Subject: News from the University Church

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The Shape of Belief

The Church over the ages has been very good at some things, but among them one stands out: Christians are very good at arguing. Whether it’s about first-century meals-on-wheels services for widows (see Acts 6), or what to do about bishops who had surrendered the Church treasures under violent state persecutions (see Augustine and the ‘Donatists’), or the current mud-slinging about equal marriage (see the newspapers), what is certainly clear is that the shape of Christian belief and practice is always contested.

In the midst of cloud upon cloud of variant ideas, though, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (‘Nicene’) Creed of AD381 stands out as a rare moment of potential clarity and unity. Itself emerging from sharp doctrinal and political divides (and by no means solving them), it continues even today to provide a benchmark for the basics, and wonders, of Christian belief. Who is God? How does God relate to us, and to all we know in the world around us? What was Jesus up to? Where is existence ‘going’? More than just a dogmatic document, it has been part of the Church’s worship throughout its history: it is part of the air that we breathe. But in an age where many (including perhaps ourselves) are suspicious of inherited religious formulæ, and doubtful of the merits of theological certainty, how can we engage with the strange language and ideas of the Creed?

This Sunday, 12.00-13.00 in the Old Library, we begin a four-part series entitled ‘Creed and Credibility’. In this first session, I’ll be exploring a little of the context and nature of the Nicene Creed, and we will discuss its opening line: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. Join us – who knows, there may be the odd argument!

Holy God,
faithful and unchanging:
enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,
and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,
that we may truly worship you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

The Revd James Crockford

The Week Ahead 

Next Sunday

Sunday 27 January The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany
10.30 Choral Eucharist - Nave
Preacher: The Rt Revd Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon
12.00 Creed & Credibility - Old Library
15.30 'Reimagining Britain' Event with Archbishop Justin Welby

Next Week

Monday Thomas Aquinas, 1274
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
18.15 Moot: Bodies - Old Library

Tuesday 
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
18.00 Bookclub - The Mitre

Wednesday King Charles the Martyr, 1649
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
15.30 Marriage Service 
18.00 Choral Evensong - Keble College

Thursday John Bosco, 1888
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
12.45 Lunchtime Bible Study - Old Library 
18.15 Choral Evensong - St Peter's College

Friday Brigid, c525
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
18.30 Choral Evensong - New College

Saturday Candlemas
18.00 Choral Evensong - Magdalen College

For full listings of weekly evening services across the University, see our website. 

Next Sunday

Sunday 3 February  Candlemas (The Presentation of Christ) 
10.30 Choral Eucharist - Nave
Preacher: The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester
12.00 Creed & Credibility - Old Library
15.30 German Lutheran Service - Chancel
18.00 Choral Evensong with Runcie Sermon - Brasenose College
Preacher: The Revd Canon Dr Angela Tilby
Hilary Termcard

Click here to see our new termcard for Hilary 2019. It provides information about services and forthcoming events at St Mary's. 
The Bampton Lectures

The Bampton lectures were founded by the will of John Bampton and have been taking place in the University of Oxford since 1780. These two day conferences are open to the public as well as members of the University. They are suitable for anyone with an interest in the relationship between science and religion.

The relationship between science and religion is often thought of in terms of competing factual claims or ways of knowing - evolution vs creation, reason vs faith. But arguments along these lines are rarely persuasive.

Peter Harrison, the Bampton Lecturer, will argue that this is because the dialogue is an expression of commitments to implicit historical narratives about science and religion. The most common is the conflict narrative, which proposes an enduring historical conflict between science and religion. Less commonly remarked upon is a naturalism narrative, according to which there is nothing in the universe but physical forces and entities.

The lectures will trace the historical emergence of these powerful narratives and the ways they have unhelpfully shaped contemporary arguments about divine action and purpose.

Peter Harrison is a former Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He is now an Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland. He has written numerous books and articles on the historical and contemporary relations between science and religion. In 2011 he delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh, now published as The Territories of Science and Religion (2015). His most recent book is Narratives of Secularization (2017).

Tuesday 12th February 2019
Modern myths about science and religion

Tuesday 19th February 2019
Science and divine purpose

10.00 - 16.00 in the Old Library.

This event is free and open to members of the public. To register, please follow this link:

Oberammergau Pilgrimage June 2020

Oberammergau Passion Play with a holiday pilgrimage to Austria, led by Canon Margaret Whipp.
26th June to 3rd July 2020.
Our trip combines two nights in Oberammergau and premium seats for the passion play, together with a pilgrimage-themed holiday in the beautiful Austrian alps.
For more information, contact margaretwhipp@btinternet.com
St Mary's Church, High Street, OX1 4BJ, Oxford, United Kingdom
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