St Simon's Church - The Changes in 1973 - Part 2

In 1973, St Simon's ceased to exist as a separate Parish, although some services were still held there. Here is the Dean's Letter in "The Pilot" in which he explains what is happening, and why. It is interesting that it was St James Church which became part of the Jersey Arts Centre, when it too closed down.

This is the Jersey Synod report which details the debate which took place. It's extremely well written, with a touch of humour permeating it. I have however had to redact it in one place, where a word was used by Advocate Lemprière which is simply not acceptable today, and I personally would not like to have on my blog.

I have left enough of the word for it to be guessed. The phrase in question originated in the American deep south in the mid-19th century and was used to describe fugitive slaves who hid in piles of firewood as they fled north to Canada. It was used in 20th century Britain as a metaphor to describe a hidden fact or problem. It was recently (in 2008) used by Lord Dixon-Smith in a debate in the House of Lords, who apologised, and said it has just slipped out, noting that ""It was common parlance when I was younger, put it that way".

A Sizzling Synod

The Jersey Deanery Synod met in Church House on February 12, and was confronted with an agenda which must have contained one of the most controversial items which certainly the present Synod has experienced, not to say the former Jersey Decanal Conference.

After opening the Synod with prayers, the Dean proceeded to drop the first bombshell of the evening by announcing that it was not always necessary for him to chair the Synod, and that that evening Jurat L. V. Bailhache had kindly consented to take his place.

Before the Synod had recovered its breath, in the twinkling of an eye, as it were, Jurat Bailhache was in the Dean's chair on the platform, while the Dean was sitting on the floor of the House alongside the inferior clergy.

After the minutes had been dealt with, the chairman called upon Senator R. Vibert, chairman of the Working Party, to address the Synod on the interim report of the Working Party appointed by the Synod to review the work of the Church in St Helier.

In an excellent preamble, Senator Vibert explained the terms of reference of the party, and pointed out what a difficult, exacting and painstaking job it had been. First of all, they had asked all the town churches to supply facts and figures (from their 1970 records), concerning church attendances and numerous other items.

In view of the fact that the number of worshippers at St Simon's was now minimal, and in view of the fact, he said, that the Bishop of Winchester was "reluctant to appoint a new incumbent to that church", the Party had come up with the following recommendations.

First, that the two present ecclesiastical districts of St Simon's and All Saints be merged; second, that All Saints be retained for the corporate worship of the new parish; and third, that a new Vicarage be built on the site available near All Saints.

These recommendations were not unanimously agreed upon by the Working Party – Mr J.S. Hitchcock (Churchwarden, Si Simon's) and the Rev E. A. Dentith (St Luke's) recording minority opposition views.

The chairman then called upon Mr J. S. Hitchcock to address the Synod, as the leader of the opposing views. Mr Hitchcock (suitably attired for the opposition in a polo-necked sweater with the hint of a pink shirt beneath) produced a wealth of information, supported by many documents, and Photostat copies of the minutes' of committee meetings. He had already circulated to all Synod members a closely-printed four-page submission as to why St Simon's should remain a separate entity, with either its own incumbent or to be cared for by a group from one of the religious orders. His speech was both a resume and an amplification his printed submission.

He ended his speech by administering to himself a gratuitous oath that he had spoken the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God.

Immediately, a member rose to his feet and asked whether Mr Hitchcock would be prepared to take the same oath with reference to the postscript of a letter of his (Mr Hitchcock's) which had appeared in that day's Evening Post. Amid some altercation, the chairman intervened to observe that the motion to be debated was difficult enough without bringing in the EP correspondence column, and he therefore ruled this discussion out of order.

After a somewhat lengthy speech by the first speaker (Mrs M. Perchard, St Simons), the chairman decided to limit speeches to approximately five minutes. Advocate Lemprière (Jersey Representative on the General Synod) objected on the grounds that this was the most vital motion ever to have been put forward for many years, and therefore the speeches should carry no time limit. He was over-ruled.

