Clerical errors
Sir: Glad though I am that The Spectator bucks the trend in its conviction that the C of E is alive and well (Easter Special, 4 April), I cannot help but be frustrated by the sense that too many of these articles speak of, for and to a secure metropolitan elite. Of course Gen Z flocks to the church of Four Weddings and a Funeral. But what is there for those of us who do not live in such places of power and plenty?
My sister and I, aged 19 and 23, are two Gen Z folk intellectually serious about faith. When we return home to Mid Devon and attend our childhood church for high days and holidays, we find a congregation that numbers about five, including our parents.
And that’s if there even is a service. Our parish is part of a ‘Mission Community’ which has one vicar between nine of them. Its idea of encouraging young Christians is to offer them chocolate in place of Communion at Easter, and it generally prefers not to consecrate at all. At Christmas, our nearest Eucharist was 15 potholed miles away, at the cathedral.
I wonder if the new Archbishop, once our lowly local Bishop of Crediton, will hear and answer the youth of England’s ancient rural parishes. We too would like a thriving religious community sustained by a faith musical and mystical. If we don’t show up, it’s because we’re bored by a church in which there seems to be no fresh or rigorous thinking. The problem isn’t always too few congregants; sometimes it’s too few – and frankly not good enough – clergy.
Eleanor Clark
Tiverton, Devon
Curate’s egg
Sir: My friend and Synod colleague Marcus Walker is both right and wrong about ‘full fat faith’ (‘Gospel truths’, 4 April).
He’s right that some well-intentioned attempts to make faith accessible have been ineffective as outreach and damaging to the Church. The banality, faux-profundity and sheer confusion of modern liturgies has been a disaster – and hardly recognisable as Anglican. But he’s wrong that ‘full fat faith’ only comes dressed in 17th-century cultural clothes. Last month, I preached to a packed chapel at Book of Common Prayer evensong in Oriel College, Oxford; the following week I preached at an even more packed neo-Pentecostal ‘new church’ in Cambridge. Both proclaimed the serious commitment and joy of faith in Jesus Christ.
Down the road from Marcus, a church plant from Holy Trinity Brompton has so many young people that it’s looking for a larger building. The leaders are clear: if you take faith seriously, you must prioritise coming to church every Sunday, join a mid-week Bible study group, give and serve. My daughter (who attends) is puzzled that older Christians do not fast regularly, as she has been taught to.
Let us rejoice together that many are discovering faith anew, but let us agree to wear a variety of cultural clothing. After all, faith is not merely about dressing up.
Dr Ian Paul
Chilwell, Nottingham
Rome improvement
Sir: Damian Thompson writes perceptively of Pope Leo’s papacy (‘Decorum restored’, 4 April). He is right that clothes matter, especially for Catholics. To see the supreme pontiff properly attired, after the calculated dressing-down of Pope Francis, is a joy. The change of attitude towards the traditional Latin Mass is more important – and not as surreptitious as the article suggests. Last month Leo had a letter sent on his behalf to the French bishops, telling them there must be mutual tolerance and respect between lovers of the New and Old rites. This radical rejection of Francis’s talk of restricting and suppressing the Old Mass is a return to the eirenic teaching of Pope Benedict. That Pope Leo caused the letter to be sent by a noted opponent of the traditional liturgy, Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin, also suggests the Holy Father has a keen sense of humour.
Francis Bown
London E3
Divine inspiration
Sir: I read Charles Moore’s account of the trials of Jimmy Lai with increasing disgust at our government’s supine behaviour (Notes, 4 April). Did Keir Starmer even raise the subject when he was in China? Somehow I doubt it; he was probably too busy kowtowing. If ever Christians needed a modern example of faith and fortitude it is in Mr Lai’s long drawn-out torture. Although I’m not a Christian, I take inspiration from him. But it is surely something the new Archbishop should be talking about; certainly, Mr Moore’s article provides plenty of fuel for a thunderous sermon. I look forward (sadly with little confidence) to hearing it.
John Neimer
Stoborough, Dorset
Case for the defence
Sir: Your leading article is quite clear that more resources for defence are vital (‘The price of victory’, 4 April). It is equally clear that the current crop of Labour MPs will never prioritise this. Since Ukraine is the ‘praetorian guard’ of a free Europe, it should have the armaments it needs, particularly as the loyalty of the US under Donald Trump can largely be discounted. Can’t there be a public fund for the defence of Ukraine with confidence guaranteed by a big defence hitter such as Admiral Lord West or Ben Wallace? It could accept contributions large and small and ensure that many of us who desperately worry about the fate of that brave nation feel less impotent.
David Kenny
Tredunnock, Monmouthshire
Rabbits on the run
Sir: Olivia Potts is somewhat mistaken to say that rabbits are ‘abundant in the British countryside’ (The Vintage Chef, 4 April). For better or worse this has not been the case for quite a few years with Rabbit Haemmorraghic Disease Virus (RHDV) achieving what myxomatosis was never able to. Certainly, round here her guests would go very hungry indeed if she sought to feed them rabbit.
Francis Nation-Dixon
South Chailey, East Sussex
Classified suggestion
Sir: I have been enjoying Melissa Kite’s recounting of her trials and tribulations as an Airbnb landlady since relocating to West Cork (Real Life). I have indeed tried to find her property in its listings, but to no avail, so it must be galling for her to suffer an imposed increase in fees with the consequential decrease in bookings, and a cancellation. Might I suggest that Ms Kite avails herself of a classified advertisement in The Spectator? This would improve not only her occupancy rate but also the calibre of her guests.
John Sainsbury
Epping, Essex
Sloppy thinking
Sir: Last week Dot Wordsworth discussed the derivation and use of ‘slop’ in her usual erudite way (4 April). But I can add a further meaning: ‘slop ‘can also mean a policeman. My late father grew up in Giffnock, Renfrewshire early in the last century, and even in his old age he would point out a police car by saying: ‘There’s the slops.’ I’ve no idea of its derivation, sadly.
John Aston
Thirsk, North Yorkshire
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