A Gloomy Rose Sunday

Actually things didn't get gloomy until coffee hour (after the service here!). I showed up right at the Angelus so was safe from being asked to fill in for any missing servers. The Zabriskie pew was waiting, of all mercies still unoccupied since Marjorie was sitting with Ana, whose first communion it was. (It's always a small and blessed miracle on those days when Marjorie isn't already sitting there and I'm not serving that I get to sit in my favorite pew and enjoy the service as a member of the congo.) And blessedly also SrT was not in the pew behind groaning along with the choir. The Lord indeed seemed to be full of mercy this Rose Sunday.

Then as I was preparing to depart a suitably refreshing coffee hour for a traditional Rose Sunday 3-Mimosa brunch, I was nabbed by the Junior Warden, who had a thing or two to inquire. It seems an important member of the church family has gone off in a huff and she wanted to know what I knew about it and when. I didn't know much but I guess I said something that summoned up a further revelation from her that this was all portentous of something much more ominous. This something is no less than the Solemn Mass and our traditional mass settings sung by our wonderful choir itself being put to question by our current junior and senior wardens. They believe we must drastically reduce our budget for next year and the best way to do it is cutting out the paid choir for most of the year. Our excellent professional choir and organist do account for a significant chunk of money but I believe if we do that we may as well say we've given up and close the place because these are two of the things that are so special about St. Ignatius. Yesterday they sang the beautiful Brahms Missa Canonica, which was just glorious, and Gibbons' This is the record of John as the anthem. We have just been hearing mass settings from the classical and romantic eras for the first time under our wonderful new (as of two years ago) choirmaster since our previous one hardly ever got out of the 15th century. I can't imagine an 11:00 am Sunday service without our choir and the "sacristy queens" putting on their fabulous show with those fabulous falling apart at the seams, 80-year-old vestments.

Unfortunately we have two very low church wardens for the forseeable future and they would love to steer St. Ignatius down that slippery slope that St. Mary's has slidden into the slough of the broad church. They don't understand the purpose of "dressing up and putting on a show" as I was shocked to hear the junior warden say. She's right that it's not all about putting on a good show, but it is partly that. This is New York after all and just off Broadway. I'm sure some people don't need all the sensory aids that we provide and I say to these people, there are churches aplenty where you will fit in just fine. Just don't go trying to change everything we've been for the past 135 years. As if! And she had the nerve to say if I'm not part of the solution, I'll be part of the problem. Honey, you haven't seen a problem like the problem you're gonna see here.

I was so shocked to hear all this from a women I used to like alot, I didn't know quite what to say but I made my exit and got down to that mimosa in a very gloomy mood. I was quietly pondering how best to begin marshalling troops for the coming battles so after brunch we went to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is pretty well done and seemed an especially apt allegory this day. I couldn't believe with the hundreds of kids in the theater, it was so quiet you could hear every line!

I had a good chat with the rector this evening and he was a little surprised to hear about all this. The rector is always the last to know, he always says. But I think things will be unchanged for this year anyway. We'll find the money somehow to keep the show going, at least for a little while longer, so catch it while you can!