th e year in review - Westcott House

THE
2008 - 2009
YEAR IN REVIEW
CAMBRIDGE
THEOLOGICAL
F E D E R AT I O N
Contents
Page
Foreword, by The Rt Revd Tim Stevens
3
Principal’s Welcome
4
Highlights of the Year
A Particular Place
8
Cairo Exchange
9
Alumni and Friends Garden Party
11
Sabbatical Reflections:
The Venerable Basil H. J. Matthews,
Archdeacon of George, South Africa
12
Mr Joseph Nam, Principal of St Joseph’s
Primary School, Hong Kong
13
Mission to Bradford
14
Ordinands Near and Far
15
Theological Conversations
The Revd Angela Tilby on The Seven Deadly Sins
17
A Conversation with Jean Vanier
18
The Story of the Westcott Icon, by John Armson
21
New Developments
Preaching Course
24
Weekly Hour of Silent Prayer
25
Heating in All Saints’
26
Refurbishment of D Staircase
26
Children’s Play Area
26
Organ Installed in Chapel
27
Westcott House gifts and mementos
28
Ember List 2009
29
Staff Contacts
30
Members of Governing Council 2008-2009
31
2008 – 2009 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Foreword
“
During my ten years as Bishop of
Leicester, I have sensed that the
demands and challenges facing those
of us who minister in the
Church of England are
changing rapidly.
We cannot predict with any
precision what will be asked
of those preparing for
ordination or other forms of
ministry in the next ten or
The Rt Revd Tim Stevens is Bishop of
Leicester and has been Chair of the
Council of Westcott House since 2007
fifteen years. But I and many
others celebrate what is being done
at Westcott in so evidently releasing
the gifts, the character and the
passion for the Gospel in so many
men and women. The more I see of
them the more confident I become in
”
God’s purposes for his church.
3
2008 – 2009 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Principal’s Welcome
We have been a full House again this past year with
arrangement whereby Tripos and the BTh are
some 75 Church of England ordinands, and with
“co-funded”, which means HEFCE pay half the
Yale Divinity School exchange students,
subsidy and the Church the other half, and the
independent and sabbatical students, including four
Federation BA has been turned into a Foundation
from Hong Kong and South Africa, we had a
Degree leading to a BA, and Foundation Degrees
student body of about 85. Once again, half the
are exempt from the subsidy cut. This is really the
ordinands were under 30 years old, and the mixture
best possible outcome given the government was
of backgrounds and nationalities as well as age
not willing to grant an exemption to training for
made for what I have come to expect to be a
ministry despite their expectations that clergy
spiritually and intellectually energising community!
exercise a leading community role. Of course we
are not out of the woods at all, and the very serious
The diversity of academic pathways now available
through the Cambridge Theological Federation
The Revd Canon Martin Seeley
and the University Divinity Faculty means that
ordinands can prepare theologically and pastorally
for public ministry in ways that will challenge
them to learn and grow whatever their background.
About two-thirds of the community were on
Cambridge University awards, including the
Bachelor of Theology for Ministry, Tripos, M.Phil.,
danger is what happens when the government,
whoever wins the next election, raises or removes
the cap on fees. My greatest disappointment in
what has been an immense exercise has been the
hostile views of many in the Church who simply
do not see the need for a mixed learning ecology
where ordinands are trained theologically to the
best of their ability – for the sake of Church’s
ministry in the world.
PhD and the Certificate in Theology for Ministry,
and one third on programmes provided by the
Federation, including the BA and MA in Pastoral
Yale Link
Theology, accredited by Anglia Ruskin University.
At the beginning of the year, in October, I was able
We had some outstanding results, including firsts
to visit Yale Divinity School, reciprocating the visit
in all the undergraduate awards and a starred first
Dean Harry Attridge made to Westcott the year
in Tripos.
earlier in 2008. I had a terrific week, not least
Best outcome…but
4
because it was alumni week and therefore included
a succession of feasts, but also because I was able to
The battle continued to keep the undergraduate
see our Westcott students in situ and catch a sense
awards affordable following the government’s
of what is clearly an immensely valuable experience.
decision to cut the HEFCE subsidy of about £3000
Each year we exchange three or four of our
for “equivalent or lower qualifications” (ELQs – it
ordinands for a similar number from Yale in the
affects those who have a degree and then study for
Michaelmas Term, and it is a much sought after
a second first degree). We negotiated an
opportunity. I am immensely grateful to Dean
2008 – 2009 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Attridge and the Associate Dean of Admissions, Anna
Ramirez, for making my visit so worthwhile and for the
great care they take of our ordinands. The trip allowed
me to visit my alma mater, Union Theological Seminary in
New York, and there I was able to meet their new
President, Professor Serene Williams, herself formerly of
Yale Divinity School.
Community of Differences
For me, there were two particular recurring themes in our
community life in Westcott last year. The first was
Westcott as a “community of differences” and the second
Yale students Chris McKee, Chantee Parris and Ryan Fleenor
was the call to be a priestly Church.
narrow doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I fear this is evident in
The understanding of Westcott as a community of
the Church of England whenever we seek to marginalise or
differences is not new at all – BK Cunningham, principal
exclude those with whom we disagree – it is another form
1919-43, described the House as a “fellowship of
of fundamentalism.
differences”. This year, though, thanks to our first year
ordinands, we renewed our engagement with what this
means. The first years wanted an opportunity to explore
and learn from the differences they held among themselves,
so they set up a series of informal evening gatherings, each
one with a theme. Two or more ordinands with different
views were asked to prepare a short introduction about how
they came to their perspective, and why it was important to
them. The themes were liturgical and theological. The
evenings were extraordinary, characterised by a remarkable
quality of attentive listening. This was not an occasion to
argue or score points, but to attend to one another. The
result has been a quality of valuing of differences within the
community that is new, and a recognition that it is better to
ask a person why they act or think in a particular way than
The series of evening gatherings for the first years in some
way helped all of us prepare for what for me was one of the
most remarkable Westcott experiences in my short time
here. In March we welcomed two women students from Al
Azhar University in Cairo in an exchange sponsored by the
Foreign Office. Bonnie Evans-Hills from Westcott went to
Cairo as part of the exchange, and you can read her and
one of the Egyptian students’ accounts of their experience
in this Review. Sonia and Fatma’s presence among us was a
remarkable experience of attention and reflection, and of
having assumptions delightfully demolished! The three
week exchange reminded me of my relationship with the
Muslim community when I was vicar of the Isle of Dogs,
and the profound sense that I was more truly a Christian
and we were more truly the
speculate and judge why they might!
Church because we were in
Of course, this must extend far
such a relationship. I hope we
beyond the walls of Westcott, and
may find a way to sustain this
does so for ordinands within the life
exchange, although it does
of the Federation. But we need this
rather depend on having Arabic
sort of disposition of valuing and
speaking ordinands!
attending to the other, welcoming
differences, in the life of the Church
and for the sake of the world. Not to
be so seems to me to reveal a very
Hong Kong students Evelyn and Jennifer Wong
5
2008 – 2009 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
A Priestly Church
Professor Stanley Hauerwas, in his address at the Westcott
House conference, “A Particular Place,” in September,
developed Archbishop Rowan’s idea of the church as
‘undefended territory’, “a place where the desperate anxiety
to please God means nothing; a place where the admission
of failure is not the end but the beginning; a place from
which no one is excluded in advance.” (Sam Wells and
Sarah Coakley, Praying for England, Continuum 2008,
p.175). This is a place where Jesus’ priesthood is exercised,
it is “the place that Jesus is.” Hauerwas took this idea of
‘undefended territory’ and applied it to the local church. I
suspect those of us who are, or have been, parish clergy will
find this a compelling insight, and immediately recognize
in its richness both aspiration and hazard! (The text and
video of Stanley Hauerwas’ address is available on the
Westcott website, along with the texts of the other keynote
addresses at the “A Particular Place” conference).
