Here below to live is to change and to be perfect is to have
changed often.
Cardinal
Henry Newman
‘One chalice, one little bell, one vestment, one alb [long white robe], fanacle [little shrine] and stole, gold altar cloths, one cruet [for holding water or wine during the Eucharist], one towel.’ This is an inventory of the church goods in 1552 and tells us a little about the simple form of service then, at the time when the Book of Common Prayer was introduced. For over four centuries this formed the basis of worship at St Luke’s as it did for all Anglican churches in the land.
In 1704 the curate of Crosby, the Revd John Waring, writes in a letter: ‘And in the forenoons our congregation is very small, mostly consisting of women and children, we then having no sermon; in the afternoons we are more company by the coming of some from the Ford and other near villages that go to the parish church in the forenoons.’ This says something for the religious devotion of the time: a walk to your own church in the morning followed by a much longer walk to hear a sermon in another church in the afternoon, and this on probably your only day off work.
In 1723 a visitation was made to the parish by the chancellor of Chester, and answers given by the chapel-warden to an accompanying questionnaire shed some light on the practice of worship, and the spelling and abbreviations, of the time. The original spellings, forms of expression and abbreviations give added interest to these documents. The Ten Commandments were ‘fairly written and set up at the East end of our Chapel’. They had ‘erected a gallery for the Singers’. There was a ‘Font of Stone’ for Baptism, ‘with a cover to it, standing in the antient & usual place. We have a very decent Communion Table & Carpet [for kneeling on?], at the time of administering the blessed Sacramt we have a Paten [shallow dish] & Chalice, for the bread and wine. We have no bason to receive the Alms and Oblations of the Communicants. We have a decent reading-Desk, & Pulpit, conveniently placed for reading and hearing the Prayers and Sermons.’ There was a cushion for the pulpit and ‘one decent & comely Surplice for the Minister’, a Great Bible ‘not very well bound’, Book of Common Prayer and ‘book of homilies’. They had one bell, with a rope ‘firm and in good order’, and a chapel clock. The minister, the Revd Gerard Waring, read the ‘Prayers of the Church’ twice every Sunday between the beginning of October and the ‘latter end of March’, the rest of the year only once and once only on holy days. He celebrated the ‘Lord’s Supper’ but once in the year, on the Wednesday before Easter. He wore a surplice during the service, preached every Sunday, visited the sick, buried the dead, baptised and performed marriages. He was supposed to ensure that there were no ‘adulterers, fornicators or incestuous’ or any under suspicion of these crimes living in the parish. He had to declare that no one allowed anyone to ‘game or tipple’ in their houses on Sundays, that no one kept their shops open on Sundays or carried on their usual jobs, and that everyone attended church or some other place of religious worship. His was no sinecure.
The Bell Ringers of Old, a photograph taken in 1904 at the entrance to St Luke’s.
In his return to the Bishop of Chester in 1778 Wilfred Troutbeck reported in these words: ‘We know none who absent themselves from all Public Worship of God on the Lord’s Day. Divine Service is duly performed twice every Lord’s Day in my Chapel. Two sermons preached. Prayers are read on all Holidays. I catechize in my Chapel in Summer for then the Sunday Evenings are long and warm and I can have them in my School to instruct them without either fire or Candle light for several Sunday evenings before I catechize them in my Chapel. The Parents and Masters send their children and Servants to be instructed and catechised. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is administered three times in the year. The 1 Sunday after Christmas Day. The 1 Sunday after East[er]. The 1 Sunday in October. I am obliged to attend Sephton on Christmas Day, Good Friday, E. Sunday and Whit Sunday in the morning.’ Did an assistant curate take the services in the chapel on those occasions?
The order of service during all this time was the Book of Common Prayer, and continued so until the Series 2 services were introduced in the late 1960s, Series 3 in the 1970s and the Alternative Service Book in 1981. Without exception, since the latter part of the 19th century, there has been a mid morning Sunday service and another on Sunday evening. There have also been additional weekday services, Wednesday being the most popular day.
A Holy Communion, originally called ‘The Lord’s Supper’, was introduced as an 8 am Sunday service about the turn of the 19th century. Until that time, the Lord’s Supper was only held twice monthly as part of the mid morning service. In the 1980s it was changed to 9 am as it was a more suitable time for Junior Church leaders. This is still held, with additional hymns and a sermon, providing a meditative option, as an alternative to the more lively family service at 11 o’clock.
The morning service originally started at 10.45, and was later changed to 11 o’clock before the Second World War. In 1971 it was changed to 10.30 with that at All Saints’ being 11.15, so that the vicar could attend both services with readers taking sections of the service to fill overlap times. In 1999 it was changed back again to 11 o’clock to allow preparation time for the new family service. For about a century Holy Communion has been offered on the third Sunday in each month and for most of that time on the first as well.
