Joanna Bogle: "In a Country Church"

Image Source: InsideCatholic.com
(Hat tip: Auntie Joanna Writes)

Pro Ecclesia favorite Joanna Bogle writes at the new online version of Crisis:

I am seated in the chancel of a glorious medieval church, just behind the great rood screen, one of only a handful in England that survived the Reformation. Originally, it would have been topped by a great cross, with figures of Our Lady and St. John alongside. Today, its intricate carving and delicate arches welcome visitors who, like me, are here to enjoy beautiful music as part of the local festival, which attracts orchestras and musicians from across Britain.

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This church officially dates back to Norman times, but its origins are older. Records speak of it being rebuilt in the 11th century under Norman rule, so the Saxons clearly had a church here, and probably before them the Celts, too; most of the churches along this stretch of coast have Celtic dedications. That makes the 15th-century rood screen seem almost modern.

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A Catholic, I was brought up to know that a church such as this was built long ago for Catholic worship, but historical events meant that things turned out differently. During my stay in this part of the country, I'll be driving into the nearest town for Mass at a crowded little Catholic church, Victorian with a bleak but necessary modern addition to accommodate the larger numbers of the holiday season.

"We must pray for the conversion of England," my mother would remind us in my childhood, kneeling for a quick prayer whenever we visited an old medieval church on a country walk or as part of explorations on holiday. My sister was keen on brass-rubbing, collecting vast pictures of knights and ladies by rolling out sheets of paper across engraved memorial brasses and rubbing on top with black wax crayons to copy the image. I often found the old churches gloomy and unwelcoming, but it's different today, with better lighting and heating, and a general awareness of the need to attract visitors. This church has a bright brochure for children, with quizzes and questions to answer, and interesting snippets of information.

Would we want these great churches back, these fabulous monuments, so rich in history, so beautiful to enjoy and cherish, so horribly expensive to maintain? This one, like so many others, begs for money just to keep its roof intact, its heating system functioning (necessary on this chilly summer evening, crucial in the depths of winter), its fabric in good order. Babies are still baptized here, and couples married -- but their families are not necessarily regular worshippers Sunday by Sunday. The building makes a glorious backdrop for a memorable occasion, rather than a week-by-week reality of worship to God. The Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, once familiar to all inhabitants of a village such as this, now seem to belong to the intellectual patrimony of a smallish group not necessarily united in affirmation of their meaning and purpose. And when the lady vicar holds up bread and wine, what does she mean by this action, and in what manner is this linked with what previous generations have done in this building?

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What of the future? Church attendance in Britain is generally low: Catholics form the largest group of practicing Christians, but the numbers are still not huge. Recent Polish immigration has swollen Mass attendance in our big cities, and despite big losses from the 1960s onward, there is a general sense that the Church is somehow surviving. But we are not about to claim back the ancient buildings -- this beautiful place will not be a Catholic church in my lifetime.

What of the Anglicans? Will they continue to be able to keep up these great churches, with dwindling congregations and much uncertainty over the future of the Anglican Communion itself? And Britain generally -- will there be people going to concerts of Mozart and Strauss as the years go by? We can be cautiously optimistic here: In the 1970s there were fears that the multi-million-dollar pop industry might sweep away all large-scale enjoyment of classical music, but that hasn't happened.

But do things survive when the faith behind them is enfeebled? A church that has existed since before the Normans invaded makes you think that things can survive forever. But is it so? How many children in this village could recite the Lord's Prayer? How many teenagers know the Nicene Creed? How many plan to marry in the Church, or have their own children baptized? How many, if they saw the rood screen as it was originally, with its cross and figures, would be able to name Mary and John, and give some account of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection?

[Read the whole thing]