Saturday in Bristol

Today was a "free" day, which means there was nothing on the schedule for us to travel to with the exception of Evensong at 3:30..  A good idea, as all the work and play we've been doing for the past several days is starting to catch up with us!  Most people who have never sung in a choir or spent much time serving for a worship service don't realize how much work goes into it - before the service, during the service, and afterwards.  All our voices are holding up, which is good, but the bodies and minds need rest. We were all on individual schedules and activities today, so I can only tell you about what I experienced before Evensong; hopefully once we get stateside the rest of the group will update the blog with experiences of their own.

I decided to visit the Harbour Festival again - I just couldn't stay away from all that delicious food!  After a late start to the day and preparations for the service, I hit the Festival around lunch time.  It was PACKED with people.  Last year, the Festival brought 400,000 people to Bristol and made 9 million pounds - I'll say that's a success!  After the Festival, I finally had a chance to spend some quiet time in the cathedral - it is a truly beautiful space.

Here's our "work area":

This is MY view from the center of the aisle:

LOVE IT!!!!!!

Soon thereafter, it was time to prepare for Evensong.  The choir has truly done a marvelous job - we sing a different set of service music every evening - including the concerts, we will sing 31 different pieces of music, not including the hymns for the services.  This is an ENORMOUS amount of music to sing, and a large amount of music to sing WELL.  The standards for worship in at the cathedral are high, just as they are at Christ Church, and we constantly work to improve ourselves so that we can become better ministers than we were the day before.  This residency is no different.

Evensong went very well this evening, and the choirs have adjusted well to their new surroundings and the slight differences in the liturgies here at Bristol.  After the service some of us visited the Harbour Festival again before coming back to the hotel for dinner.  Although it was a low-key day (except the Jogging Crew was up bright and early!), several people decided to take advantage of some local theater productions in town.  Hopefully, we'll all be well rested for the services tomorrow!

This will probably be the last post till we get to London on Monday - tomorrow is a big day!  Choral Eucharist and Evensong in the space of a few hours - keep us in your prayers as we prepare!