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| To Preserve and Protect
In our transient and largely throwaway culture, there is an increasing hunger for things that last. The longer something exists, the more precious it becomes - think of artefacts in the V&A or the Ashmolean, little domestic objects grown heavy with significance because they have survived to connect us to a distant time, and sometimes to a specific person. An intriguing example is Jane Austen’s modest turquoise ring, fairly inexpensive in terms of its material makeup, but priceless because of its associations - so precious, in fact, that when it was bought at auction it was prevented from leaving the country, with the Culture Minister imposing an export ban and the public rushing to buy it back for permanent display in Chawton House. This is true of places, too. Some buildings make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up the moment you walk in. Ancient churches are often like this, prompting some to talk of genius loci, the ancient Roman idea of the spirit of place. St Mary’s is no exception: priceless in terms of the physical objects in the church and the fabric of its walls, but even more so because of the countless people who have walked through this place, and prayed in it. I don’t put much faith in genii loci, but I do feel a little prickle when I look up at Newman’s Pulpit or run my hand over the 15th-century choir stalls in the chancel. We are so lucky to inhabit this space. The wonderful thing is that the story hasn’t finished: we continue to add to it as we engage with the daily life of the church, both physical and virtual. In Chinese there’s a verb, baocun, pronounced “bao-tsun”, which means “to preserve”. “Bao” on its own means to maintain or protect, but it’s also a homonym for “precious”, even carrying the same tone. “Cun” (“tsun”) means to store or keep, but it also means to live, exist, survive. I may be taking a linguistic flight of fancy here, but when I hear baocun, I always imagine a church specifically, and the act of nurturing it as one would a living thing. It is a symbiotic relationship; in caring for the church, we are in turn cared for, and receive spiritual nourishment, whether through receiving holy communion, or a kind word over coffee, or a moment of precious sunlit silence at the end of the day. Esther Brazil
Ministerial Assistant |
| | The Week Ahead
This Sunday
Sunday 5th August - The Tenth Sunday after Trinity 10.30 Sung Eucharist Preacher: The Revd James Crockford 15.30 Organ Recital: Alexander Pott, Assistant Organist, Magdalen College, Oxford
Next Week
Monday, The Transfiguration 09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel 12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Tuesday John Mason Neale, 1866 09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel 12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Wednesday, Dominic, 1221 09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel 12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Thursday, Mary Sumner, 1921 09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel 12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Friday, Laurence, 258 09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel 12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Saturday John Henry Newman, 1890 11.45 Marriage Dedication - Chancel 14.00 Pilgrimage & Pub to St Margaret's, Binsey - Meet in De Brome Chapel
Next Sunday
Sunday 12th August - The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity 10.30 Sung Eucharist Preacher: The Revd Julia Baldwin 15.30 Organ Recital: Graham Schultz
Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas, USA |
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| Organ Recitals
Our summer music series continues through August with a number of free organ recitals on Sundays at 15.30. All are very welcome. 5 Aug Alexander Pott (Assistant Organist, Magdalen College, Oxford) 12 Aug Graham Schultz (Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas, USA) 19 Aug Josef Laming (Royal Academy of Music, London)
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| | Lunchtime Recital On Saturday 18 August at 13.30, Peter McMullin and James Crockford will be giving a free saxophone and piano recital at St Mary’s, featuring a varied programme of works by Villa Lobos, J. S. Bach, Dave Heath, and Schulhoff. A retiring collection will be taken in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
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| | St Mary's Volunteers Fair Many members of St Mary’s congregation are already involved with and support voluntary organisations– e.g. Oxford Food Bank, Gatehouse, Christian Aid, prison visiting, Home Start, Parkinson’s Association, etc. We are planning a ‘Volunteers Fair’ to showcase this work and to encourage others to get involved. There is to be a planning meeting in the Old Library at 12noon on Sunday 16 September. The Fair itself will take place after the service on Sunday, 14 October. If you would like to be involved, please contact: Margaret Lipscomb (M.Lipscomb@ntlworld.com) or Janet Greenland (janetgreenland@gmail.com).
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| | Sponsored Cycle
Choir member and church clock keeper Rupert Griffin is cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats later this summer to raise money for Thames Valley Air Ambulance - who saved his life after he was involved in a serious traffic accident: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rupert-griffin. Please support him!
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