Choral Evensong As Nourishment For The Long Haul by Simon Reynolds

One of unexpected - but welcome - insights to emerge from the restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus, as public acts of worship are suspended and church buildings have closed, is how resourceful traditional patterns of liturgy and prayer have become.  As life has slowed right down for millions of people across Europe and beyond, as many spend more time at home, and increasing numbers are living with heightened anxiety and even grief; the centuries-old simplicity of a stable, repetitive pattern of prayer, whose words can be interiorized and memorized, is proving sustaining and life-giving.

FROM THE CENTRE TO THE EDGES OF THE CHURCH

This amplifies what has been happening over recent decades in more ‘normal’ circumstances.  Over the course of the past 25 years, a quiet but persistent revolution has been taking place in English cathedrals, in some larger churches in major towns and cities, as well as the chapels of many university colleges.  Choral Evensong becoming the locus of this persistent growth in the numbers of worshippers.  A considerable number of these people are under 40; and many others have, until now, lived their lives on the edges of the Church. 

As Western societies are becoming intentionally secular, when there is a discernible antagonism towards religious belief in the mass media, and the Church’s own statistics are telling a story of overall decline in the parishes of the Church of England, increasing numbers of people are finding their way to worship in cathedrals.  In a society where the language and symbols of faith are widely misunderstood, millions come to cathedrals – and many of them find their way to worship.  People who would not otherwise be part of a local parish church feel they can claim a stake in these iconic cultural and religious landmarks.

Similar patterns are discernible across Europe.  Huge numbers attended the Sunday evening Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris every week before the devastating fire of April 2019. It was a liturgical ‘set piece’ with professional choral music, at which the Archbishop presided. A similar pattern can be found at the Cathedral in Colögne where, in addition to an extensive repertoire of European choral music to enrich the Roman Catholic liturgy, Choral Evensong in its English Anglican form takes place every Sunday evening. Throughout Europe, monasteries are appealing to equally large numbers of people, drawn by the ancient pattern of daily prayer, enriched by the Gregorian chant that has coloured the Church’s prayer for well over a millennium.

SHARED SPACES

One of the attractions of Choral Evensong is its strange, almost counter-cultural, ambience.  Cathedrals are large spaces that combine liturgical stability and creativity with poise, attracting people who are seeking an intelligent and imaginative expression of the Christian faith.  Above all, it is the breadth of their music that speaks to so many.

Choral Evensong is not obviously ‘user friendly’ or ‘accessible’ as this is often understood in many local parish churches.  Yet they continue to be attractive as places of worship – particularly for those who have not always considered themselves ‘religious.’  This may be because, in an increasingly frenetic world, where many people struggle to maintain boundaries between work and down-time, there is a growing need for places of stillness, even silence and sanctuary.  Cathedrals and their traditional pattern of worship may enable us to recognise that there is much more to our lives than our distracted minds and tired bodies: we are much more than mere cogs in the vast machinery of global economic and commercial productivity.  Whatever our response may be to the worship, it is enough. The beauty of the music, coupled to the scale of the architecture, makes the experience of worship in a cathedral quite unlike any other we know from daily life and work.  They are places of cultural curiosity, enabling people to face life’s existential questions in a large and generous environment, witnessing to the belief that this is not a ‘me-centred’ – or even a human-centred – world.

ENLARGING MUSIC

Not only did Evensong evolve from the monastic pattern of daily prayer; it continues to embody a strong sense of continuity. It usually happens when people are heading home from work, or have finished school or shopping, visiting people in hospital, a care home or prison, when the axis of the day begins to turn from light to darkness.  It offers a space into which the concerns, failures and achievements of the day can be brought into a wide and generous orbit.

The words and music, along with the basic shape of the service, has been part of Christian experience from a very early moment in our history.  It takes us back to our roots in the Jewish faith of Jesus and his followers.  The same (or very similar) words are being said or sung in many other places, at around the same time, all over the world: not simply in other cathedrals with glorious music; but by small groups and isolated individuals; in small country churches, hospitals and immigration centres, in affluent societies or in places of grinding poverty and brutal persecution.  This is an act of worship that gently reminds us that, as 21^st Century people we are not the centre of the universe.  The music that infuses Evensong has been sung – and heard – many times before: possibly for centuries.  It is both inspiring and humbling to know that we are not the first (and will not be the last) people for whom this music has accompanied and articulated our longing, hope and gratitude.  Its regular repetition in many different places absorbs the prayers of countless generations of people.

This is worship that takes us out of ourselves and challenges our self-referential tendencies.  It invites us to journey into unfamiliar territory, to discover the wider horizons of life, history and faith. Above all, it sustains us (in the words of the Welsh poet, Waldo Williams) in

            …keeping house

            among a cloud of witnesses.

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Each day, we will post a short article by one of Darton, Longman and Todd’s amazing authors, offering a personal reflection on our current situation in life. Sometimes this will be written with reference to one of their books, and sometimes about how they are living in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus and our current world situation. We hope it will give you a taste of the depth and diversity of DLT’s list – books for heart, mind and soul that aim to meet the needs and interests of all.

Today’s post is by Simon Reynolds, author of a new book soon to be published by DLT, Lighten Our Darkness: Discovering and celebrating Choral Evensong.