The evening service has always been at 6.30. In Edward Hartley’s time, the young people would sit in the gallery where the ‘free’ pews were. When the noise levels became too loud from up there, the vicar would bang his fist down on the pulpit and tell the youngsters to be quiet or they would have to go out. The service was so popular in the 1930s that the Revd Augustus Powell Miller instituted another, later, one at 8.30 pm. This also helped with the problem of the lack of free pews. Hymn books were provided and it lasted three quarters of an hour, being changed eventually to 9 pm and called The Epilogue.
Baptisms were held at a separate service on Sunday afternoons until the time of Harry Bates. The first time baptism was held during the morning service, Joyce Whetnall had to wait with Roger (aged three) and Heather, who was to be baptized, in the vestry until it was time for the baptism. Joyce had to miss going to church until her children were older. It was not until much later, in Raymond Lee’s time, that the crèche was started to allow mothers to attend church.
In the 1930s confirmation services were held every three years at St Luke’s, the candidates going to St Faith’s and Sefton in between. The vicar always prepared them for confirmation and this took place when they were about 16. The girls wore a white dress and veil but the boys were always confirmed first. In 1938 St Luke’s presented 70 confirmation candidates at the service in Sefton church.
Appendix 2 gives a summary of services with snapshot views taken during each of the vicars’ ministries, except those of Richard Walker and Joseph Clark. This shows the general pattern of services but there have been some variations of note.
Calendar for December 1938 from the parish magazine.
There was a ten days’ mission from 20-29 November 1909, led by the Revd John Reed MA, rector of Ashmore and missioner of the Church Parish Mission Society. It anticipated those held later, on a diocesan basis, in 1916. The mission opened with an 8 pm service on Saturday, and the Sunday services were 8.00 Holy Communion, 10.45 Morning Prayer with Sermon and Holy Communion, 2.15 Men Only, 3.15 Children’s Service, 6.30 Evening Prayer, Sermon and Instruction. From Monday to Friday there was a pattern of 7.30 Holy Communion, 9.00 Address to children in schools, 11.00 Short Service and Bible Reading, 7.30 Hymn Singing, 8.00 Mission Service. The Sunday services were repeated and the mission finished on the Monday with 7.30 Holy Communion, 11.00 Short Service and Bible Reading, 5.30 Children’s Service, 7.30 Hymn Singing and at 8.00 Closing Service of praise and thanksgiving with a farewell address: 41 services in 10 days!
Bishop Chavasse came to preach in 1923 just before he retired. The children lined the path and the bishop passed down the row patting them on the head. Dora Parr, a little girl at the time, was particularly impressed with his gaiters and the fact that he was a small man so she did not have to strain to look up to see him. After the service he got on a tram to go back to Liverpool.
The coronation of George VI on 12 May 1937 was marked by a Civic Service of half an hour in preparation for the reception of the broadcast from Westminster Abbey at 11 o’clock. In the evening there was a Coronation Social Gathering in the parish hall when the King’s Speech was relayed. Associated with this was a whist drive and dance (flannel or optional dress).
A modern mission took place on 6/7 December 1975 when the Revd David Gillett (now Bishop of Bolton) and members of a team of students from St John’s College Nottingham visited the parish. This was followed up by a ‘Resurrection Week’ in 1976. Joyce Whetnall recollects that group meetings took place at different people’s houses and there were discussions with input from the students. It was the first time they had sung any different hymns, such as ‘Peace is flowing like a river’, ‘Father, we adore You’ and ‘I am the Bread of Life’. It was an uplifting week, the final service being held at All Saints’ on the Sunday.
A ‘Saint Luke’s Flower Festival’ was held from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 September 1988. It was a truly ecumenical form of worship with the other churches in the Crosby Covenant all contributing, ie All Saints’, St Helen’s, SS Peter and Paul’s and the two Methodist churches. The theme was ‘Journey into Life’ with the focus on the Life of Christ. There were sixteen displays, some of them linked to pictures depicted in the windows. Proceeds were given to the Church Urban Fund.
In the 1940s, as Bill Pierce recalls over fifty years later, the boys and girls of Sunday School age sat in the gallery, away if possible from the adults. ‘I have to admit that worship was sometimes interrupted by the odd hymn book falling down from the gallery – purely by chance! After the war we went regularly to Evensong – a popular service. We sang with great feeling: “At even, ere the sun was set”, “Sun of my soul”, “Saviour, again to thy dear name we raise” and of course “The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended”. We sang the vesper hymn “God be in my head…”. All this eased our consciences somewhat as most of us lads were there to see the girls. The Junior Fellowship of my day occupied much of the south transept in the evenings. In this same transept the scouts always sat at church parades, the guides being in the opposite transept – totally distracting to worship of course!’
