installed!

Headed across the road to Chelmsford Cathedral on Monday afternoon to be installed as a Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral by the Dean Peter Judd. I was collated by the retiring Bishop of Chelmsford a few weeks ago and this was the second part of the ceremony. The installation took place during Evening Prayer and I was delighted that family, friends, other Canons and colleagues were able to come along.

My canon stall is St Mellitus and the cushion shows Mellitus putting out a fire threatening Canterbury. Legend has it that he put the fire out by the power of prayer but the cushion shows him chucking a bucket of water over it; difficult to represent prayer pictorially I guess. I'm very pleased to have this particular stall as a member of the faculty of St Mellitus College. It was all very relaxed and we enjoyed a glass of wine in the Cathedral after the service before heading back to the Diocesan Office for some more refreshments.

Some of the College of Canons: Gordon Tarry, Dean Peter Judd, Philip Ritchie, Elwin Cockett (Archdeacon of West Ham) and Roger Matthews.

The best comment of the day came from my two children who wanted to know why all the Canons were in Gryffindor House and when we got our wands; they seem to be under the impression that the Cathedral is another version of Hogwarts!

Many thanks to Jonathan Evens who has posted about the service on his blog Between.

canon fodder

Spent an enjoyable hour this morning at Bishop’s Court being licensed as a non-residentiary Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral by Bishop John. The licensing took place during Morning Prayer in Bishop John’s chapel and Revd David Banting was also licensed. David and I helped lead a CYFA venture together back in 1988. I was pleased that my friend and colleague Canon Roger Matthews was able to attend along with Lydia Gladwin, Chris Newlands (the Bishop’s Chaplain) and Bishop Daniel,the Bishop of Kirinyaga, Kenya (link diocese with Chelmsford). It was a real privilege as this is the second to last official engagement before +John’s retirement; the final event will be the installation of Canon Martin Webster as Archdeacon of Harlow on Sunday evening.

I heard last Saturday that my Canon’s stall in the Cathedral will be St Mellitus, which is fitting as I’m on the staff of St Mellitus College. Somewhat relieved as Roger ended up with Queen Maud when he became a Canon. The installation in the Cathedral will be 24th August when I hope friends and family will be able to come along. I’ve been asked what is involved in being a Canon and the answer is not a lot! I get to hand over £20 a year, attend a dinner, an afternoon tea and a Canons’ day with lunch. Other onerous tasks include guarding the statutes of the Cathedral and being locked in the Cathedral with the other Canons to elect the new Bishop of Chelmsford. In the Church of England, when a diocesan bishop retires, moves to another diocese or dies, the monarch will summon the Greater Chapter to elect a successor. This election is ceremonial as the monarch also tells the members of the Greater Chapter whom to elect. If members of the Greater Chapter fail to attend they are declared to be contemptuous, so I've been warned. I understand that each Canon is given a Psalm which they are supposed to say every day; wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up with Psalm 119, though being a drummer I’d quite like Psalm 150.

The Declaration of Assent

The License

Phil Ritchie, Bishop John, Bishop Daniel, David Banting

am I being fired?

The Bishop of Chelmsford has just announced that he has appointed me as a non-residentiary Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral, which begs the question: ‘Is he planning to fire me?’ Six non-residentiary Canons have been appointed and the details are published here. It is an honour and I believe it reflects the importance that Bishop John places on lay education and training for ministry in the Diocese. I used to attend Chelmsford Cathedral as a young boy while at Chelmsford Cathedral Primary School. In those days the Cathedral was a very dark, dusty, gloomy place and my memory is of miserable Thursday morning BCP Morning Prayer; it’s a miracle I ever went near a church again. I was ordained in the Cathedral in 1987 and by then it had become a light, airy and attractive worship space, the old pews had gone and the only items from the old days that I remember are the rather tatty flags, now kept well out of the way. I was licensed to my present role in the Diocese in the Cathedral in 2001.

Unfortunately, I can't attend the collation and installation on August 16th so Bishop John will be licensing me in his chapel on 21st July and then the installation by the Dean will take place at Evening Prayer in the Cathedral on 24th August. My dad Sam is an honorary Canon of St. Edmundsbury Cathedral so we'll get to compare scarfs. 'What larks, eh Pip!'