The Rev’d Louise Coddington-Marshall with Bishop Michael Doe
clergy are themselves being drawn into forms of ministry
that marginalize the priestly. For some time we have been
preoccupied with the language of service, and being the
“servant church.” That is Christ’s diaconal ministry, and so
ours too. But separated from the unconditional, selfemptying and transforming love of the cross and the empty
tomb, service becomes the endless and exhausting activity
of trying to respond to obvious human need, whether
This phrase has brought together some of the challenging
social, personal, spiritual or even global. God the Self-
and indeed troubling dimensions of church life that have
Giving Lover becomes God the Service-Provider, and so
become more evident for me over this past year. We hold
too the Church. And a Church preoccupied with such a
up at Westcott the primary understanding that all ministry
ministry is a church preoccupied with resources, limits and
is Christ’s ministry, and looking to Scripture and in
boundaries. It is a Church that exhaustedly or aggressively
particular the Gospels helps us to become those who share
says “No” to God’s “Yes.”
in that ministry. The particular ministry of priesthood is
focused on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem, on the Cross and
the empty tomb – priests in their being and actions are
public witnesses to Christ’s death and resurrection. But
priests “hold” that ministry for a Church whose ministry is,
as “the place that Jesus is”, itself priestly. The phrase
A Resounding Theme
I hope Westcott is a place where, whatever particular
ministry God is calling each member to, all are prepared to
minister in a Church that is priestly as well as diaconal. The
‘undefended territory’ reminds us
theme seemed to resound through
the year through our visiting
as priests and as Christ’s priestly
speakers and preachers.
Church that we are called to a
The Bishop of Leicester, chair of
ministry of hospitality, sacrifice,
Westcott Council, on one of his
and prophecy.
regular visits to the House,
What I have found challenging
preached precisely on this. Bishop
and troubling, more this year than
Michael Doe, General Secretary of
I can remember, is a sense that the
USPG challenged us to make the
Church has lost touch with this
sacrifice of giving ourselves to
aspect of her calling, and that
mission in unfamiliar contexts.
Canon Andrew White, Chaplain of St George’s, Baghdad with
Catriona Laing, ordinand and former member of his congregation
6
2008 – 2009 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
As part of Westcott’s participation in the University of
Centre in Cambridge, brings long involvement with parish
Cambridge's 800th Anniversary celebrations, we hosted
life (he served as church warden of St James’ Sussex
visits by Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche Community,
Gardens) combined with evident business acumen. After a
and Andrew White, “vicar of Baghdad”. Jean Vanier called
considerable number of years as Treasurer, Tony Wilson,
us to the transforming life of embracing those who seem
formerly chief executive of Cambridge University Press,
very different from ourselves. Andrew White, who has
retired and David Gill has been elected in his place. We
given his life to ministry that involves daily personal risk,
thank Tony for the huge commitment of time and energy
also speaking to the Westcott community, challenged us to
he has given the House, and David for taking up the role so
follow wherever God leads, whatever the cost. Canon Lucy
soon after joining Council!
Winkett, preaching in chapel, called us to prophetic
ministry in the light of Pentecost.
At the beginning of the year Anna Rowlands, director of
pastoral studies, took up the same post in the Margaret
At the beginning of the year John Armson, chaplain and
Beaufort Institute in the Cambridge Theological Federation.
then vice-principal from 1973-1982, marvellously and
This is the first “internal” staff move in the Federation, and,
movingly told us the story of the Westcott icon, a story
as a Roman Catholic, a coming home for Anna. We have
reproduced in this Review. That indeed is a priestly story
currently distributed the post’s areas of responsibility
of trust and sacrifice.
between three people. Westcott alumna Revd Dr Tiffany
Conlin, three-quarters time chaplain of Fitzwilliam College,
Death of Friends
We were saddened by the death of two people who have
played a significant part in the life of the House. Jeremy
Marshall, who over many years had supported the House
has taken on teaching and supervision of ordinands;
Dr Beth Philips has taken on management of placements
and attachments, and placement supervision, and Mr Jeff
Philips has taken over further placement supervision.
and been involved in its development, died suddenly in
In the Summer it became clear that Dr Andrew Mein, Old
January. Our prayers and condolences go to his widow
Testament Tutor and on leave in India, was going to remain
Juliette and his family.
long term in India on account of his wife’s work there. But
Then in July the Revd John Sweet, member of the House
and chair of the Council for many years until 1992, died
after a remarkable and long battle with cancer. John never
seemed to change through his illness, except in some
extraordinary way to become more himself. A huge
I am very pleased that he has agreed to spend Michaelmas
term at Westcott, teaching in the Federation and Westcott,
on a regular basis. We and our ordinands are delighted that
we will not be losing his immense teaching gifts and
commitment to the House!
number of ordinands and theological students in the
I continue to be grateful to all the staff and volunteers who
University have benefited from his wisdom, graciousness
give richly of their talents and time, to enable us, on a
and care, and that was evident at his funeral and memorial
shoestring it has to be said, to do the extraordinary things
service. Our prayers and condolences go to Mary and all
Westcott does, for its members and for the wider Church.
the family.
Westcott House exists by the grace of God, and all that we
are and do is centred on the Eucharist and the life of prayer
Council and Staff Changes
We welcomed two new Council members this year. Denise
of the House. I ask you to keep us in your prayers, as we
seek to make the difference God wants of us.
Thorpe, head of Human Resources for Anglia Ruskin
University, has enthusiastically brought a particular and
needed expertise to Council and the Finance Committee.
David Gill, newly the director of the St John’s Innovation
7
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Highlights of the Year
A Particular Place: Theology for the Future of Parish Ministry,
16-18 September 2009
The Revd Dr Timothy Jenkins is
discussions were given a forward-oriented
Assistant Director of Research in
focus in the final session by John Inge,
the Study of Religion, University
Bishop of Worcester, and Dave Male,
of Cambridge and Dean of Chapel,
Tutor in Pioneer Ministries in Westcott
Jesus College. Here he offers his
and Ridley.
reflections on the conference.
This conference was the first serious
discussion that many participants could
Westcott House hosted a
recall of the oft-assumed merits of parish
conference between 16 and 18
ministry in its handed-down form. It
September 2009 on ‘A Particular
resulted in an unambiguous affirmation of
Place: Theology for the Future of
Parish Ministry.’ There were four
main speakers. Sarah Coakley,
Sarah Coakley, Stanley Hauerwas, Grace Davie,
Edmund Newey and Tim Jenkins
Norris Hulse Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge,
linked theology, formation, establishment and environment
through a reflection upon the power of contemplative prayer.
Grace Davie, Professor in the Sociology of Religion at the
University of Exeter, outlined various trends in the present state of
the benefits of parish ministry, an
affirmation which saw a theology of place
as crucial for the development of new forms of Christian expression
in this country. The conference did not provide all the answers
needed, but created a good deal of useful and hopeful material.
Participation in the conference was both amiable and inclusive,
with excellent food and a good ambiance, for which Westcott
society that have to been taken into account when considering the
parish, in particular the role of vicarious religion. Stanley
Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke
University, analyzed the effects of modernity and argued that the
local is not only a source of resistance challenging false universals,
but that the local church, as “the place where Jesus is”, has a vital
prophetic task for the world today. And Edmund Newey, Vicar of
St. Andrew’s, Handsworth in Birmingham Diocese, cleverly
reversed the polarity between the traditional and the modern by
suggesting that, rather than seeing the parish as a reality that is
being lost, we should see the role of the parish priest as an ideal
Stanley Hauerwas
the reality of which remains to be made fully operational.