Mrs Perchard was not in favour of the closure of St Simon's nor was she in favour of the sale of the Vicarage, which she described as a house in a terrace of character, and eulogized on the marble mantelpieces within.

The Rev G. Dockrell (St Andrew's) did not agree at all, however, and described the Vicarage as a "rotten house". Nor did he think it fair to saddle a parson with the heavy financial burden of raising money for two churches. He would become an ordained clerk of works.

The Rev E. A. Dentith, representing the minority group of the Working Party, praised Mr Hitchcock for his defence of St Simon's. It gladdened his heart to see a layman fighting for his own church. He said that they must not try to bring the two churches together if they did not wish to worship together. Then, as perhaps befitted a hospital chaplain, he spake a parable and likened St Simon's unto a sick patient in hospital who wanted the operation to be postponed. (His parable was difficult to interpret, as are so many parables).

The Rev G. Baker (St Mark's), also a member of .the Working Party, gave six short sensible reasons why the merger should take place. It had been suggested that the appointment of a younger man to St Simon's might help build up the church. He thought this was not necessarily so, and thought that the money would be better spent on obtaining the services of a curate for one of the busier churches.

The Rev P. Manton (St John's) made an impassioned plea, as only he can, for the retention of St Simon's. If it were closed, the rot would set in, he maintained. He cited the instance of the Methodist Church which had begun by closing one chapel and had ended by closing a chain of them. “The ruination of the Church was the plurality of livings ". If it was a question of finance (and we all know that finance is Mr Manton's strong point), he spoke of the £20,000,000 Island economy and the growth of the merchant banks (though he did not make it clear how this would assist St Simon's). He alleged that the Working Party wanted to "pinch St Simon's Vicarage for All Saints."

Advocate Lemprière thought that the Bishop of Winchester (whom he described as the "n****r in the woodpile ") was responsible for all this by his refusal to appoint, or allow to be appointed, two incumbents, one to each church. He seemed to think that the Bishop was anxious to close one of the town churches, and we were to do as he commanded. He suggested that it was no fault of the Bishop's that St Paul's remained open today.

He, too, thought that the rot was spreading through the Church of England. In his opinion, the Archbishop of Canterbury's main priority was ecumenicism and the streamlining of the Church of England. Like Dr Beeching, he said, His Grace was anxious to close all branch lines. He referred to the attendance at Springfield when the Archbishop celebrated the open-air Communion service there some years ago. The attendance, he thought, was a disgrace. (The advocate did not make it clear whether he was rebuking the church people of the Island for their apathy or citing this as an example of the Archbishop's unpopularity.)

"The Church of England ", said the advocate, "is on the decline in this Island" He went further. He invited members of the Synod to look round the room at each other and note the greying heads and the age of the members. (Perhaps at this point there should have been an intermission so that members of the Synod might have had the opportunity to count each other's grey hairs, and exchange confidences about their respective ages!)

The Dean then rose to put the record straight, as it were, for the advocate and the Synod, concerning the Bishop of Winchester. He categorically denied that there was anything sinister about it. The Bishop had issued no instructions whatever that any particular church was to be closed. The Working Party had worked in a straightforward and honourable way, without any bias, and without any pressure from himself or the diocese.

Although at the present time there were sufficient clergy available, the Dean pointed out that most clergy were now in the 55-65 age group and that within the next five or ten years there would be a shortage of clergy. They had to look ahead with regard to the economizing of manpower. He spoke enthusiastically of the future of St Simon's. Suppose it were to be a chapel-of-ease. What, he asked rhetorically, was wrong with a chapel-of-ease ? It would not be the end of St Simon's but a new beginning. He thought it could be put to religious artistic use. Perhaps it could become a centre for religious ballet.

Mr Tim Voisin (St Mark's) stressed the point that although there was reference to "we" and " us ", they were in fact talking about only seven people.

Mr Rodney Shanks (Almoner, St Simon's) declared that Mr Hitchcock did not speak for the entire congregation. He said that at least 50% of the St Simon's people were happy to worship at All Saints, and that they were already doing so.

