I've noticed the windows behind the altar show St Ursula and St Etheldreda. I've never even heard of St Etheldreda. Can you tell me anything about them?
There are several versions of the legend of St Ursula. The best-known one says that Ursula was a British princess who went on a pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by eleven thousand virgins. On their return, they were slaughtered at Cologne by the Huns. The details and date are unclear. Several educational institutions have taken her as their patron saint.
We know a lot more about Etheldreda. She was the daughter of a king of the East Angles. She was twice married to suitable princes, but neither marriage was consummated, and she finally got permission to become a nun. Around the year 673 she founded the monastery at Ely, and was its abbess until her death in 679. Another version of her name is Audrey, and from "St Audrey's lace", sold at fairs held on St Audrey's Day (which just happened to be the eve of Midsummer), comes, alas, the English word tawdry, meaning garish and of poor quality.
The service sheet at the Eucharist refers to 'the president'. What has this to do with George Bush?
Not a lot. The meaning of president is the person who sits in the top seat: we talk about someone who presides at a meal. And the Eucharist is a meal. The president greets us, offers absolution, offers the peace, says the Eucharistic Prayer, breaks the bread and gives the blessing. Other people can lead other parts of the service, so the rubrics (the instructions for the service) distinguish between 'minister' - someone who has a particular job for part of a service - and 'president' - the person who is 'at the head of the table'.
And why do we call it Eucharist anyway?
The Bible uses several words to describe what the church did when it met - they broke bread, they gave thanks, they ate the Lord's Supper. Eucharist is an old English word, which goes back to the Greek word for thanksgiving. We could call it the Liturgy, but other services are no less 'liturgical'. We could call it Holy Communion, but not everyone receives communion. Calling it the Lord's Supper raises the question of who eats supper at ten in the morning, and I'm not going to answer that one!
HD