House and Wesley Church were jointly responsible. The bonus was
These presentations were received by an audience of 120
a memorable session with Stanley Hauerwas on the first evening,
practitioners, commented upon by a series of respondents, and
when he read from his forthcoming memoirs, Hannah’s Child, linking
pursued in small group discussions. The nub of these discussions
his early experiences of place, class solidarities and work with his
concerned practicalities: how to realize a priestly ministry in a
later theological vocation.
place if the place, for example, includes five PCCs and seven
church buildings; the appropriate models of ministry and of lay
participation; the roles and contributions of other forms of
ministry, other denominations and other faiths; and so forth. These
8
The addresses from the conference are now
available on the Westcott House website:
www.westcott.cam.ac.uk
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Students Participate in Cairo Exchange
In a prestigious exchange programme funded by the Foreign
I noticed that they pray to one God, not three as I thought they
Office and supported by Lambeth Palace, Sonia Lotfy and Fatma
would, and they submit, recite verses from the Holy Gospel and
Mohammad, of the al-Azhar University, Cairo, visited Westcott
perform some physical acts exactly like Muslims in their prayers.
House for three weeks and Westcott ordinand, Bonnie Evans-Hills,
This helped me to ask about their belief in God and about the
went to al-Azhar. Sonia and Fatma took part in a wide range of
Trinity, which helped me to correct some misconceptions.
lectures and seminars, as well as visiting Lambeth Palace and the
Unfortunately I found that people there do not have enough
St. Philip’s multi-faith centre in Leicester. The life of Westcott was
information about Islam and Muslims. There are not only
deeply enriched by their visit. We are grateful to Clare Amos for
similarities between the two religions but also people need to be
making this possible. Here, Sonia and Bonnie reflect on this
exposed to accurate versions of both sides. I was lucky enough to
exchange.
meet the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lambeth Palace. It was very
kind of him to meet us. I was also happy to meet the Revd Canon
Sonia Lotfy
It was a beneficial experience for me to spend three weeks in
Westcott House. Everything was amazing: the place, people and
the way of living. People in Westcott House are hard-working and
never waste time, which I admire. They also pray often and
regularly. I attended prayers in Westcott House and in churches in
Cambridge and Ely.
Guy Wilkinson, who works to acknowledge the relationships
between the Anglican Communion and al-Azhar al-Sharif. It was
also good to visit Ely Cathedral.
The Bishop of the Cathedral prayed for me and permitted me to
perform my prayer. It was an excellent experience to visit
Cambridge and spend time with the people in Westcott House.
Thank you.
Martin Seeley gives parting gifts to Sonia and Fatma
Sonia and Fatma at Lambeth Palace with Rowan Williams, Archbishop of
Canterbury and Westcott House ordinand, Suzanne Cooke
9
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Bonnie Evans-Hills
lecturers and attended classes. One of the pleasures of getting to all
of these campuses was the chance to chat with ordinary Cairenes
I was hosted in Cairo by two postgraduate students, who were
imparted with the unenviable task of finding classes for me to
attend and lecturers to meet. I say unenviable because they were
questioned about our presence, especially in the men’s campus.
That being said, once we got to where we needed to go, we were
always treated with the utmost graciousness and respect. They even
reassured me I should feel comfortable wearing what I liked and
not worry about a head-covering, except in the mosque of course.
We had good conversations around how Muslims are perceived in
the West, in Britain in particular. They were concerned that people
not perceive them as being oppressed because they chose to dress
modestly and cover their heads.
While I was there, the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
visited the al-Azhar Centre at the central Cairo campus, where the
British Council sponsors a centre for learning English. The centre
began with 100 of the top male students being chosen to study
English and British culture. Later, 25 women were also added to the
in the form of taxi drivers. I learned really to enjoy little chats with
them about why I was in Cairo and what I loved about it. I believe
my exchange was as much about meeting these people as it was in
going to al-Azhar.
I was able to worship at the Anglican cathedral, attending services
not only in English but in Arabic and Ethiopian Amharit as well.
I wandered into services in Coptic Cairo and went out to the ‘Cave
Church’ in what is loosely called ‘Garbage City’ – a huge complex
just above the area where the rubbish collectors of Cairo live and
sort through tons of garbage for recycling. I visited a Christian
hospital and school in Manouf, also the site of a new church, all
sponsored by the Anglican diocese in Egypt. I found that while
there is much effort at higher levels between religious leaders –
indeed the Anglican Bishop of Egypt, Bishop Mouneer, as well as
Coptic religious leaders, work hard at building good relationships –
misconceptions and prejudice continue in both communities in the
wider society.
programme – and it was from these the exchange students that my
hosts were chosen.
I stayed at the Anglican cathedral guesthouse in central Cairo, a
Exchanges like this are valuable for this reason
alone – the potential to banish fear and foster
loving relationships.
real home away from home, and from there travelled several times
a week to one of three campuses of the university, where I met
Bonnie with her hosts in Cairo
10
The Cave Church
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Alumni and Friends Garden Party
On 16th June, a glorious summer’s day, we welcomed more
than fifty alumni and friends to a Garden Party hosted by
ordinands and staff. The afternoon’s activities began with
a thought provoking talk by Professor Janet Soskice on
themes in her book, The Kindness of God (OUP 2007). This
was followed by tea on the terrace, and then choral
S AV E T H E D AT E
•
evensong in chapel. A glass of wine preceded a splendid
buffet dinner which we enjoyed eating in First Court.
Alumni included several marking their fortieth and fiftieth
anniversaries of ordination. A number of guests stayed
overnight. We are planning this to be an annual event and
the next one is scheduled for 15th June 2010.
G A R D E N PA RT Y
•
15 JUNE 2010
11
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Reflections from Sabbatical Guests
Westcott House has long-standing links with the Church in
South Africa and in Hong Kong, and we receive regular
sabbatical visitors from these two locations. This year we
were delighted to have Jennifer and Evelyn Wong from
Hong Kong in the Michaelmas Term, and Basil Matthews
from South Africa and Joseph Nam from Hong Kong in the
Lent Term. Here are Basil’s and Joseph’s reflections on their
sabbaticals at Westcott House.
The Venerable Basil H. J. Matthews,
Archdeacon of George, South Africa
I was looking forward to the Sabbatical at Westcott House,
especially looking forward to spending some time away
from the demands of parish life for the better part of three
months. It was with great anticipation and also uncertainty
that I arrived, but these feelings quickly disappeared after
the warm welcome I received. I slotted into the Westcott
pattern easily with the help of Douglas Machiridza who
introduced me around the College and the city of
Cambridge.
My time spent at Westcott was very valuable as it afforded
me the opportunity to reflect on my own ministry through
the Life and Service course, which is a practical way of
preparing the ordinands for ministry. During the exchanges
in class I could relate my own experiences; though our
contexts may differ the experiences are the same. I found
the intensive courses at the beginning of January very
helpful and interesting, and there was a wide variety of
topics. I also attended classes and seminars at other
institutions like Westminster College and the Faculty of
Divinity of the University of Cambridge. A high standard
of teaching and debates was evident. I gained valuable
insights into the path I want to follow with my own
post-graduate studies.
12
I was fully part of the Westcott House community during
my three month stay and participated in my Tutor Group’s
activities such as leading worship and reading in chapel,
preparing breakfast on one Wednesday and assisting with
cooking on a Thursday during community Eucharist. I found
the times spent in the Tutor Groups very helpful, listening
to the experiences of the rest of the group. The opportunity
given to me to preach and celebrate at the main Eucharist
service on a Thursday Evening was something that I will
always treasure. The worship at Westcott is of a high
standard, especially the music, and I felt deeply in touch
with my faith during the services. The meditation and
Morning and Evening Prayer together with the daily
Eucharist services reminded me of my calling as a priest,
especially to pray and to preside at the Lord’s Altar.
