Dearest friends,
Church vestments can sometimes look, from the outside, like little more than ecclesiastical decoration – colour, fabric, embroidery, lace, and layers of clothing from another age. But they are much more interesting than that.
The Church has always understood worship to involve the whole person. We hear the Scriptures, speak and sing, stand and kneel, receive bread and wine, see candles, colour, movement, and beauty. Vestments belong within that same language. They help tell us what kind of moment we are in. They mark the seasons of the Church’s year, distinguish particular ministries within worship, and remind both priest and people that what happens at the altar is not an ordinary meeting.
One of the things I love about vestments is that they help take attention away from the individual priest. At the Eucharist, I am not there primarily as Matthew, expressing my own personality or preferences. I am there to serve the worship of the Church and to exercise a ministry which belongs to the whole Church. Vestments help make that visible. They clothe the minister for a role rather than drawing attention to the person underneath.
They also carry history. The garments we use today have developed over many centuries, and each has gathered meaning along the way. Some are practical, some symbolic, and some both. Even the colours we use through the year tell a story – white for celebration, red for martyrdom and the Holy Spirit, purple for penitence, green for the long growth of ordinary Christian life.
This Sunday at 4pm at St John’s we are going to spend some time looking properly at church vestments – what they are, where they came from, what they mean, and why the Church still uses them.
We are particularly blessed at St John’s to have a remarkably beautiful collection of vestments, gathered and cared for over many years. On Sunday we are going to get them out properly to look at them closely, explore the different colours, fabrics and designs, and talk about when and why they are used. Some are quite understated, others are wonderfully elaborate, and together they tell something of the history, devotion and generosity of those who have worshipped here before us.
If you have ever wondered why priests wear what they do, why the colours change, or what on earth some of the names mean, do come along. There will be plenty to look at, plenty to explain, and I hope a few surprises too.
In love,
Fr. Matthew
Looking Ahead
There is lots happening across St John’s and St Luke’s this autumn and Christmas. Harvest, Advent, concerts, carol services, Small Blessings, Live Nativity, and Christmas worship are all coming up.
See the Upcoming Dates below and get them in your diary now!
Sunday 20th September
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
9am – Sung Parish Mass [SJ]
11:15am – Sung Parish Mass [SL]
4pm – Lecture, Church Vestments [SJ]
5pm – Afternoon Tea [SJ]
6pm – Evensong [SJ]
Year A(II), Psalm week 1, Trinity 16, Proper 20
Upcoming Dates
Sept
19th – Table Top Sale (10am) [WH]
20th – Lecture, Church Vestments (4pm) [SJ]
Afternoon Tea (5pm) [SJ]
Evensong (6pm) [SJ]
27th – NA Benefice Evensong, St. Mary’s (5pm)
30th – St. Luke’s Ladies Group [SL]
Oct
11th – Harvest Festival [SJ & SL]
17th – Table Top Sale (10am) [WH]
28th – St. Luke’s Ladies Group [SL]
31st – Quiz Night (7pm) [TBC]
Nov
8th – Parish Lunch [SL]
20th – ‘Western’ Class 52 Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives in Camera, 1975–1977 (7pm) [SL]
21st – Table Top Sale (10am) [WH]
25th – St. Luke’s Ladies Group [SL]
Last Night of the Proms Concert (7pm) [SL]
26th – Advent Course on Mary – Week 1 [TBC]
29th – CTNA Advent Service (4pm) [SL]
Advent Carols by Candlelight (6.30pm) [SJ]
Dec
3rd – Advent Course on Mary – Week 2 [TBC]
6th – Rowcroft Carol Service (3pm) [SL]
9th – Darby and Joan Club Carol Service (2pm) [SJ]
10th – Advent Course on Mary – Week 3 [TBC]
12th – Christmas Fair [WH]
13th – Parish Lunch [SL]
17th – Advent Course on Mary – Week 4 [TBC]
19th – Table Top Sale (10am) [WH]
20th – Nine Lessons and Carols (6pm) [SJ & SL]
24th – Small Blessings Crib Service (morning, time TBC) [SL]
Live Nativity (4pm) [SJ]
Candlelit Midnight Mass (11.30pm) [SL]
25th – Christmas Day Mass (10am) [SJ & SL]
[SJ] St. John’s | [SL] St. Luke’s | [WH] Wickham Hall
[SC] St. Catherine’s School