June this year has Lectures, Pentecost, Trinity, & Corpus Christi; But especially please put Sat 24th June in you Diaries for the St David’s Big Bash across St David’s Hill, with a Book Sale, Refreshments, Cream Teas, Music, Heritage & Peregrines at St Michael’s!

Thurs 1 June, at St Mary Steps Church, at 12noon – Interment of the Ashes of Canon John Thurmer.
Thursday 1 June at 7.45pm, we are delighted to welcome Dr Bruce Coleman, to distil his wide knowledge of Victorian History in a lecture in memory of Canon John Thurmer, entitled “The Oxford Movement in Church & Society.” Please support this event.

Sun 4 June Pentecost/Whitsunday, 10.45am. Sung Mass. Wood in F. Litany to the Holy Spirit – Herrick/Hurford. Celebrant is Ven David Gunn-Johnson. Also please bring and/or buy at the “Bountiful Table” after the service.

Sun 4 June 6pm Evensong & Benediction – Radcliffe Responses, Psalms 67, 133. Walmisley in D minor. God is a Spirit – Sterndale Bennett.

Also Sun 4 June, starting at 6.30pm, at Exeter Cathedral, the local #ThyKingdomCome Prayer Event hosted by Bishop Sarah with music led by the University Chapel Choir & St Andrew’s Cullompton’s worship group.

Sun 11 June Trinity Sunday 10.45am. Missa ‘O quam gloriosum’ – Victoria. Benedicta sit Sancta Trinitas – Agazzari.

Thurs 15 June at 7.30pm, Corpus Christi. Sung Mass with Procession, witnessing to the presence of Jesus in the world. Byrd 4-part Mass & Ave verum corpus.

Fri 16 June at 12.30pm Funeral of Olive Folland, dear friend, stalwart member and bell-toller at St Michael’s for many years. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. All welcome.

Fri 16th – St Richard of Chichester, 1253, who wrote “O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly” – perhaps best known as the song “Day by day” from the 1970s musical Godspell.

Sat 17 June at 12 noon, Erika Borley, our Director of Music, and Stephen Wagstaff will be celebrating their Wedding. All members of the congregation are warmly invited to attend the service and to stay for cupcakes afterwards.

Sun 18 June Music Sunday 10.45am. Introit “Cantate Domino” by Pitoni. Missa Brevis ‘Laetatus Sum’ by Dr Nigel Browne, based on themes from Parry’s “I was Glad”. Motet: 8-part Jubilate Deo (Psalm 100) by Giovanni Gabrieli.

Sun 18 June at 4.30pm, Afternoon Tea Concert with Exeter Chorale. Please join us for a generous helping of music on the theme of “Light”, served with home-made cakes, tea or coffee. All for £8 (£5 students, children free).

Fri 23 June at 12noon, Parish Lunch Club at @34 Restaurant, Exeter College, Hele Road, Roast Lunch and chat. Please sign up in one of our churches. N.B. date changed so as not to clash with Funeral of Olive Folland.

Sat 24 June from 11am-4.30pm at St Michael’s, St David’s and venues in between, St David’s Neighbourhood Partnership hold the St David’s Big Bash with all sorts of Events, Stalls, Activities and Refreshments. St Michael’s will be hosting a Book Sale & other stalls, and showcasing our Heritage, Organ, Music & Peregrines during the day – which concludes with a Service at 5pm in St David’s Church to which all are welcome.

Sun 25 June Trinity II, 10.45am. Mass in C, and Anthem “Greater Love hath no man than this”, both by John Ireland (1879-1962).

Tue 27 Jun is the 153rd anniversary of the death of John Dinham, tea merchant & philanthropist.

Wed 28 June 7.30pm St Michael’s Lectures. Dr Lindsay Whetter, who has a University of Exeter PhD on Faith in the Prisons, will take an “inside look” at life and faith in English jails.

Thurs 29 June 6pm, CBS Mass for Saints Peter & Paul. All welcome. This is the 3rd anniversary of the death of Revd Dr John Hughes.

Richard Barnes.

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The singing of the hymns chosen by John, “Jerusalem the golden”, “O what their joy and their glory must be” and “Ye watchers and ye holy ones”, full of imagery and doctrine, was tremendous. The choir of nearly 30 sang the Plainsong Missa de profunctis and Propers for the Departed, Stanford’s Beati quorum via integra est, and the Russian Kontakion.

