SSG Summer School 2004 |
Home |
|
|
A Survivor Writes… 1 Quotations are from delegates’ evaluation forms and from the Society’s on-line forum. |
In the talks and in the workshops, we will reflect upon and respond to Saint Luke’s account of the events on the road to Emmaus as we prepare once again to recognise the Lord in the breaking of bread and to give thanks. |
||
Click on the image to open a large version (300KB) © Paul Wellicome |
||
© Julie-Ann Gylaitis 
© Julie-Ann Gylaitis 
© Julie-Ann Gylaitis |
The Vision The 2004 Summer School was always going to be a special one, taking place as it did in the Society’s 75th anniversary year. As Chair of the Society and co-ordinator of the 2004 Summer School team, Alan Smith was acutely aware of its significance and of the need for it to incorporate aspects of the Society’s past as well as intimations of its future. The Society’s anniversary celebrations were planned as a totality. Back to our Roots had been a Springtime retreat and pilgrimage to Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire, and to the graves of Dom Bernard McElligott and Dom Laurence Bévenot. It was originally intended that the November Annual General Meeting, Annual Mass for the Members of the Society and Crichton Memorial Lecture would take place in Oxford, where the Society was first mooted, but this proved difficult, and the event was translated to Pershore, home for many years to Monsignor James Crichton. New Hall School in Chelmsford was the obvious venue for the Summer School, given its long-standing links with the Society and with Dom Laurence Bévenot. If Breaking Bread had had a mission statement, it would have been: In the talks and in the workshops we will reflect upon and respond to Saint Luke’s account of the events on the road to Emmaus as we prepare once again to recognise the Lord in the breaking of bread and to give thanks. Other ideas, derived from the Emmaus story, were Word — Sacrament — Mission, Telling our Story and The Journey. In fact, word — sacrament — mission was used to define the content and timetabling of the three talks and of the three principal liturgies. This then was the vision that was offered to the directors, speakers and workshop leaders as a clear working brief. They responded to it magnificently, giving rise to many positive comments from delegates as to how well everything worked together. The planning team were careful to uphold the teaching role of the Summer School, not only in the talks and the workshops, but having regard to the Society’s past as well. The team consisted of Alan Smith — team leader, curriculum, financial control and IT; Paul Moynihan — curriculum, Master of Ceremonies, social secretary and (given his prior experience at New Hall) fire officer; Mo Causby — venue liaison and delegate support; Helen Murphy — bookings and delegate support; and Julie-Ann Gylaitis — publicity and delegate support. Darquise Bilodeau joined the team in the later stages of preparation, to gain experience for future events. From the start, the team adopted a holistic approach to the planning. All team members, whatever their individual areas of responsibility, played their part in shaping the vision and its actualisation. Communications were good, and e-mail a sine qua non. |
||
Liturgy Breathtaking — so carefully planned and thought out, yet still space for spontaneous ideas and inspirations to find a place. Fabulous. Arresting. Challenging. Strange. Made me think, sing, pray — then think some more. Another highlight for me was the liturgical dances that were incorporated into some of the main liturgies and, in particular, the dance depicting the events of Pentecost. I don—t think I shall ever forget the sight of little Martha Raine (Andy—s 5-year-old daughter), as the Holy Spirit. Loved Compline. Fr Peter Jones was Director of Liturgy. He put a tremendous amount of work into preparing the imaginative liturgies and in consulting with colleagues about them. They provided plentiful opportunities to minister and to be ministered to and were much appreciated. On the first evening, Fr Allen Morris provided a thoughtful introduction to the Summer School, and Fr Peter continued in similar vein as he introduced us in the preparation sessions to each new liturgy. Early morning Mass was offered every day (except Thursday, when the principal liturgy was the Eucharist). The simplicity of Morning and Evening Prayer, with elements in common from day to day, was appreciated. However, and with the benefit of hindsight, we could actually have dispensed with Evening Prayer, given that the principal liturgies took place only a little earlier. The two celebrations of Compline, with Latin chant, were much liked. Thursday—s celebration of the Eucharist was the liturgical high-point of the week: a noble and moving celebration, presided over by Abbot Alan Rees. Here, and elsewhere, we experienced (some of us for the first time) the power of liturgical dance. Bishop Mark Jabalé’s generous ‘pastoral letter’ was an unexpected bonus, and made a great impression on its hearers. As Master of Ceremonies and Sacristan, Paul Moynihan was as unobtrusive, efficient and indispensable as always. |
© P Wellicome 
© Julie-Ann Gylaitis |
||
© P Wellicome |
