the only one in my family of five to have that honor).

Currently, my religious fervor is somewhere to the right of Richard Dawkins and to the left of the Pope; however, it is difficult not to be moved at the Canterbury Cathedral.  Not only is this site historic for many reasons, has a direct connection to my life in education, literature, and the theatre; our American Episcopal Church draws its lineage directly from this location.  The space is vast, ornate, cold, musty, ghostly, and has great reverb!  My hometown church was not ornate, nor musty, nor vast and that is the way I liked my church. While in Chicago, I attended a huge, ornate "smells and bells' (Mom's term) church and it was uninviting and standoffish. So, I was interested to attend a service, but apprehensive.

Today, I attended two services at the Cathedral.  The first was communion in The Jesus Chapel that is housed in The Crypt about 50 feet from where Thomas Becket was originally buried.  It was a small, spoken service, with about 30 people in attendance.  The reverend who ran the service was a very personable woman (a nice reminder of our split with the catholics) who was very welcoming.  This evening, I attended Evensong, a more formal service with a male choir (they alternate each evening between women's choir, children's choir, and a full choir).  You've probably already listened to the clip above.  It sounded incredible in that space, and you can't help but get caught up in the history.  A church has been on that site since the 500's and there is a ground-plan when you first walk in that shows when each section of the cathedral was built.

As I sat in the Evensong service, I couldn't help but think of the "theatre" of the service and the space.  This is a huge, ancient, used stage for Christ. I noticed the lighting, the sound, the decoration, the ritual. My mind flowed to the theatre's of Epidaurus and Dionysis.