Fr Trevor Jones SSC of St Peter’s Wapping read the Lesson from Wisdom 3 with clarity and insight, and the Gospel was the Resurrection narrative from Mark 16. Solemn Mass was celebrated with simple dignity by Fr David Hastings, assisted by half a dozen servers and Frs Tom Honey and John Henton, the present and former incumbents of this Parish where Canon Thurmer served as Honorary Assistant Priest throughout his 24 years of retirement. There was no Sermon, but a biography was printed (and is linked here).

The Commendation and Committal were prayed with evident emotion by Fr David on behalf of us all. Then John Thurmer’s coffin was borne from the church through the great west doors in clouds of incense into the afternoon sunshine in a blaze of glory. O friends, in gladness let us sing.

Again on John’s instructions, there were copious amounts of sandwiches, cakes and champagne provided, in memory of a great and humble priest who taught and influenced so many. Here we acknowledge the huge debt owed to Canon John Thurmer in maintaining and shaping the worship, intellectual life and hospitality of St Michael’s during many years; his presence is greatly missed.

The words of Gerald Bray, reviewing John Thurmer’s 1987 book “The Son in the Bible and the Church”, seem appropriate. “The [then] Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral is one of that vanishing breed of Anglican churchmen – intellectual without being incomprehensible, conservative without being stuffy, and pastorally-minded without being sentimental. It is a combination which was once the glory of…”

By one of those coincidences, it was a joy to welcome Exeter College Choral Society on Thursday 12th to sing the Requiems by Gabriel Faure and John Rutter. Our thanks to Heloise West, Michael Graham, David Davies and friends for an evening of excellent music-making. St Michael’s is always pleased for performers to make use of our beautiful church.
RB

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May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

The Requiem Funeral for Canon John will take place at St Michael’s at 2.30pm on Monday 9th February, with refreshments and time for conversation afterwards at the church. All are welcome.

A brief appreciation of Canon Thurmer, taken mainly from his own words for his “Friends of St Michael’s” entry.

John Thurmer, born 31 December 1925, died 25 January 2015, was Canon Emeritus of Exeter Cathedral and Honorary Assistant Priest of the Parish of St David’s with St Michael & All Angels, Exeter.

John was at school in Essex (Witham and Chelmsford). He was called up into the army in 1944; in the Royal Engineers his official army trade was Railway Clerk CIII. He was posted to the Middle East (Egypt and Palestine) and spent two years in Jerusalem, where he narrowly escaped terrorist bombing.

After three years at Oxford (Oriel College) and two years at Theological College, he was ordained and served a three year curacy in the modern Newham (outer east London). He lectured at a Theological college for nine years, and came to Exeter in 1964 to be the first Lazenby Chaplain to the University, with some part-time teaching. From 1973 to 1991 he was a residentiary Canon of Exeter Cathedral.

When he retired from the Cathedral, he acquired a house in the parish of St David with St Michael & All Angels. The Vicar left at Easter 1991 and the Archdeacon of Exeter asked him to help the non-stipendiary curate, Father Peter Lee, with parish work during the interregnum. The new Vicar, John Henton, and his successor, Tom Honey, asked him to continue as an honorary assistant priest, and as such he served both churches and congregations for 24 years.

Canon John wrote various articles, reviews and obituaries, and four short books, two of which are still available. A life-long interest of his was the work of Dorothy L. Sayers, who wrote popular detective novels in the 1920′s and 1930′s and whom he knew (or knew of) at Witham, Essex. His books published by the Dorothy L. Sayers Society are Reluctant Evangelist and A Detection of the Trinity.

Firm in belief and generous in spirit, John Thurmer was deeply loved at St Michael’s, Mount Dinham, for his wit and wisdom, his pastoral interest in all, and his lucid and entertaining preaching founded in a deep knowledge of theology and history, lightly worn. Within the church’s website, his liturgical knowledge is enshrined in the St Michael’s Consuetudinary, and his precision of thought in the Glossary.

David Beadle, current Curator of the St Michael’s Lectures, also writes, “As many of you will already be aware, the Reverend Canon John Alfred Thurmer, who ran the lectures along with Connie Cannon for some years, died Sunday morning. He priested in Exeter for a long time, having been Lazenby Chaplain at Exeter University, Canon Chancellor at the Cathedral for 17 years, and in his retirement was at St Michael’s even longer, where he continued to preach his popular sermons without notes until a few weeks ago. I understand that he was very much himself up to his death: deeply kind and caring, with a razor-sharp intellect and inimitable quick wit. Along with Fr John Hughes, he will be very sorely missed.”

