St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Carey gives his blessing for World Cup services

May 28, 2002

By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, pronounced a blessing yesterday on all clergy who want to change Sunday’s church service times to avoid a clash with England’s opening game in the World Cup. Dr Carey, an Arsenal supporter, said: “Worship comes first of course, but this comes round only every four years so we can afford to be flexible.”

He decided to support the changes after clergy told him about their divided loyalties. Although he will not personally be able to watch the match live, Dr Carey formally sanctioned the changing of service times to before or after the 10.30am kick-off against Sweden. On Sunday the Archbishop has to attend one service that will not be moved, a Golden Jubilee celebration at St George’s, Windsor, with the Queen.

The Archbishop, keen to head off critics who could accuse him of favouritism, said he would not be saying a special prayer for England, arguing that his remit as leader of the Anglican Communion is “worldwide”.

Some clergy have written special World Cup hymns in an attempt to marry the religion of the church to that of the terraces. Others are importing large-screen televisions into the nave so that congregations do not even have to leave their pews to watch the match.

The last time large numbers of Sunday services were changed to accommodate a national event was in 1967 when the BBC broadcast The Forsyte Saga on Sunday evenings and thousands of regular churchgoers stayed at home to watch it. This is thought to be the first time, however, that an Archbishop has tackled the issue directly.

At St Andrew’s Church in Skegby, Nottinghamshire, the congregation is being asked to turn up an hour earlier. They will be able to stay on in the 12th-century church to watch England’s first match on a big television screen. Other churches will be joining the St Andrew’s congregation to take advantage of the special service and one family has postponed a holiday so they can watch the match in church.

The Rev Richard Kellett, priest-in-charge, said: “There are lots of keen football supporters in a village like Skegby, and most people are interested in the World Cup. We, like many others, enjoy big sporting occasions and we want to help make the weekend special for the area.”

St Andrew’s Church in Paddock Wood, Kent, has erected a big screen for worshippers to watch the match before the service starts. In the run-up to the game the church is hosting a week-long celebration called Coming Home, with a replay of England’s 5-1 victory over Germany last year. The Bishop of Tonbridge, the Right Rev Brian Castle, who opened the event, said: “I myself have a real dilemma if England manage to play in the World Cup Final on June 30, which is a Sunday, because I have two services booked for that day.

“I really don’t know what I would do if that situation arose. I think the advice from the Archbishop is very sensible and I believe it is important the church is seen as a place of fun and enjoyment.”

The Rev Harry Ross, Vicar of St Luke’s in Goodison Road, Liverpool, who once persuaded the FA to delay the start of a cup game at Goodison Park so that it would not clash with his services, is installing a television in the vestry to give his congregation the latest news.

He said: “God must come first, but football is second. I will plant my church warden in front of the set and get him to signal if England score a goal during the service. Then I can slip the latest score into the sermon.”

Not everyone supports the Church’s latest tactics to win worshippers. One church warden said: “What started out as a light-hearted issue has turned into quite a hot potato because there are some members of the congregation who find it astonishing that we are even talking about moving the morning service for a football match. “But younger people, particularly families with children, feel it makes sense to move it.”

A spokesman for Dr Carey said: “The timing of church services is a matter for local parishes and if they want to change them they can. The Archbishop does not have the power to order them to change settings for church services, but he is happy for them to do so if they wish.”

Dr Carey’s approach is in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church, which is not advising priests to change Mass times. A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference said: “There are so many Masses on a Sunday that people are at liberty both to watch the football and attend a Mass.

“In fact, there are plenty of people who would perhaps like to video the game and go to Mass in order to pray for our success and that we achieve what we can achieve.”

'Make Jesus the centre forward of your life'

AGAINST

The Rev Geoffrey Kirk, vicar of St Stephen’s, Lewisham, southeast London, has no plans to change his 10am service on Sunday and considers the very suggestion absurd.

A leading traditionalist, his services are highly sacramental in tone. A large television would not sit happily in their midst.

“No one at St Stephen’s has asked me to consider moving the 10am service and I would not move it if they did. The very idea renders me almost speechless. It is absolutely barking mad. If we in the Church of England have actually generated a group of Christians who are so brain dead that they cannot even record the thing on a video and discharge their primary obligation on a Sunday morning to go to church, then we might as well pack up and go home. It is just possible of course that people at Lambeth Palace (the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury) do not know about video recorders. This is almost as bad as all the fuss over Harry Potter. It does not matter what the latest craze is, the Church of England will genuflect to it.”

FOR

Photograph by Paul Barker

The Rev John Hartley, Evangelical vicar of St Luke’s, Eccleshill, Bradford, has moved his usual Sunday morning service to Sunday afternoon and has written a hymn to the tune of Match of the Day.

His sermon will be titled: “Make Jesus the centre forward of your life.”

His hymn includes the lines: “Before I met the Saviour Jesus, my life was full of holes: I couldn’t do the good I wanted, I couldn’t score the goals.”

Mr Hartley said: “The World Cup kick-off clashes with the usual 10.30am service at St Luke’s so we wanted to release people from the dilemma of whether to watch the football or come to church and we also wanted to do something creative.

We have about 100 people in our congregation and if I had not done something, I would have placed at least 15 of them in a difficult situation of having to choose between church and football. I do not think Jesus is against football. I would far rather give people the opportunity both to watch some action and come to church rather than do just one.”