Yr Wyddfa

Snowdon, nest of eagles. The view from the summit.

The highest point in Wales and England.

Normally you look up at mountains, here you look down!

From the summit you can see 24 counties, 29 lakes and 17 islands. The Snowdon range is one of the most mysterious and majestic mountain ranges I know. It is so often cloaked in mist and you can, I believe, sense the antiquity of the rocks, formed between 4 and 5 million years ago. There is something about lying quietly in the grass among the mountains of Snowdonia - the quality of the silence is an age-old ache. Yr Wyddfa means 'tomb' or 'tumulus' and it is said that King Arthur slew and buried the mighty giant Rhita Gawr on the summit. Arthur himself died on the ridge between Yr Wyddfa and Y Lliwedd, casting his sword, Excalibur, into the waters of Glaslyn below, while his men retreated to a cave on the slopes of Y Lliwedd until such time as they will be needed. Merlin hid the golden throne of Britain among the cliffs of Crib Y Ddysgl and, to this day, it has never been found. These myths are  drawn from the time of the Saxon invasions of Britain and speak of the struggles between the Celts and Britons against this new wave of invaders.

This is the home of hill farmers - we saw farm dwellings well above 1,000 ft and heard of a local family who have recently moved into one of the farmsteads. It is also the land of poets. It is said that if two people spend the night near the lake at the foot of Clogwyn Ddu'r Arddu, one will go insane and the other will become a great poet. Above all it is country that invites endurance. Sir Edmund Hillary trained for his ascent of Everest on the pyramidal peak - Garnedd Ugain, Yr Wyddfa, Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd together making up the range that is known in Welsh as 'Eryri' - 'uplands' or 'place of eagles.'  But it is Clogwyn Ddu'r Arddu which remains the greatest challenge for mountaineers.

Peaks

Yr Wyddfa 1,085m; Garnedd Ugain 1,065m; Crib Goch 923m; Y Lliwedd 898m; Yr Aran 747m

Lakes

Glaslyn, Llyn Llydaw, Llyn Ffynnongwas, Llyn Ddu'r Arddu, Llyn Teyrn

Paths

Crib Goch (the ridge - mountaineers only!), the Pig Track, Miners' Track, Watkin Path (very demanding!), Rhyd Ddu Path, Snowdon Ranger Path, Llanberis Path (longest ascent), Y Lliwedd (second part of the Snowdon Horseshoe.) 

Saxon Kirk Hammerton

As its name might suggest, the church in the village of Kirk Hammerton, between York and Boroughbridge, is Saxon in origin.  The church, signposted 'ancient church' from the A59  welcomes visitors.

Situated on a mound in the centre of village, the church of St John the Baptist has areas dating from 600-800 ( south nave and chancel) and from around 1,000AD (tower and west door).

On entering the church, you are struck by the contrast between the parts which are of Saxon origin, in places revealing Saxon masonry, and the lofty Victorian nave and chancel (1834, 1891). Sitting in the south aisle you cannot but sense the antiquity of this place, a house of prayer continuously for 1,500 years, loved and adapted by each generation for its use in worship.













The Diocesan Tourism Group is busy working on a Saxon trail to take in sites around the area that are of Saxon origin or have Saxon artefacts. Beginning with the crypt at Ripon cathedral (672) you can spend a long summer day visiting some of these delightful ancient sites - Masham (Saxon burials), West Witton, Staveley, Goldsborough, Follifoot, Spofforth, Harewood and Collingham, Bardsey. A big thank you to the Revd Paul Spurgeon for talking to us about the church at Kirk Hammerton - not simply its history but also giving us an insight into the way the church has been developed dwon the centuries and the part it plays in village life today. 

History that Helps

As every priest knows, you ignore the history of a parish at your peril! Each community has its historical narrative - parts of it repeated over and over in not altogether identical versions, other parts half-remembered and implicit in the things that are held to be important in the community (and woe betide you if you ignore these underlying stories which point you to the things that have taken on the power of symbols in your particular neighbourhood!) The distinct narrative of any community forms the context for contemporary mission and ministry and in fact contains many clues as to how your community reacts to change.

I was grateful to Bishop James for pointing me towards the Building on History Project that has been running in the London Diocese.

http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/building-on-history-project/index.html

This project, which has been run by Kings College London, the Open University, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Diocese of London, is aimed at getting churches to look at their own history as a tool for helping them to be the church of the present in their own locality more effectively. It helps parishes to ask the question, 'What can we, the contemporary church, facing similar challenges, learn from our church's response to past challenges in their historical context?' By looking at the religious and social history of an area and understanding how the churches have coped with demographic and theological developments in the past, the project helps churches to gain confidence in facing the changes that confront us now. If you think about the ways in which museums and schools work to help us appreciate local history today and the contribution this makes to our sense of local identity, you can see that for a church to dig deep into its own historical treasures - both artefacts and oral history - will enable its members to make better-informed decisions and will provide practical wisdom about how the community might react to change. Historical awareness contributes inspiration, challenges wrong assumptions and helps us to a better sense of proportion and perspective. As Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London puts it, 'The person who has a sense of history and no sense of destiny is doubtless very tedious. But the person or community with a sense of destiny and no sense of history is very wasteful and even dangerous.' Rowan Williams, in a project podcast, says, 'We often take for granted that things have always been like this. But, actually, of course, to understand the past is to understand how things change.' 