Suddenly, like a breath of spring, and as though to belie Advocate Lemprière remarks about a grey-headed, ageing Synod, Miss Jill Harris, young and attractive, rose to her feet. She was slightly puzzled to learn during the meeting that the Rev H. C. Guille-Marrett was not Vicar but only Priest-in-charge of All Saints. Anyway, he was a jolly good Priest-in-charge, and the congregation of All Saints was much indebted to him and his wife for all the splendid work they had done there.

As for St Simon's Vicarage, she herself was something of an expert on buildings of character, and in her opinion the house was a most unsuitable place for a Vicar and his wife in which to live, even allowing for the marble mantelpieces ! All Saints were lucky to have the Rev H. C. Guille-Marrett. (We think that Mr Guille-Marrett is jolly lucky to have Miss Harris as a parishioner.)

An amendment by Mrs Perchard to refer the whole matter back to the Working Party was heavily defeated.

Summing up for the Working Party, Senator R. Vibert said that, with reference to the Rev P. Manton's speech, he had "let his ardour run beyond his sense ". There was no question of "pinching St Simon's Vicarage for All Saints ". There was also no point in referring the matter back to the Working Party, since they had exhausted all possibilities, and that the matter had been going on too long already.

The chairman then put the Working Party's recommendations to the vote. Thirty members were in favour of the merging of the two ecclesiastical districts and four were against. Thirty-three members were in favour of a new Vicarage being built at All Saints while four were against, an interesting evening was had by all, as they say,

Since we are living in an age of compulsive TV viewing, with Top Tens, Miss World, or Miss Whatever, and miscellaneous accolades being handed out right and left, thus forming part of our life, perhaps we had better conclude with our own credit titles.

In our opinion, the hero of the Synod was Senator R. Vibert and the heroine Miss Jill Harris. Honourable mention must be of Jurat L. V. Bailhache for his impartial chairmanship.

Addendum:

I've actually managed to find a picture of Miss Jill Harris from 1973 at:
http://jerseyeveningpost.newsprints.co.uk/view/21135498/01553621_jpg

St Simon's Church - The Changes in 1973 - Part 1

In 1973, St Simon's ceased to exist as a separate Parish, although some services were still held there. Here is the Dean's Letter in "The Pilot" in which he explains what is happening, and why. It is interesting that it was St James Church which became part of the Jersey Arts Centre, when it too closed down.

Amazingly, despite the decline in clergy numbers, the Anglican Church in Jersey still remains ridiculously overmanned compared to counterparts in the UK. This seems to be because it is shielded in several ways - maintenance not just of Parish churches, but also Parish rectories, falls to the Parish ratepayer.

Clearly the Parish churches, probably all or most predating the Battle of Hastings are part of Jersey's heritage and should be maintained, just as the historical castles are, and funding would be needed either from the States or Parishes. But in the recent updated Jersey Canons (Anglican Church Law for the Island), the current Dean, Bob Key, ensured that no two Parishes can share the same rector.

The decline in clergy has led to Parishes in the UK being amalgamated, something which cannot happen unless the States vote a change in the Jersey Canon Law. But it does mean that Jersey, in a way, is taking more than its fair share of clergy, so that less are available elsewhere. The same is true in Guernsey.

Whether more district churches should go is a moot point, as they are often better attended than the Parish churches. And whether ratepayers should continue to pay for maintenance of Rectories is more questionable.

Letter from the Dean, Tom Goss

My dear Friends,

St Simon's Church is not facing destruction or even closure. I think it as well to start with this bald statement of fact because it became clear at the recent meeting of the Deanery Synod that many people were under a misapprehension. What has been proposed, and accepted by a considerable majority of the Synod, is that the parishes of St Simon and All Saints shall become one parish.

