Musicians’ church feels the heat for expelling musicians
mainThe faithless ban on musicians by St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate, the National Musicians’ Church, reported last week exclusively by Slipped Disc, has resulted in an online petition to persuade the church to reverse its decision.
You can sign the petition here.
‘Our ministry as the National Musicians Church continues to be a core part of our Church’s identity and vision,’ proclaims the Reverend David Ingall, even as he breaks faith with the musicians of London.
Time to get the Archbishop of Canterbury involved.
I doubt that the archbishop of Canterbury has any jurisdiction in this matter. In most instances the ultimate jurisdiction belongs to the diocesan bishop (in this case the bishop of London), leaving the archbishop of Canterbury very little scope to intervene. For example, there was recently some disapproval among Anglican circles when the archbishop of Canterbury appeared to intervene over the question of whether George Carey ought to be allowed to remain as honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford. In fact, even a decision as important as this, one concerning the exercise of episcopal ministry, is ultimately the responsibility of the diocesan bishop.
Since the departure of our beloved Richard Chartres as long-term Bishop of London, I believe we are in limbo, so not much hope there. So we should all keep circulating friends and enemies – bring ’em all into this beautiful historic church!
This is a shocking and completely wrong-headed decision – as John Rutter points out, it completely betrays the musical spirit of the church and indeed the wider Anglican communion.