Parochial relief

“ As the church was from the earliest times the centre of the parish, and the priest the head of his flock and the chief person—the parson—of the district, it is natural to look for the first indications of all parochial life in the church itself. From the cradle to the grave, as it has often been said, through the clergy, religion extended its care to every soul, and exerted its influence over man, woman, and child in every parochial district, mainly by means of the Church services and the administration of the Christian Sacraments. ”

“ Our steps must be retraced; and as the evil has arisen from the neglect of our ancient parochial system, the remedy must be its restoration. We must supply to the dwellers in every street and lane and cottage of our land, efficient pastoral superintendence, and the public ordinances of the Church; and having done this, we shall still find abundant scope for the labours of every layman. "He that gathereth most shall have nothing over."
And the work by God's blessing is already begun. New churches have arisen in every part of our land, and are everywhere rising ”

“ We have suffered a half-heathen population to arise among us, for want of churches and parochial endowments, and we hope to remedy the evil, by violating the sanctity of those other endowments whereby men who had carefully provided churches and ministers for every portion of the existing population, went on to secure the perpetual daily intercessions of the cathedrals, and the maintenance of a learned clergy, who, secluded from the cares of a parish might be, and have often been, the defenders of sound doctrine and the champions of the Church. ”

“ Although it was not till well into the sixteenth century that any successful attempt was made to impose by law upon the parishioners, as such, any purely secular duty, such as the care of local roads and bridges, or the repair of ditches, dykes, and sluices, the people’s wardens had long before this assumed the superintendence of all the common parochial amusements, and in some instances of works, such as brewing and baking, etc., undertaken for the common benefit or profit. ”

“ An examination of such parochial accounts as are still preserved affords an insight into the working of the parish, and evidences the care taken by the people to maintain and increase the treasures of their churches. ”

“ The word “parish”—the English equivalent for the Latin parocia—is derived from the Christian use of the Greek word παροικία in the sense of a district or diocese under the rule and jurisdiction of a bishop. In a recent paper on “The Rise of the Parochial System,” printed in the Transactions of the Exeter Architectural and Archæological Society, the author, the Rev. Oswald Reichel, has treated this [Pg 3] question fully and in a most satisfactory manner. What has been so well done need not be done over again. ”

“ To secure the full and free access of all classes, "without respect of persons," to churches hereafter to be built in populous districts.
To enforce the fundamental principle of the parochial system,—the common and equal right of all parishioners to worship in their Parish Church. ”

“ They will admit that some new churches ought to be built, that some enormous parishes ought to be divided, but they will denounce it as visionary, to propose operations so vast as are requisite for the full developement of the parochial system ”

“ To the fair East, in sweet mute sign
That through our weary strife and pain
We crave our Eden back again." [2]
The next step appears first in ninth century churches, and in the plan of the monastery of St Gall. It involved no change in the position of the stalls of the clergy; but instead of being placed in the eastern bays of the nave, the sanctuary was lengthened to contain them. And so we reach the familiar parochial chancel, with its western portion forming a choir, and its eastern a sanctuary. ”

“ We have some general reflections to make on these three chapters on Domestic Chaplains, Chantries, and Gilds.
The appropriation of so many parochial benefices to the religious houses in the twelfth century had greatly reduced the provision for the parochial clergy on whom the burden of the parochial care of the people rested. The institution during the thirteenth century of vicars in the appropriated parishes, with perpetuity of tenure, fixed endowment, and responsibility to the bishop, had done something to alleviate the evil. ”

“ Hence a parish-church, in the stillness of the country, is a visible centre of a community of the living and the dead; a point to which are habitually referred the nearest concerns of both.
As, then, both in cities and villages, the dead are deposited in close connection with our places of worship, with us the composition of an epitaph naturally turns, still more than among the nations of antiquity, upon the most serious and solemn affections of the human mind; upon departed worth—upon personal or social sorrow and admiration—upon religion, individual and social—upon time, and upon eternity. ”

“ Every scrap of paper of past generations, showing the inner working of parochial life, possesses some interest of its own; and future generations will thank us for their preservation. Moreover, a careful arrangement of parish papers often meets with more immediate reward. We have ourselves found missing portions of 16th century registers, highly interesting deeds as early as the 14th century, royal proclamations and special forms of prayer, temp. Elizabeth and James I., in parochial litter put aside as valueless. ”

“ It does, indeed, seem p. 49sad that parochial difficulties should so often arise in respect of Church sittings. There is no part of the parochial machinery which more requires the free application of the oil of common sense—Christian charity and a true spirit of forbearing courtesy in order to avoid friction. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Difficulties not unfrequently arise in connection with the conveyance of buildings or of land to be used not only for public worship, but also for meetings, classes, etc. ”

“ Within the cathedral city the parochial system was strengthened through his efforts by the grouping of the too numerous and ill-endowed parishes under fewer incumbents, and he actively exerted himself on behalf of local charities and institutes. ”

“ Nothing so quickly awakens doubtful feelings in the breast of a passer-by as to the zeal, energy and devotion of the Incumbent, as a Churchyard untidy and unkempt, paths full of weeds, hedges untrimmed, grass long and straggling. Nothing, on the other hand, is so grateful to all the parishioners of a particular parish as the Churchyard well kept and looked after, the graves neat and trimmed, the whole place by its very appearance asserting its right to the title of God’s Acre. ”