There is a tribute to Canon Thurmer in the Exeter Express & Echo.

And an appreciation in Exeter Cathedral News, February 2015, by Heather Morgan.

The Obituary from the Church Times was written by Dr David Grumett.

And in the Telegraph newspaper.

Vespers of the Dead, for Canon Thurmer, were sung at St Michael’s Mount Dinham at 6pm on Tuesday 27th January.

RB (Picture credit: Andrea Burridge Photography, 2010)

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By 2pm on Saturday 12th July, All Saints’ Church, Kenton, was filled with over 200 mourners from the village and farther afield,
for the Burial Service for John Hughes.

Altar piece, All Saints’ Church, Kenton

We sang, O God our help in ages past,
giving a mental NO to the line, They fly forgotten as a dream,
and said together Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing.

The Readings were Wisdom 3:1-5,
The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God
and Matthew 6:25-34,
Do not be anxious about your life,
affirmative and true to John’s character.

The Tribute, a combination of the Church Times Obituary and personal reflections, was movingly given by Fr Robert Mackley, Vicar of Little St Mary’s, Cambridge, and one of John’s close friends.

After the Prayers we sang the great hymn,
How shall I sing that majesty,
with its surprisingly modern imagery written by the 17th century English priest and poet, John Mason,
to the soaring tune Coe Fen.

As John’s coffin was carried from the church, all said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace:
according to thy word.

Many people went up to the peaceful hillside cemetery for the Burial Prayers. It was John’s wish to be buried in Kenton.

John’s parents were wonderfully composed and afterwards expressed the comforting thought that John had already in his life achieved more, and touched for good more people, than most of us do in a full lifespan.

May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.

“Chalice & Host” by Eric Gill

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I travelled to Ely, first stop on our honeymoon many years ago and where I have sung with visiting choirs on several occasions, with a heavy heart last Thursday (10th July) for the Requiem Eucharist for Fr John Hughes.

God opened his heavens to weep in Ely for the Funeral of John Hughes, Priest.

Ely Cathedral nave was filled with many hundreds touched by the full but all-too-short life of Fr John Hughes. The feelings of restrained sadness and the quiet conversations with friends before the service were helped by the sensitive organ music.

The booklet told us that with characteristic thoroughness most of the service had been planned and written down by John himself well in advance; John loved feasts, both sacred and secular, indeed, the best in life was all holy to John, so the Eucharistic Feast, foretaste of the heavenly Banquet, was the right form for his Funeral. God had started his work in him and brought it further than most of us in just half a lifetime; John was very Christlike. We were there to pray for John and that God would complete that life in heaven.

The 30 students of Jesus College Chapel Choir processed in silently, followed by at least 100 clergy representing every facet of humanity, united by black stoles. A bell sounded and the organ and choir began the heartbreakingly beautiful Introit from the Durufle Requiem.

The Altar party and John’s family preceded his coffin, simply adorned with a cross of white flowers, arriving under Ely’s octagonal lantern with the emotional Christe eleison.

Ely Cathedral Lantern and Roof

The Bishop of Ely, Rt Rev Stephen Conway, welcomed all “much too soon” with barely contained emotion and conducted the beautiful service with quiet dignity.

The First Lesson, Isaiah 25:6-9, was least familiar but wonderfully appropriate so I quote it in full, read by a colleague, Prof Janet Soskice.

“And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-58, the promise of resurrection, was read by John’s cousin, Stephen Gilbert MP, and the Gospel promise that nothing is lost, John 6:37-40, by the unnamed Deacon.

The hymns, well sung by the large congregation, were a pilgrimage of faith:
I heard the voice of Jesus say – Kingsfold,
All people that on earth do dwell – Old 100th,
Guide me O thou great Redeemer – Cwm Rhondda
with a different emotional intensity and closer attention to the words than normal,
Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain – Noel Nouvelet,
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation – Lobe den Herrn.

The Sermon, by Rev Dr Jeremy Morris, Dean of King’s College Cambridge, avoided any platitudes and was sprinkled with words like disbelief, anger, senseless and too soon, which will have been in many minds.

