With the Spirit's Gifts Empower Us

June 06, 2017

With the Spirit's Gifts Empower Us

[Daniel]

So, as spectacularly beautiful as the Welsh countryside is, and as awesome as our new house is, we didn’t just pop over for vacation; we did actually emigrate from the United States to take up new calls.

Being from a different province of the Anglican Communion, I wasn’t permitted to do anything here in the church until licensed by the bishop to serve here. To that end, on the afternoon of Pentecost we did just that in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Cilcain, Flintshire.

To get some details out of the way, if you’re imagining a service in a quaint British town set in rolling hills accessed only by single track country lanes with narrow roads, old buildings, and a beautiful stone church that is nearly 800 years old, you’re pretty much there.

Cilcain is an absolutely gorgeous little place nestled on the side of Moel Famau with a ton of flowers, a pub covered in vines, a bowls club, and a church that has stained glass from the 1540’s and a roof that was put on in the 1530s. The roof is of particular note as it is one of the few hammerbeam roofs left in the UK that has angels on the beams; giant ones, no less. The angels are nearly five feet tall carrying shields bearing symbols of the passion, amongst other signs, and their size led people for years to think they were originally somewhere else; it turns out they were actually purpose built for this small country parish. All of this has lead to the church being classified by Cadw (Welsh Government's historic environment service) as a Grade 1 listed building.

The space, however, no matter how stunning it may be, is not the church. The church was certainly present though, with both the quire full of clergy, the nave and the north aisle packed, and Bishop Gregory there for his first worship service at Cilcain.

The installation is done roughly in the context of evening prayer, so we began with the various affirmations, and then sat to hear the words of Scripture. The bishop preached a wonderful sermon on the vocation of the priesthood and my vocation to this place. This diocese is immensely blessed to have the leadership of someone who understands and shares such a clear vision of the Christian vocation and of the direction in which the church should be going.

There were many other things done in the service, including the archdeacon quite literally placing me in my stall (which is from where the word “in-stall-ation” comes) not least of which was the reading and giving of the actual license I now have to officiate, a license with a rather spectacularly flattering introduction. Most remarkable to me, however, was the singing. I have long heard the stories of Welsh singing, and the rumors did not disappoint. Most Episcopal congregations in the states are not exactly well-known for their full-throated participation in the hymns and their ability to sing the harmonies (without the music printed, no less!) That is exactly what happened here. The good people of the Mission Area positively belted out the hymns, much to my heart’s delight.

Afterwards, we walked down to Capel Gad, the Methodist chapel in town for the “bunfight”, or as readers in the states would know it, the potluck. It was a gracious sign of ecumenical hospitality that they hosted and opened up to us!

I know that people attended for a variety of reasons: some to show support for the Mission Area, some to support their new rector/vicar (depending on the church), and some undoubtedly out of curiosity about this foreigner that has plopped down into these beautiful but quiet hamlets of Flintshire and Denbighshire.

Whatever reason it was that got them out of their doors, it was the Holy Spirit that, on that feast of Pentecost, brought together people from different nations to join together in ministry, to unite for the sake of Christ, and to celebrate what it is we hold in common which is not only our mission, but the joy we have through Christ our Lord.