i-church dedicated
This evening I attended the service of dedication for i-church, at the university church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford. It was a strange mixture of setting up what is supposed to be a cutting edge form of church, with a celebration of the eucharist that included Mozart's Spatzenmesse, Missa Brevis in C, and was allegedly using the Book of Common Prayer. (It wasn't actually, it was Order One (Traditional) from Common Worship - but let it pass.) About 80 people there. I kept looking around wondering which of the strange assortment of people there might be members of i-church. Most of my guesses - the geek, the young man with blond highlights in his hair, the young woman with a figure you just kept having your eyes drawn back to - turned out to be wrong. I suspect that many of the people there who were actually members of the i-church community, were the more mature ladies and gentlemen. Just as the really interesting blogs are more likely to be written by people with a bit of life experience, rather than the mere youngsters.
The preacher wondered whether we were making history (in a church where history has so often been made before) or embarking on a foolhardy venture.
Perhaps the beauty of it is, that we just never know.
The preacher wondered whether we were making history (in a church where history has so often been made before) or embarking on a foolhardy venture.
Perhaps the beauty of it is, that we just never know.
2 Comments:
Fascinating! I'm intrigued. I'll certainly be looking in from time to time. My experience with the Church of England while in Oxford was one of the most spiritually fulfillng of my adult life. (I worshipped at Christ Church and St. Aldates.) It left me with a childlike curiosity to learn more about the Church of England, and perhaps i-church (and friendships with people like you) are God's vehicle for me to do that.
In another vein, I find it hard to imagine such a service taking place at the university church...though I can't exactly say why. It just doesn't seem to fit.
I think it was supposed to indicate that this was an official venture of the diocese of Oxford, and so to give it weight and authority. To that extent, it might have been in the Cathedral instead. But the university church is also about interface with the world, the community etc., so it could be that was the symbolism here. Also of course those historical connections: the university church was where Newman launched the Oxford Movement, various C of E martyrs were tried, etc. So, a good place for new world-changing beginnings and significant acts of witness.
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