CHAPLAIN’S REPORT
from the
chaplain
If you have driven or walked along Terrace Road recently you could
not have but noticed how beautifully restored the Chapel’s great West
Doors and the southern side door are. Given the restrictions placed on
numbers attending church services during the coronavirus pandemic
you may have thought the Chapel of St Mary & St George would have
been very quiet. It was not so, for Heritage Conservation auditing of
the Chapel required that not only the doors be restored but that the
internal woodwork, pews, and floor needed to be waxed, polished,
and buffed also.
Recognising an opportunity, Mr David York, Director of Property,
asked if he could bring forward the work planned for the July
school holidays.
Lest you think with the Chapel out of use the chaplains
(Father Philip and Father Barry) spent their time watching the skilled
craftsmen revive and restore the woodwork, be assured they were
busy improvising ways by which meaningful acts of worship could
be provided for students of both the Senior School and the
Preparatory School.
Modern technology and time-honoured orders of services combined
to allow all students to continue to have weekly acts of worship
while boarding students, even while at home, had specially provided
services in which to participate. Alongside the provision of digital
orders of service with readings, prayers, and embedded addresses by
the chaplains, YouTube hymns were also embedded.
Toward the end of Term 1 a Liturgy of the Stations of the Cross was
pre-recorded and circulated digitally to students and staff. Upon
the return for Term 2 when it was Eastertide, a service in which the
Paschal Candle was lit, was also pre-recorded.
With the ongoing lifting of restrictions on gatherings it will a great
blessing to return to services in the Chapel. However, I do believe
that despite the circumstances and inconveniences, the School has
responded positively to what must be always the first call on the life
of any Christian or Christian community; the worship of God. That
this has not been lost at Guildford Grammar School is to the praise
and glory of the most Blessed and Undivided Trinity of Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
The Rev’d Canon Dr Philip Raymont
Senior Chaplain
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