But let's begin at the beginning. In 1967 Dean Giles received a letter from the Bishop of Winchester asking that the Deanery Synod form a working party to review the work of the Church in St Helier with particular reference to the best use of the churches' resources in money, manpower and buildings. The reason for the Bishop's request was that the Christian Churches find themselves faced with new and difficult problems, because :-

a. We are soon going to be desperately short of clergy. At present we have enough and to spare, but the great majority of them are in the 55/65 age group and as their retirement becomes due there will be few younger men to replace them.

b. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find funds to cover the enormous expenses of the Church - e.g., maintenance of ancient churches, many of them under-used ; building of new churches and church halls in new townships ; payment of clergy, etc.

In view of the shortage of manpower and money a serious attempt is being made all over Great Britain to unite parishes where the populations are small, or churches too close together, to justify their continuance. This has sometimes meant the closure of churches, but never where they are of historic or aesthetic or practical value. More often it has meant that one parson has been made responsible for two or three parishes which for convenience have been united into one parish.

Occasionally church buildings have been shared with other denominations which have a similar problem.

In Jersey we are almost ridiculously over-churched. There are, I believe, 70 Christian churches in Jersey for a population of approximately 70,000, not all of whom are Christians -one per thousand people. The average over the whole of Great Britain is more like one per 10,000. So it is not surprising that we have been asked to look around and see if we in Jersey can help with the economies.

The Working Party has been studying the problem for nearly six years and it is indicative of the care they are taking that their work is still by no means finished. There may be other parishes in St Helier where economies could be made. But the first conclusion they have come to is that the most obvious place for economy is in the parishes of St Simon and All Saints, and they felt it advisable to issue an interim report with recommendations which they have now presented to the Deanery Synod.

The first recommendation is " That the two present Ecclesiastical Districts be merged ", and this was carried at the Synod by 30 votes to 19. The second, " That All Saints be retained for the corporate worship of the new parish ", was carried by the narrow majority of 24/21, which reflects, I think, the feeling (with which I agree) that St Simon's should remain open for worship. There was also a substantial majority (33/4) that a new vicarage be built on the site which is available near All Saints' Church. This to my mind is essential. The present St Simon's Vicarage is quite unsuitable and could never be made otherwise.

In view of the Synod's approval of these recommendations I have thought it right to ask the Legislation Committee of the States of Jersey to take the necessary legal steps to unite the parishes of All Saints and St Simon. The effect of this will be to make one parish (the Parish of All Saints with St Simon) with one Vicar and one Church Council. Both churches will remain in use as now but All Saints' Church, which is by far the better supported of the two, will be the parish church.

All of us understand that the people of St Simon's Church will feel some regret . The fact that their numbers are few does not mean that their love for their church is any less. But I would ask them to remember that their church and all it stands for is still there and there is no reason why it should not flourish more than in the past.

My hope is that St Simon's, as well as being a place primarily devoted to worship of a particular style, will become a sort of Religions Art Centre for all denominations. It is a church that would lend itself extraordinarily well to this, with its beautiful architecture, fine organ and excellent acoustics. I believe every effort should now be made to develop its undoubted potentialities in this direction. Its proposed "demotion" from parish church to chapel-of-ease seems to me of less importance than some have supposed. The fact that a church bears the title of "parish church" does not make it great; I have known mission huts make as great an impact as many a fine parish church, and I believe St Simon's can, with the strong backing of the people of All Saints, now occupy a place of real consequence in Jersey.

But this will not come to pass without the goodwill of the people of All Saints and St Simon. Without goodwill on all sides, and without a real determination from both congregations to make both churches prosper, we shall have nothing better to show than a few economies and a less cumbersome organization. The door is wide open for a wonderful future for both communities, for not only will All Saints have the support of the people of St Simon but St Simon's will have the added strength and backing of the people of All Saints. It is almost like a blood transfusion, bring-ing hope of new vitality. St Simon's is not dead nor even dying. It is offered a new lease of life.

Always your friend,

TOM GOSS

St Simon's - More History

Following the article about the history of St Simon's Church - read here:
http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2015/05/st-simons-church.html

came this letter from the pages of "The Pilot", in 1981 which corrects some of the history and also reflects the concerns that the church would be closed.