I will always look back with fondness at this experience as it
gave me an opportunity to make new friends, reflect on my
ministry, share experiences and learn from Christians in
other parts of the world, and especially use the time to rest
so that I can be revitalized for my ministry back home.
Martin Seeley gives Joseph Nam and Basil Matthews gifts from Westcott House
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Mr Joseph Nam, Principal of St Joseph’s Primary
School, Hong Kong
Life at Westcott House is simple, but the simplest life very
often carries the richest meanings. At Westcott House, the
Chapel is the centre of life. Every weekday, Westcott House
students meet frequently in the Chapel for Meditations,
Morning Prayer, Eucharist, Evening Prayer and Compline. In
my eleven weeks at Westcott House, these routine services
together with the Federation worship services and Tutor
Group prayers, not only provided me with occasions to have
closer contact with God, but with opportunities to build
closer relationships with the people there.
The Tutor Group is another crucial part of Westcott life.
Group members meet once every week and plan together
and work cooperatively for sacristy duties and charity soup,
which are taken in turns. Through serving God, we built up
our human relationships in the tutor group. Reverend Basil
Matthews mentioned in his sermon that the cross Jesus
Christ carried symbolized the relationship between “I” and
God (the vertical part of the cross) and the relationship
between “I” and “You” (the horizontal part of the cross).
Only when we have built up good relationships with God as
well as with people all around us, will the meaning of the
cross be complete.
I was told twice by Bishop Peter Walker that I should not
regard myself as a guest or a visitor of Westcott House,
because my presence at Westcott House reminded the
students to have a global perspective and to take the whole
world into consideration. I do not know how much my
presence really served this purpose, but my time at Westcott
House did inspire me to think more of the world as a whole.
When I was on the plane back to Hong Kong, I suddenly
had the feeling that Westcott House was just a place not far
away from Hong Kong. It had been a strange place and
people there had been strangers to me. But our distance was
only a thirteen-hour flight. Thirteen hours after I had left
Hong Kong, I spent eleven weeks at Westcott House, and
the strangers there became my brothers and sisters. It is only
thirteen hours’ distance. How short thirteen hours are when
compared with our whole life. Thus, people all over the
world are seemingly living next to each other. We all are
neighbours, and we are taught by Jesus Christ to love our
neighbours as ourselves.
Thus, life at Westcott House gave me the chance to
experience the fulfilment of the meaning of the cross and it
also gave me the inspiration of a global mind. This time not
only provided me with new knowledge and information
which help me better understand Christianity and Pastoral
Theology, but also helped me to fulfil better my role as a
Principal of a Church school. Cambridge has given me
pleasant memories of beautiful scenery and wonderful
choirs, and Westcott House has given me the precious
experience of college life and learning community.
13
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Mission to Bradford
You’ve got to Accentuate the Positive
Michael Beasley reflects on the experiences he and
several Westcott House ordinands shared on their
mission to Bradford in June 2009.
Westcott’s 2009 Mission saw us engage in a setting quite
unlike those of other missions that we’ve undertaken in
recent years. For ten days immediately after the end of the
summer term, a team from Westcott went on mission to
Bradford Cathedral. The needs of the Cathedral were very
different from the parishes in which we’ve worked
previously. Rather than helping lead a variety of evangelistic
events as we’ve done before, the Cathedral asked us instead
to spend time and energy thinking and reflecting with
members of
Bradford’s
Chapter, City,
Congregation
and Council
about what its
mission
should be in
the context of
its City and
Diocese.
Westcott House ordinand Sam Dennis reads the Gospel in Bradford Cathedral
The Cathedral’s ministry occurs in the face of a number of
difficulties – a city that has been hard hit by the financial
crisis and a planning disaster that has obliterated the urban
landscape immediately before the Cathedral’s doors. In such
a context, we decided that to ask the question “what needs
to be solved?” would almost certainly only result in an
energy-sapping list of woes and troubles. Led by Canon
Frankie Ward of Bradford’s Chapter, we decided instead to
use an approach called “Appreciative Inquiry” – a method
that invites respondents to identify achievements that can
be built upon and strengths that can be used to address
challenges.
So during the week we asked the following questions of
many different people, “What do you like about Bradford?”
14
and “What is good about Bradford’s Cathedral?” Our
inquiries took us onto the streets, into schools, into
conversation with a mosque, to local rotary clubs, to
uniformed organisations and to meetings with local
businesses, bishops and churches. We also asked our
questions of the city’s “movers and shakers” – its mayor, MP,
vice chancellor and representatives of its local council,
chamber of commerce, newspaper, mosques, courts and civil
society organisations. We summarised the responses we’d
heard about the cathedral during the week as follows:
1. The Cathedral gives leadership through partnership
with others;
2. People love the Cathedral;
3. The Cathedral is open and inclusive;
4. The Cathedral is outward-looking and engaged;
5. The Cathedral offers space and hospitality;
6. The Cathedral is both visible and invisible.
Our time in Bradford enabled the Cathedral to think more
about what its future mission should be; a holy space, active
in promoting hope and a vision for the city, a safe space for
reflection and debate. Our final action before leaving
Bradford was to present our findings to members of the
Cathedral’s Council – its governing body. These were both
a source of great encouragement and the source of lively
debate as members sought to articulate how they thought
the Cathedral should seek to participate in God’s mission
to the world. The discussion was positive, engaged and
passionate – an excellent reflection of the approach of
appreciative inquiry that we’d used.
As a mission team we left Bradford enormously grateful
for all that we had been able to learn while there – of what
it means to think about mission in a multi-faith, multi-ethnic
city and of how a cathedral can engage in that work. We
were privileged to have spent ten days alongside the
Cathedral’s Dean, Chapter and congregation and to learn
of all that they do to minister in that place – our time in
Bradford was an experience we shall never forget.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Ordinands Near and Far Ordinands reflect on their travels
Tantur Ecumenical Institute,
Jerusalem – Tom Lilley
memory is of the very gritty physicality of life in
the Holy Land. Walls tearing communities apart,
gun wielding teenage soliders, a crucible of polity,
In July I spent three weeks in Israel with around
creed and ideology. And it was out of this mess
thirty people, ordained, lay and in training. Our
that the reality of the incarnation took on a far
time was spent in lectures, visting key holy sites and
deeper meaning for me as I realised that it was in
meeting people with a variety of perspectives on
the exact same brokenness that Christ chose to be
Israel. I expected it to be a very spiritual experience
born in order to bring reconciliation. I hope those
and in many ways it was, but my resounding
memories will stay with me for a very long time.
15
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Iona – Suzanne Cooke
St Cyprian’s, Sharpeville, South Africa –
Catherine Shelley
I had a memorable Holy Week this year. Memorable for the neverendingly uncomfortable journey to live and worship with the Iona
Under apartheid Sharpeville was a black township, providing
Community; memorable for cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping,
workers for Johannesburg’s mines and steelworks. Apartheid no
worshipping and laughing with friends old and new; memorable for
longer exists, but whilst ‘blacks’ have moved to former ‘white’ areas,
amazing, innovative and creative acts of worship my friends and I
few non-blacks venture into townships. It’s a shame – the welcome
helped put together; memorable for wet feet from boggy walks,
is amazing.
wet hair from singing and praying in pouring rain, blue skin from
the cold, cold sea; memorable for crashing seas, white sands and
the smell of whisky.
I remember God in this place … and who he might want me to be.