In an image both Biblical and Dr Whovian, he said that John’s death has torn a hole in the fabric of reality, across many groups; Cambridge colleges, Church of England, wide networks of friends, students and colleagues, and above all for his parents. (This will take time, prayer and work to mend, and will leave scars.)

The loss to theology, where John’s distinctive and creative ideas were already being noticed and admired by many, was immense. (There are too few young catholic theologians with his intellect, rigour and application to major issues in our society, along with such a broad, inclusive view.)

But that is the least of our losses, for John was above all a priest and pastor, a teacher and spiritual guide, a friend and helper, full of hospitality, and a beloved son.

There were a few smiles; were John’s first words to quote from Thomas Aquinas? His great love of people and parties, of feasts and good wine, as in Isaiah. His humour and wit, always with kindness.

Adjectives abounded, friendly, fun, genuine, generous, holy, humble, intelligent, inclusive, open, passionate, thoughtful, wise, broad in his interests and so well read.

Beyond John’s deep personal faith in Jesus Christ, he knew that religion, and Christianity in particular, was social, sociable and about society, focused on the sacramental meal which unites all the communion of saints, living and departed. And John was always giving himself to communities in college, church, friends, society.

Our Prayers, led by Rev Jeremy Caddick, Dean of Emmanuel College, were equally apt and sensitive, remembering the injured survivors of the road accident and all casualties, as well as John’s many circles of influence.

Ely Cathedral window

At the Offertory, according to John’s wishes, the collection was taken to support the church, religious eduction and the poor. Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, were beautifully chanted by the Choir from the Missa Pro Defunctis.

During Communion, the College Choir, who were close to John’s heart and whose singing was confident, beautiful and sensitive throughout, sang Bainton’s great anthem from Revelation 21 “And I saw a new heaven … And I John saw the holy city” and Croft’s setting of the Burial Sentences from the Book of Common Prayer.

John’s coffin was sprinkled with holy water, censed and prayed over – Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul – and carried to the west doors of the Cathedral during the Durufle In Paradisum, feelings rising especially for John’s parents. There the plainsong, Salve Regina Mater misericordiae, was sung; then all stood in silence.

The Lamb redeems the sheep

I was reminded that another gift that John was blessed with was a beautiful voice for singing the Liturgy, which he had used as a Curate with us at St Michael’s, intoning the Gospel, and singing the Exsultet for the Easter Vigil.

Meeting friends in the packed Lady Chapel over a cup of tea, we remembered St Michael’s choir tours to Norfolk, including Walsingham, and West Wales, including St David’s, with John as our chaplain equally at home over the kitchen sink, the communal meal and the communion altar.

To the implied question, how God could be so foolish as to take from us decades too early “the brightest and best …”, “the one whom we thought would …” to echo the Road to Emmaus, there is no rational answer, except to believe that John, like Job, would have asked it too, but continued serving the same God and his people whom he loved.

Sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam.
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus.

A link to the Church Times Obituary.

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From the website of Jesus College, Cambridge, “The College has been shocked at the death in a car accident of The Rev Dr John Hughes (1997), the Dean of Chapel at the College. The loss of John Hughes is acutely felt as the life of the College was greatly enriched by him. A former undergraduate of the College, he was both an outstanding academic who inspired the students he taught, and a faithful priest and pastor who touched profoundly all those with whom he came into contact. He will be deeply missed.”

“The Funeral Service, at which all are welcome, will be held at 1.30 pm on Thursday 10 July in Ely Cathedral.”

And from Ely Cathedral, “Please note that on Thursday 10 July there will be no visitor access to the Cathedral between 12.45pm and 3.15pm due to a Requiem Eucharist taking place at 1.30pm.”

It has also been announced that there will be a Service and the Burial, which anyone is welcome to attend, at All Saints’ Church, Kenton, Devon, EX6 8LU, on Saturday 12th July at 2pm.

From St David’s Exeter website, “A Requiem Mass for Fr John Hughes will be celebrated at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 6th August at St Michaels Mount Dinham, Exeter. We hope that this will be a fitting tribute to John, a sign of our gratitude for all that he did in our parish and community and a opportunity for us all, together, to remember him before God. All are welcome to attend.”

More moving tributes to the life of John Hughes were given here, “The Cambridge Student”

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