The arrival of the ASB book ..

The Alternative Service Book 1980 (ASB) was the first complete prayer book produced by the Church of England since 1662. Its name derives from the fact that it was proposed not as a replacement for the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) but merely as an alternative to it. In practice, it was so popular that the various printers had to produce several editions very quickly and churches which retained the BCP drew attention to this fact as something to be noted. The Prayer Book Society soon complained that it was becoming hard to find a church which used the old prayer book and that theological colleges were not introducing students to it. It has now been replaced by Common Worship.

The introduction of this new book in the early 1980s caused what might be called a rift in our church - as efforts by many people were focussed on introducing this 'modern' service. The overall thought at that point in time was that the old service, and the old music (and choir) would fade gracefully away, and be replaced with a more modern service with up to date music - all of which was anticipated to increase church attendance and supposedly entice people to attend in droves. The reality (in our church) was very different. Many people still enjoyed the 'old' service and felt that the more modern language lacked charm and grace. Thankfully the vicar at that time, Christopher Lewis, saw that there were merits in both types of service, and so began our current pattern of having a 'modern' service at 9.30am, and a'traditional' service at 11am.

However, although these two services ran independently alongside one another, there became an uneasy feeling of 'us and them' which continued for a decade or more.

Money and resources were no object where the new service was concerned, and for a while the traditional service became very much the poor relation.

Certain PCC members at that time were very much against the choir, and felt this organisation to be totally unnecessary - and only there for its own glorification. They would have preferred the choir to have been 'sacked' and the traditional service extinguished .. but they were not prepared for the determination of the choir men, and the organist, to do our best to maintain this tradition for years to come ...

To support the music at the new 9.30am service, a group of singers was established - The St. Mary Singers (SMS) led initially by John Bruce. This group gave the opportunity for ladies and girls (together with men) to be involved with the music in our church - an opportunity which had not previously existed. A rota of organists began to play for this service, which initially introduced a variety of 'new' music - much by Graham Kendrick. The St. Mary Singers group were doing an excellent job - (and took any pressure off our choir to sing more modern worship songs!) The SMS continue to lead the singing at the 9.30am service - now under the direction of Jane Stacey, and in recent months have started to recruit more girls, under the leadership of Amber Sinclair.

Over the years the attendance at the 9.30am service began to decline gradually, whereas the attendance at the 11am service began to slightly increase.

When Vaughan Pollard, one of our curates, attempted to integrate a more modern music group from St Paul's Church, Fulney (in about 2009) with the existing SMS, disaster almost struck, and the St. Mary Singers almost disbanded. It was only due to a chance meeting in Church Street with Pearl Machin that I suggested that she might encourage the SMS to keep going for the time being - to see what happened. Thankfully they did - and gradually everything eventually returned to 'normal' although the 9.30am congregation became slightly more depleted. This episode did not impinge in any way on our traditional service.

In recent years any animosity which appeared to exist has thankfully faded away. Members of the SMS and the choir also work well together for joint occasions. At last the feeling of 'us and them' has now disappeared - even though it did take almost 30 years ...

Our church is almost unique in retaining the 'Prayer Book' 11am service, whilst allowing those who prefer a less formal approach to enjoy a more modern service at 9.30am - the best of both worlds!

I am quite convinced that the retention of the more formal traditional service has enabled our choir to continue to thrive, and is possibly one reason why churches that no longer offer this type of worship are less likely to have a traditional choir.

Evensong

The service of Evensong is a continuing tradition in Cathedrals and larger Parish Churches - and at Spalding this service has continued to attract a reasonable congregation. On average, in recent years, the choir and congregation have totalled over 50 in number.

The adherence at Spalding to the Book of Common Prayer for Evensong has enabled the choir to sing at many Cathedrals over the years, and the most recent trips - to Windsor, St. Paul's and Westminster were well supported by members of our own congregation.

Hopefully in years to come there will be more Cathedral visits ...