At the start of this week we discussed ‘type’ a bit which was very interesting. I was excited (and relieved) to discover that the roles I would suit (according to my tutor) are exactly the kind I want. The ‘nice guy’, the soldier/officer, the best friend, upper class roles, period roles, Mr Darcy… I am my own ‘product’ and as a beginner this ‘type’ is what I have to sell myself as. Score! What are the odds that I would have looks and personality that exactly match the characters I really want to play… The fingerprints of God again.
We’ve started our first performance project for which we’re in groups of five. Our task is to write, shoot and edit a 2-3 minute short film with no dialogue, on the theme of ‘time’, where all five of us appear in a significant role. This is familiar territory for me and it’s strange to be the youngest inexperienced actor in the class and yet in my group to be the one with the most technical knowledge. It makes me so appreciative and thankful for the course I’ve just completed and reminds me how much I did actually learn from it.
I’ve started on some extra evening classes working on theatre scenes. I think it’s a good idea, on a course so focussed on screen acting, to keep practising theatre on the side. In the future I would definitely try for some work in theatre if it was a good role, and if it paid. Also it was refreshing to get to work on a script and actually do some acting. It was an opportunity to take all the teaching in movement, thoughts and objectives, relaxation and breathing, and actually practically apply them.
When it comes to meals I’m quite proud to say I’ve been dabbling in the culinary arts more often than not. I pack myself a lunchbox every day without fail so I can make sure I’ve got a good supply of high energy fruit and nuts, and because it’s cheaper. When at home my two favourite dishes are omelette and toasties, mostly because they’re quick and easy, and there is scope for lots of variety in toppings. My philosophy is, as long as I don’t find myself eating the same thing too regularly then I’m doing alright. I’m learning that there’s lots of fun to be had in the kitchen. I think my next experiment will be Egg Rosti…
The church search continues. Last Sunday I went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle – what used to be Spurgeon’s church. This was another big one but hugely different from Holy Trinity Brompton. It was a very traditional service format, led solely by the minister, and with old organ-accompanied congregational hymns. Everyone was smartly dressed, mostly in black suits, and I was ushered briskly to my seat where everyone sat in complete silence waiting for the service to start. I must have looked somewhat out of place sauntering through in shirt and jeans, with a rucksack slung over my shoulder. But it is a good church, even if only because the sermons are amazing. Peter Masters is the minister there and he is brilliant. Both the morning and evening address was a solid challenging message that gloriously uncovered the deep truth in the passage. Masters has authored many books and leaflets also and I took some of the free handouts away with me.
This Sunday my experience was somewhat less encouraging. I went to St Columba’s Church of Scotland and it was a sad affair. I went in hope that perhaps here in London our nation’s church had not suffered the same fate as so many congregations on native soil. Alas my hope was in vain. It’s vacant, the pews were mostly empty, the average age was over sixty, and the seven or eight young children were thoroughly patronised during the children’s address before being removed. I was encouraged to see one smiling young-ish lady in front of me until I discovered it was also her first time. The service was more similar to the style of Paisley Abbey than a normal parish Kirk, they even had a half-decent choir, but the sermon was tragically hollow, speculative and in no way related to the passages that were read. Maybe it was just the shocking contrast to Peter Masters but during the ‘sermon’ I felt a sudden urge to stand up, turn to the scattered congregation and yell, “Please, don’t listen to him. He’s preaching his opinion. Listen to the Word of God. It is Truth!”… I didn’t. But I squirmed through his whole ‘feel-good mumbo-jumbo’ and belted out the hymns as loud as I could.
It struck me that here was a representative picture of the whole Church of Scotland: it is vacant – leaderless or misled, lost and uncertain; it has abandoned the Word of God – picking and choosing from God’s Truth, joking about sin, conforming to society; and it is dying – congregations are small and old, the younger generation are not being reached, and the whole institution is splitting, crumbling, and falling apart. We have strayed so far, but I believe it is not too late if we are willing to turn back to God, put His Word firmly at the centre of everything and lift up Christ as the Head of the Church. I earnestly hope and pray that He will not let the Church of Scotland fall but will restore it. The nomination committee at St Columba’s have chosen a possible new minister who will be preaching there in a few weeks. He’s a Macleod so that’s got to be a good sign!
It’s funny how some things are the same no matter where we are; like the taste of chocolate. As I finish writing this I am eating some chocolate. We’ve come to an agreement in our flat; chocolate is good. It’s true. And it reminds me of Christmas…
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