All over the world clerics like myself have been working to produce digital versions of what they were planning to offer to live congregations. Mine is just fairly basic audio and text. Some people are live streaming via a Facebook app, others have put quite sophisticated videos of Sunday worship on-line, in YouTube, Vimeo or some other streaming source. For me, without an editing suite I can work with, that's a bit out of range, which is a pity, but I have time to find out what I can produce video-wise, with two excellent video capable cameras with me. All, I need is enough time to create rehearse, record and edit. And I do tend to run out of time here strange to say.
I watched and prayed along with the Communion service produced by Fr Paul Strudwick over in Menorca, the opposite side of Mallorca from Ibiza. It was nicely put together with the sermon recorded over a couple of locations, married to an audio file of the service accompanied by text slides, with video recordings of hymns spliced in. All smoothly and neatly done, with a couple of voices other than his own. That's not easy here, with a scattered congregation and a movement ban in place. Maybe I can figure something out in due course.
Clare called after breakfast and we talked for nearly an hour, then it was time for us both to join in the Eucharist from St John's Canton, and see familiar ministerial faces. It was live streamed via Facebook, but the link to the page from the publicity circulated didn't deliver. It took ten minutes to find it, by which time Mother Frances was reading the Gospel and Father Rhys preached. The app broke a couple of times, and needed re-starting, but fortunately a recording of it stayed available afterwards and I was able to catch up on the part of the homily that I missed. This service too was nicely done. Just the two of them on the altar, with a third person operating the camera (or phone or tablet). I recognised Andrew's voice, making the responses and singing from behind the lens.
For today's walk-around, I first listened first to Catrin Ffinch playing the Bach Goldberg Variations on her harp, then later a collection of live songs recorded by Frank Sinatra with a big band. Real feel good music. Clare called just as the internet died for half an hour. It took three attempts to get it to start again by switching the house electricity on and off. It was worrying as the house landline number is also used by an internet phone rather than a hard-wired network.
I called Clare on my own mobile with WhatsApp on 4g, to explain what had happened. She too was bothered as there could be critical moments when I'd be incommunicado via the preferred church communications channels. So I rang Dave on the church mobile to ask if my personal mobile number could be distributed, just in case anyone had trouble getting through. The problem with the church mobile is that it's old and the battery life is now quite short. It spends as much time charging as it does being ready for use. It'll be better if people have my number as a fall back if needed. In such unprecedented crisis times things need thinking through at every turn.
This evening the church office computer has decided on installing the Windows 10 v1909 system upgrade, so that's unusable for the rest of the day. And it slows down internet access for every other device too. Never mind. There are other things to do. Yesterday afternoon and again today, lizards came out in the sun and could be seen running along the low perimeter walls. Eventually I got used to snapping photos without disturbing them, and am pleased with the outcome. I got them edited and uploaded once the internet was back. You can see them here
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