The following article is taken from the January 2010 issue of the Church Review magazine:

Excess inhibits access, Greg Fromholz told the congregation at this year’s Essential at Christ Church. Attracting a large congregation to the Cathedral, Essential 2009 brought with it its usual lively youth-orientated worship, colour, music and thought-provoking videos.

Delivering his talk during the service, 3Rock Director Greg Fromholz told the young people present “I understand the levels of expectations placed on you as the ‘cubs of the Celtic tiger’ – achieve, achieve, achieve. But achieving is not accumulating. It is not burying yourself in stuff. History makers of our time carried less on their journeys and achieved more. The more I get the less I give. The more I stuff into my life the less room there is for others. The fuller my hands are of my own wants, the less I can reach out to others.”

As an illustration of the point he produced large balls of wool and encouraged members of the congregation to wrap some around themselves and throw it around. Very soon members of the congregation found themselves entwined in a web of colourful fabric. Greg continued. “Our lives have become entwined. covered in an invisible web of excess. excesses of expectations and un-forgiveness among other things and we are consumed. covered. smothered. barely surViving under the weight. Our skin. our being our very soul is aching for more. Longing to be present internally and externally.”

Concluding he said, “The most spiritual thing any human being can do is choose – everything begins with a choice. Will we choose to engage in audacious acts or marinate, soak, wallow in our own excess? Excess limits access, but access to God and others has a way of limiting excess. The more we give, the more we hope, the more we love, the less we will want, the less we will need and the more we will actually achieve and be.”

Music at Essential was provided by the Rend Collective and the King’s Hospital Junior Choir. The final blessing was given by the Precentor of the Cathedral and Chaplain to King’s Hospital, the Revd Canon Peter Campion.