Catherine Shelley in South Africa
Parish worship is a wonderful blend of Anglo-Catholic procession,
incense, singing, prayer and dance. Services start at 9.30 (after
Bible study at 8.30) and finish 3-4 hours later; never has time
Suzanne Cooke and Anthony Searle on their way to Iona
passed so quickly. Saturdays are spent at the cemetery for funerals
or tomb unveilings – it can take decades to save the money for a
tombstone. The parish is also involved in drugs education, schools,
HIV work, the community centre and Sharpeville Care of the
Aged. Trips around Sharpeville, Soweto and Sofiatown with Father
David provided amazing insights into South African history. South
Africa is freer than it was but the violence of Apartheid still needs
healing. In that spirit white and black clergy are making a donkey
drive from the Diocese of Christ the King to Cape Town, raising
funds for church community centres. Prayers for them and South
Africa would be appreciated.
16
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
Theological Conversations
The Revd Angela Tilby writes about her new book,
The Seven Deadly Sins
For the last five years of my time as
a tutor at Westcott House I was
trying to write a book about sin.
This had its origins in a series of
sermons I was invited to preach in
Lent 2002 in Westminster Abbey. I
had taken the theme ‘Deadly Sins
and Easy Virtues’ and was trying to
apply the medieval notion of
cardinal sins and virtues to
contemporary spiritual life. In preparing the
sermons I came across the shadowy figure
of Evagrius of Pontus, the 4th century
ascetic, most of whose writings are
concerned with Eight Thoughts, which, if
indulged can lead to spiritual catastrophe.
He was the first to codify this list of
destructive human tendencies, the source of
what later became the Seven Deadly Sins.
Evagrius’ ‘thoughts’ are, Gluttony, Lust,
Avarice, Anger, Sadness, Sloth, Vainglory
and Pride. It was strange to begin
researching and writing this book in the
context of a theological college. My
conversations with ordinands were usually about study,
pastoral issues, relationships with others, the wider church,
past and future parishes. All this was meant to contribute to
their formation as ministers of the gospel. But we almost
never talked about sin. In a sense this was because a place
like Westcott House inevitably absorbs the ethos of
contemporary adult education. The idea is to build on the
student’s experience, to consolidate and affirm as the basis
for growth in understanding. What was less often asked was
what might need to be left behind, what habits of mind and heart
prevented the kind of growth which would enable and
sustain ministerial life.
The more I delved into the thought of Evagrius, the more
important this question became to me. I had experience in
my own life of the importance of leaving things behind, that
there are necessary sacrifices which are part of obeying
God’s call. These often involve material sacrifices – an
aspect many of those coming to Westcott were familiar with
– but it also involved spiritual sacrifices, the giving up of
habits of mind and body which might bring advantage in
secular life, but can also keep us in immature and unloving
relationships with others and the world. Evagrius had an
uncanny insight into the roots of these bad
habits, he saw them arising from basic fears
and anxieties that drive much of what we
might call our unthinking responses.
Evagrius would say these are not
unthinking responses, but the products of
the logismoi, the ‘evil thoughts’ which
ripple out from what Andrew Louth
describes as ‘cracks in the heart.’ Insight,
prayer, discretion and self-awareness are the
route to healing. Over time the Western
Church lost touch with this diagnostic
approach to sin and came to see sin as a
product of a proud and rebellious will,
more a crime against God than a sickness.
Westcott students often seemed very aware of their
vulnerabilities, and quite a number of them wisely sought
counselling or psychotherapy while they were in training.
Yet, while the therapeutic world has little time for ‘sin’, the
Church is stuck with an understanding of sin which does not
really meet contemporary experience. I was drawn to
Evagrius because I believe his teachings enable us to
understand afresh the complexities of the human heart and
why it makes sense to sing at the Paschal Vigil, ‘O happy
fault, that merited such and so great a Redeemer.’
17
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
A Conversation with Jean Vanier
One of the privileges of being at Westcott House is
meeting and learning from the extraordinary people
who visit us. In October we were privileged to receive
a visit from Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, an
international organisation made up of 135 communities
with and for people with disabilities. Jean came to
Cambridge to participate in the University’s 800th
Anniversary series, ‘A World to Believe In’, which
Westcott House has helped organise. He started his
visit with an informal meeting with ordinands in the
Westcott Common Room, where he spoke about the
life-changing experience of living in community with
those who are often unwanted and frightened, and the
way in which we are healed by those we reject. In
telling the stories of a number of those he had lived
with he reflected on our calling to be vulnerable with
the vulnerable and the fragility of God. The following
are excerpts from what he shared with us.
I hear the same thing with people who are working in Paris
with prostitutes: I hear people saying that once you have
listened to their stories you will never be the same.
And the same thing from people who work in palliative care:
“I feel transformed when I listen to people who are dying.”
So, why are you here, and what do you want me to talk
about?
I have learned that to live life is to fool around, not to be
too serious. I have been living for 45 years now with people
who are pretty crazy, and we have a great time together.
We learn to sing and dance, and to laugh and fight! So I am
always interested in people like you who are serious and
engaged in studies!
A few years ago we welcomed a young man who was blind
and deaf and couldn’t walk. I think I have never seen a
young person with so much anguish. He has a story about
being abandoned: his mother didn’t quite know what to do
with him. She put him in the local hospital, which
transferred him to
the psychiatric
hospital. She went
once to the hospital
and was so horrified
she never went back.
Where is his pain?
His pain is that he
felt he wasn’t loved,
a sense of not being
wanted.
What I find strange and amazing is that recently we had a
group of ordinands who spent a month at various of our
communities and they asked to come and see me. I said
“I am not terribly
interested in speaking
to you, but I am
interested in who you
are and what you are
looking for. Why are
you all ordinands?
What have you learned
by spending a month in
our community?”
Everyone pretty well
said, “I feel
transformed.” I said,
“Do you realise what
you are saying? You are
all future priests and
you say that living for a
month with people that
Jean Vanier was warmly welcomed by Westcott House staff and students
are crazy has
transformed you!”
18
13
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
We welcomed him. This is not about generosity but about
the communion of hearts. Generosity is when someone is in
need and you do things for them. It is about being in a
position of power. But generosity should lead to communion
– tell me your pain, tell me your name – then we meet.
Something happens when we meet and you tell me your
name and I tell you my name. I’m not in a
position of power. I’m no more than you and
I’m no less than you. We’re human beings, all
of us vulnerable. We’ve been hurt; we’ve hurt.
We have our violence in us, we have our pain.
So how do we move from generosity to a
communion of hearts where I see you precious
just as you are?
The Gospel message is centred on this – that
God has chosen what is the weakest of our
world. God has chosen the foolish, God has
chosen the most despised. When St Paul says
that the people who are least presentable and
the weakest are indispensable to the Church,
how many people believe that? I have never
seen a book on ecclesiology starting with that.
How many people will come and live with the
marginalised? Are they really indispensable to
the Church? To find priests who are interested to come and
to live the Good News – that is pretty rare. The Kingdom
of God is like a wedding feast – but everybody is too busy
to come. The only people who do eventually come are
those who are poor, the lame, the blind, the disabled.
They come because it’s fun, it’s good to be together, it’s
good to celebrate our lives.
are called to be free? Free from fear – from the fear of not
being loved, from the fear of rejection, from the fear of
failure. Can we help people belong to one another, be
loved by one another, so they can be free?
A little disabled boy was making his first communion. After
the Eucharist there was a family meeting, and the uncle who
Jean Vanier signs a book for Anne Howson
was the godfather went up to the mother and said, “Wasn’t
the liturgy so beautiful? The only thing that’s sad is that he
understood nothing.” The little boy heard and with tears in
his eyes, he said, “Mummy – Jesus loves me as I am. I don’t
have to be what my uncle wants.”
Maybe you have to be disabled to say that – and to have
lived with the experience of being loved. I don’t have to be
what other people want me to be.