Letter to the Pilot.
Dear Sir,

ST SIMON'S CHURCH

It was with much satisfaction and profound interest to read the historical narrative of St Simon's Church. On at least three points it is inaccurate.

The foundations of the north aisle were never laid as an old house stood in the way, and was demolished a few years ago. The south aisle Chapel of the Incarnation was Installed long before G.R.'s article. The ancient mediaeval piscine did not come from St Helier's Parish Church, and it is not a piscine, but a benitier. St Jude was not included in the Title as there was already a chapel of that name in Union Street and a cause of great bitterness between themselves and Dean Filleul, it was eventually closed.

When St Simon's was created a "Particular District" the church building was also to be known as the Parish Church of St Simon, at all times.

But now, in 1981, although like every other church we have a eclectic congregation, after much discussion with the Bishop, an assistant priest is to be appointed with special responsibility for St Simon's. We, for our part, have given certain assurances to the Bishop. We are indeed fortunate and grateful to the many people who come to the High Masses, the purpose of which is to provide an opportunity for Christians to come together to worship God.

For what other purpose are Churches built, or indeed why has God created Man if it is not for worship? Supposing a block of flats was built where the church stands, would it create a worshipping community? Of course not.

In addition to paying our way, all the money given at collections is given to Missions. Is there any other church in Jersey which does this? Supposing a lot of money is raised and spent on restoring the building, keeping it in good order, what has that got to do with anybody? Our Lord has to reprimand his followers when they tried to prevent a woman from washing his feet with costly ointments. They thought it a great waste. 

Yet other churches can spend fortunes on stained glass windows, new organs, etc. including specially constructed burglar-proof cabinets to hold hoards of gold and silver trinkets which are never used or unusable; and no one bats an eyelid. We cannot be accused of squandering the church's money for the simple reason that we get not a penny from any official source.

Those of us, and there were many from several churches, who attended St Paul's Church for the Induction of their new Incumbent heard the Very Rev the Dean say that "there were two churches in Jersey, one very low, much lower than he himself would wish to be, the other very high, much higher than he himself wished to be, and both are necessary for the life of the Church in this Island, and must be kept".

It stands to reason that if anyone is so desirous of closing down churches, then they better look elsewhere at those churches whose services are conducted more or less uniformly and see whether they cannot be pruned. Currently we are looking at possible courses of action to ensure that Anglicans are not to be deprived of a centre of worship to which they feel drawn. 

It could mean rebuilding St Simon's on the same site with flats as well, but until our investigations are complete we remain in use as we are. It could become a centre for ecumenical work which already takes place with other Christians. It could become a centre for a Religious Community, and surely, there could be no better place. We have no intention whatever of preserving it merely as a museum of Victorian architecture.

Churchwarden, St Simon's -John S. Hitchcock

St Simon's Church

From the pages of "The Pilot", in 1981 comes this article about St Simon's Church. The article is unattributed to any author.

St Simon’s Church
The Pilot 1981

The youngest of our parishes is St Simon's. When Jurat Charles Le Quesne, author of the Constitutional History of Jersey, died in 1856, he left a legacy of £700 to build a new church in the Great Union Road District, on condition that all seats should be free, his heirs being ordered to reclaim the money, if a single seat should ever be appropriated.

In 1858 Philippe Filleul, Rector of St Helier's, launched an ambitious scheme for dividing his unwieldy parish into ten separate incumbencies, all to be financed by an unusual Investment Trust. There was at this time a tremendous boom in sheep farming in New Zealand, and two of his sons had large sheep-run there. In “An Earnest Appeal to the Stewards of the Lord's Goods”, he invited Jersey Church-people to buy sheep to be placed on his sons' farm, to be content with 5 per cent interest on their capital, and to allow everything over that amount to go to the New Churches. For a time all went well. The first year's dividend was 18 per cent, the next 22 per cent. Prospects seemed rosy.

In 1860 he set apart one of his curates, S. B. Brasher, to visit the Great Union Road district, and gather a congregation with the aim of ultimately building a church as Le Quesne had suggested. From the start this was known as the St Simon's District though why they chose as Patron so obscure an Apostle I have not discovered.