Music Very well chosen to match the spiritual themes. Very well directed and accompanied. Paul and Catherine did a great task gently and cheerfully. The technicalities of Gregorian chant were gripping for the musically illiterate. Bill’s Choral Society was most uplifting and great fun — it was possible to release your feelings and sing with your heart. Musically the best things were the ones I don’t come across regularly, which for me meant singing in the Gospel Choir and listening to the (so-called) Beginners— Choir, which did wonderful things with Zulu chants and the like. (Both were led by Bill Tamblyn, as caustic as Paul Inwood is emollient, but equally good at getting results.) |
|||
|
Paul Inwood was Director of Music, responsible for the preparation and direction of music in the liturgies, and Catherine Christmas was the excellent accompanist. Almost without exception, delegates liked the choice of music. Non-musicians felt less ‘at sea’ than they sometimes do, and musicians had enough to ‘get their teeth into’ (apart from cathedral musicians and others, who would have liked some more challenging fare). Overall, Paul achieved a good balance, which was no mean feat. The decision to locate the Schola in workshop time was fully vindicated. In doing so, there was no need to stuff schola rehearsals into an already full timetable: the workshop slots afforded plenty of time for rehearsal, and no one felt excluded. Delegates in the organists’ workshop had the opportunity to contribute their skills in the liturgies, as #did the instrumentalists (though to a lesser extent — which needs investigating and redressing). This year, we revived an old Summer School tradition and offered a Summer School Choral Society, open to one and all. Bill Tamblyn was in his element here, enthusing the choir in a range of a capella Gospel arrangements. Paul Wellicome did an exemplary job in typesetting and producing the Summer School’s music booklet, and in looking after the all-important copyright licensing. | ||||
Workshops I have enjoyed it all immensely. I don’t know how much I have learnt, but it is all too good to keep to myself. Much deep thought, and a lot of laughter too. These were of the high quality one expects of the SSG. I went to Christopher Walker’s workshops. He was his usual self — entertaining and challenging, putting across his big idea of recent years, that for a church choir it matters more to connect with the meaning of the words of a song than to fuss over the technicalities of the music. He’s a brilliant and inspirational music leader, and it’s hard for a mere mortal to take his ideas away and act on them without the underpinning of his great charisma. The workshops were:
|
© P Wellicome |
||
|
The original intention had been to have four workshops for musicians and four for non-musicians. However, the planning team learned in the course of its preparations that Christopher Walker was willing to lead a workshop, so the planned ‘story-telling’ workshop (intended principally for readers) was lost. The musical/nonmusical equilibrium was further unbalanced, firstly by the decision to rehearse the Schola in workshop time and, secondly, by the requirement to run Christopher’s workshop twice — so great was the demand for it. The second most popular workshop was Chant, which seems to be enjoying a real renaissance at SSG summer schools. It was gratifying to see the extent to which all the workshop leaders had taken the Emmaus brief on board and the various ways in which the workshops were able to contribute to the liturgies and the concert. | |||
|
Talks Absolutely brilliant. Complemented each other perfectly. Profound, scholarly and inspirational. The talks were certainly a high point. They were all good in different ways, but I especially appreciated Aidan Rossiter’s session on the Mass, which was packed with penetrating observations concerning things I’d seen and heard thousands of times but never noticed or never thought about before; and Andy Raine’s talk on Mission, which startled me by seeming to be addressed to me personally. How does he do that? Excellent! The speakers were listening to the Holy Spirit as they prepared — no doubt about it; and it really is the first Summer School that left a deep impression in the depths of my soul. A Damascus experience. The lecture by Andy Raine could never be put to paper and have the same impact as it did when Andy delivered it. He was talking to me! His theme was mission. He reminded us that we are here to bless others — we should be showering blessings on all those we meet. He used a wonderful analogy — a piece of white paper upon which someone has drawn with a clear glue stick. You can’t see where the glue is but, if you pour glitter over the page and shake it off, you will see where the glitter has stuck. Andy entreated us to pour blessings on all we meet. Some of those blessings will stick and those that don—t will return to shower us. We don’t need to worry about what sticks where, we just get on with the job of pouring and God will do the rest! It has been a very profound experience and seems to have refocused so many of us on where we are going. Fr Allen Morris both introduced the Summer School and drew it to a close in a thoughtful and reflective manner that was much appreciated. The three thematic talks (word — sacrament — mission) were given respectively by Abbot Alan Rees, Fr Aidan Rossiter and Andy Raine. All three were remarkably good in their different ways, and highly rated by the delegates. All these talks appear in Music and Liturgy over the next few issues (Vol30 No04–Vol31 No02). Alan Smith presented the latest version of The SSG Story, a multimedia presentation that is threatening to become his magnum opus. All the speakers made significant use of information technology: Powerpoint, Keynote, Director, LCD projectors, even wireless mice! Interestingly, several delegates commented on its sensitive and appropriate use, and no one disliked it. At the eleventh hour, we realised that an Internet connection would have been very useful, for daily reporting on the SSG forum and website, but the idea came too late for New Hall to accommodate us. |
|
Social The quiz — ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Pew’2 — was another highlight. Two teams of three were subjected to ingenious parodies of familiar rounds from radio and TV panel games, courtesy of quizmaster Paul Moynihan (who must have spent a whole year assembling the ideas). I felt my life had reached a high point of sorts when I watched the panellists trying to talk without hesitation, deviation or repetition about Eucharistic Prayer I! And the round of ‘Feel the Cleric’3 had to be seen to be believed. Paul Wellicome amply demonstrated his credentials as a true master of dramatic arts in the round of charades involving scenes from the Bible. This man successfully mimed, get this, the Transfiguration. Cool! As usual, New Hall’s catering was varied and plentiful, though conditions were cramped. The celebration meal on Thursday was very well managed — ‘delegate support’ came into its own here &mdsah; and it was a very happy occasion. We were delighted to welcome a number of guests, some of whom we had not seen for a number of years. It was an especial honour and pleasure to have Mother Prioress there with us. Judy Wellicome’s excellent cake and Sainsbury’s first-class Cava helped too. Paul Moynihan organised the Quiz and the Concert. The former was most notable for the (probably never-to-be-repeated) round of Feel the Cleric, whilst the latter amazed several newcomers with the sheer amount of talent on display. Both events were helped along by the cheerful ministrations of Ruth and her pressed helpers in the Bar. The collecting box on the bar did well too, with delegates giving generously to the Crichton Memorial Fund (since the McElligott Fund is relatively well-off at the moment). Not so much a social event as a sociable meeting place, the bookshop, affably organised by Pauline, was a peaceful haven of quiet (which, like the bar, also turned a useful profit).
2 The title is based on
I’m Sorry, I Haven’t A Clue,
a popular UK radio programme. |
© Paul Wellicome |
||
|
Organisation The whole week moved on oiled castors. Mo Causby and Helen Murphy did a great job as ‘delegate support’, assisted by Summer School ‘apprentice’ Darquise Bilodeau and by Julie-Ann Gylaitis later in the week. They had the advantage of knowing the site well, of course, but innumerable little glitches were quietly sorted without fuss, thanks to their tact and diplomacy (especially at the start of the week). A popular innovation this year was an optional combined site tour and induction to the Summer School, just before the formal opening session. The planning team was particularly careful not to overload the timetable, and many delegates noted the relatively unhurried pace and the pockets of free time. Alan Smith designed the publicity materials and other forms, and the rest of the team provided very helpful feedback. Delegates liked the simplicity and intelligibility of the publicity material. They would have liked to have received the workshop information sooner (but we were at the mercy of some rather elusive leaders!). Julie-Ann did a wonderful job in distributing the publicity materials in a focused and effective manner. Without exception, delegates thought that the Summer School was good value for money. At the time of writing (October 2004) we are still awaiting one last invoice, but organisers estimate that the Summer School made a profit for the Society of around £750. All but one delegate (who was becoming infirm) said that they would come to an SSG summer school again, and all said that they would recommend it to others. |
|
Conclusion Most of all, the thing that made the Summer School worthwhile all by itself was the people who were there, sharing their experiences and their hopes and frustrations. It’s good to know you’re not alone. Will I go again? I certainly hope so. What made Summer School so special was the people; I truly feel that blessings were poured down on me by all those I came into contact with last week. I’m sure I must have been sparkling when I left! In his report to the Trustees, Alan Smith wrote,‘‘I should like to end by putting on record my profound personal thanks to the core team and all those others who helped in any way, big or small. More than one delegate wrote that this had been the best summer school ever. I thought so too. If I never help to organise another summer school, I shall be happy, satisfied that we pulled off something very special here.’ |