The question is how to create community where you bring
together belonging and freedom. The reality of our world
today is a lot of people are caught up in the world of
competition and success, but also in a lot of anguish and
depression. So how do you help people discover that they
19
20
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
The Story of the Westcott Icon by John Armson
In November 2008, John Armson, who served as Westcott
House Chaplain from 1973 to 1976, and Vice-Principal
1976-1982, returned and shared with us the story of how
the icon of Christ in the Westcott House Chapel came
into being.
It is lovely to be back in this chapel. So many people have
prayed here, at such a formative time in their lives. And it is
striking for me to reflect that when I first came here, in
1973, the chapel was only half as old as it is now.
(Which makes it very young).
I first came in response to an invitation from Mark Santer,
Principal at the time. People speak grandly of vocation, but
in my case God worked like this: One day in 1973, at the
corner of Emmanuel Street, Mark Santer invited me, from
his bike, to be chaplain at Westcott. I was then chaplain at
Downing and had staying with me a contemporary from
Mirfield where we had both trained. We came round to suss
out the place. As we came in the chapel, David, a blunt
Yorkshire man, said, “You can’t come here!” And my own
heart said much the same.
At that time, the chapel was heavy and crowded. The altar
was more sideboard than board, surrounded by curtains
slung from riddle posts. The place was full of that
quintessentially Anglican smell of devotion: polish. Two
students, doomed to become Cathedral deans, had painted
the walls brick red. Thank Goodness for that watchdog, the
Cathedrals’ Fabric Advisory Body.
But I did come, and for half a term endured. But people
were ready for change. There had just been a competition
amongst the ordinands to introduce a cross on the east wall.
Three entries had been received. They were still in what was
then the bike shed. (Now the library stack, I think). One
was made of huge black railway sleepers, and nearly brought
the east wall down. One was made of rope and was
ingenious but not to scale. The third was wonderfully
imaginative: two gracefully carved pieces of different
interlocking woods. Full of energy – but it gave people bad
dreams. Some saw in it bull’s horns. For others it produced
distracting sexual fantasies. It would not do. Its maker was
deeply hurt, and did not get ordained – but we are still good
friends, I am glad to say. He is a creative man.
But as I said, people were ready for change. Times change –
as the people of God change (we hope). So, to continue the
story: during the first half-term break, when most people
were away, four of us hired scaffolding, and took saws, axes
and hammers. We felled the riddle posts1, rolled up the
curtains and priceless Persian carpet, sawed the hollow altar
in two, like a lady in a box, and, to open the place up,
pushed the pews to the sides. (You can still see the original
stone ambulatories each side of the chapel). The brick-red
walls became white. The chapel became basically what you
see today. When people came back after the break, there
was an audible intake of breath – of delight, it has to be
said. It was only later, when they had got their breath back,
people said, accusingly, “By what authority did you do these
things?” But it was too late then. We’d done them.
The newly ordered chapel was no longer an old-fashioned
dining room. It was more ‘Habitat’. Simple, open, cleanlined – not to say empty. But like nature, church people
abhor a vacuum. And, in due course, ‘things’ started to
accumulate. One of them was the Westcott icon. And I’m
here today because the Principal kindly took up my point
that the story of the icon – part of your story now – ought to
be told and retold in this chapel. So here I am. I feel like
saying, ‘Once upon a time ...’ because it’s that kind of
magical story.
After the great clear-out of that first half term, the chapel
was left rather austere, even by Habitat standards. The
great temptation now was to fill the space. (I’m so glad you
still haven’t succumbed. For emptiness can speak of God as
much as things). Initially we introduced a reproduction icon,
stuck on block board covered with Christmas wrapping
paper, placed tastefully off-centre. (I was once told, good
taste is the downfall of the Church of England).
But then – I think from that Russian aficionado, Donald
Allchin – we heard about Marianna Fourtunatto, an
Orthodox Russian emigré who painted icons. I went to see
1 I think the base of the present pricket stand is made of part of one of them.
21
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
her in her home in Notting Hill – which coincidentally had
been my training parish. Her husband, a lovely church
musician, was busy restoring church music in postCommunist Russia, where Marianna herself has had a part in
teaching icon painting. Yes, she would paint us an icon.
“What of?” she said.” “The Lord,” I said. “Which Lord?” she
said. We settled on Christ, the Word of God. “How much
will it cost?” I asked. “Whatever you choose to give me,” she
said. “When can you do it?” I asked. “I’ll let you know,” she
said. I left her: an outwardly slight, but very impressive,
woman.
Time went by. A year passed. No
news. I knew that Russian time
was not the same as Western
time, so held my peace. Another
year passed. I went to see her.
She had been ill, was still ill, and
did not know when she would
not be ill. More time passed.
Here at Westcott, we were
beginning to doubt. But I sent
her a card to wish her a happy
Easter (taking care to remember
to get the Orthodox date right!).
I thought the odd jog now and
then might kick-start the project.
And this time it must have done. Because one day shortly
after (our) Easter, the phone went. It was Marianna. “Your
icon is nearly ready,” she said. As I hadn’t heard a squeak for
ages, this came as something of a shock. But nothing
compared to the googly she then bowled. “What text” – I
recall her words precisely – “What text does your
community want?”
Now this icon was going to be central for the House’s
devotion – not least because the chapel was so plain. So it
was crucial that it did not become in any way divisive. Had
she asked what text I wanted, life would have been relatively
easy. But the community … House Meetings on Monday
evenings were not always sweetness and light, but now
unanimity was of the essence. Mark was on Sabbatical at
the English College in Rome. So I was in charge, and I
decided to invite anyone who wished to submit to me their
suggestion for a text – anonymously or not, but to do it
without consultation with others.
22
I forget how many envelopes I received – but a good few.
Without exception, they all suggested texts from St John’s
gospel. And all but one came from the final discourses. And
of those, all but one were of the same verse. And I believe
there had been no consultation. Rather than post the result
or phone it, I took it to Marianna in London. The all-butfinished icon was propped up on the sofa in her flat. It was
the first time I had seen it, and it was rather odd having
lunch with the Lord looking at me.
When we started to speak about it – Him – the first thing
she said to me was, “He’s not angry, is He?” I tried to
reassure her He was not. “Ah, good,” she
said, “I was so frightened He would be.
I’ve been so conscious of all the evil in the
world while I was painting your icon, my
own anger might have passed into it.” But
in fact she had remained loyal to her
Russian tradition and had painted –
as I hope you agree – an icon which
shows a compassionate, if sorrowful, Lord.
Had she been Greek it might have been
otherwise, of course: their tradition is
much sterner. (Some of their icons make
the Dies Irae seem as mild as a Rutter
carol).
We had lunch, watched by the Lord, propped up on his
couch, holding his empty book. As we ate, I told her of the
turmoil raised by her question about the icon’s text. And
then I told her our answer. “Ye have not chosen me, I have
chosen you.” To my surprise and embarrassment, Marianna
wept. “It is indeed the text of this icon,” she said. “When
you asked me to paint an icon of the Lord, I felt it was
beyond me. To represent a saint to a community is hard
enough – but the Lord himself … But I had to do it, for you
had asked, and the Lord had given me my vocation. I did
not choose it: he chose me. And it has reduced me to
despair at times.” And I realised, this had been part of the
illness that had crippled her for so long. And I reflected on
the part we had played in that – uncomplaining though she
was. I left her, to paint in the words, and returned to
Cambridge a chastened man.
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATIONS
Now the days went by and we heard no more, and prepared
for another long wait. But no: one day, just before Ascension
Day in1979, the phone went. “Your icon is ready. I am
bringing it to Cambridge tomorrow.” We hurriedly
assembled as many of the House as we could, here in
chapel, and she brought in the icon she had painted at such
cost. I invited her to say a little about it – but perhaps
understandably she spoke about icons generally rather than
about this one. Then she got up and, without a backward
glance, walked out of the chapel, leaving it – Him – with us.
