Castleford Team Parish Magazine July & August 2014 2014-07 | Page 16

July & August 2014

The Rev Dr Gary Bowness continues his tongue-in-cheek letters from ‘Uncle
Eustace’…

ON THE PERILS OF ‘STANDING
IN’ FOR ANOTHER VICAR
The Rectory
St. James the Least
My dear Nephew Darren
You should not complain about doing duty in other churches when
their clergy are on holiday. It is only in other churches that you will
be appreciated. Beatification only comes from your own church on
the day you leave – which is a way of firing a shot across the bows of
your successor. I remember being greeted by a churchwarden on my
first day here at St. James the Least with the encouraging words: ‘I’ve
seen six Rectors of this parish; each one was worse than the last.’ As
the years have gone by, I am sure I will have entirely fulfilled his
expectations.
No; when you visit another church, you will be told all the many
defects of their own vicar, and whatever you do will be praised. Store
up these memories for the day you return to your own patch – when
you will then be told how outstanding your own temporary
replacement has been and how congregations thrived in your
absence.
Naturally, this gives you the right to make similar remarks a