The Centenary of St. Wilfrid's Portsea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Centenary of
St. Wilfrid’s, Portsea

 

 

 

Sunday 12th October
6.30pm

 

 

Readings: Jeremiah 7:1-7, Luke 19:1-10

Sometimes when I am visiting a church, I stand looking around the vestry beforehand just to pass the time of day, while everyone else is rushing around getting things ready.  Some years ago when I came to St. Mary’s, the door of the large safe was left open, and I happened to notice a small elegant silver crosier, which someone pointed out to me was made for Cyril Garbett.  As all of you know, he was curate of this parish when the present St. Wilfrid’s building was put up, and he went on to be a Vicar and eventually became Archbishop of York.  I remember coming here in December 1997 for the 90th anniversary celebrations, and we managed to get hold of some copies of the original plans.  Garbett never lost his interest in architecture, for he became one of the Church’s foremost spokesmen on housing, which in the 1930’s and 40’s was obviously quite a red hot potato. 

 It’s easy to ask the question, what would he make of today?  He certainly wouldn’t expect things to remain the same.  For myself, I heard only the other day of a retired priest in the diocese who was offered a job by one of my predecessors over the phone – if I tried that game, without formally consulting all sorts of people,  I’d be strung up!  On the other hand, even Garbett would be a bit surprised at the new enthusiasm for building church schools.  Everything seems to change one way or the other, and it’s right that it should.

 When I first visited St. Wilfrid’s, I was struck by how radical and forward looking the whole concept of these buildings was for the time.  It’s a compact and ideal “mission church”, that leads straight into a series of rooms and a hall, which were meant to provide important points of access for the local community.  And over the years, St. Wilfrid’s has developed a congregation that values the intimate and local atmosphere that you come to celebrate week by week, and Sunday by Sunday. 

 But I know that you have been having a series of meetings and consultations about what the next step should be.  The fact of the matter is that Garbett’s vision was a pioneering work for its time, but the way that it was put into practice needs some considerable adjustment.  Buildings are important places, particularly churches, because they provide continuity and stability in the community.  All sorts of people will value St. Wilfrid’s who never intend to darken the door!  And yet many of you are increasingly committed to taking the radical step of putting up an altogether new building in its place, aided by outside funding.  The aim is to serve the local community in a more focused way, but at the same time to have at our heart, here at St. Wilfrid’s, a dedicated, separate space, devoted to the worship of God.  I have seen too many “dual purpose” churches in my time to know that while they are successful in one way for all sorts of activities, they are noisy and distracting for people who want to come and pray.

 If you go ahead with this project, and you have my full support, you will find that it’s probably going to be quite a long haul.  That means you need to look ahead.  We can’t predict the future, but, for example, I am not sure that car parking is going to continue to be so important in the years ahead, because already people are using less fuel than they used to!  And of course you will want to keep some of the old furniture and liturgical aids, such as crucifixes and vestments, though you may well in the end discover that you really want something new, and different.  All that lies in the future, and the great thing about a journey of this kind is that you shouldn’t predetermine everything at this stage, otherwise you will find yourselves living in a kind of never-ending paralysis.

 It’s good to have a couple of churches dedicated to St. Wilfrid in the diocese, here, and at Cowplain, because it always makes me think of what an energetic but angular person Wilfrid was.  He keeps popping up all over the place, sometimes falling out with colleagues, and sometimes having to move to new terrain, because of need or circumstance.  Some clergy – and even bishops! – are a bit like that.  There’s a mobile restlessness about him, and that serves as no encouragement whatever to a congregation to keep looking to the past.

 Tonight’s readings underscore exactly this point.  They are not set for St. Wilfrid’s day, but for a dedication festival – which is more important for us here tonight.  The prophet Jeremiah warns us against looking to the temple building as all that we need, and no more in the gospel,  and Jesus encounters Zacchaeus on his way through Jericho and demonstrates the importance of noticing people who are easily overlooked or deliberately ignored.  Here is a mobile ministry that was anything but self-serving and self-satisfied.  May you all be richly blessed as you pursue these challenging and nourishing goals.