SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1936, Page 18

SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR

FASHIONABLE WEDDINGS

CAPE TOWN CLERGY'S VIEWS

At a church congress held recently in Bournemouth, the Bishop of Southampton declared himself shocked at the behaviour at fashionable weddings, and added that he had noticed this state of affairs particularly since his return from abroad, states a writer in the "Cape Times." "I have," he exclaimed with feeling,, "been sick at heart and shaken with nervousness when I have been at fashionable weddings. Few of the people there have any notion hoy to behave in God's house. The occasion is used as an excuse to satisfy the dramatic instincts." This unequivocal statement is a depressing comment on the modern attitude towards marriage in general, and the wedding service in particular. Whatever the situation may be overseas, in Cape Town clergymen agree that as far as actual indecorum in church goes, they have very little cause for complaint. The Rev. F. L. Sugget, of the Holy Redeemer Church in Sea Point, for example, and the Rev. A. P. Bender, of the Gardens Synagogue, who speaks from 40 years of experience, state that they have never encountered anything of the sort. DUE TO THOUGHTLESSNESS. Others, again, can remember only isolated occasions when the behaviour of the wedding guests was not all it should have been. The Rev. J. L. Sheasby, of the Methodist Church in Mowbray, quotes an example of how the day had been completely.spoilt for the bride by the boisterousness of some of her guests— "a boisterousness due, I feel sure, more to thoughtlessness and ignorance than to irreverence." "There is always something electric in the air at a wedding," he went on, "for everyone present is vastly interested in the event. Perhaps the women may be forgiven if they are inclined to whisper to each other about the decorations of the church! Once the service starts, however, the guests should be careful not to do anything which could in any way mar the happiness of the people concerned." Though people are on the who> well-behaved at weddings, it is a question whether the spiritual significance of the ceremony is always fully realised. As Bishop Lavis pertinently points out: "It is obvious that many who attend weddings in our churches have very little thought beyond the social aspect; they are probably unfamiliar with the inside of a church and the religious significance of the service counts for very little. Positive irreverence and disregard of what is fitting is a very rare occurrence indeed, so far as my experience in churches of the Church of the Province goes." "A MIXED KETTLE OF FISH." "Unless the young couple have a very real sense of the religious significance of the ceremony," remarked the Rev. Charles Garratt, of the Baptist Church in Three Anchor Bay, "the marriage should not be celebrated in church. For people who attach no special religious value to the ceremony it should be merely civic." But as the Rev. Allan Lea put it, "It is a very mixed kettle of fish," and it is almost impossible for the minister to distinguish between those people vho get married in church because they have a genuine wish to do so, and those who do so merely because it is "done." . "But it is not for us to distinguish between the ti'uly religious and the conventional," said the Rev. Dr. van der Merwe, of the. Dutch Reformed Church. Adderley Street, "we must go where we are called. And it is surprising what a strong hold the Church still has on our people." To illustrate this he quotes several cases of people who were married in Court and later on asked him to marry them in church—in some instances many years afterwards. As for behaviour at weddings, one does not expect to see long faces at the marriage feast, but it should be remembered that, though a happy occasion, it is also a solemn one. To create the right atmosphere, Dr. van der Merwe always begins the service with a prayer, instead of straight away reading the marriage service as is more usual in the Dutch Reformed Church. Marriage, in the opinion of the Rev. E. Titcomb, of the Methodist Church in Rosebank, is normally "a lifelong union with a spiritual basis." He feels that the conception of the marriage service should be raised in the minds of the people, and if that were done there would never be any need to complain of levity at weddings. "The wedding ceremony should be raised to the standard of the Sacrament," he says. NUPTIAL MASS IN IRELAND. In Ireland this is already the case, as the Rev. Dr. J. Colgan, of St. Mary's, points out. There the recognised method of getting married is by Nuptial Mass, at which the bride and bridegroom, and very often the guests as well, receive Holy Communion. Jr. Colgan has spent 22 years in South Africa, and on only one occasion has he had cause to complain of indecorous behaviour at a wedding. "Speaking from 20 years of experience," contributed the Rev. Allan Lea, of the Metropolita.. Church, "I would | say that people have lost none of their sense of the seriousness of the act. Of course, there is always a certain excitement and tension which leads them to whisper before the servicebut, after all, that is only human!" About wedding receptions where alcoholic drinks are served, he has very strong views: "I am no kill-joy, but I object to receptions which degenerate into cocktail parties." Bishop Lavis sums up the whole situation in these words: "Where the marriage is that of earnest members of the Church, reverence and behaviour leave nothing to be desired, and casual persons and non-members present, as guests, are frequently deeply impressed by the simple dignity and great beauty of the marriage service which has been used for king- and peasant alike for nearly 400 years."

The Cheltenham Flyer was the first train in the world to run on a regular schedule of over 70 miles an hour, and recently it completed 1000 runs at this high speed. The time for its non-stop run between Swindon and Paddington is 65 minutes for just over 77 miles, and more than 100,000 passengers have travelled on the train.