ABOUT PEOPLE

John Groser, priest

25/11/2004

"John Groser was a good speaker. He gave a good straight sermon on Ephesians, then, when he had the meeting where he wanted them, in the last five minutes, he delivered words on socialism.

Nowadays no-one knows what is meant by socialism. Is it what they had in the Soviet Union, or is it Tony Blair?"

Mr Watt, Headmaster of St Paul's School

25/11/2004

"I had the arranging of the plaque in the School. The lettering is by Ralph Beyer, who did the lettering in Coventry Cathedral, and is beautiful. I included T E Watt, Headmaster and R G Kirkby, Vicar. I know Mr Watt was upset. He wanted his MC (Military Cross) recorded, but I was determined to have it absolutely plain.

Mr Watt had a sort of wisdom. If he had to tell a boy off, he would afterwards ask the boy to do something for him. In his old-fashioned way he was a good headmaster. 

He came at 8am, and was away by 4pm, when he had done his day's work. No after-school activities. But he ran the school well. He started very strict with staff and pupils. After a while he could then afford to relax and still maintain discipline.

He was a magistrate; so he was away from the school on Tuesdays carrying out this duty. But he had everything under control. "

Fr Thornton - A Brilliant Lecture Remembered

24/02/20005

Fr Gresham spoke of Fr Thornton, a tutor at Mirfield when he was there, who was brilliant but shy and so didn't have much conversation. But Fr Thornton could be humourous, and once, when Fr Gresham told him he was going to Gloucester, advised him where to get the best pint.

Fr Gresham went back to Mirfield for a conference with the Methodists and Baptists at which Fr Thornton gave a lecture. The Methodists and Baptists were astonished at Fr Thornton because he quoted verbatim and without notes, extensive Old Testament and Gospel passages.

In the lecture he started by saying that the writing on the Cross was in three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and that these were three original strands of Christianity. "The Hebrew gave a sense of God acting in history, of events having a meaning and working out God's purposes for humankind. We lost this strand; it had died out by the second century AD. 

The Greek strand was the questioning of everything, the working things out, and flowering in the formulation of the Creeds, including the Athanasian Creed." (The Athanasian Creed - God the Father is incomprehensible, God the Son is incomprehensible, God the Holy Ghost is incomprehensible, yet there are not three incomprehensibles, but one incomprehensible, ....etc.) "This traditionally was said at (?) matins on six or eight festivals a year, though it has almost died out now. It is sometimes said in a shortened form as the (?) 'Song of the True Faith', especially on Trinity Sunday."

"This Greek strand died out in the 4th or 5th century, when the Eastern Church stopped thinking." (In the notes I put a question mark (?) after this to indicate maybe I was not sure if Fr Gresham said this. Whether or not he did, I think this is a funny statement in itself, perhaps disagreed with by the Eastern Church.)

"So we are left with the Roman Church, which has a legal emphasis. So we are left with an emphasis on laws. It influences the way we understand the Gospels and the Letters. We understand the New Testament today with the minds of modern society."

Winnie, Vicarage Housekeeper

25/1/99 

In his homily, at the bestowing of the icon of 'St Paul with St Luke', at St Paul’s church, Bow Common, Fr Gresham told us it was given in memory of Winnie, the former housekeeper. He remembered when Winnie showed love to an alcoholic woman who called at the vicarage late one evening. Winnie undressed, gave a nightie to, and kissed the woman, as she put her to bed.

"When we look at the Icon," he said, "we are to remember Paul & Luke in prison. It was designed for a gloomy place/corner, so it doesn't need special lighting." He added that, "Objects are made sacred by the use to which they are put."  

"The conversion of St Paul was the second most important event, after Pentecost, in the Church’s history. It allowed Christianity to break out, through Paul’s journeys and teachings, of Judaism and become the religion of all nations."    (The Icon is now at the back of the church at St Paul's, Bow Common.)

Ken Leech, priest

25/11/2004

Fr Gresham didn't gossip, of course. So he didn't really say anything about fellow contemporary priests or others I might have known. But we did speak about the book, 'The Sky is Red', by Ken Leech. Fr Gresham did not agree with some of it and had said this to Ken, whom he had known as an ordinand or curate at St Paul's, Bow Common. 

Fr Gresham did add that, "Ken Leech could have been a leader of the Church. He has an acute mind. He is very gifted. But he should have joined the Franciscans. He was so gifted, he needed a community to control him." He might have also said, "or find a good wife." But I'm not sure of the last point. Ken Leech has since died, after retiring back to the north west. 

Stanley Evans' concern for local people

24/02/2005

"Stanley Evans wrote a booklet about a pilgrimage he went on. It was called, "To Jerusalem in Evening Dress". It was humourous, but his point was that pilgrimage parties have no thought for the society into which they go; they don't care about the local people, but he was more concerned about the local people, than about holy places."

Some  Bishops of Stepney

25/11/04

Robert Moberly 

"Bishop Moberly  was a good Bishop of Stepney. He cycled round the East End all the way through the Blitz. He loved the East End." (Bishop of Stepney from 1936 - 1952)

Cosmo Lang

"It was said he lived and entertained in a high style that went down well in the East End. He held open house on Tuesday evenings, at which he gave his guests sherry. He said we got by on sherry and prayer." (Bishop of Stepney from 1901 - 1909)

Trevor Huddleston

I raised the name of Trevor Huddleston as he was a famous priest. Fr Gresham replied by saying that his heart was in South Africa. (Bishop of Stepney from 1968 - 1978)