In 1973 the leaders of the youth organisations at All Saints’ met with the vicar and churchwardens to agree on an alternative form for the monthly parade service. It was felt that the Book of Common Prayer did not aid the movements’ aims of the spiritual development of young people. The service was allocated to one pair of units, either scouts and cubs, or guides and brownies, who then took whatever part they felt able to in the service. They could opt for Morning Prayer and just read the lessons and choose the hymns, or they could pick a theme for their service and prepare readings, write prayers, select hymns, and even produce an outline for the sermon. The work was usually done by the patrol leaders, aged 13-16, who might meet with a leader or clergyman several times to prepare the service. The effect seemed to be that there was less fidgeting and more interest amongst the young people, and a greater number of parents attending.
Church and congregation in 1966.
There has been a great change in the management of the
parish. In 1939 for example there were two ordained clergy besides the vicar,
admittedly with All Saints’ to manage as well as St
Luke’s. Since then there has been a steady growth in readers with greater
congregational participation in worship. In 1972 the four readers were authorized
to assist with the chalice at Holy Communion and in 1974, in accordance with
the opportunity for authorizing other lay people, Messrs Webster, Dowsett,
Terry, A P Williamson, Calvert, Pierce and Pilkington were recommended to do
so. In 1975 there were six readers and Frances Briscoe came as a parish
worker, later to become a deaconess. A recent development has been the growth
of the non-stipendiary ministers (NSMs) and ordained local ministers (OLMs), at
present the Revd Barbara Chambers and the Revd Margaret Quayle.
From the earliest days there had been a choir and in 1889 an evening choral service was given by the choir under the guidance of Mr P Ashcroft. The organist Mr George Barton had already held the position for 29 years. The inscription on his tombstone in the graveyard tells us that he died on 9 October 1910 aged 70, having been organist for 42 years. In 1958 the organist and choirmaster received an honorarium of £80 a year (equivalent to about £1200 today). For many years the choir consisted of boys and men only who sang in the chancel wearing surplices. Women and girls joined the choir before the Second World War. The choir robes at first were red, with grey for the women, later blue. In 1969 attempts were made to build up a mixed choir with five boys joining from the school. A ladies’ vestry was set up in the north transept but this was destroyed in the fire. In 1977, under John Woodward, there were 29 choir members with an average attendance of 20 at Sunday services. Later the choir was disbanded and replaced with the Music Fellowship which still leads the hymns from the south transept at the 9 am service.
In July 1979 Christopher James was born to Peter and Pam Taylor of St Luke’s. He was afflicted with jaundice and his blood count reached a critical level. Raymond Lee prayed with Pam on the phone and she herself prayed desperately for his recovery. The count went down and the doctor said, ‘There must be someone on your side’. However, the following morning the count again rose to a critical level and an immediate exchange transfusion arranged. Peter, Pam and Raymond prayed in the doctor’s office. Unbeknown to them, a prayer chain had been established. Christopher was not expected to feed for twelve hours, but two hours later he was feeding. On the following St Luke’s Day, Services of Christian Healing were started. Since then it has been part of Holy Communion services on a regular basis and prayer for Christian healing is available after every service. Prayer for healing and wholeness is an important part of St Luke’s life, and is supported by courses, small group meetings and a prayer diary. Bereavement care is also available from a dedicated group who have offered their services and been trained for the purpose.
In 1992 a review of Sunday worship was conducted, and the results of a questionnaire showed that the great majority of the congregation wanted a regular hymn at the nine o’clock service with more time for quiet and reflective prayer; at the 10.30 service, the Parade/Family Service should be brightened up, the Junior Church Family Service should occasionally be held in the church and coffee should be offered in the hall after every service.
For over a century Hymns Ancient and Modern had been used, the Revised Edition being introduced in 1964. After the fire in 1972 a special St Luke’s hymn book (‘The Yellow Book’) was compiled which contained some more modern hymns, for that time, such as ‘Make me a channel of Your peace’ and ‘Great is Thy faithfulness’. Later, the small Mission Praise book was introduced and used alongside ‘Ancient and Modern’ for seven years. In October 1991 it was decided to adopt the full Mission Praise hymn book which is still used, supplemented by a variety of modern hymns and choruses drawn from other sources.
A selection from the ‘Yellow Hymn Book’.
For many years home groups have extended worship from the church in time and place. In 2002 St Luke’s formally adopted ‘Cell Church’ principles following the four Ws (welcome, word, worship and witness), and these are now the focus of the home groups. Notes, based on Sunday sermons, are printed and are used by the cells or home groups, thus ensuring coordination, continuity and common purpose.
This continuing development of worship at St Luke’s well illustrates Cardinal Newman’s dictum: ‘Here below to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often’.