Later I said to her, “It must have been painful for you to
leave a thing of such
significance to you?” “No,” she
said, “It is yours now. My part
is over.” And I thought of a
woman giving birth to a new
life, her own, yet not her own.
And, “He must increase, I must
decrease.”
So, my dear friends, in a
religion, and in a college,
which is full to overflowing
with words, you have here
something of great silence, a
costly gift, which has been
given to you out of great
sacrifice. Here, the Word made
flesh is not made word again.
Walker, then a canon at Winchester, spoke on the Radio 4
Sunday programme about the icons in the Cathedral there.
He remarked that, with icons, the mouth is small, the ears
insignificant, but the eyes, ah the eyes!
But He looks at you, undemanding in his demands,
uncompromising in His truthfulness. As non-negotiable as
the desert where He was forged. ‘I have chosen you’. But we
do not have to return His gaze. I often used to sit and look
at Him, though, as He looked at me. We became – dare I
say it? – friends, though I have been unfaithful. But,
the saying is sure: …
‘If we are faithless, He remains
faithful – for He cannot deny
himself.2 ‘
And, sure enough, (as Isaiah says)
Morning by morning he wakens,
he wakens my ear,3
saying,
Ye did not choose me: I chose
you.4 Wake up. Get up. Bear
fruit. Blame me.
But He also says, with great affection and
support:
Christ doth call
One and all:
Ye who follow shall not fall.5
For, as the Westcott bell tells you so often,
On the Sunday after that
remarkable arrival, Keith
2 Tim 2.13
3Isa 50.4
4John 15.16
5R Bridges, after J Neander
6I Thess 5.24
23
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
New Developments
Westcott House Preaching Course
In our commitment to improve the
teaching of preaching, this year we
devoted the whole of Lent term’s
‘Life and Service’ course to the
subject. Each week the ordinands
spent two hours in class studying
and discussing homiletics and one
hour preaching their sermons for
one another. Westcott ordinand Gill
Barrow shares her thoughts on this
new course.
demonstrations from the Revd Angela Tilby, who engaged us
with her experiences from ‘Thought for the Day’ on the
‘Today’ programme and left us with the most helpful
instruction to "Edit, edit, edit"!
Those in the first year of Life & Service this year spent
a lot of the Lent term preaching; every other week in fact.
In a ‘new and improved’ homiletics course inspired by one
available at Yale Divinity School, we had lectures on
preaching, insights and tips on different ways to speak
the Good News in a non-church setting, and most
importantly, the opportunity to try out our new homiletic
skills on one another.
But I think that the most moving and educational experience
of this course was the insightful meditations that fellow
students offered to one another. Organised into small
groups, we were encouraged to reflect on what is actually
happening as we preach, and how we begin to embody the
sermon that we deliver. We would gather to preach to one
another each week – giving us a safe place to try out new
styles or structures, or just the opportunity to get more
experience and to receive honest and critically helpful
feedback. Whilst a Westcott tutor would join us for part of
the session to hear a sermon or two and to give feedback,
the vital and most helpful part of this process was how we as
students learnt to give and receive the feedback ourselves,
and how as a result our preaching developed, changed and
dramatically improved.
Each week there was a morning with lectures or formal
insights into the discipline and art of preaching from
different Westcott staff that covered some of the obvious
topics like ‘what makes a good sermon?’
alongside a discussion of how to structure a
sermon, or how one might use the genre of
storytelling rather than the traditional sermon.
We had the opportunity to read and dissect
well-crafted sermons to analyse how they were
working, and the helpful ability to watch video
footage of Barbara Brown Taylor (a frequent
name in the lists of the best preachers today)
and to discuss the linguistic devices and body
language that she often employs to get her
message across. Additionally, we greatly
benefited from the contributions of Westcott’s
adjunct lecturer Dr Robert Beckford, who gave
insight from his work in religious documentary,
and the very helpful and practical
We began to find a style for ourselves, to find an appropriate
voice, and to communicate God’s message more effectively
and with more integrity than we had ever done before.
There is a fear that a course like
this might create ‘sermon clones’
and that we might learn
predictable techniques. On the
contrary, I found that my own
individual ‘quirks’ remained, and
the style that I would use naturally
was crafted, honed and improved.
I think that this course will be, on
reflection, one of the most helpful
and enjoyable courses that I have
taken at Westcott. Not only
because it helped me develop my
own voice, but because it has given
me the skills and methods to
sustain a lifetime of preaching.
Gill Barrow
Yale student, Chris McKee, preaching in chapel
24
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
A Weekly Hour of Silent Prayer
This year a group began gathering in the Chapel on Tuesday
afternoons for an hour of silent prayer, led by Professor
Sarah Coakley. Here one of the participating ordinands,
Catriona Laing, reflects on the experience.
talking, how to make the most of the time and how we
might reflect on the experience individually as well as a
group.
One of the highlights of my life at Westcott last year was
praying in silence with a group of people on a Tuesday
afternoon in the Chapel. Five to ten of us have been
meeting every week for 50 minutes of silent prayer before
Chapel on Tuesday evenings. When I sat down to write a
short piece about the experience I realised how difficult it is
to describe a practice which is so simple. Partly, because as
one might expect with a silent prayer group, there is very
little exchange, relatively little sharing of experiences and
not much in the way of
events or action to
describe. And yet, it has
enriched and transformed
my prayer life quite
significantly.
We read some reflections and traditions of spiritual
guidance, amongst them Dom John Chapman. One thing
Dom John Chapman said which stayed with me particularly
was ‘pray as you can, not as you can’t’. Praying in silence
became for me a liberating experience of learning to let go
of everything else and just pray, or rather allow the spirit to
pray through me. In his letter to the Romans, St Paul
reminds us that we need the help of the Holy Spirit to pray.
Praying is not as easy as we tend to expect it to be, but
praying in silence has become a way for me to allow the
Spirit to help me pray. Silence leaves room for the prayers of
God to be heard and to echo in our hearts. Silence takes us
away from the constant noise, the ‘shopping list’ prayers that
we rattle off in ten minutes making sure we get all our
requests in before our prayer time is up, and it leads us to a
place of encounter with the living God.
When she arrived to take
up the Norris-Hulse chair
in the Faculty of Divinity,
Professor Sarah Coakley
was looking for a place to
continue a practice of
group silent prayer she had
started whilst at Harvard
Divinity School. Westcott Chapel seemed like the obvious
place so she came to address a group of us and talked about
the practice of praying in silence. Although it is a perfectly
straightforward exercise it was helpful to have some pointers
from Professor Coakley about how to deal with the
distractions that creep in the moment one sits still and stops
None of this is to say that I do not fall asleep or get
distracted during fifty minutes of silence. Much of that time
is taken up with worrying about the next piece of work that
is due in, the person I forgot to call or what I am going to
eat for my next meal – one thing our group has established
is that we all have those distractions, we have all heard the
person next to us nod off or woken ourselves up with a
sudden jerk! Nevertheless, one thing I’ve learnt through this
experience of silent prayer is that if you set aside enough
time, there is time for the distractions to come and go. I’ve
also learnt that prayer is a practice which takes practice. The
more you do it, the easier it gets until you find that you are
beginning to descend into a deeper silence which leads you
to a sense of being drawn deeper into the presence of God.
25
NEW DEVEPOPMENTS
Refurbishment Programme
Heating in All Saints’
Over the summer heating has been installed in All
Saint’s Church, designed to maintain a ‘conservation
level’ temperature through the winter months. This
now means that we can use the church year round, and
it is quite a shock to walk in and find it warm! It also
means that the damp and musty smell has gone. The
heating was made possible by a substantial grant from
WREN, funds from the Churches’ Conservation Trust,
and donations from The Friends.