If you go to the website above, it gives you guidelines for writing a church and parish history, gives ideas for how you can use history to inform contemporary mission and ministry and tells you how to conduct a 'history audit' of your congregation. It also helps you prepare a Statement of Significance for your church - a vital document if you are applying for faculties or funding.

Thornborough Henge

We often spend a peaceful half hour at the Nosterfield Local Nature Reserve. This is partly because it is so handy - we can just pop out at lunch time for a quick walk or drive over on a balmy summer evening to watch the avocets, curlew sandpipers, whinchats, ruff, cranes and pink footed geese.

Only a duck, I'm afraid!

When you're there you're always conscious of the nearby presence of Thornborough Henge and its great antiquity. There is really something very special about the atmosphere of the whole area and when we first arrived we were quite suprised to find such a site on our doorstep, relatively unsign-posted and inaccessible. Indeed you could drive around the area and not realise what a national treasure you were missing. English Heritage have designated the site (which dates from the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages - at least 4,000BC) the most significant prehistoric site between Stone Henge and the Orkneys; it is certainly a great deal larger than Stonehenge with its six henges. Given its size one wonders just what it was built for and from how far away people came to worship and  meet there. Clearly it was of great importance.

Now a number of local people have got together to do something about the site's state of neglect. The Thornborough Henge Heritage Trust has been formed to promote the protection and conservation of the henges and to enable archaeological research to be done. The Trust hopes to be able to raise public awareness of the significance of the henges for early British history and to promote education and understanding.

To find out more including how you can help, go to

http://www.thornboroughheritagetrust.org/

To read about the birds at Nosterfield Local Nature Reserve which is managed by the Lower Ure Conservation Trust and is the first Nature Reserve in Hambleton District, go to

http://www.luct.org.uk/?page_id=13

For the Lower Ure Conservation Trust

http://www.luct.org.uk/?_id=287

Queen Anne

Been reading an inspiring biography of Queen Anne, just lately. Her reign saw the union of Scotland and England to create the United Kingdom and the establishment of the economic basis for both the stability and the excesses of the eigtheenth century. Anne has often been overlooked as a weak monarch - someone of inferior education who could barely spell. Yet her story shows her to be a dutiful and stubborn person of great integrity and amazing firmness when it came to her beliefs and her sense of what was good for her people. She endured 17 pregnancies in the bid to provide an heir and it is utterly remarkable that, despite the demands on her physical well-being, she ruled with attention to detail and moral constistency.

In her day, the Church of England was beset with problems - the Tory party adopted the slogan 'The Church in Danger'. The problem was that the Church, of which she was Governor, was rent in two between 'High' and 'Low' parties. The Toleration Act of 1689 (which granted freedom of worship to all Trinitarian Protestants) had undermined the monopoly position of the Church of England, proving conclusively that there were a great many more Dissenters in the country than had previously been thought. The High Church Party emphasised loyalty to the Stuart line, the sanctity of the priesthood and the importance of ceremonial while the Low Church Party were wedded to more radical Protestant reform and all that that meant in terms of political alliances. Anne's personal sympathies were more in tune with the High Church party, but, like her predecessor, Elizabeth I, she had a great distrust for anything that tended to divide the nation, cause factions or boulster factious clergy. Henry Compton, the bishop of London, had taught her when she was the Lady Anne and had instilled in her a great respect for the doctrines of the Church of England as representing the true catholic faith.

The things that stand out for me in terms of Queen Anne's reign are to do with balance, duty, family, compassion and determination to assert her own views and independence of mind in a world in which she must have felt inferior in terms of her education and gender. I am not aware that anyone has appraised Anne as a feminist activist or politician but I think that she has something valuable to contribute to the 'can women have it all?' debate. She herself would not understand or sympathize with the question. Yet she is, I think, very much a woman who successfully blended personal belief, the call of family, professional or (in her case) constitutional duty and a real compassion for those for whom she had responsibility. I am not sure that she would have used the word 'successful' or indeed that most political commentators would use it. However, a close reading of her life reveals that Queen Anne worked with the personal, political and religious influences of her time to achieve a great deal that was valuable for the good of the nation.

