{"id":164,"date":"2012-01-16T14:33:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T14:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage\/"},"modified":"2014-12-26T12:15:07","modified_gmt":"2014-12-26T17:15:07","slug":"the-vicar-on-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"The Vicar on Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/div>\n

Guest blogger, The Rev\u2019d Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda\u2019s, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth University. He completed his studies for the ministry at Latimer Hall, Durham. He is married to Daphne and enjoys home brewing, model railroading and is an avid member of the Great Snoring Morris Dancers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I must say lads, it\u2019s been some time since I\u2019ve been able to tootle on down here to the Goose and Garter to join you. Been rather busy don\u2019t you know, what with Christmas and the New Year and all that! Yes, don\u2019t mind if I do Nigel. You know my particular poison\u2013a half pint of lager shandy and a packet of peanuts if you please!<\/p>\n

I thought on the whole the Christmas thingy went quite well don\u2019t you? The villagers enjoy the carol service, and it was good of Daphne to bring along a few of the Romans from her church. She always grumbles that they don\u2019t know how to sing, but they seemed to do pretty well. She\u2019s got a new priest there now. Used to be one of ours. Fr. Rodney Stornaway. Reminds me of a joke they told in school\u2026never mind.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a married fellow too. The Pope is bending the rules for chaps like him. Well, I thought when Fr. Stornaway and his missus came around for a meal it would be rather awkward, but not at all. We were chatting away about the Church of England just like he was still one of us. Seems with all the Anglicans going over, that the Roman Catholic Church is becoming rather more congenial. Fact is, Fr. Stornaway was rather critical of the Romans. He says his bishops aren\u2019t much better than the Anglican ones\u2013calls them \u201cstuffed clerical shirts\u201d and thinks it\u2019s a case of \u201cthe bland leading the bland.\u201d Funny chap. I rather like him, and Mrs. Stornaway\u2019s a real corker. Says there\u2019s no problem with the other Catholic priests about the marriage thing. They take one look at her and thank God they\u2019re celibate. We laughed.<\/p>\n

Ahh, thank you very much Nigel. Hits the spot doesn\u2019t it? Peanuts anyone? What\u2019s that you say? The canon up North who\u2019s got married for the third time? I don\u2019t understand it I really don\u2019t. Not too long ago he would have been out on his ear, but it seems his bishop doesn\u2019t mind too much. Full of words about being \u201cwounded and abandoned\u201d and \u201cthe loneliness of loss\u201d. It doesn\u2019t seem to me like the fellow\u2019s been lonely. Too much<\/em> loving companionship if you catch my drift.<\/p>\n

I admit that sort of thing comes as rather a blow. You know me lads, I\u2019m not particularly traditionalist. Just middle of the road. All I want to do is be a good Christian in the dear old C of E. But I do think marriage is marriage. When a bishop makes excuses for a fellow to be married three times and lets him stay in his job how am I supposed to give instruction to some young couple who are tripping along to be married in the parish church? Honestly, they make my job harder every day.<\/p>\n

I mean to say, I\u2019m not one to judge anyone, but there have to be some sort of standards don\u2019t there? Is anyone supposed to be allowed to marry whoever they like? I don\u2019t know. I find it all rather confusing. Then do you know what else has happened over Christmas? Lavinia informed the clergy fraternal that she has gone and \u201cmarried\u201d her room mate Georgie Samsonite! Well, I never! I was shocked I can tell you. I didn\u2019t suspect that they were any more than old college chums, and now it turns out that they are actually whatchacallit\u2013Thespians.<\/p>\n

And to think this is happening in the parish next door and nobody is planning to do anything about it at all? Why over Christmas we had a dinner party at the Archdeacon\u2019s for the clergy and their wives and Mrs Huffington Post was telling Daphne that Lavinia was offended that Georgie hadn\u2019t been invited. Daphne gave one of her withering looks and said, \u201cThis is a dinner party for clergy and their wives. I think Georgie is Lav\u2019s husband isn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another round? Don\u2019t mind if I do. Say, Nigel, why not make mine that whiskey you mentioned a moment ago? There\u2019s a good lad. Thanks awfully.<\/p>\n

I suppose you\u2019re right Ian. It\u2019s all going to pot, and I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019m supposed to be doing. Everything I thought was part of the C of E and following the Lord Jesus seems to be thrown out the window. Fr. Rodney says I ought to join this Ordinariate thingy the Pope has set up. Who ever would have guessed it? Seems you can be an Anglican and a Catholic at the same time. Can\u2019t imagine what Canon Farnsworth back at theological college would have made of it. Awfully confusing. But I suppose they\u2019re not going to have any of this business of two women marrying each other.<\/p>\n

Very strange. Ah well, here\u2019s to the new year lads! Chin chin!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger, The Rev\u2019d Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda\u2019s, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth University. He completed his studies for the ministry at Latimer Hall, Durham. He is married to Daphne and enjoys home brewing, model railroading and is an avid member of the Great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[4,21,94],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-vicar","tag-alter-egos","tag-anglicans","tag-humor"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Vicar on Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Vicar on Marriage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-16T14:33:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-26T17:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html\",\"name\":\"The Vicar on Marriage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-16T14:33:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-26T17:15:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Vicar on Marriage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Vicar on Marriage","description":"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Vicar on Marriage","og_description":"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2012-01-16T14:33:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-26T17:15:07+00:00","author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html","name":"The Vicar on Marriage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-16T14:33:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-26T17:15:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda's, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2012\/01\/the-vicar-on-marriage.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Vicar on Marriage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}