January 2012
Sabbatical News (2)
My Dear Friends,
I have now been in America for over a week and am beginning to settle in. The apartment I am staying in is lovely and perfectly placed between the University Campus and the town Centre of Durham.
The weather here is bright but quite cold; most days have clear blue skies but are chilly. There have been a couple of rainy days, but I have seen plenty of sunshine. It can get quite warm in the afternoon, but you would not think that North Carolina is so much further south than Britain.
As you can see from the pictures, it is very wintery, although the Camellias are beginning to come out and there are one or two daffodils. One surprise is that the grass here dies and goes brown in the winter rather than the summer, so the overall colour tone of the landscape is even more drab than at home. The brightest spots are the cardinal birds, which are slightly smaller than blackbirds and the males are scarlet all over. They are a really cheerful sight on a rainy day.
I have signed up for four courses at the University: Introduction to Old Testament, Introduction to New Testament, Music and Theology and The Theology of Karl Barth. The Biblical studies is fascinating. Things have changed a lot in Biblical Studies since I was an undergraduate 25 years ago. Nowadays academic thinking about the Bible is much more theological, a great improvement. The other two courses took my fancy as areas I had never explored before and both seem both fascinating and quite challenging. We had the first lecture in Karl Barth today, which was all about the political context in Germany that Barth was born into. The lecturer was arguing that you can’t understand his theology unless you start with that. The key issue was that Germany had been aspiring to its own empire for centuries and finally got one, in the shape of modern day Namibia, just two years before Barth was born. I am really looking forward to the rest of the course.
The campus here is in two parts, East and West. I live on the edge of West Campus, but East is the larger and where the Divinity Faculty is situated. The building with the largest tower in the photos is the Chapel. It has the tallest tower in the university and is right at the centre of the campus. The Divinity School is next door to it and it gives the impression of the Christian faith being at the very heart of life here at Duke.
I went to the Chapel service on Sunday. As I arrived people seemed to be streaming towards the building and there were over 700 in the congregation. The Chapel is as large as a good sized English Cathedral and built in the Gothic style in the 1920s. The choir must have over 50 people in it. The service was non Eucharistic and is non-denominational. Many protestant students from many different denominations attend and are part of its life.
At the beginning of the week of Christian Unity it has been sad to realise that, despite different denominations worshipping together in Duke chapel, the Anglican Church here is deeply divided. I had not realised until I got here how bad it was. There are now two denominations, the Episcopalians and the Anglicans; they both see themselves as in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury but not with each other. In each state is would seem that there are two dioceses, each with their own bishops. They still use the same prayer book but it is expected that this will not be the case soon.
The Anglican Episcopal House of Studies, which I am a member of, is unusual because it has students from both churches. It probably helps that the head of the House of Studies is an Anglican woman priest who both churches find acceptable. There is a lot of communication between the two here, which is quite unusual. I have spoken to a number of students about it, it is by far the biggest issue in the church over here. Mainly what they seem to feel is a great sense of sadness. One of the things that I have found interesting is that while in our press the split is characterised as being about attitudes towards sexuality and gay bishops, for the students the issues are far broader than that.
One of the lovely things about being a stranger here is how friendly and hospitable everyone has been. I have met up with both staff and students, been taken out to coffee, lunch and given tours of the area to help me find my feet.
I hope this finds you all well, with best wishes to you all.
Love, Mandy
South Door
Access to the Church for keyholders is now through the Priests’ Door/South Door!
Sabbatical News (1)
My Dear Friends,
I have been in Barbados for nearly a week now and was thinking of you and praying for you in Church this morning. The church is opposite the beach and during quite moments in the service I could hear the waves crashing on the beach through the open windows. I’ve attached a few pitures for you to get an impression of where I am. The hotel I am staying in is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea and I can hear the waves all the time. The temprature is lovely, around 80F, but cooled by a constant breeze. I am staying on the East Coast which is the windy side of the Island.
Yesterday I visited the Andromeda Botanical Gardens which are walking distance from where I am staying and were wonderful. I attach a picture to give you an idea. There is also a picture of a chattel house, where the poorest people live. They are designed to be taken down and put up again in a day if the landlord says the family have to move on. The legacy of slavery is still very evident here.
The wild life is wonderful. I have seen a wild monkey - well just a glimpse as he jumped into the jungle, a humming bird, three mongeese ( I hope that’s the plural) and the most enormous bumblebees and snails which I am very glad I don’t have in the garden at home. The bumble bees are the same size as the humming birds, which is small for a bird but very big for a bee!
Everyone here is very friendly and relaxed. School started on Wednesday after the Christmas holidays here - it’s very strange to see Christmas Decorations up in such warm weather - and there is a teachers’ strike on. The Rector this morning ventured his opinion during the notices that the teachers’ strike should be supported and an almighty row broke out with various members of the congregation telling him that he was wrong and why and other joining in to support him. As the notices come after the intercessions and before the peace he had to call for a time of silent prayer and reflection to get everyone to calm down. It took three goes before they all stopped discussing it vigourously!
I’m on to America first thing on Tuesday so I will send you more news once I have settled in there.
With love and Prayers
Mandy
Posada
Thank you to everyone who gave Mary and Joseph hospitality during Advent. It seems to have become a special part of our Christmas preparations at St. Leonard’s. Unfortunately I won’t be able to organise it in October/November this year so perhaps someone else would like to take on the planning. I have all the documentation and spread sheets ready to pass on.
Sue Heeley
Christmas Greetings Board
Thanks to all who used the Board to pass on their greetings to members of the congregation. We are able to give the Spires Centre and The Children’s Society £160 each (does not include Gift Aid).
Christmas Gifts for Spires
Dear St Leonard’s Church Family,
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time and effort to donate a beautifully wrapped and generous Christmas gift for Spires homeless clients. We are so grateful for your support and want you to know how much a gift means to someone who has very little in their lives. Spires staff and volunteers will have been able to offer our clients a more positive day because of your kindness. With all good wishes from Spires staff and volunteers.
Amanda Addo
Youth Choir
We are sorry to report that Hannah Parry-Ridout has resigned as Director of the Youth Choir. Sadly, despite her best endeavours and some imaginative attempts at recruitment, there has been almost no take-up from children and young people in either the parish or the school. Hannah also found the travelling to Streatham from her home in Acton too time-consuming to be practical. We wish her well and hope to see her in the organ loft from time to time as she is still willing to deputise on an occasional basis.
The future of the Youth Choir will be reconsidered when the Rector returns from her sabbatical.
Tower Clock Update (again)
Following several more visits by Gillett and Johnson (clockmakers) the church clock is finally going and keeping reasonable time. It would appear there were a number of problems which have been sorted by a process of trial and error.
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