A Unique Welcome to Rochester
The Rev Canon Dr Gordon Giles, Canon Chancellor writes of his first year as Canon Chancellor during the Covid-19 lockdown and the reopening of the Cathedral. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2021.
In January 2020 I came to Rochester to be interviewed for the post of Canon Chancellor. I was billeted in the spanking new Travelodge, with its vistas of Platform 1 in one direction and the Russian Submarine in the other. Little did any of us know that we were soon to be submerged in the depths of Covid-19 (as we called it in 2020) which was to take over our airways in both senses of the word, once Brexit was 'done'. It seems that the first casualty of Covid in the UK was the same day as we left the EU, and, more recently, the day on which the restrictions first imposed two years ago were lifted was the day Russia invaded Ukraine. So it has been a couple of years of upheaval, uncertainty, delay and sometimes desperation. My family and I have our own story running parallel to these tumultuous national tramlines, as indeed we all likely do.
Having been appointed a month later, in late February, it was announced in both Rochester and at St Mary Magdalene's church, Enfield, that we would be leaving after my 17 years as Vicar. Those happy years had seen many joys, pilgrimages together, literally around the world, and spiritual and emotional journeys too. Our daughter Maria had been born and schooled to GCSE level there, and there were many friends, an orchestra, a credit union and 23 years in London Diocese to say farewell to. It was not an easy announcement to make.
They clapped and they cried but at least there was the usual time lag to anticipate and enjoy parties, concerts, dinners and final services. So my family and I visited Rochester in February to see our new home and the Moon. Not just an inflatable Moon of course, but a cathedral running at full tilt, coming together to offer hospitality, welcome, fun and inspiration to over 100,000 people. Bring it on...
Yet by Mothering Sunday it was clear something was going wrong in our land. My parish church hosted ABRSM (Royal Schools of Music) music exams, but they had to stop, along with everything else, within a matter of weeks. The Moon waned and by March 23 we were all in lockdown. The last official thing I did in the church was close it. Preparing to move out then had some new and unforeseen dimensions. Soon there was a 'Covid' funeral - a dear man whose daughter's wedding I had conducted. No visiting, 12 people at the funeral. He had played for Spurs and was a bit famous in his own way. Most of his family could not attend. Meanwhile I had a boot-load of candles and communion wafers to unload, and being wary of being seen driving (yes it was like that) every day I snuck up to church with an armful - just checking security! That's how it was. Back then it was not clear whether clergy were actually allowed in their churches. As time went by the Churchwarden and I would co-ordinate our 'security checks' so we could at least touch base and lament the state of affairs.
The Easter Vigil was recorded in my dining room and, dare I confess it, a select group of us crept into church under cover of darkness to record scenes from Dorothy L Sayers' The Man Born to be King'. This had been in rehearsal for Palm Sunday and I released it day by day during Holy Week for folk to listen to via the church website. I was doing new and strange things at the same time as preparing to move out, although at that point we had no idea when exactly we could move to Rochester. On Good Friday I shared with my online congregation the Reading of the Passion which Canon Matthew and some other Precentors from around the country had pre-recorded. It was nice to have that connection at least !
After Easter our extensive daily dog walks began to take in window visits to parishioners - I had already distributed Palm Crosses in that way - and that for some was the last they saw of us. The weather was lovely and some ventured into the Vicarage garden for outdoor tea for two (or G and T) on the veranda.
It was decided that May 13, the original date for my installation, would still be my 'starting' date, but of course we couldn't move house nor have a leaving or a starting service. So I was licensed by Bishop James on Zoom with Chapter members beaming goodwill across the ether. My wife Jessica, daughter Maria and I were sat at our North London dining table. So I was no longer the Vicar, I was officially 'at' Rochester Cathedral, but was barely allowed outside the front door, except to clap for key workers on Thursday nights - remember that?
As my daughter's exams were cancelled it became clear that we could move house in mid June. So we moved from one lockdown to another. Dean Phil and Sugina changed abode the week after we did, and used the same removal firm, so things were finally moving in both senses of the word. We began to meet in the Deanery garden and the welcome we received was extraordinary: extraordinarily weird and extraordinarily kind. Under the circumstances we couldn't have had a better welcome and perhaps it may have seemed stranger to those observing our arrival than it did to us. Sure, we couldn't go out much, most of the staff were furloughed and many people we met were pixelated, but moving house, roles and jobs is strange anyway. It was just another layer of strangeness. We had had to downsize considerably and Covid's gift to us was time to clear up and out in London (although annoyingly the dump remained closed) and to unpack at this end.
The Cathedral reopened, and it was good, fitting even, to be there and film for Facebook the doors reopening on what would become - and still is - the slow ascent from Covid submersion. Yet we were all under God too. Strange as it all was of course, the ascent has been steady - almost in slow motion - and that prevented any decompression sickness! Staff began to return and I met many people one to one in the King's Orchard garden. A formal installation was set for September and, although we were restricted to 30 guests, the two-metre spacing and return of the lay clerks made for a lovely service that felt well attended. No hymns, sadly, but we were able to have outdoor drinks afterwards. But worried that our daughter had Covid (she didn't), she and my wife had to watch the live-stream on a park bench in Hertford.
Arriving at the Cathedral was thus a protracted process, and what followed was sometimes painstaking too: two steps forward and one back. It was a rare privilege to find myself involved in decisions about how to have a vaccination centre in the Crypt; weekly school governor meetings on Zoom; leading live-streamed worship; making videos about saints and lockdowns; getting to grips with Facebook and preparing a virtual Christmas Trail with our newly appointed Curate Belinda Beckhelling. Although not part of my job description I enjoyed these challenges, especially as, at first, I was unable to perform the duties I had been appointed for.
Many will remember the extremely cautious approach to 'returning to volunteering'. Remember that none of us had any experience of lockdowns and pandemics, and our primary care and concern was for our people. We all did our best and expressed this in the simple summer exhibition season: Faith, Hope and Love. The Kent Corona Quilt with the names of 88 people in Kent lost to Covid-19, by local artist Amber Rose, was exhibited in May 2021, kept company in September by The Tapestry of Patches, produced by NSPCC volunteers in support of the Childline charity.
Committees met on Zoom, if at all, and some still do. My life changed coming here, but then so did everyone else's. And that gives us a connection, you and I, as we navigate new paths, new difficulties, new experiences, new fears and new hopes. It connects us: for we are comrades in pandemic arms. And I am immensely grateful to God and to you, Friends.
The Rev Canon Dr Gordon Giles
Canon Chancellor
Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2021
Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Reports
The Friends of Rochester Cathedral were founded to help finance the maintenance of the fabric and grounds. The Friends’ annual reports have become a trove of articles on the fabric and history of the cathedral.
Canons, colleagues, volunteers and staff have shared their memories and reflections in many forms over the years.