Beating the Bounds

This Thursday the church throughout the world will be celebrating Ascension Day. By tradition, this is the moment when we walk around the boundaries of the ancient parish of St Mary’s for the Beating of the Bounds. With a group of young people from New College School, we will start at St Mary’s at 9am, before heading to mark the first point of our journey just outside Brasenose. We will then walk along the parish boundary through the Boolean and up to the Clarendon Building before heading back to Hertford College. We will then enter All Souls for refreshments (including cherry cake) generously provided by the Warden and Fellows, before moving across the High Street down through University College and then on to Oriel College, the patron of the ancient parish of St Mary’s. At Oriel, there might even be ice cream!

This tradition is not simply a relic of the medieval past. The parish is one of the glories of the Church of England. It is a constant reminder that the life of St Mary’s relates, not simply to the worshippers who choose to come Sunday by Sunday and day by day, but to the whole life of our community. In a world where people are too often trying to build walls that divide, 'beating the bounds’ creates opportunities for meeting and encounter. It is an experience in which gates are opened, and where welcome and hospitality is offered. And as we receive the hospitality of our hosts on Thursday, we commit ourselves afresh to our own ministry of hospitality as we welcome people to St Mary’s from all over the world.