October 12th 2005

Chapter Meetings

Are there any hard and fast rules about what services Chapters should have at their regular meetings? I presume that Guild Office should be sung on most occasions when a chapter meets and I know that many chapters sometimes have Mass. Do many chapters always have a business meeting afterwards, or just notices? In our chapter we have Guild Office & Benediction most of the time, Stations of the Cross in Lent, and a Mass (either Patronal or Requiem).

Ben Heffer, St Birinus, Oxford. 

REPLIES

David Rumsby - 12/10/05

My Chapter holds a meeting once per month, as we are the Epiphany Chapter we have our Mass of Titile in January and then sing the Guild Office each remaining months until December. In December we have a day retreat at a local convent. On occasions we have a joint Chapter meeting with neighbouring Chapters. We do have notices at the end of each meeting and have a committee meeting usually twice a year at a member's house.
David Rumsby
Chapter secretary
Chapter of the Epiphany

Bruce Walton - 13/10/05

I think the guild rules say there should be five guild office in a year others can be mass

Bruce Walton
chairman 
St Oswalds chapter

Nicholas Pond - 13/10/05

Most of our Chapter meetings begin with the Guild Office, followed by a couple of suitable hymns sandwiching the Chaplain's (or Incumbent's) sermon, then ending with Benediction. We only usually celebrate Mass a couple of times during the year, where a feast day coincides with the church we are visiting. Stations of the Cross are celebrated in Lent.

This is all followed by refreshments, notices and a short business meeting.

Nicholas Pond


Chapter of St.Cedd {PG13/28} - Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary

e mail Nicholas Pond

David - 19/10/05

We in North Wales have 5 meetings per as a chapter.
These consist of the Office & Benediction and the Mass on Holy Days and Saints Days.
We also have a Mass on each of our patronal saints at the relevant church.
Being the only chapter in N.Wales we also support all Credo Crymu/FiF and provide the 
servers for these events at the various churches who require 

David. 
Chapter of SS. Mary, Bridget & Asaph
N. Wales

Andrew Mays - 7/11/05

The Guild Rules state (unless altered without my knowledge) that a Chapter should meet at least 4 times in a year. No actual reference is made to the form of service to be used or to the form of meeting. HOWEVER it should be remembered that this rule was written in the days when an Evening Mass or even an afternoon Mass was unheard of by those followed the Catholic Faith and would uphold a fast until receipt of the Blessed Sacrament. It would therefore have been assumed by our forebears that the Guild Office would be sung at meetings.

Personally I lament the relegation of the Guild Office in preference to the Holy Mass. Most people can if they wish find a daily Mass somewhere (though this is becoming harder).
BUT the Guild Office is OUR office peculiar & especial to us as part of OUR Guild, no other Christian Organisation has or uses this office it is OURS, The Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary. We should use OUR OFFICE and be PROUD to do so.

Andrew R Mays until recently Group Councillor PG21 ( and still around!!! )

Further to my comments about the use of OUR GUILD OFFICE. I would like to point that I support the Office as laid down by our forefathers, with the use of plain song. However I would happily use on occasions a more modern format of OUR OFFICE using metrical versions of the psalms laid down. I do not say we should stick with what some consider an "ancient" version of OUR OFFICE but that we should USE OUR OFFICE.

Andrew R Mays