Her chosen belief that the Church of England embodied a true interpretation of Christian tradition was, frankly, amazingly costly. It set her apart from her own, father, James II . Most historians downplay the significance of this; it is deeply costly to espouse beliefs which alienate us from our families, however remote. From an early age Anne showed her own independence of thought by very decidedly and even calaculatingly placing herself on the Protestant side of the national debate. Her Christian faith and understanding were deeply important to her and she adhered to her beliefs consistently and persistently even when under considerable pressure to give way.

Of course, the need to supply a Protestant heir and the power which accrues to a woman who can fulfill this role shaped Anne's life. Much has been written of the political outfall of her 17 pregnanacies. As someone who has, from time to time, been rendered very ill through gynaecological conditions, I marvel at Anne's capacity to undergo the physical and psychological trauma associated with bearing an heir while also coping with the day to day demands of monarchy in a time when the constitution was emerging and modern notions of monarchy taking shape. Were history to be written predominantly by women, I feel that Anne's contribution would be differently assessed.

Queen Anne's reign demonstrated a new departure in terms of compassion. Her reign had the singular distinction of being the first before 1760 during which there were no political executions despite the capture of several Jacobites who might have been executed for treason. She was recorded as having decreed that it would be 'a barbarous thing' to hang a woman when she was with child or to hang a man 'who has to support a wife and six children.'  Anne also shaped much of her life through friendships, notably with Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, but also with other prominent women of the day and, in this, she is very like modern women for whom a series of profound if somethimes turbulent friendships may turn out to to be the defining relationships of their lives.

She established Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund formed in 1704 to augment the livings of poor clergy and which was later used to build and repair parsonages. This was a very practical way of shoring up the ministry of the Church of England and in this, she showed her willingness to support in real terms the outworkings of her theological position as regards the church.

So Queen Anne gets my vote as someone who lived out her theological beliefs in very costly and practical ways and who was also ready to tread the difficult path of combining the moral duties which arise from a working (ie. constitutional or professional) life with the psychological and emotional demands of family life. To my way of thinking, she was the first truly modern monarch and a worthy mother of women who try to combine familial, theological and political vocations. To put it in contemporary language, she is an inspiration to women who wrestle with the demands of family, work, social expectation and traditional models of morality for the sake of our faith and our beliefs. She was more radical than ever she would have thought herself to be and she achieved some notable political advances through a balanced and undramatic sense of duty. 

Make your own assessment by reading Edward Gregg's  Queen Anne  Yale University Press 2001          

       

Two Firsts for Yorkshire

Apparently, the first-ever aeroplane flight took place at Brompton Hall, the ancestral home of Sir George Cayley in 1853. Sir George studied the flying patterns of gliding seagulls and decided to work (he was an inventor) on a monoplane. He created a glider with kite- shaped cloth wings, 500 sq. feet in size, a small cockpit for the pilot, a tail and fins for steering and an undercarriage which looked like a tricycle. He somehow persuaded his coachman, John Appleby, to take it on a test flight over a small valley on his estate. Thus Appleby became the first man ever to fly (for a very short while!) He reported a sensation of 'glorious peacefulness' as he soared into the air, followed abruptly, and very quickly, by an enormous smash as he collided into the opposite side of the valley. It is said that he emerged from the wreck, pulled himself up to his full height and declared, 'Sir George, I was hired to drive, not to fly. I wish to give notice!' Sir George's scribbled notes on the principles behind the building of the monoplane contributed to the eventual success of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawke 50 years later.

Flight by an expert!
(Click on this to see the insects which are the attraction)

Another Yorkshire first occurred 35 years later in 1888 when the City of Leeds became the location for the first moving pictures ever seen.The photographer, Louis Alme Augustin le Prince, using a single lens camera he had designed, filmed members of his wife's family in their garden at Oakwood Grange Road, Roundhay, on 24th October. We can date it exactly because his mother-in-law, Sarah, who appears in the film, died on that day. The film also shows his father-in-law, Joseph Whitley, and Louis' eldest son.  Louis himself was employed as a designer with Whitley Partners in the City. His films were a great local success. A few days later, he filmed the moving traffic on Leeds Bridge from a window in the building that housed Hick Bros., the ironmongers. People flocked to see this new miracle.  His reputation grew and, in September 1890, he went to Paris to visit his brother and demonstrate his new invention. Mysteriously, he caught a train at Dijon, bound for Paris, and was never seen again. 

Two men who modestly gave Yorkshire immortality and disappeared, pretty much, without trace, never captialising on the huge contributions they made to the world we know today! 

Inspiration for Bible Sunday

This Sunday is Bible Sunday. The parish where I served in Nottingham, Nuthall St Patrick, was the home of one of the protestant martyrs associated with the Reformation movement to make the scriptures available to people in English. Anne Ayscough (sometimes written 'Askew') lived, for a time, in the small village of Nuthall. She married Thomas Kyme, a Lincolnshire farmer, and had two children. She believed that the ordinary people should be able to hear the scriptures read in their own language. She herself read from the bible, in English, at a lectern in Lincoln cathedral and she became a public preacher. Eventually she was caught up in the unsuccessful plot to have Catherine Parr (Henry VIII's last wife) branded a traitor for religious reasons and she was racked and burned at the stake aged around 26, having refused to give the names of her alleged accomplices. Her story is told in Foxe's Martyrs.

