Reflections from Church Society
Gathering our Prayers Together: 60 Reflections on the Anglican Collects
Edited by Lee Gatiss
251 pages
ISBN 978-1-7395160-0-0
£14.99 Hardback £9.99 Digital
Whilst enjoying Lee Gatiss’ informative, self-effacing, historically informed and accessible introduction, I was surprised to read that ‘some have criticised the Collects as being too brief, even terse, to warm the affections’. And yet, as a teenager at boarding school, the phrase that comforted me in chapel during Evensong, the words that stuck with me for another 6 years before becoming a Christian, were those from the last Collect said at Evening prayer. ‘Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee O Lord, and by thy great mercy, defend us from all perils and dangers of this night…’ comfort indeed for a mind prone to fearful thinking during wakeful hours.
To return to the Collects at such a time as this seems to me like the wisdom of anchoring your little boat within the safety, security and comfort of an established harbour where the waters are still and essential maintenance can be done – feeding on the word, asserting truth, recognising our need, crying out to our Father and holding on to the ‘continuity’ and ‘permanence’ that King Charles has recognised as our profound human need.
This beautifully produced hardback, compiles 60 Collects from the 1662 prayer book, and offers short essays by varied learned saints (contemporary) commenting on the short prayers themselves (historic) before inviting the reader to ‘pray this with me’.
The book is a delight. A gift both to the church broadly and one to give away individually.
Combining historical detail, scriptural reference, pastoral exhortation and personal reflection, the 60 different contributors expound these 60 different Collects with a particular voice. In conclusion, we are invited to follow their five point structure and write our own. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
A Month with the Messiah: Reflections on Handel’s Masterpiece
Edited by Lee Gatiss
258 pages
ISBN 978-1-0-6857050-6
£14.99 Hardback £9.99 Digital
The second, and slightly larger, of these two beautifully produced hard backs reflects, through the musical and theological understanding of thirty Christian ministers, musicians, clergy, writers, speakers and theologians, on Handel’s adored masterpiece and will appeal to those who yearn for the pairing of classical music with the truth of scripture in a biblical church context. A level of musical appreciation is assumed but if references to intervals, tritones, key signatures, modulations, melismas and recitatives baffle you then don’t be put off as these are defined in a glossary, and amply expounded and linked with the text of Charles Jennens’ libretto. The result? The pure beauty of gospel truth is glorified. To be party to the personal responses of these 30 writers to such a time honoured musical classic ‘The Messiah’ is frankly a very moving privilege with or without a knowledge of the technicalities of classical music.
Roques Reviews 
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