At first the only building in which Services could be held was the Cannon Street Ragged School, which lay outside the district, and Brasher did not make much progress, and after a few months resigned. His successor was Josiah Mitchell, another of Filleul's curates, whose wife was a Lys, a grand-daughter of the man who saved the Town from destruction, when the powder-magazine caught fire.

Mitchell, who was so we are told, "full of youthful zeal," was the real founder of St Simon's..At his first Service he had no instrument, but a few of the congregation did their best, and though we sometimes made two or three attempts before we got into tune, we eventually succeeded," He was however determined to have a full choral Service, a thing at that time unknown in Jersey, where in every church the responses were said (often by the clerk alone), Psalms and Canticles were read, and only the hymns were sung.

With the help of a young man named Pirie he formed a good choir, and at the end of six months the Ragged School could no longer hold his congregation.

They moved to an upper room in the Town Hall, which then stood in Don Street, for which they paid £62 a year, and fitted this up as a chapel. The singing was a great attraction. The Services were the brightest in the Town, and on Sunday evenings large numbers had to be turned away.

But there can have been nothing yet advanced about the ritual, for part of Mitchell's stipend was provided by the Evangelical Church Pastoral Aid Society.

All went well for three years; but then came a slump in the New Zealand wool trade. The bottom fell out of Filleul's Sheep Fund, and most of Mitchell's stipend disappeared. But he had gathered round him a group of enthusiastic laymen, of whom the leader was his youthful Churchwarden, W. L. De Gruchy, the future Jurat, and they formed the St Simon's District Association, and guaranteed to raise enough to keep things going.

By 1865 they felt that the time had come for using Jurat Le Queen's money, and building a church of their own. In April a well-attended meeting in the Prince of Wales' Rooms carried unanimously the Dean's motion, that "the work in the district of St Simon's can only be continued by the erection of a church"; and 1750 was subscribed on the spot. An Appeal for further funds was issued, which stressed strongly Le Quesne's resolve that the church should be free to all: "In St Simon's there will be no such abomination as the pew system."

Things then moved rapidly. The site was bought, and on July 27th the foundation stone was laid by Dr Jeune, who had been Rector of St Helier's and now was Bishop of Peterborough. This was a great function, beginning with Holy Communion in the Town Hall at 10.30, a procession to the site, where stands had been erected for spectators, the laying of the stone, a public lunch in the Yacht Hotel with 150 guests, followed by much speechmaking, then a public tea in the Vegetable Market at a shilling a head, at which 650 people sat down. Thus the stone was well and truly laid.

The committee was fortunate enough to secure the services of G. F. Bodley, the greatest ecclesiastical architect of the time. He had built scores of beautiful churches in all parts of England, and for St Simon's he drew plans for a very enchanting church. But unfortunately, when the chancel, nave, and south aisle were finished, the money ran short; and the north aisle, for which the foundations had actually been laid, the two side chapels, and the campanile have never been completed. One surprising feature of the church is the fine old medieval piscina in the sanctuary. At the time when St Simon's was being built, the Town Church was being restored, and the architect there had vandalously thrown this piscina out to be carted away with the rubble, when St Simon's rescued it, and restored it to its ancient use.

The opening ceremony was fixed for St Andrew's Day, 1866; but trouble had for some time been brewing. The district was still part of St Helier's parish, and ecclesiastically Mitchell was only Filleul's Assistant Curate.

But the St Simon's Association, when the Sheep Fund collapsed and the financial responsibility fell on to their shoulders, seem to have gone ahead with little reference to the Rector. Filleul not unnaturally resented this. One cannot carve slices out of another man's parish without his consent.

Neither side was conciliatory, and a few weeks before the Opening Mitchell announced in a sermon that "certain painful circumstances" had compelled him to send in his resignation. At a farewell meeting on St Andrew's Eve to present him with a parting gift both Churchwardens were mysteriously absent. They were driving furiously about the island to find the Dean, because they had heard that the Rector meant to forbid the opening of the church on the morrow.

