Personal Journal - Preparing, Producing and Participating in an Act of Worship

Mosaic based on the Deesis Mosaic, Hagia Sophia

This journal records my thoughts on the experience of preparing, producing and participating in a service of Morning Prayer on Thursday 30th April 2020. The service was broadcast on the Facebook page of St Augustine's College of Theology and can be watched online here. The order of service is here. The paragraph numbers were added later to assist referencing to a coursework assignment.

Facebook Art - Lord you have called me by name

Mosaic based on a batik 'Jesus on the Lotus Flower' by Dr P Solomon Raj, 1998 

Today I led a virtual service of Morning Prayer on our College Facebook page. You can watch the recording here and follow the order of service here. I am grateful to Ben Schoeman for the music in today’s service and to my partner Henry for reading and for acting as cameraman. Today the Church of England remembers Mary Ramabai, a Sanskrit scholar and translator of the scriptures and the first woman to be awarded the title ‘Pandita’ which means scholar or learned person. She is remembered for her opposition to child marriage and the caste system, for setting up schools and homes for women and orphans and for pioneering an Indian vision of the faith.

Start:Stop - Why Work?

Office in a Small City - Edward Hopper, 1953

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, my name is Phillip Dawson. Under normal circumstances we would be repeating this short reflection in church every quarter of an hour; commuters on their way to work would drop in as they pass by, starting their day by stopping to reflect for a few minutes. For many, the journey to work at the moment is a somewhat shorter affair - and finding an appropriate environment in which to work may be more of a challenge than it was a few months ago! For those who have been furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic, there is an expectation that they won’t do much, if any work – at least not paid work for their employers.

In our reflection this morning we will be exploring our relationship with work. We begin with a short passage from scripture, to which the editors of the bible we use in church have chosen to add the rather ominous title “Warning Against Idleness.”

You can listen to a copy of this reflection here.

Congregation Festival – Celebrating the Architecture of Sacred Space

St Theresia Church, Linz - Rudolf Schwarz

On Saturday 29th February 2020, the Architecture Foundation held a one day conference at St Mary's Paddington. "Congregation" drew together architects, academics and philosophers to discuss building spaces for worship.

Start:Stop - Raising the bar

The Creation of Animals - Paul Nash, 1924

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection, helping you start your day by stopping to reflect for ten minutes. Through Lent we have been exploring the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, using as our guide the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book “Saying Yes to Life.” Our reading this morning describes the sixth day of creation: