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Carol singing reflections
Recumbentman Started conversation Dec 9, 2007
My choir went out carol singing today, two hours in a shopping centre. Gnomon and Mrs G were among the basses and altos respectively, and we were not too bad despite the background echoes of a relatively empty mall. Every now and then a hoot would sound, G below middle C. Gnomon worked out that it represented people nicking things from the supermarket, setting off the alarm at the gate. I hope they were mostly false alarms, there were quite a few of them.
Despite my stickler's distaste for singing Christmas carols in Advent I was happy to do it, both for the good crack and for the charity (the Simon Community) who collected a hundred or more euro as we sang.
The words of the carols made me squirm a little; one can sing with conviction what one couldn't say with conviction, but still, the sectarian nature of the message started to get to me. Then I reflected that making exaggerated claims is OK so long as you are not claiming state backing of any sort.
We can sing our carols and say "this is the only way" just as fans of Man United can say that their team was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be the best. Demonstrably both false and meaningless, it's still OK, so long as it gets no official endorsement.
The Church of Ireland (Anglican) was disestablished as the official state religion (!) in 1869. The UK has yet to make this essential move.
Carol singing reflections
Recumbentman Posted Dec 10, 2007
Perhaps I should say "the rest of the UK" since at that time all of Ireland was in the UK . . .
Carol singing reflections
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Dec 10, 2007
What's the situation in Northern Ireland today?
Carol singing reflections
Recumbentman Posted Dec 10, 2007
Ah; I jumped the gun there. It's not the UK that has Anglicanism as a state religion, it's England. Excellent coverage of such matters on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion where I learned incidentally of the existence of the "Old Catholic Church". How 'bout that.
Carol singing reflections
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Mar 8, 2010
Old Catholics reject papal infallability. I know quite a few Roman Catholics that reject it too.
Carol singing reflections
You can call me TC Posted Mar 8, 2010
The Anglican Church in Heidelberg holds its services in the Old Catholic Church. I've been to their Carol Services* most years for about 20 years now.
They do seem to be affiliated, theologically.
* which neatly brings us back to the title of the thread.
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Carol singing reflections
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