| View this email online if it doesn't display correctly |
| |
|
|  |
A Life Worth Living
Over the years, the writings of Jean Vanier have had a powerful influence over my thinking. In 1964, Vanier founded l’Arche, a network of communities which offer people living with disabilities and those who share their lives a place where they can belong and grow. L’Arche has become an international federation with communities throughout the world. The aim of l’Arche is to create a sense of community and dignity for all.
As a theologian and philosopher, Vanier has reflected profoundly on the mystery of being human. In a world which often places individual autonomy above everything (in spite of the sad reality of loneliness for so many), Vanier emphasises the importance of community and relationship in order to rediscover the dignity of being human. As a philosopher and theologian, he draws on the Christian tradition in order to reflect on questions of personhood and to provoke his readers to reflect on what it means to be human and what it means to live well.
Over the next few weeks, on Sundays at 12noon, we will be drawing on this tradition in order to reflect on what it means to be human and what it means to live well. Christian humanism is animated by the idea that human beings are created in the image of God. Indeed, secular humanism finds many of its antecedents in religious ideas about human dignity and human rights. The term ‘humanism’ embraces many significant intellectual currents in Western culture but it may require further interrogation if it is to help us articulate a renewed vision of human flourishing.
There will be four discussions led by clergy at St Mary’s in conversation with a number of College Chaplains. On 4th February, Charlotte Bannister-Parker and James Crockford will talk about ’Trust’. On 11 February, Erica Longfellow and Alan Ramsey will talk about ‘Desire’. On 18th February, I will be in conversation with Emma Percy about ‘Forgiveness’, and on 25 February, Bruce Kinsey and Wendy Wale will talk about ‘Hope’.
The discussion starts with coffee and pastries and lasts for an hour. You will be very welcome to join us.
The Revd Dr William Lamb Vicar
|
| | The Week Ahead:
—This Sunday
Sunday 4th February The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
9.30 Family Service Chancel
10.30 Choral Eucharist Nave
Preacher: The Revd James Crockford
12.00 A Life Worth Living (‘Trust’) in the Old Library
15.30 German Lutheran Service Chancel
18.00 Choral Evensong at Jesus College
Preacher: Sister Frances Dominica DL OBE
This Week
Monday
9.00 Morning Prayer Chancel
12.15 Eucharist Chancel
18.00 Choral Evensong New College
Tuesday Martyrs of Japan, 1597
9.00 Morning Prayer Chancel
12.15 Eucharist Chancel
18.00 Book Club Nosebag (Bar)
18.15 Choral Evensong Exeter College
Wednesday
9.00 Morning Prayer Chancel
12.15 Eucharist Chancel
17.30 Poetry Workshop Old Library
19.30 Music & Mind (2) Old Library
Thursday
9.00 Morning Prayer Chancel
12.15 Eucharist Chancel
12.45 Lunchtime Bible Study Vestry
21.00 Compline Keble College
Friday
9.00 Morning Prayer Chancel
12.15 Eucharist Chancel
18.30 Choral Evensong Queen’s College
19.30 Fiction & Gospel Truth Vaults Cafe
Saturday Scholastica, c.543
18.00 Choral Evensong Magdalen College
Next Sunday
Sunday 11th February Sunday next before Lent
10.30 Choral Eucharist Nave
Preacher: The Revd Dr William Lamb
12.00 A Life Worth Living (‘Desire’) in the Old Library
18.00 Choral Evensong at Balliol College
University Preacher: Professor Judith Champ
|
| | A Life worth Living
‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive’ (St Irenaeus of Lyons). How can the wisdom of the Christian tradition help us to live well? Christian humanism is animated by the idea that human beings are created in the image of God. Indeed, secular humanism finds many of its antecedents in religious ideas about human dignity and human rights. The term ‘humanism’ embraces many significant intellectual currents in Western culture but it may require further interrogation if it is to help us articulate a renewed vision of human flourishing.
Each session starts with coffee and bagels in the Old Library at the University Church. Our discussions will be open and free-ranging as we explore what it means to be human and what ‘a life worth living’ might look like.
4 Feb 12:00-13:00 Trust
The Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker and the Revd James Crockford, University Church
Trust often seems hard and risky. Caught between suspicion and fear, it also seems to be in short supply. Who do you trust, and why? The theologian, Rowan Williams, has argued that ‘Christianity asks you to trust the God it talks about before it asks you to sign up to a complete system’. How does knowing who and what to trust help us to live well?
|
| | | | Music and Mind
A three-part series on Wednesday nights in 2nd, 4th and 6th week, exploring concepts of music, transcendence, and psychology. Old Library, 19:30-21:00.
7 Feb Music, Modernity and Meaning – The Revd Dr Jonathan Arnold
Amidst widespread illiteracy in late-medieval Europe, aesthetic experience was a gateway to the numinous and transcendent. Renaissance humanists’ criticisms of Church musicians unwittingly paved the way for a new age of logocentricism where words, language and doctrine dominated as the fundamental expression of the divine, thus transforming the nature of aesthetic religious expression. But in the modern secularised West increasing levels of biblical and religious illiteracy, and decline in membership of institutional religions, has seen a concurrent increase in the appetite for aesthetic spiritual experiences. We will explore how this search for the numinous, mystical and transcendent interpretation through musical aesthetics has parallels with pre-Reformation spirituality and asks what the implications are for the future of institutional Christian religion in the west.
Jonathan Arnold is Dean of Divinity and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is a former member of St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir and The Sixteen and co-founder of the Oxford girl choristers’ choir Frideswide Voices. His publications include the Great Humanists and Sacred Music in Secular Society. His next book will be entitled Music and Faith: Western Sacred Music and its Audience.
|
| | Fiction & Gospel Truth
Join us for the traditional pre-Lenten party of Mardi Gras, with freshly made crêpes, music, poetry, and jollity. Tickets £3 available in advance by clicking here.
|
| | Fiction & Gospel Truth
Join us in the Vaults and Garden Café on Friday 9th February at 7.30pm for a conversation between three novelists, the Revd George Pitcher, Iain Pears and Sarah Meyrick, exploring whether novels can tell ‘godly stories’.
You can book a free ticket by clicking here.
|
| | Singing the word
Delve into the rich and beautiful world of plainchant, monasticism, and the medieval musical landscape with this workshop series. The evening will start in the Old Library with a glass of wine and a short talk, followed by singing practice, during which participants will learn to tackle a difficult piece of chant. At 9pm, we will move to the chancel to sing compline together.
8.00pm Talk and Singing Workshop (Old Library) - Access through Cafe door in Radcliffe Square from 7.45pm
9.00pm Compline by Candlelight (Chancel) - Access through the High St Door from 8.45pm
15 Feb Hildegard von Bingen – Esther Brazil
1 Mar Singing the Word – Fr Peter Allan CR (Mirfield)
|
|
|
| | Call for donations of books and toys
Do you have any unused children’s books or soft toys you would like to donate to the church? We are creating a Children’s Corner for babies and preschool-aged children who are too small to go to Sunday School during the Eucharist. The aim is to collect enough quiet toys and books to fill a chest that will be kept at the back of the church (no rattles or battery-operated toys, please). Drop off donations in the church office between 9.30am and 5pm, Monday-Friday, or email esther.brazil@universitychurch.ox.ac.uk for more details.
|
| |
