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Yesterday I sat down to write the Epistle with a number of themes floating around my head. I was going to write either about Trump, or the precarious employment contracts for those in UK university teaching. But I decided that we’ve probably all had enough depressing commentary in the past fortnight to last us until Christmas.
So instead I’ll highlight our latest piece of good news for us as a community. For those who weren’t at the service last Sunday or who may not have heard, we have appointed The Revd Dr William Lamb, Vice-Principal of Westcott House as the new Vicar of University Church.
We are delighted to welcome William into the clergy and staff team, congregation and wider parish. I said to him this week that he’d struck gold. University Church is an extraordinary community and place to work; we send him our congratulations and warmest wishes. And we look forward to him joining us after the Easter break next year.
Although Easter may still seem a little while away, William will come to one of the Sunday services between now and Christmas so that everyone has a chance to meet him. Charlotte and I would like to thank Janet and Sarah, the Patrons, the PCC and everyone involved in the selection process; it has been a huge amount of work over the last few months. And to the congregation for their patience and good will in this interim time.
The Revd Alan Ramsey
Acting Priest-in-charge
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| | Katherine Ross Funeral
As many of you already know, Katherine Ross sadly passed away last Sunday, having just celebrated her 95th birthday. A service of thanksgiving will be held at St Mary's on Wednesday 23rd November at 12.30pm. For more details, please contact Ana-Maria in the office. |
| | Services
—Tuesdays & Thursdays at 12.15pm
Lunchtime Eucharist —
Sunday 20th November Christ the King Lassus, Missa Octavi Toni
Britten, Hymn to St Cecilia
10.30am - Choral Eucharist Preacher - The Revd Dr Robert Tobin, chaplain of Oriel College
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| | Student Notices
Tuesday 7th week: Final Bible Study of term
Wednesday 8th week: Student Carol Service- A service for students organised by churches from across the city. Join us for readings and carols with mince pies afterwards. 6.00pm in the Chancel.
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| | Advent Appeal
Oxford Food Bank is hosting a giant Christmas Dinner. The guests will be families struggling to cope with the cost of Christmas, people who would otherwise be on their own, homeless people and others on the breadline. We have been asked to help with providing presents. We aim to fill 50 washbags with toiletries, socks, underwear, torches and a few treats like chocolate. We also hope to fill 40 rucksacks with presents for children. Any contribution of any item or any cash donation will help us reach our target.
Please go to the Adam de Brome chapel after the service for full details and to pick up a washbag or rucksack to fill. Thank you.
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| | Thank you to our Volunteers!
We completed our 5-year, wide-ranging project with the Heritage Lottery Fund last month, and we are delighted with huge impact our volunteers have had on the church so far. Welcomers’ and Guides’ time and care has, over the 5 years, earned thousands of pounds from the HLF. We are very lucky to have you, and thanks again for all your hard work – here’s to the future!
If you are interested in joining our team of Volunteers – learning about the church’s history, greeting visitors and getting together – please email penny.boxall@universitychurch.ox.ac.uk.
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| | | Michaelmas Lunches
We have a series of lunches in the Old Library during Michaelmas Term. The last one is on this Sunday, 20th November after the main morning service.
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| | Forthcoming Concerts & Other Events
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Check out our website and Facebook pages.
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| | TONIGHTWired: technology's ethical questions
Drones and the fantasy of risk-free war - Chris Woods
Ethical questions have always surrounded war. Yet as the nature of war itself changes — with new technologies such as armed drones increasingly removing fighters from harm’s way — what fresh moral challenges lie ahead?
Chris Woods is an investigative journalist who heads Airwars, a project tracking international airstrikes and civilian casualties in Iraq, Syria and Libya. A former senior journalist on BBC Newsnight and Panorama, Chris is also the author of ‘Sudden Justice: America’s Secret Drone Wars.
You can read and listen to the two past talks in this series by clicking here. |
| | The Muse: a six-part series on the creative spark
‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ – a question creative people are often asked, and which they often flounder to answer. Do we seek inspiration from the natural world, from the news, from knowledge of ourselves? Is the creative Muse an internal or external energy? This series – featuring, amongst others, award-winning poet Antony Dunn and historical drama expert Dionysios Kyropolous – will shed light on the creative processes in the arts, through talks, workshops and Q&As. Wednesdays, October 19th-November 23rd inclusive. See flyer for further details.
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| | | Other Events coming up:
24th November: 'An introduction to Bishop Steven and ways forward'- all welcome to this Deanery meeting at St Peter & St Paul, West Way, Botley, 7-9pm
29th November: 'The Point of Love', Charlotte Bannister-Parker in discussion with Bishop Colin Fletcher on 'Sexual Identity and the Church of England'. 7pm in the Chancel for Discussion and Q&A followed by refreshments
1st December: Moot with Revd Dr Stephen Wright on 'Storytelling', 7.45pm, Old Library
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| | Poetry Corner
from ‘The Silent Piano’
I am reminded of a story
Camus tells, of a man in prison camp.
He had carved a piano keyboard
with a nail on a piece of wood.
And sat there playing the piano.
The music was made entirely of silence.
Louis Simpson (1923–2012)
(Emergency Kit, Faber, 1996, eds. Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney)
This week in The Muse is entitled ‘Where do we go next?’ and looks at problem-solving in composition and conducting. John Traill, Director and Lecturer of Music at St Anne’s, and Director of the Oxford conducting institute, will give this talk, musically illustrated by two of his students: it should be a fascinating insight into the process of conducting and of composing.
I have chosen the extract of the poem above because it strikes me as immensely hopeful. Even in captivity, the creative spark can flourish; we do not always need the ‘proper’ tools in order for it to transport us. There is no room for the negative in the poem: there is no absence of sound, but rather a real and silent music.
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