Music days

[organist]

Final rant of the morning! It is sad that the Year of Mercy day at Hammersmith was cancelled. This is happening everywhere. Saturdays are now a day to support family activities and people can't even spare a morning for a session. Grandparents have to look after children. Many families are split so a keen server or singer suddenly goes off to see Dad. Choir practices are being moved to Sunday after the service (if they happen at all). We all seem to have so little time for each other let alone organised activities. I met a priest I know at an event but he seemed so anxious to go - why? Isn't it important to engage even for a couple of minutes especially with someone you have not seen for a while? That might be the last time you ever saw that person! Did Jesus do that to people? It often strikes me how little we know about each other. You go to a funeral and think I wish I had known that about him or her - we could have had such an interesting chat!
Many of our churches are poorly designed for engaging with people. The Methodists have this right. You always get properly and warmly welcomed, the church is warm and comfortable and there is always tea or coffee as you leave - no need to find the hall. The toilets are well labelled and clearly signposted. Why go back to a church where nobody speaks to you? Ok the priest does his best but he is only one person with a lot to deal with. And it only needs one person to collar him and he misses speaking to 10 others.
The Anglican church where I am now playing are friendly and welcoming. BUT the toilet is across the road in the hall and they have no coffee rota and nowhere to make coffee in the church which is large! Highly inconvenient! It could happen that the final voluntary is cut short because the organist has to dash!
One church where I went to Saturday evening Mass has a narrow narthex so the priest was forced to stand outside. I only ever said Hello to him - nobody else spoke to me. Church cold and forbidding - a penance. Add a priest from Eastern Europe whose English was difficult to follow.....
So let's take a long hard look at ourselves. Am I so busy doing my thing that I don't engage with people? How many names of people in the congregation do I know?