The Last Days - Part 4

The community seated for dinner
at the May Ball

They are always meant to be festive occasions, but events like the May Ball (a.k.a. “The Leavers’ Ball”) are bittersweet. The warm, Tuesday spring evening began with that most British of aperitifs, a Pimm’s Cup, on the Principal’s lawn. Students and faculty dressed to the nines. Some dedicated to serving, others, up to now having their talents exposed only in the praise band accompaniments at worship were under another tent regaling the gathering crowd with Dave Brubeck’s classic “Take Five.”

The announcement was made that the “Moule Hole” (usually a playground for faculty and resident student children) was now open (transformed into a photo venue). Not long after, Fiona Greene, our Sabbatical Coordinator (and the Assistant Principal/Dean of the college) appeared on crutches! She seemed just fine when we spoke at morning prayer earlier that day. Apparently, to her surprise on Monday, during a game of Rounders, she made a diving catch and fractured her knee. It ached horribly so she went to get it checked out. This was the result! Alas, we aren’t getting any younger. (I had missed that event since I was still in London at St. Milletus College.)

This writer and his refreshment
companion Judy Berinai from 
the Anglican Church in 
Malaysia

Then came a lovely three course dinner, expertly prepared by the house chef, which I came to learn, is an executive hotel chef who is, shall we say, underemployed at Ridley Hall, and, as Fiona told me over dinner, “lives for moments like these.” As a testament to his skill, I learned the next day from one of the student servers that the desert course met with disaster. As it was being transferred to a staging area, the trolley collapsed, and it all came crashing to the ground. Chef Howie was able take available resources and create a new dessert that, when served, seemed to have been planned all along!

The Rev. Michael Voland
Principal of Ridley Hall
addressing those gathered.

Then came the toasts and the speeches. All were brief. Many funny. All, in the end, poignant. As noted, this is “the Leavers’ Ball” which is part of the good-bye process for those who are finishing a chapter in their formation for ministry. They face new chapters as they leave for their first curacy, an appointment as a lay chaplain, or simply to search for ways to serve God and the Church. Those left behind find themselves facing new roles when they return without their student mentors to guide them. They, in turn, will become the community’s elders. It is a microcosm of how the Church itself works – of how we guide and mentor one another in the ways of the faith.

It seems this past week has been filled with these experiences. On Tuesday of last week, a special service was held at Great St. Mary’s for the “leavers” (graduates) from the consortium, which comprises the Cambridge Theological Federation (which I described in an earlier blog post). That began the steady flow of bittersweet experiences (including a "leaver's ceremony" at St. Mellitus) that will culminate on Thursday of this week as I say my final goodbyes to Ridley Hall’s community. More on that later. But for now. Cheers!