The Service however passed off peaceably, and lasted from eleven till two with the baptism of Mitchell's infant daughter after the second lesson, the Athanasian Creed in honour of St Andrew, sung Litany, and Holy Communion.

The British Press reported: "A general impression prevailed that the opening would be objected to by the Rector, and that it was probably that physical force would be resorted to. But all passed off agreeably. The Rector was seen rambling about the place, evidently disturbed in mind, during the Service, but he did not muster sufficient courage to enter the building."

J. J. Balleine, whom the Rector now put in charge, was naturally received with suspicion; but he soon won his way. As a Naval Chaplain for nearly twenty years he had served in the Crimean and Chinese Wars and in all parts of the world, and was definitely what is called 'a man's man'. In his early days there was nothing alarming about his ritual or doctrine. He announced, "Now that we have a church of our own the Holy Communion will be administered fortnightly instead of monthly."

When a newspaper called St Simon's 'high,' his Churchwarden protested: "We have no graven Images, no gorgeously decked altar, no ecclesiastical millinery changing colour with feast or fast, no candles blazing at noonday." But he more than maintained the church's musical reputation.

He secured as organist the gigantic Edwin Lott, who with his flowing cape and flowing locks liked to be mistaken by strangers for the Abbe Liszt. Later he became organist of St Sepulchre's, Holborn, where he had among his pupils the future Sir Henry Wood, who devotes two amusing pages to him in his autobiography. He gathered at St Simon's a choir of 35 highly trained singers, 15 trebles, 6 altos, 6 tenors, and 8 basses, dressed them in scarlet cassocks, and drew all the music-lovers in the Town to the Services.

On September 4th, 1869, the church was consecrated by Bishop Ryan, who had been Bishop of Mauritius, and on May 6th, 1872, the district legally became a parish, and Balleine, who had been Curate-in-charge, now became Vicar.

One small point I am not sufficiently versed in ecclesiastical law to expound. Whereas all the other new parishes in the Town were described in official documents as 'Ecclesiastical Districts,' St Simon's was created a 'Particular District.'

For twenty-seven years Balleine was not only a faithful Parish Priest. It was said at his death that he was on terms of personal friendship with every man, woman, and child in his parish - but he threw himself vigorously into the public life of the island, the long controversies over the harbour works, the struggle for compulsory education. The Early Closing Movement owed much to his advocacy. And more than once influential deputations tried to persuade him to stand for election as Deputy. He was also an active member of the Order of Foresters, which was then vigorous in the Town.

But love of music and love of ceremonial often go together; and in his later years the ritual of his church grew definitely `higher'. Under his successors this process continued, till it was unkindly said that the favourite hymn at St Simon's was, "We nightly pitch our moving tent a day's march nearer Rome."

To-day at St Simon's most of the Pre-Reformation ritual and customs have been restored; and no one protests. The Church of England has learnt to take pride in the thought that she is the broadest and most tolerant of all Churches. She does not attempt to squeeze all her children into the same mould. She recognizes that some are helped in their devotions by an ornate ritual, while others feel the Presence of God most clearly in a Quaker-like simplicity. And she caters for all. It would be a bad day for our island Church, if all our Services became exactly alike.

But now, in 1981, the future of St Simon's Church is in the balance. It is understood that the somewhat derelict and abandoned Vicarage is on the point of being sold, and whereas there is no possibility, under Diocesan regulations, of its ever having a resident priest, what is to become of it?

Admittedly, on High Days and Holy Days, there appears to be no lack of priests from other churches to celebrate High Mass for an eclectic congregation. But one must ask in fairness what purpose does this serve? Ought this Church to be preserved as a fine piece of architectural church-building, devouring money and valuable space in an over-crowded Town, or would it be better to substitute the whole edifice for a high-rise block of dwelling units, to house the hundreds of young couples in Jersey who are crying out for low-priced accommodation? No doubt, our PILOT readers will express their views in our correspondence pages.