Sitting in the quiet twelfth century church in Nuthall, I used to wonder how such an ordinary girl could have sustained such a passion for people to hear and know the Word of God through the scriptures. In her own way, she took up a cause that she believed would make a contribution to the faith of the ordinary folk of the church at a time when national debate was raging around the Reformation issues we understand through the eyes of hindsight today. Where did her commitment to the cause come from? How was she educated and what well-springs of personal courage saw her through her terrible ordeal? What happened to her children? What did they know of their mother's cause and the sacrifices she chose to make? Not very much is known about Anne and the questions that hang in the air are more tantilising than the facts we have. Her intelligence, theological knowledge and bravery under interrogation and torture were legendary.

At Nuthall, a local farming family gave the lectern bible to the church; as they said, the farmer works to bring bread to people and so it was also appropriate that they should provide knowledge of the true bread of life (one of the ways Jesus refers to Himself in scripture) by giving the bible that was read at very service. The lectern was a particularly poignant symbol in St Patrick's Nuthall, a place where many generations were reminded of the cost of having the scriptures available in translations that everyone can understand.

To read Anne's very moving story, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Askew

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the translation of the King James Bible, a special evensong was held at Ripon Cathedral last Sunday at which the preacher was the Very Revd Dom Henry Wansbrough, a biblical scholar and a Benedictine monk from the community at Ampleforth Abbey. To read about this and to see photographs of the 1611 and 1613 ('Judas') bibles owned by the cathedral Chapter, see
http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/news-414.html

Charles Simeon

The 24th September is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Simeon who was one of the great preachers of the late 18th and early 19th century. He is part of my inheritance as a Christian. He was Vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge for 54 years (from 1782-1836) and his influence was still felt there when I was a student in the 1970's. What was so great about him? Well, he inspired generations of students to a living faith in God at a time when gospel preaching was often scorned, even by the clergy and members of the church. His teaching brought many to worship and to a lively faith that led to service overseas, ordination and commitment to some of the great campaigns of the 19th century such as the abolition of slavery and housing reform. Holy Trinity church followed (and still follows) in this proud tradition; in my time there I remember wonderful after-sermon discussions, prayer meetings and fellowship meals that attracted scores of people.  Many of my generation committed their lives to God's service at that time as well as making life long friendships that have sustained us in our faith. 

But the really remarkable thing about Simeon was, I think, the fact that he combined being a truly great preacher of the gospel with a staunch love for the church (not always found in evangelical Christians.) Although critical of the luke-warm and sometimes corrupt nature of the church of his time, he set out to serve the church with devotion and, in the words of John Moorman in his book A History of the Church in England, he 'did much to strengthen the bonds between those influenced by the religious revival and those who looked on it with some misgivings.' It can be difficult to be an evangelical who loves the church (was it Robert Runcie who famously said that evangelicals have no ecclesiology?) but Simeon showed the way. For that and for his humility he has always seemed to me a worthy exemplar.

He was a founder member of the Church Missionary Society and one of the first supporters of the British and Foreign Bible Society and, famously, inspired Henry Martin who translated the whole of the New Testament into Urdu and Persian. His legacy to the Church of England included the formation of the Simeon Trust; he used his own family wealth to acquire the patronage rights of many churches, often in strategic places in cities and towns around the country. The Trust is charged with ensuring that these churches are served by clergy who are faithful in prayer and in living and preaching the gospel. In Simeon's time patronage was often exercised in a manner that allowed men to be appointed to livings in the church who were of doubtful calibre as ministers of the gospel and priests. Simeon's charge to the Trust urges...

First that they be very careful whenever they shall be called upon to fill up a vacancy which  they must invariably do within three months of a vacancy occuring, that they elect no one who is not a truly pious and devoted man, a man of God in deed and truth, who, with his piety combines a solid judgement and a perfectly independent mind....Secondly, that, when they shall be called upon to appoint to a living, they consult nothing but the welfare of the people for whom they are to provide and whose eternal interests have been confided in them. 

A marvellous set of principles, I would argue! The clergyman Simeon is looking for is  someone devoted to God, loyal to the church, independent of mind, willing to care for and serve the community - and the Trustees are to get on with it! None of these long vacancies which, as Bob Jackson's research shows, are not good for the health of parishes! 