Refurbishment of D Staircase
As we seek to make the college more accessible, we
have refurbished the ground floor of D staircase to
provide a fully accessible room and bathroom for a
person using a wheelchair. The work was carried out
to a very high standard and the result is attractive and
practical accommodation for people with limited
mobility. Thank you to the alumni whose donations
enabled this work to happen!
Children’s Play Area
The Children and Families’ Representative, Adrian
Cooke, erected a new climbing frame for ordinands’
children in New Court in May 2009.
Heating being installed over the summer
26
New Climbing Frame
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Organ installed in chapel
Westcott chapel, despite the imposing gallery, has never
had an organ, so we were delighted when Norman Hall
and Sons, who were restoring the organ in All Saints’,
suggested they might have the perfect instrument for us.
It has indeed turned out to be so. The one manual pipe
organ, no longer needed by Swaffham Prior Zion Baptist
Church since its closure in 2006, was installed by Norman
Hall with the help of a valiant band of ordinands, over the
Christmas vacation, and it would now be hard to imagine
worship without it. We were most grateful for an
anonymous donation we received. With an electronic
keyboard also in the gallery, and the annually changing
variety of instruments that ordinands offer to play, we can
now play a much wider range of liturgical music.
Ordinands in the snow in February
27
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Westcott House Gifts and Mementos
We are very pleased to offer an assortment of Westcott House gift and memento items.
Westcott House Cuff Links
Westcott House Greeting Cards
With either chain link
(as pictured) for
£20 or swivel
fitting £18
+£2.50 p&p
Large greeting card (15x21cm) with white
envelope, blank
inside for your
message.
Westcott House Photo Postcards
£1.50 each
+50p p&p,
or 5 for £6
+£2 p&p
The Westcott
House Icon
Postcards featuring photos of Westcott House,
All Saints’ Church, The Westcott
Icon, and Hort
30p each
or a set of all
four for £1
A 14x19cm print
of the icon on
2mm thick card.
+50p p&p
for up to
4 cards
+£1.50 p&p for
up to 3
+£2.00 p&p for 4-5
£3.50
To order any of these items please write to the Development Office, Westcott House,
Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BP or email development@westcott.cam.ac.uk
28
Ember List 2009
Deacons
Diocese
M. Christine Barrow
Nest W. Bateman
David Baverstock
Rebekah L. Cannon
Lara Dose
Jonathan Elcock
Bonnie J. Evans-Hills
Dawn A. Glen
Ruth C. Goatly
Sarah C. Gower
Brutus Z. Green
Paula W. L. Griffiths
Timothy D.M. Hayward
Christopher G. Holden
Anne M. Howson
Christyan E. James
Tasha (Natalia) Kharitonova
Stuart Labran
Karen I. Mitchell
Imogen Nay
Michael M. Rose
Anne R. Shorter
Stephen F. Stavrou
Alex(ander) W. Summers
Jennifer C. Totney
Christine L. Turpin
Ellen L. Wakeham
Ely
Lichfield
St Albans
ordination tba
Manchester
Llandaff
Leicester
Derby
St Albans
Ely
London
Chelmsford
Ely
Blackburn
Chelmsford
Canterbury
London
Coventry
St Albans
Southwark
Lincoln
Peterborough
London
Chelmsford
Salisbury
Worcester
Lincoln
Priests
Richard M. Bastable
Alison S. Booker
Adam C. Boulter
Elizabeth A.M.G. Brown
Sarah E. Bryant
Joseph C. Cant
Louise A.J. Codrington-Marshall
Paul J.L. Cody
Nicholas D. Davies
Margaret A. Davis
Paul A. Dominiak
Mark F. Eminson
A. Maria Flipse
Ian M. Gallagher
David A. Gardiner
Rachel E. Greene
Julia R. Hicks
Robert B. Hicks
Sally J. Horner
Alison C. Letschka
Sally M. Lynch
Julius T. Makoni
Simon J. Tibbs
Guy M. Treweek
London
Leicester
Southwark
Guildford
Salisbury
Derby
Southwark
Lichfield
Southwark
St Albans
York
Chichester
Llandaff
Liverpool
Gloucester
Salisbury
Bath and Wells
Bath and Wells
Southwark
Chichester
Chelmsford
London
Edinburgh
London
Julius Makoni has been elected and consecrated Bishop of Manicaland, Zimbabwe
29
Staff Contacts
Martin Seeley
Principal
Direct Line: 01223 741 010
Email: mas209@cam.ac.uk
Liz Gordon
House and Conference Manager
Direct Line: 01223 741 004
Email: eg205@cam.ac.uk
Michael Beasley
Vice Principal, Tutor in Mission
Direct Line: 01223 741 012
Email: nmrb2@cam.ac.uk
Marie Bull
Tutorial Secretary
Direct Line: 01223 741 001
Email: mb687@cam.ac.uk
Jeff Bailey
Tutor in Theology
Direct Line: 01223 741 007
Email: jwb39@cam.ac.uk
Simon Gatenby
Tutor at Manchester
Direct Line: 0161 273 2470
Email: simon@brunswickchurch.org.uk
Victoria Raymer
Director of Studies, Tutor in Liturgy
Direct Line: 01223 741 011
Email: ver21@cam.ac.uk
Andrew Mein
Tutor in Old Testament
Email: arm32@cam.ac.uk
Margie Tolstoy
Tutor in Ethics
Direct Line: 01223 740 952
Email: mmt13@cam.ac.uk
Dave Male
Tutor in Pioneer Ministry
Direct Line: 01223 741 102
Email: dm432@cam.ac.uk
Lindsay Yates
Chaplain
Direct Line: 01223 741 014
Email: laa26@cam.ac.uk
Margaret Winterbourne
PA to the Principal
Direct Line: 01223 741 005
Email: maw25@cam.ac.uk
30
Tiffany Conlin
Acting Director of Pastoral Studies
Email: tjkc2@cam.ac.uk
Elizabeth Phillips
Tutor in Theology and Ethics
Direct Line: 01223 741 013
Email: erp31@cam.ac.uk
Jeff Phillips
Tutor in Theology and Philosophy
Direct Line: 01223 741 013
Email: jbp23@cam.ac.uk
Doreen Albiston
Finance Assistant
Direct Line: 01223 741 000
Email: da292@cam.ac.uk
Members of the Governing Council 2008-2009
The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Chair
The Revd Canon Martin Seeley, Principal
The Revd Dr Michael Beasley, Vice Principal
Mr Tony Wilson, Hon. Treasurer
The Revd Dr Anthony Russell
The Revd Canon Dr Fraser Watts
The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris
The Revd Dr Philip Luscombe
Mrs Denise Thorpe
The Revd Dr Victoria Raymer
Dr Anna Rowlands
Mr Michael Womack
The Rt Revd Christopher Foster
Professor David McClean
The Revd Canon Vanessa Herrick
Miss Elizabeth Foy
Mr David Gill
The Revd Canon Alma Servant
The Revd Duncan Dormor
Observers:
Mrs Jane Richardson
The Revd Simon Gatenby
Mr William McVey, Bursar
31
J ESUS L ANE • C AMBRIDGE
CB 5 8 BP
U NITED K INGDOM
T EL : +44 (0)1223 741000
FAX : +44 (0)1223 741002
E MAIL : general-enquiries@westcott.cam.ac.uk
www.westcott.cam.ac.uk
M EMBER
OF THE
C AMBRIDGE T HEOLOGICAL F EDERATION
R EGISTERED C HARITY N O : 311445
All Saints’ Church by moonlight