Librarians' Christian Fellowship Christians in Library, Information and Archive Work Opinion About the Bible Biography and Autobiography For Children Church History ... Poetry No soft incense: Barbara Pym and the church Edited by Hazel K. Bell Anna Brown Associates and the Barbara Pym Society ISBN 0954331664 Available from the Barbara Pym Society, St. Hilda's College, Oxford, OX4 1DY. Most of the thirteen papers in this volume were originally presented at meetings or conferences of the Barbara Pym Society, a very active organisation based at St. Hilda's College, Oxford. They are preceded by an amusing foreword by James Runcie, writer and film-maker and son of a former Archbishop of Canterbury. In the first paper, the Rev. David Cockerell considers the relevance of the church of Barbara Pym to the world and church of today. He states that probably few English novelists of the post-war period have described the church so sympathetically and humourously. Her churches are generally Anglo-Catholic, hence the title of the book, and the next contribution, by Robert Smith, explores London churches with Barbara Pym. Surprisingly the twelve churches described do not include that beacon of Anglo-Catholicism, All Saints, Margaret Street. There are two contributions by Kate Charles. First, a mini-history of Anglo-Catholicism (very mini, consisting of two pages only), which includes an amusing 'Anglo-Catholic A-Z' (for example, B is for Biretta, G is for Going over to Rome, H is for High Mass/Low Mass, V is for Vestments). In the second (' | |
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