Subject: News from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Hope for Creation


by the Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker


Tiny delicate white snowdrops are beginning to appear in our gardens and parks. They offer us a sign of the end of dark winter days and the beginning of the warmth and blossom of spring.


Lord Tennyson in his famous poem welcomes the arrival of snowdrops as a “February fair-maid!” and calls them “Prophets of the May time. Prophet of the roses”. And as we start to emerge from winter - even with storm Eunice threatening - it’s comforting to know that the warmth and blossoms are coming. Looking out into my garden I see the snowdrops friend, the crocus, appearing in clusters on our lawn like a delicate thin purple and yellow silken blanket. As well as heralding the beginning of spring, snowdrops, primroses, and crocuses are prophetic signs of hope.


Despite all the reports related to climate change and the devastation of the planet, which can often seem overwhelming and give us eco-anxiety, these tiny flowers’ annual appearance signals resistance and fortitude. The Old Testament theologian Walter Bruggeman calls on the church to be a “prophet voice that serves to question the dominant narrative of the time while energising the faithful.”


Why not come and join in a Hope4Creation workshop or join St Mary’s the Green Team to hear a new narrative of hope for our beautiful earth.

More details on our next eco-workshop here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/265000402337

 

Livestreamed Services at the University Church

Sunday 20 February

10.30am - Choral Eucharist

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Book your visit to the Tower online


The Tower is now open and you can book a ticket online for your visit at the link below. You can find more information as well as our Terms & Conditions on our website.

Online Bookings

Notices


PALM CROSSES
Please bring your old palm crosses back to be burned in preparation for Ash Wednesday and leave them in the basket at the back of Church.


THEOLOGY CAFE

Monday 21 February, 7.30pm, Old Library - Dr Henrietta Harrison, Professor of Chinese History, University of Oxford, will introduce the ideas of Li Zibiao (1761-1826), who studied in Naples and was one of the interpreters for the first British embassy to China. He spent the final thirty years of his life as a priest in Shanxi and we will look at his reflections on conversions (or not), prayer, and the global church, and what they might say to us today.


POETRY HOUR

Wednesday 23 February, 5.30pm – 6.30pm, Old Library. Join us

for the third Poetry Hour of term for an hour of reading, discussing and writing

poetry. This week we will be writing our own poems in quiet for the whole hour.

There will be prompts provided or you can bring existing poems to work on.

Please note that the fourth and final Poetry Hour of term will not now take place

on the 9th March, but will take place on the 16th March. The theme will be Ash

Wednesday and Lent.


QUIET CREATIVITY

Saturday 26 February, 10am - 1pm - Old Library. You are warmly invited to bring your own creative project and enjoy a relaxed morning of quiet productivity in the company of like-minded people. Snacks, coffee, and tea will be provided. For more details, contact ana-maria.niculcea@universitychurch.ox.ac.uk


HOPE4CREATION ECO-WORKSHOP

Friday 18 - Sunday 20 March, University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Come and have fun, walk in nature and share together in learning and talking about Creation, God and Us. Non-residential, including all meals (vegetarian). £20 per person- bursaries available. For more information and to book the workshop https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/265000402337


CHURCH GOING GONE

Tuesday, 29 March, 10am, Divinity School, Brian Mountford will be interviewed by Angela Tilby on his recent book 'Church Going Gone' at the Oxford Literary Festival. For more information and how to book a ticket,


NEW TO ST MARY’S? If you are new to St Mary’s and have started coming to services in the last six months or so, we may not have your contact details. If you would like to find out more about what is going on at the University Church, please email admin@universitychurch.ox.ac.uk with your name, address and telephone number and ask for your name to be added to the Parish Directory. This directory is used only by parish staff but it enables us to get in touch with you as the need arises.


An event that might be of interest, elsewhere in the University:

Free Jean Jones Art Exhibition in St Cross Church

St Mary's Church, High Street, OX1 4BJ, Oxford, United Kingdom

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