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Moving On
I first found my way to a weekday Mass at St Matthew's in the final days of Father Marcus' incumbency. I estimate that to be about nine years ago. Since that time I have been made welcome by all, not least by Father Simon, who has generously allowed me to take part in a great variety of ceremonies and acts of worship, even when, as was sometimes obvious, I didn't have the vaguest idea of what I was doing! Here, of course, a visiting priest is always indebted to Stephen, whose sotto voce instructions make sure all runs smoothly. It has all been an immense privilege and I have much enjoyed learning about a part of Holy Church that I knew hardly anything about beforehand.
Sylvia too has appreciated the welcome we have received. Just as I have enjoyed the way that, somehow, no occasion at St Matthew's is complete without a few wine corks being deposited on the floor of the Rooms!
You will realise that this is something of a farewell. Since I finished working for Christian Aid over a year ago, I have kept saying to the Diocese, 'You know, I may be nearly (now at) retirement age, but I am sure there is something useful I could do'. There was, although the first idea ran into a fatal salvo from one particular ecclesiastical quarter. However, it turned out that my old parish of Wentworth was finding it hard to get a new Vicar, so I was asked to return as a 'minder' until the new Bishop has got settled and can turn his mind to a more permanent solution. I shall have a title redolent of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera! Chaplain to the Patron, Sir Philip Naylor-Leyland Bt. Beat that, Father Simon!
I shall be working a half week, but that includes a busy Sunday. We have two churches and up to four services. So I fear I shall not be able to be at the 11.00 Mass after June 1st (I start on June 2nd). And though I had hoped I might keep up my appearances on Wednesday lunchtimes, I really don't think that would be wise. So, except for helping out occasionally during the week, this will be the last you see of me for a while.
What shall I take away with me? The memory of a beautiful and holy place in the midst of our busy city. Some understanding of the way in which ceremony and images aid devotion. And the conviction that St Matthew's represents a part of the Anglican Church which has much to give and which the rest of us would be much the poorer without. I pray that the daily worship, the beautiful Sunday ceremonial (with its music) and this ever-open place of calm will continue to beckon seekers, as it did me, all those years ago.
Fr Richard Buckley
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