Farewell
to Ged
Fr
Neil Kelley provided this tribute for the September issue of our parish
magazine Newslink
to
mark Gerard Callacher's relinquishing of the post of Director of Music
for the United Benefice.
I gather that when Fr. Richard wanted to appoint Ged as Director of
Music at S. Faith’s there were complaints from some. I know of certain
people (one of whom left after I arrived as I was the wrong appointment
too!) who requested an audience with my predecessor only to tell him
who should be given the job. And people claimed he was too young and
inexperienced. How could he possibly do the job? It just goes to show
how wrong our impressions can be, because at this stage in the game I
don’t think any of us could imagine St. Faith’s choir without Ged. We
have been quite rightly proud of our choir’s achievements over the past
ten years. And those achievements have not just been seen or heard in
S. Faith’s but in Cathedrals and Royal Chapels up and down the country
as well as the medium of BBC1 TV and BBC Radio Merseyside. He has
admirably built on the work of Jane Greengrass, Mike Foy and George
Gilford and indeed all those who have served before.
Ged has endeared himself to all, young and old alike, and his
commitment to the choir of S. Faith’s has often gone beyond duty to
care, compassion and friendship in all kinds of ways. A year or
so ago we tried to put a contract in place. It
took about a year to do so,
and I hope I’m not speaking out of turn when I say that Ged didn’t
really take to the idea! That’s fine – not everyone gets excited about
bureaucracy and red tape (and we certainly need a few more priests to
sit lightly to all that). But of course one of the reasons he never
took to the idea is that Ged never saw his role in such black and white
terms! His work often took him beyond services he was scheduled (and
indeed paid) to play for, to helping out for all sorts of things when
many other organists would have said no! If he was free, Ged would be
found in a whole variety of churches playing for all kinds of services,
as well as accompanying concerts, teaching and generally enjoying
making music and encouraging others to do so. The young musicians of
Liverpool and Sefton couldn’t have had a better person to teach and
encourage them than their young (and even more young at heart) ‘Mr
Callacher’.
In Ged the choir has had someone who has cared about not just their
musical life but their individual lives too. He is a sympathetic
listener, a person to offer practical help and has the great gift of
knowing how to lighten a situation without taking away from any serious
issues that may be present.
People of course ask silly questions: ‘Why do you want to be a priest
when you could do something with your life?’ Needless to say such
people never understand the concept of service and sacrifice, or less
still vocation. Ged will take to his ministry a wealth of
understanding, a wealth of people-skills, a deep understanding of
Anglican liturgy and pastoral practice which many other Catholic
seminarians will only ever hear of or read about. Certainly the future
of the church, in ecumenical eyes, needs people like Ged to serve it.
The wife of a former curate said to me some years ago, people never
leave St. Faith’s, they just move away! I hope that Ged will continue
to be a friend of this community for many years to come and that he
leaves for the seminary knowing he has our love, our support and our
friendship.
Lord, you told us
that ‘The harvest indeed is great but the labourers are few. Pray,
therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest.’
As we thank you for the blessings we have received in this place
through Ged’s years of faithful service and companionship, we ask you
to strengthen him as he follows a new path to which You have called
him. We pray for all those called to serve as priests, deacons and lay
ministers:
Those whom You
have called,
Those You are
calling now,
Those You will
call in the future.
May they be open
and responsive to the call and privilege of serving your people.
We ask this
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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