Piecing Together David Scott Bloodaxe £7.50 ISBN 1-85224-696-0
Left to grow beautiful
The grassy heads do gentle talking, And as a whole move to an unseen hand, This way and that. The size of a soul Is like this, just let to be, to breathe, To bathe in its own space . . . . .
These are the opening lines of David Scott’s poem This Meadow, a Soul, one of the poems in his latest published collection, Piecing Together. They convey something of the essence of his poetry – glimpses given of deeper truths hidden in the landscapes of the natural world and of human experience. These are poems to delight in, deceptive in their simplicity, light and airy in their insights.
David Scott is a poet and priest in Winchester, and as the poet and priest George Herbert before him, sees heaven in the ordinary. Sometimes these are poignant glimpses as in his poem Black and White Photographs; sometimes they are described with humour as in Prayer and the Hair Salon and Brighton Pier, 10a.m.
For me, David Scott is at his best in describing the quiet moments of life when few are looking but much is to be revealed. These are poems to savour and enjoy.
Judy Rees
Making Church Buildings Work – a handbook for managing and developing church buildings for mission and ministry.
Maggie Durran 2005. ISBN 1-85311-597-5 (Canterbury Press) £14.99
Maggie Durran is hailed in the blurb as the UK’s expert on this subject. Her extensive experience in London makes her the expert on city and large town churches, but to the rural reader the differences between the role of the church in town and country become ever clearer. Acora’s books “Open All Hours” and “Rural Visitors” will be more appropriate for rural situations. Although this book has many useful sections on general management issues, health and safety, employment, trading and letting or leasing property the author has no special relevant experience of the part rural church buildings play in the life of their community. This is most starkly revealed in the assumption that seeking more use for the church is motivated primarily by money than mission. Rural churches will not grow rich on multi-functionality, although income may well increase. Being motivated to serve the community by releasing precious space will bring its own rewards in being better appreciated by the whole community. This in turn may well increase congregational numbers; so don’t do it for the money!
And, Maggie, not all dioceses are so generous as to pay the cost of the architect for the quinquennial inspection.
Jeremy Martineau
30
www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
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