review: St James Church, Sydney

Ok. This isn't going to become a habit.  But, well, on the theme of visiting outside my normal experience, here's the highest service I've been to in many a long year.     (again h/t to The Mystery Worshipper, for the headings, with whom I have no affiliation). 


The church: St James, King Street,  Sydney  
Denomination:  Anglican Church of Australia. 
The building: This is the oldest church in Sydney, apparently. Built in 1824, in the style that was common at the time - a big rectangular box, tastefully decorated.  The chancel was separated from the rest of us by railings and substantial flower arrangements, which made for quite a barrier.  The organ was big enough to have pipes on both sides of the chancel
The church: Sydney's Anglicans tend to be a low church evangelical lot: St James is anything but.  This is Anglicanism at its most ritual, with not just a choir and processions, but incense too - I think the service would have been at least five minutes shorter if it weren't for having to pause to cense things.
The neighborhood: This is about as city centre as you can get - surrounded by banks and businesses, and the city's central Hyde Park.
The cast: It felt like a cast of thousands: Revd Dr John Beer (honorary associate priest) was preacher and celebrant; there were several other robed clergy, plus four or five robed servers, a choir of about eight voices, and a couple of laypeople who did the reading and led the intercessions.
The date & time: Sunday 8th August, 11am. 

What was the name of the service?
Choral Eucharist

How full was the building?
About 20% full, I'd say.  The congregation probably numbered 70 or so - plus the 15 or so in the chancel!
Did anyone welcome you personally?
Someone smilingly gave me the books/sheets I needed.  Many people greeted me at the peace.
Was your pew comfortable?
Fine - I didn't really notice, so it must have been, although a lot of the service was done standing up.  Standing for the confession seemed, well, odd.
How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere?

Quiet and reserved.

What were the exact opening words of the service?

Christ is the King, O friends rejoice - the processional hymn, which began without much warning besides a few chords from the organ.  The first spoken words were "Welcome to St James' church this morning"; the first liturgical words were "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit".

What books did the congregation use during the service?

The English Hymnal (melody edition), a 'Eucharist at St James' booklet, and a pewsheet for the day, with the propers printed.

What musical instruments were played?
Organ.  Lots and lots of organ.  

Did anything distract you?
The organ.  

Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what?

Full-on classic High Anglican. It'd be hard to get higher - save perhaps that the communion was in ordinary bread, and not a wafer: I don't know if that's a local decision or an imposition from the diocese.  The setting that the choir sang was in Latin - no concession to Reform here.  

Exactly how long was the sermon?
About 15 minutes, I'd say.
On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
Content: 8; delivery, hm,  unstructured.  4.

In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?

The gospel reading was about storing up treasure in heaven, and this was the point of departure for the sermon: contrasted with the spectre of Antiques Roadshow or Cash in the Attic.  What is the treasure? It is to reach out with God's love.   [I'm selling it short here - there were lots of good thoughts in the sermon; I just couldn't quite string together an argument or a narrative from them.]

Which part of the service was like being in heaven?
The contemplation and space which structured, unhurried liturgical worship allows: to focus your thoughts on the one you have come to worship.

And which part was like being in... er... the other place?

The organ.   Really, I love organ music in its place.   But the communion setting was 'Plainsong: missa de Angelis, with Organ Alternatim'.  The latter involved long organ solos, interspersed with unremarkable music for the choir (the choir were rather good).  I say interspersed, but even when the choir were singing, the organ dominated (moreso in the Psalm than in the setting, actualy) .  Several of the pieces ended with particularly noisy, long, organ crescendos - just about plausible in the gloria, but truly out of place in the benedictus.

What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?

Shy old me, I took off quite quickly, with a brief genuflection (in contrast to the full bows that were around me).

How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?

That's a tough one.  I get the feeling that there is some genuine spiritual life at work there.  I could fit into the choir thing - if they'd have me.  Doing the liturgical thing properly has always struck me as making more sense than the half-hearted attempts of some who are lower down the candle.   But that service is pure theatre.  It's more like a living museum than a way to engage with the good people of Sydney in 2010.  The gospel procession, complete with incense, feels like something out of the middle ages (well, I suppose it probably is, quite literally).  I'm glad we can worship in continuity with our forebears,  but if we want to be missional, we need some point of connection.  So on the one hand, I'd say 7; but on the other - and the hand that would win - I'd say 2.

Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
Yes; in the sense that we inhabit a big tent, and are in historical continuity with the church at rest.

What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
The memorial on the wall beside me, to a gentleman who was first a civil servant in the colony of New South Wales, and rose to become the first Speaker in the NSW legislative assembly.  And to his wife, who bore seventeen children, nine of whom survived to erect the memorial.  [Hm. Wikipedia thinks someone else was the first Speaker.  Oh well.]