For more information about the Simeon Trust http://www.simeontrust.org/       

Auschwitz Project at Henshaws

Henshaw's Arts and Crafts Centre, Knaresborough, is currently hosting an exhibition of art work produced by disabled activist, Di Lofthouse MBE. Working closely with artist Shaeron Caton-Rose, Di has created an extremely powerful group of works expressing her response to a visit to Auschwitz, last summer. Those murdered at Auschwitz, of course, included many people who were sent to the camp because they were deemed disabled. In this exhibition, Di expresses her reaction to what she saw in paintings, prints, sculpture and film through which she explores the theme of humanity in the face of atrocity. Her belief in the dignity of every individual 'whatever skin you live in' has long informed her campaigning and is a prime motivational force in this very moving exhibition. Part of the exhibition can also be taken on tour and is suitable for schools and other educational groups. It would particularly fit the history and PSHE curricula, dealing, as it does in a very powerful way, with issues to do with respect and human rights.

I have visited the exhibition and found it sobering yet hopeful. The Revd Elizabeth Sewell, the Team Rector of the Knaresborough Team of churches writes, 'This exhibition at Henshaws is amazing! Very powerful in its own right but also an opportunity (I think) to explore ability rather than disability.' It closes on 2nd September, so get over to see it this week if you can, especially if you think the touring version might be a resource for your school or church.

For information about the exhibition

http://www.henshaws.org.uk/arts-and-crafts-centre/events/2011/07/18/exhibition-the-auschwitz-project

Di Lofthouse, the artist

http://www.selfdirect.org/blog/profile21/di-lofthouse-mbe.html

in conjunction with Shaeron Caton-Rose

http://www.nyos.org.uk/Artist.aspx?id=208

Yorkshire's Monastic Churches as You've Not Seen Them Before!

William Thackray, priest at Scruton, in this diocese, has just produced a book entitled Standing on Holy Ground; Monastic and Collegiate Churches of Yorkshire. The book contains photographs of all the monastic or collegiate foundation churches in Yorkshire from ruins to parish churches, from monasteries to cathedrals, from coast to dale, from urban south to rural north. The photography is breath-taking and this is a book to lose yourself in. During its production, he visited most of the churches throughout the different seasons and so the selection of photographs of many of the sites reflects the rhythm of both the natural seasons and the Christian year. The photographs capture the unique atmosphere of each place and, in many instances, communicate something of the essence of the communities who inhabit them today for worship, pilgrimage and celebration. Also included are brief histories of the buildings with stories of the communities who have inhabited them down the centuries, portraying the heights and depths of faith and folly. He has produced similar books on the churches of York city centre and the churches of the City of London.

If you are interested in seeing more, William Thackray is available to give illustrated presentations on the Monastic and Collegiate Churches of Yorkshire, the Churches of York City Centre and the Churches of the City of London. These talks last anything from half an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the nature of the group. This is an excellent resouce for schools, MU and WI groups, local history societies and other organisations who are looking for speakers. There is no charge. Expenses and a donation to the Chidren's Society would be welcome.

If you would like further details send a message to 

 william@the-thackrays.eclipse.co.uk  

  

Florence Nightingale

On 13th August, the Church of England commemorates Florence Nightingale. She was born in 1820 into a very well-connected, upper-class family, Unitarian and Abolitionist on her mother's side, Anglican and Latitudinarian on her father's. Her family knew most of the leading Tory and Whig politicians of the day.

When she was 17, she had what mystics call an 'audition'; she heard God speaking to her, calling her into His service. During her life, she had four further mystical experiences, but this audition, at the age of 17, was particularly interesting since, at the time, she had no knowledge of the mystical tradition and, in fact, came from two traditions that are peculiarly averse to mysticism. In later life, she undertook a learned study of mystics like Catherine of Sienna, Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, but, at 17, she had little background to help her interpret what God might be asking of her. Later, she said that she had an idea that this call involved turning her back on the conventional expectations that she would marry and live a life of comfort. It was a call to search for active ways in which to serve God. She had a hard time of it! Years later, she wrote, 'I would have given my all to the church but she would not have it; she sent me to teach children, but gave me no training.'

Florence had a hard time with her family, too. She had to fight her mother to continue with her maths studies, deemed unsuitable for a girl. When, in 1844, she anounced that she wished to nurse, her family was horrified, as horrified, she later wrote, as if she had announced her intention to turn to fraud and embezzlement! Eventually, she won their agreement, if not their favour. On her way back from a tour of Europe, she stopped at Kaiserwerth, in Germany, where she trained as a nurse with the Lutheran order of Deaconesses. When she returned to London, she briefly ran a hospital in Harley Street.

In doing all this, she flew in the face of the received wisdom of the time, arguing with her family, achieving a level of education that was thought unsuitable for a woman and introducing the concept of training into the world of nursing, which was largely, at that time, a job carried out by untrained women of the lower classes and ex-soldiers. Undoubtedly, she beacme a very competent nurse by the standards of her time. In England, she introduced cleanliness, decent food, call bells, proper sanitation and individualised care. At Scutari, during the Crimean war, she managed four miles of beds, each 18 inches apart. In today's terms she was something like the Chief Executive of a medium sized hospital trust with all the attendant problems of supply and all the frustrations of constantly changing government policies.

