PAUL CHEATER COORDINATOR OF INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MINISTRY

Paul Cheater, our Coordinator of International Online Ministry, shares how he became connected with St Gregory’s.

In 2004, while living and working as a senior teacher in Oxford, UK, I was invited to be the organist and accompanist for a choir trip to New York. I jumped at the chance and was privileged beyond my wildest dreams to play for services and concerts in some of New York’s finest churches, including St Bart’s on Fifth Avenue, home to the city’s biggest organ, the Church of St Ignatius Loyola, Trinity Church, Wall Street, and the wondrous Cathedral of St John the Divine, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Tim Brumfield was the Organist at the cathedral at that time, but unfortunately, the Great Organ was rendered unplayable due to smoke damage from a devastating fire and I accompanied our choir on the cathedral’s magnificent grand piano.

I was disappointed not to have been able to play the organ, of course, so I was beyond delighted when I went to visit some friends living in New York in 2008 and discovered that they lived just a few blocks away from the cathedral. I emailed Tim, and received a lovely reply, inviting me to join him in the organ loft the following week. He gave me a typically warm Brumfieldian greeting as he saw me downstairs and invited me up to the loft. And without hesitation, he ushered me onto the organ stool, and I found myself giving an informal lunchtime organ recital to anyone who happened to be down below! The sound of that instrument was truly epic and I enjoyed one of the most glorious hours of my life!

Tim and I kept in touch and I was delighted to be able to repay his kindness when he visited Oxford and to arrange (not without a little difficulty from reluctant university authorities!) for him to play the splendid organ in Oxford’s cathedral church at Christ Church College.

I knew that Tim had left St John the Divine and moved to south Florida, and he and I had kept in touch, mainly through Facebook, each of us admiring the attributes of each other’s part of the world. One afternoon, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, I realized that St Gregory’s had gone online and that comments were invited. Father Ben was leading the service, and after hesitating a little as to whether I should leave a comment, I wrote a greeting from the UK just before the service ended, pressed ‘Enter’, and was absolutely delighted to receive a verbal and welcoming response from Father Ben himself. I continued to follow the daily broadcasts of Morning Prayer, often leaving a greeting, and always receiving a lovely reply from the person leading the service. I also emailed Father Andrew, to explain who I was, and I received a most charming reply.

One day shortly after my online association with St Gregory’s had begun to be part of daily life, I was taken aback to receive a message from Father Andrew, asking me if I would like to lead Morning Prayer myself, on one day a week. I have to admit that I was quite overcome, but I had absolutely no hesitation in accepting.

It is a very real privilege to lead the services, and to have been welcomed so warmly by the people of St Gregory’s: as I have said before, I never would have imagined that my ministry as a worship leader would lead me to southern Florida! But it has, and now, with the title of Coordinator of International Online Ministry, I have the challenge of developing and growing our online worship facility. From the comments I have received so far, I know that having a sacred half-hour at the start of every day means a great deal to many people.

So if you have not yet joined the online worshippers, may I use this piece as a personal invitation to you to do so? You will be so very welcome, on Mondays with Father Andrew, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Tim Brumfield and his wonderful musical meditations on the organ and the piano, on Thursdays with me, followed by a musical interlude that I play on the piano, and on Fridays with Gena Vallee.