“ It would be a politic and a noble emulation of the sects, restoring the temples wherein their sires worshipped for their children to pray in. There's hardly a barony wherein we could not find an old parish or abbey church, capable of being restored to its former beauty and convenience at a less expense than some beastly barn is run up, as if to prove and confirm the fact that we have little art, learning, or imagination. ”

“ The departing sunlight gilds the forests into gold, and sparkles on the cross high up on the village church, whose portals stand invitingly open bidding me enter. One of the attractions and beauties of the Catholic Church in Europe is that its sanctuaries are never closed; one may wander in at any and all times and be at rest and peace as long as one wishes it. ”

“ The parish church is full of interest connected with the parish, it has been built and decorated by the ancestors of the humble inhabitants of the place, the yard about it contains their dust; in it they have left something of their very best—to be swept away by the modern restorer to put in his own stuff, manufactured at a distance, the whole executed by a strange contractor employing strange workmen. ”

“ In the midst of half-dilapidated, old-fashioned farm-houses, you could always distinguish the priest's dwelling, with a flower-garden in front, and the little chapel or church surmounted by a cross,—both being generally neat, clean, fresh-painted, and forming a strange contrast with the neglect and slovenliness around. ”

“ The parishioners, as already pointed out, were bound by law and custom to provide for the repair of the nave of their parish church, and for the general upkeep of the church services. There was little need to compel them to fulfil this duty, for the churchwardens’ accounts and other documents, especially during the fifteenth century, when we have the fullest information, show us that over the entire length and breadth of England the people were gladly rebuilding and beautifying their parish churches. ”

“ If they do not do all that [Pg 116] ought to be done in their smaller parish, shall they increase its boundaries and assume greater obligations? Yes. That is what many churches are languishing for—a bigger job, something that it is worth while to do; something that will challenge all their powers and awaken to enthusiasm their sleeping energies.
4. The only village church that will continue to abide in strength and vigor in the future years will be the church that is all buttressed about by a strong and vigorous country work. It must be done as a means of self-preservation. ”

“ In course of time parochial churches arose, in some places through the liberality of the inhabitants, in other places by the action of the bishops themselves. By the eighth century, it is said, great lords, such as the lords of manors, had begun to build and endow churches for the use of their families and tenants, or friends. ”

“ The churchyard of our parish lies in a deep hollow, and a little river half encircles it. In the midst of it stands the church beneath whose shadow the parish has garnered its dead for centuries. There the generations have lain down to sleep, their hearts reconciled one to another, and the beadle has drawn the coverlet of green over them. ”

“ I conceive the Churches should be built, not where vacant ground may be cheapest purchased in the extremities of the suburbs, but among the thicker inhabitants, for the convenience of the better sort, although the site of them should cost more; the better inhabitants contributing most to the future repairs, and the ministers and officers of the church, and charges of the parish. ”

“ What strikes one so much in these parish accounts of bygone days is the richness of even small, out-of-the-way village churches. Where we would naturally be inclined to look for poverty and meanness, there is evidence to the contrary. ”

“ At the very foot of this majestic edifice stood the parish kirk, built in utter contempt of the beautiful proportions of its ancient neighbour, and for the purpose perhaps of proving in how mean a sanctuary the pure and stern devotion of the Presbyterians could humble itself. Men thrash their grain, stall their horses, feed their cattle, and even lodge themselves, in houses dry and comfortable ”

“ Churches had then grown large and magnificent; they were divided into three parts, the porch, the nave, and the sanctuary. In the nave stood the pulpit—preaching at that time being considered the invitation, or preparation for the church, whose duty was worship. It was divided from the sanctuary by a lattice work, or screen, behind which was often a veil before the holy table, which answered to the Holy of Holies of the temple, and within it none but the priests entered. ”

“ A Parish Church indeed, with its venerable spire and ancient records of the past, pointing to times when men were one;—but scattered along the streets, chapels of various orders and degrees of dissent and separation, pointing to the schisms of later ages when unity of the faith ceased to be an item in the Christian's Creed. ”

“ The churches are very fine, with more ornaments even than those in Europe, and all the ceremonies of their religion are carried on with more show; their processions in particular are very extraordinary. Every day one or other of the parishes has a solemn procession with all the insignia of its church, altar, and host, etc., through the parish, begging for whatever can be got, and praying in all forms at every corner of a street. ”

“ At the end of three days' journey through melancholy fields, we saw the weathercock of my parish church peeping above the trees. Some winding lanes, bordered by cottages and gardens, brought us to the building, which was of no great splendor. A porch with a few moldings, and two or three pillars rudely carved in sandstone, a tiled roof with counter-forts of the same stone as the pillars—that was all. To the left was the graveyard, deep in tall grasses, with an iron cross in the centre. The priest's house was to the right, in the shadow of the church. ”

“ More than twenty thousand individuals were assembled in the churches at every service; and a circumstance which proves how admirably each missionary and associate fulfilled his particular task is, that each parish gave the preference to the persons attached to it, and none allowed the superiority to its neighbouring quarter. Like mothers, who can see nothing more perfect than the children to whom themselves have given birth, each parishioner acknowledged no better men than the missionaries appointed to his own church. ”

“ Out of the midst of pale wheat lands and tussocky meadow, intersected by streams which butter bur and marigold announce, and soared over by pewit and lark and the first swallows with their delicate laughter, rises the grim, decorated church, of the same colour as the oak trees round about. White and grey headstones, some of great age, bow to it in the churchyard, and seem mutely to crave for the shelter from the north-east wind. There is much room within. ”