History has sentimentalized her as the 'Lady with the Lamp', a dedicated nurse, smoothing the fevered brows of dying men. Florence Nightingale's outstanding achievement, in fact, was as an administrator and statistician, not as a nurse. Her great contribution to nursing during the Crimean war was to persuade the Generals, by means of detailed statisical research, that 6 times the number of soldiers died of infection in military hospitals as of wounds acquired on the battle field; and then to make use of her family's political influence to improve sanitation and nutrition in British military hospitals. It was through her pioneering work in the use of graphs to represent statisical findings that she made possible advances in sanitation at Scutari and, after the war, in Britain and India. She invented a particular form of pie chart, known as the polar area diagram, which she used to illustrate seasonal causes of patient mortality at Scutari. She was a friend of the mathematicians Mary Somerville and Ada, Lord Byron's daughter and she beacme the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society. 

Historical biography has dealt her a poor hand in the way it has represented her solely as a nurse - the Lady with the Lamp who founded St Thomas's School of Nursing and lost her own health through overwork in the Crimea, becoming a chronic invalid and returning home to write a modest text book, 'Notes for Nurses.' She was so much more! A doggedly brilliant public health reformer, a deeply committed and devout, if unconventional, Christian and a considerable amateur theologian and classical scholar. In 1850-2, she wrote an 800 page work entitled, 'Suggestions for Thought to Searchers After Religious Truth' which includes her own theodicy, unique as a nurse's theory of evil and suffering. The work contains prophetic, radical and heterodox ideas. She believed passionately in education for all and in an educated electorate, predicting that, 'One day, women will take an active share in the affairs of state through parliamentary government'. She utterly eschewed the frivolous, leisured life of women of her class.

In 1850, she wrote in her diary, 'God called me this morning and asked me would I do good for Him? For Him alone, and without reputation.' When God called her, she did not vacillate, making plans haphazardly, saying 'yes' and 'no' at the same time. She single-mindedly sought out, found and followed her vocation. She trusted alone (and often she was very much alone) in God's faithfulness and in the 'Yes' of God that is found in Christ. She wrote, 'The promises of God are fulfilled in loving obedience.'     

The Bible in Welsh

While on holiday, we visited an exhibition in honour of the four hundredth anniversary of the King James Bible at the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru) in Aberystwyth. The parallel story of the first translation of the bible into Welsh was also told. It reminded me that I have very a personal connection with Bishop William Morgan who made the famous 1588 Welsh translation. Born in Penmachno (near Betws y Coed, in North Wales) in 1545, Morgan studied at St John's College, Cambridge, gaining a DD in 1568. He learned Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic. He was then ordained by the Bishop of Ely, in Ely cathedral, and took his first living at Llanbardarn Fawr, near Aberystwyth. My home parish, where I sang in the choir, went to Sunday School and learned to play the organ, was Llanbadarn Fawr and I, too, was ordained deacon at Ely cathedral, in 1988, exactly four hundred years after the publication of Morgan's seminal translation of the bible.

His was not the first translation into Welsh of the New Testament; this had been done by William Salesbury in 1568. Morgan translated the Old Testament and Apocrypha and revised Salesbury's work to produce the first complete edition of all the canonical scriptures. His bible has been inestimably important for the Wesh language - perhaps more so even than the King James Bible has been for the English language. Morgan created a translation which was both close to the original texts he worked with, and couched in the classical Welsh of the poets. Because so much public business was conducted in Latin or English (incuding property and legal matters which were often not recorded in Welsh) Morgan's translation was instrumental in arresting the decline in Welsh, giving a new dignity and importance to the language and creating the parameters for modern written Welsh. Morgan went on to become Vicar of Llanrhaeadr y Mochnant, Bishop of Llandaff and then Bishop of St Asaph.

Of course, every Welsh child knows the story of Mary Jones who, at the age of 16, walked 25 miles from Llanfihangel y Pennant to Bala to buy a bible from the minister, Thomas Charles. Her story inspired the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 which originally set out to address the problem of the lack of Welsh bibles available in Welsh-speaking areas. It grew into the internationally known ecumenial and non-sectarian Bible Society which has overseen the translation of the bible into many languages. The exhibition contains the bible Thomas Charles gave to Mary as well as a second copy he gave her - clearly he had heard of BOGOF and used it as an evangelistic tool! 

