Sunday and the Sun is Back

Trinity Methodist Church: The Manx are Anglicans and Methodists, although I hear the proportion of Methodists is decreasing. It seems, though, as if there is any ample number of Methodist churches, large and small, on the island. I learned, in fact, that John Wesley himself sermonized on the market square in Castletown, which was the capital of the island during his lifetime. Since I was staying in Douglas, the capital since 1877, I attended a Methodist church that was only 4 blocks away (but straight uphill) from seaside where I was staying. Trinity Methodist Church is celebrating its 125^th anniversary, and we had a guest preacher, one who served the church in the early 1970s and is now retired: good sermon on Christians as the Easter People. When I met the regular pastor during coffeetime afterwards, I had a surprise. She was a native of Minnesota. Seemed like an energetic pastor and I told her that my home Methodist church had a woman pastor for the first time. Trinity was one of the those large urban churches with a brag-worthy pipe organ filling the front of the church and a pulpit that made the entire congregation (seated in box-like wooden pews) look up to the preacher. The Methodist hymnal in Britain has words only, something that suits anyone like me who doesn’t read music. We even sang a hymn by Charles Wesley. The neatest thing about the service was the end of the children’s sermon. They all got up and left, which was the first time I realized how many there were. The pastor later told me that youth ministry has been a priority for the church and one that can draw on a special endowment for Isle of Man children’s ministries. My pew mate Stephen asked me why I was on the island. All I could think to say was: Because I haven’t been here before.

Castletown:There are two castles on the island. I saw the bigger one yesterday in Peel. Today, I headed to the town that developed around the second castle fortification in the 1200s. The town is still called Castletown. Right next door to the castle is the House of Keys, the place where the Manx legislature met between the time it left the castle and the time it moved to Douglas. The island is proud of its democratic heritage and claims that the Tynwald is the oldest continuous legislative body in the world, dating back to Viking times.

Flags et Cetera: I was finally struck today by something obvious. I have seen almost no UK flags since I arrived, but tons of Manx flags with their signature "three-legs of Man." Symbolically, the best flag assembly was along the promenade in Douglas. The Manx flag was joined by the flags of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the EU – but no UK flag! I am sure there is no serious consideration of independence on the Isle of Man, but they must be looking at the new Scottish Nationalist Party majority in the Scottish Parliament and wondering what the future of the UK is for the Celtic countries. Like their Celtic cousins across the sea, the Manx are taking pains to revive their language. All school children study it and there is one primary school where all subjects are taught in Manx. Like Scotland, the Isle of Man has its own currency (sort of). They have bills and coins issued by the Isle of Man Bank, but everything is fully interchangeable with British currency (though with considerable difficulty). They get to design the currency themselves, however. Every time you pay for something you confront one of the symbols of Manx nationhood. Likewise, at the Post Office, you buy stamps issued by the Isle of Man government, though they all bear the seal of Elizabeth II. As for Manx cats, I didn’t see any and was told they were becoming very rare. 

Geographically yours,

D.J.Z