My oil painting of Mamhead Church

Deep in the Devonshire countryside (yet not too far from the sea), situated in the grounds of the Mamhead House estate (where singer Peter Andre had his wedding reception last year), is charming St Thomas Church. In fact it is the same little church where my niece Katie was married in June, also the church where our friend Rosie is a churchwarden. Strangely enough, I was commissioned by proud parents of a bride to paint this quaint church several years ago, well before I ever attended a service, wedding, violin recital or Evensong there.

Sunday services come but once a month and are held, alternately, by The Reverend Canon Ken Parry and Rev Mark Lord Lear (very apt name), both of whom are revered by the parishioners, if not cherished (perhaps even more so because they are in short supply).

When Rosie asked my sister Mary and I if we’d like to attend Evensong last Sunday I had no idea what a treat was in store for us. Our party arrived a little late (as usual) so we missed the consecration of the new graveyard but we saw Bishop Martin Shaw (not the actor who starred in “The Professionals” – see previous post – but nonetheless highly professional!) emerging from behind the hedge and watched him walk up to the church. The Bishop, a tall man, was taller still in his mitre, and he cut an imposing figure in his colourful vestments. He stopped to talk to Mary holding baby Annalise and I took a sneaky couple of photos.

“You look nice!” I said as he approached.

“They came from Exeter,” the Bishop smiled modestly.

We followed into the church and found a pew large enough for our family group of six, including baby. Stoically, I went first along to the end where a stone pillar obscured my view of the pulpit, the altar and all of the choir, apart from the lady and gentleman at the far left; never mind, my sister sent baby Annalise my way and young James and I were vastly amused by her antics and her sweet little face framed in a cute pink bonnet her paternal grandmother had made for her.

The “Heritage Singers” were a revelation (even though I couldn’t see more than two of them). The sound of their singing was rich, beautiful and uplifting, and tears pricked my eyes twice. The two readings, which came from members of the congregation, were sufficiently short to remain interesting and paved the way for the amazing sermon given by Bishop Martin Shaw.

I could see only his elbow over the edge of the pulpit but I could imagine him as his clear voice rang out:

“I want to talk about Bradley Wiggins – you’ve no doubt heard about Bradley Wiggins retiring but still wanting to win in whatever field,” (or something along those lines), the Bishop began, “But what about the unsung heroes? Are they any less worthy? What about the stonemasons who built this church? Do you know their names? Are their names glorified in this church?”

“No,” we in the congregation thought to ourselves as we looked around for any special plaques (although I could see a bit of only one wall). I thought of my forebears – the Porches who were the stonemasons who built Wells Cathedral (according to my dad) – and I wondered at the humility of a bishop who rated a humble stonemason as highly as an Olympic gold medallist. I liked this Scot with the love for his fellow man. He reminded me of Abou Ben Adhem in the poem of that name by Leigh Hunt.

The congregation were left with a good deal to conjecture on, especially on the subject of modesty and doing good deeds whilst hiding one’s own light. A short time later I was bringing my cup and plate back into the washing up area when Rosie introduced me to the lady washing the crockery.

“Do you know Sally?” Rosie asked. “Sally Porch is our famous artist!”

“Oh Rosie,” I lowered my head, “you make me want to hide.”

Actually, that’s exactly how I feel in front of compliments but, secretly, I am always rather pleased.

And if you’re interested in the Humble song (I like humble pie myself):

Humble Lyrics

Songwriters
MAC DAVIS

Published by
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

Read more: Davis Mac – Oh Lord It’s Hard To Be Humble Lyrics | MetroLyrics