Many of the texts from the exhibition can be seen on

www.llgc.org.uk/1588bible  

You can also see texts of the English translations of the bible as well as material about the poet and theologian Ann Griffths (1776-1805) and the hymn writer William Willams of Pantycelyn on the Library's wonderful Digital Mirror - the National Library of Wales is recognised as a leading centre of digitisation in Europe. No doubt William Morgan and John Wycliffe's translations would have been rather different, had they had access to the range of texts today's scholars have! 

www.llgc.org.uk/digitalmirror

   

Mediaeval Church Interiors - the Wow Factor!

The Church of St Teilo at St Fagan's Museum, Cardiff

http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/  

The exterior of this plain little church, dating from the twelfth century, hides a stunning secret. It is the church of St Teilo which, until the 1970's, was situated on the banks of the River Clwchwr at Llandeilo Tal-y-Bont, near Pontardulais. It ceased to be a parish church in the 1850's and became increasingly damp and delapidated so that worship was all but impossible. The final service was held in 1970 and the building was carefully demolished and brought to St Fagan's Museum of Welsh Life (the National History Museum) in Cardiff where it was painstakingly reconstructed, stone by stone. However, as this ancient building was taken down, it revealed an unexpected surprise. As the layers of paint and plaster were removed, 500 year old wall paintings were discovered depicting many aspects of the life of Christ and the lives of the saints. When the church was rebuilt at St Fagan's, it was decided that the walls should be painted to appear as they would have looked in 1520.  Visitors to the church now walk into a building which looks much as it would have in the Middle Ages. The impact is breath-taking and provides a powerful reminder that Mediaeval churches were full of images which told the Christian story for largely illiterate congregations. We have a wonderful example of the use of such wall paintings in this area at St Agatha's church, Easby, near Richmond; there, in the chancel you can still see the original paintings of the Fall, on one side, and the cross and resurrection - the remedy for the Fall - on the opposite side. In today's society where image is once again such an  important feature of communication , it seems a shame that this element of church interior decoration has largely been abandoned. We are perhaps missing an opportunity to tell the Christian story, to inculturate or localize aspects of it (as the church has always done) and to utilize contemporary art forms to do so.   

The South Porch

The Rood Screen

Christ at the Last Supper with the Apostles

Christ Carrying His Cross

Christ Being Taken Down From the Cross

St Catherine

St Teilo was a Welsh saint, a contemporary of St David and St Padarn. It is said that he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was consecrated bishop.

King James Bible

In this 400th anniversary year of the publication of the King James' version of the Bible, I've been looking out for phrases and images that we use in everday language which come from this wonderful translation of the scriptures. I'm sure there are hundreds. But, for now, how about

'Eat drink and be merry'
                                                                'Am I my brother's keeper?'                  
                   'The writing on the wall'
                                                                                              'Filthy lucre'
                                                 'A drop in the bucket'

Title page of the 1611 King James Bible

Luke 12.19 (The Parable of the Rich Fool)
 'And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.' But God said unto him, 'Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?''

Genesis 4.9 (Cain murders his brother Abel and tries to hide it from God)
'And the Lord said unto Cain, 'Where is Abel, thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?''

Daniel 5.5-6 (Daniel interprets a sign given at a banquet in King Belshazzar's palace to predict the King's death which occurs that very night.)
'In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees smote against one another.'

1 Timothy 3.3 (The character of a Bishop)
'A bishop, then must be...not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient...'  (It is worth noting that, in scripture, it is not generally money or wealth than is seen a bad or corrupting, but a person's attitude to money.)

Isaiah 40.15 (The vastness of God)
'Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.'

Do comment if you can identify others!

Of course, some phrases that sound as though they come from the King James bible in fact come from Shakespeare, writing for the most part a little earlier than the publication of the bible. Both Shakespeare and the KJB were strongly influenced by the English of John Wycliffe (1328 - 1384) whose translation of the New Testament into vernacular English from the Latin Vulgate heavily influenced most later translations. Wycliffe was born at Wycliffe, near Barnard Castle, in this diocese. St Mary's church, Wycliffe (just over the border of County Durham and on the bank of the swiftly flowing River Tees) is a gem and well worth a visit.  

St Mary's Church, Wycliffe

Markenfield Hall

What better way to spend a weekend afternoon than visting one of England's oldest continuously inhabited houses? Markenfield Hall stands as a moving testimony to the history of the region from before 1310 until the present day. It is first mentioned in the Doomesday book, was expanded by the Markenfield family who played a significant part in the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) and the Rising of the North (1569) during the Reformation period, and then developed by the Grantleys from the eighteenth century until its recent twentieth century restoration by the Grantleys and the Curteises. The Markenfields were a loyal Catholic family who contributed at great cost to themselves to the resistance to the Protestant Reformation. Although the chapel was briefly used as a Protestant place of worship it eventually fell into disuse. Fittingly, it was restored in 2001 and Mass is regularly celebrated in the chapel today. Anglican (BCP) services are also held frequently. House and chapel are briming with history - stories from almost every period that bring the families who inhabited the house to life. Sir Ian and Lady Curteis open their home to the public for 28 days every year and the services in the chapel are also open to the public. It is an enhchanting and hospitable and place where you feel that you are touching the deep roots of English history!

http://www.markenfieldhall.com/

The Hall is situated on the A61 between Ripley (Harrogate) and Ripon.

A Thankful Village

Did you know that Cundall (set near the river Swale, just east of Ripon) is one of the rarest villages in England? How so? Well, it is a Thankful Village - a village whose men and women all came home safely from the First World War. Of course, such villages were unusual in having no war memorials, though they often dedicated a monument of some kind in recognition of their gratitude.

Arthur Mee (whom I mainly know as the editor of a children's encyclopoedia, a phenomenon now almost rendered extinct by the internet!) first coined the term 'thankful village'. He idenified only 31 such villages in England. Others in Yorkshire are Catwick (near Beverley), Cayton (near Scarborough) and Norton-le-Clay (near Ripon).

Cundall is also one of a number of villages around the area to boast a Saxon cross. The church, which was restored in 1854, sits on an interesting series of mounds near the river, a site which has an intriguing feel of antiquity about it.  

The English Parish Church

I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Taylor's insights into the significance of the English parish church (BBC2 Friday evening Churches, How to Read Them.) Searching behind our Victorian and post Reformation history, we find inspiration for returning parish churches to the centres of life that they once were, embracing every aspect of daily life and offering protection and assistance from the cradle to the grave.

St Michael's Downholme

 How does this sound - games, children playing and drama in church, sports and fayres in the churchyard, business transacted and courts held in the porch, cartoons (in their time) of bible stories and theological truths in the frescos on the walls, and areas of the church given over to special uses - for children, for baptisms, for churchings (women giving thanks after childbirth) and for trading and holding meetings. In particular, Taylor showed us a marvellous font in a Herefordshire church which depicted the whole story and theology of Jesus' baptism. He also showed us an area of a church with beautiful images of mothers and of St Margaret, the patron saint of chidbirth, where women had come to pray for strength and safe delivery before giving birth. Apparently, unidentified corpses were laid out in some church porches so that families could claim their mssing dead. The church was the place people naturally came for help, advice, support and in times of personal difficulty.

Some parishes are beginning to return their churches to the community in exciting new ways and to welcome a rich diversity of events to take place there. A few have never stopped being places of gathering for the whole community.  Others are more cautious and the fragrace of 'reverence' and severity pervades at all times - there is not a square inch without a pew in which to do anything! In the last parish where I worked as a parish priest, we used to hold our annual church festival in the churchyard in and among the graves. One or two people commented that it seemed a bit irreverant but most people welcomed the convivial atmosphere and thought that it was good to mix life with a remembrance of those who had once lived and enjoyed such events in their village. We also had games sessions for toddlers in church, often pausing to marvel, through a three year's eyes, at some of the artefacts in the church. Again, not everyone approved but the number of young families attending church improved dramatically! Many of the churches I visit now have special places set aside for prayer with candles, prayer trees and other prayer aids. Spaces for young children (some more convivial than others) are quite common, as are areas for exhibitions, infomation, art work and local photography. One or two churches even have places where visitors can make themselves a cup of tea. And I'm glad to say that a very large number of our country parish churches are open in the daytime.

In our generation, we tend to be rather shy of using churches for business (unless they are redundant and have been turned into carpet warehouses or pottery shops!) But medieval churches were places where a lot of business was carried out and where people came for justice and for education and information. People also caught up on gossip and ate in the nave. If you walked to a morning service and stayed for the evening service, you needed somewhere to shelter and eat in between. Personally, it always gladdens my heart when I discover churches that offer services the community needs, values and enjoys, even where this leads to money changing hands and crumbs in the transepts! It is also great to see churches used for lectures and meetings and these do not always need to be religious ones! It is all about balance and the PCC retaining proper control of the building so that at times when the building needs to provide a quiet, dignified and reverential atmosphere, this can be achieved.

St Edmund's, Marske

A few months ago, I took services at Downholme and Marske and I was moved by a deep sense, in both churches, that here were about 16 or 20 of us worshipping very much in the way that people had worshipped at the Reformation and even before it. Yes, some of the words had changed and, yes, the music had changed but, essentially, there had probably been a couple of dozen people from these villages saying their prayers together, celebrating Holy Communion and marking the joys and sorrows of people's lives in these sacred spaces for the past several hundred years. Box pews, pulpits and sanctuary spaces had changed, but the sense of the life of the community flowing through the church had not changed and nor had the expectation of meeting with God here. Nor, I suspect, had the fact that most of the village were not in fact present!

Let's find every way we can to open our churches up to people, to make them welcoming, interesting, enjoyable places to be!

You can view Richard Taylor's program on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tp1cs/churches_how_to_read_them_medieval_life