27 October 2018

Why is Anglicanism so gloriously ephemeral? Some pertinent questions.

The Estates Commissioner whose responsibility it is to look after the Cathedrals of the Church of England, a Dr Eve Poole, has explained that people like to go to Anglican Cathedrals because they "are drawn to their ephemeral music and liturgy".

I think I have read somewhere that mayflies share this extremely brief life-span.

I very much wish that the Novus Ordo liturgical culture found in the English Catholic 'mainstream' could become as ephemeral as that in Anglican cathedrals.

What is it that the Anglicans, dear ephemeral poppets, have got which we lack? Could they give us some hints? I'm sure many members of the CBCEW would value advice on the ephemeralisation, not only of their cathedrals, but of their entire dioceses.

Would it be philologically improper to pray that the remainder of this pontificate may be "literally ephemeral"?

I wonder what La Poole's doctorate is in.

Probably not Greek.

Footnotes: (1) I believe it was in the 1970s that the Church Commissioners mislaid £700,000,000 or so, which in those days was real (if, clearly, somewhat ephemeral) money.
(2) Wikipedia reveals that Eve has skills honed in the Redundant Churches business. 

13 comments:

  1. Not Greek but Divinity! Albeit awarded by the other university!

    She completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Divinity from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with a thesis titled "From the fall of The Wall to the collapse of credit, Church of England views on capitalism 1989–2008

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  2. Reminds me of the man on Ryanair who got filmed snarling racist epitaphs.

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  3. Probably not Greek, true, nor English. Funny. It reminds me of a politician I heard the other day saying, when reprimanded for addressing another politician or official by his title, said something about not using 'honorariums' in certain informal settings.

    Fortunately some of us get our ethereal and much more of course at the traditional Latin Mass. Too bad so many are denied this possibility by those who purport to care about fairness and justice.

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  4. From her web site (www.evepool.com): "Eve started her career journey at the Church Commissioners for England, after gaining a BA in Theology from Durham University. She returned to education to gain an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School where she won AMBA Student of the Year. She then honed her skills at top consulting firm Deloitte, specialising in change management in the financial services industry. In 2010, Eve combined her two interests by gaining a PhD in Capitalism and Theology from Cambridge University."

    Her current line of work is promoting something she calls "leadersmithing", which sounds rather 'ethereal' to me (is that the right word?).

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  5. Sheridan omitted to mention that Mrs Malaprop had a doctorate!

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  6. Dear Father, Perhaps Eve Poole meant to write 'ethereal'? Or maybe she did, and the typographer got it wrong.

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  7. Oh, such a delicious slip. Yes, she never studied Greek. Maybe not even English.

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  8. For readers' interest:

    PhD dissertation: (Degree awarded 2010)

    "From the fall of the wall to the collapse of credit, Church of England views on capitalism 1989-2008"
    Poole, Catherine Eve : University of Cambridge

    From the abstract on ProQuest (full thing: by subscription)

    "This thesis concludes that the Church would benefit from a re-engagement with doctrine and scholarship as it affects capitalism, and from a more nuanced understanding of market functioning, institutional change and human agency. The Church should renew its ecclesiology to re-examine the assumed preference for state intervention and the primacy of law, and establish a comprehensive and psychologically literate anthropology that is reinforced by revised Church processes, words and actions."

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  9. Lillibet here - correction - I meant to say .".. for NOT addressing a politician by his title...". Serves my right for criticising Dr. Poole :(

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  10. I cannot address Eve's knowledge of Greek, but her father did teach Classics

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  11. Poor little Eve would have spent her time better by reading Dr E Michael Jones' magnum opus "Barren Metal - A History Of Capitalism As The Conflict Between Usury And Labor" (US spelling). Much cheaper than a PhD.

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  12. "How ignimonious! And I am unanimous in that!" -- Mrs. Betty Slocombe

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  13. Actually Ephemerality (if that is a word) fits rather well into the new Bergoglian Church where daily there are new doctrines or interpretations of old ones issued by or during Synods, airplane pressers, interviews with atheist journalists and so on.

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