A couple of weeks ago, I went to the 50th Anniversary Concert of the Boston Choral Society in Boston Parish Church. This is the church which has the famous 'Boston Stump' for its tower and I had quite forgotten how magnificent a building it is. It even makes St Andrew's, Swavesey, look small.
This was the setting for an inspiring performance of 'The Dream of Gerontius' by Edward Elgar. The performers were a professional orchestra and soloists together with the augmented Boston Choral Society as the chorus.
Elgar's music is a setting of the poem of the same name by John Henry Newman. The poem follows the progress of the soul of Gerontius through death and on to judgement and beyond. From it are drawn the words of the hymns 'Firmly I believe and truly' and 'Praise to the holiest in the height'.
And although I know that Elgar's music and Cardinal Newman's theology are not to everyone's taste, I thought, Ah, here is the Church doing its job, fulfilling its mission. Here is the Church offering a story to live by, a truth to die by and a hope with which to face the Judge of all the earth.
I know many people these days like to put off thinking about such things and that the Church is often criticised for being morbid and putting the dampers on any expression of joy and exuberance.
But this is far from the truth. We have Good News to tell about the whole of life - and death. And Sunday by Sunday we celebrate this Good News which is ours in Jesus Christ. Not always with music and massed choirs but always with the quiet confidence expressed by Gerontius in Newman's poem. It‘s never too early - or too late - to come and find out what it is all about.
At the end of the concert, as we left the church, I noticed that there were two policemen standing outside the door - and there were numerous others in the market square. We were reminded that Saturday night in Boston is not always the happiest of places. And the next night the troubles in Boston town centre even made it onto the national news.
The Church is there in the middle of it all. But who will hear Christ's message of hope and salvation?
John-David Yule