30 October 2022

Praying in Ordinary Time with USPG:
Sunday 30 October 2022

Inside the Chapel in Pembroke College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

This is the Fourth Sunday before Advent. The Season of Advent can be described as the countdown to Christmas, so we are already in ‘the countdown to the countdown.’ Although Hallowe’en is not until tomorrow, already there are Christmas offers in the shops, pubs and hotels.

I plan to be present at the Parish Eucharist in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles later this morning (30 October 2022). But, before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

For the rest of this week, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, A reflection based on seven more churches or chapels in Oxford I visited earlier this month;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

Pembroke College was founded in 1624 by James I and was named after William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Luke 19: 1-10 (NRSVA):

1 [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

The chapel in Pembroke College was begun in 1728, the year Samuel Johnson entered the college (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Pembroke College Chapel, Oxford:

Pembroke College, at Pembroke Square, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college was founded almost 400 years ago in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of a merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlain and then-Chancellor of the University.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), the Lichfield-born essayist, moralist, literary critic and lexicographer, entered Pembroke College in 1728 at the age of 19. His tutor asked him to produce a Latin translation of Alexander Pope’s ‘Messiah’ as a Christmas exercise. Johnson completed half of the translation in one afternoon and the rest the following morning. The poem later appeared in Miscellany of Poems (1731), edited by John Husbands, a Pembroke tutor, and is the earliest surviving publication of any of Johnson’s writings.

A lack of funds forced Johnson to leave Oxford without a degree after 13 months, and he returned to Lichfield. He eventually received an MA degree from Oxford just before the publication of his Dictionary in 1755. He received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 1765 and from of Oxford in 1775.

JRR Tolkien was a Fellow of Pembroke in 1925-1945, and wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings during his time there.

Sir Roger Bannister, neurologist and former Master of Pembroke College (1985-1993), was the first man to run the mile in under four minutes.

A former Senior President of Tribunals and Lord Justice of Appeal, Sir Ernest Ryder, has been the Master of Pembroke since 2020.

The ornate but intimate chapel in Pembroke College was begun in 1728, the year Samuel Johnson entered the college, and was completed in 1732, when it was consecrated by John Potter (1674-1747), Bishop of Oxford and later Archbishop of Canterbury. As Bishop of Oxford, Potter also ordained John Wesley.

The chapel was designed and built by William Townsend. The Chapel Quad was created in 1848 to designs by the Exeter-based architect John Hayward, and is widely considered one of the most beautiful quads in Oxford.
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The interior of the chapel was dramatically revamped by Charles Eamer Kempe, a Pembroke graduate, in 1884-1885.

The Reredos consists of beautifully veined pale marble columns enclosing ‘The Risen Christ’ by James Cranke the younger (1748–1826), after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp, over a super-altar of carved alabaster. The windows are filled with stained glass, and the walls and ceiling glow with gold and colours. The painting was a gift from Joseph Plymley in 1786.

Dr Damon Wells, a Pembroke alumnus and a significant benefactor, enabled the restoration of the Chapel in 1972 and provided ongoing support to the Chaplaincy and History Fellowship. He endows the chaplain’s stipend, and the chapel bears his name by authority of a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Today, the chapel describes itself as ‘as a place of peace,’ with a focus on and prayer for the world and the college community. The college choir includes 12 choristers from Christ Church Cathedral School.

Each Sunday the chapel invites a speaker from one of a host of religious traditions: they included Anglican, Armenian, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Latter-Day Saint (Mormon), Lutheran, Methodist, Muslim, and Orthodox speakers, Evangelical, Traditional and Liberal, as well as people who are reluctant to take a faith label, and people who are happy to share their quest from a non-religious perspective.

The chapel is used regularly by the College Christian Union, it is a regular place of worship for Oxford’s Armenian Community, and the Catholic Mass is celebrated there too. The icon of the Armenian Martyrs icon was consecrated by the Armenian Bishop and the 17th-century statue of St Margaret of Antioch is a gift of the Catholic community.

The chapel is also a venue for baptisms, weddings, funerals and memorial services for students, staff and alumni.

The Revd Dr Andrew Teal is Chaplain and Fellow. His responsibilities include all aspects of chapel life and choir, the provision of pastoral care and welfare, as well as teaching. His research interests include ancient theology and philosophy, modern systematic theology and Christology, and the faith and spirituality of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). He is also a Farmington Fellow and Visiting Fellow and Adjunct Faculty at the Neal A Maxwell Institute at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

There are daily services in the chapel from Monday to Friday during Full Term and a Choral Evening Service 5:30 pm on Sundays.

The Reredos includes a painting of ‘The Risen Christ’ by James Cranke the younger, copied from a Rubens in Antwerp (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Today’s Prayer (Sunday 30 October 2022):

The Collect:

Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ This theme is introduced this morning by the Revd David Rajiah, Diocesan Prayer Co-ordinator for the Diocese of West Malaysia, who writes:

‘On 8 April 1970, the Diocese of West Malaysia was created from the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya.

‘In 1996, the Province of South-East Asia, consisting of the Dioceses of Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and West Malaysia was created by the Archbishop of Canterbury as the 37th Province in the Anglican Communion, thus making the Anglican Church in the region self-governing, self-supporting and truly indigenous.

‘From 2021 to 2030, the Diocese of West Malaysia’s theme is ‘Behold, I make all things new’. Focusing our ministry on this theme, we are working to cultivate a prayer movement within the diocese, encouraging every church in the diocese to start a prayer group. We also hold regular prayer meetings either in-person or online and diocesan prayer gatherings every Wednesday online. We pray in Tamil, Chinese, English as well as Malayic and Austronesian languages.

‘Many members of our churches are committed to praying for at least five individuals they know – this means we are all connected in a chain of prayer. More infrequently, the diocese leads prayer walks and prayer drives, taking different routes through each state of West Malaysia while praying. As a diocese, prayer is at the heart of our spiritual life.’

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

‘For the Son of Man
came to seek out and save the lost’.
May we remember that
no one is beyond redemption.
Help us to put aside our prejudices.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Chapel Quad was created in 1848 and is believed by many to be one of the most beautiful quads in Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Samuel Johnson’s rooms were on the second floor over the entrance-gateway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A church in London says
goodbye to the legacy of
an 18th century slave trader

An empty niche in Saint Botolph without Aldgate once held the bust of Sir John Cass (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

I was visiting Saint Botolph without Aldgate last week in my search for the story of Dame Dorothy Comberford and the Poor Clare nuns of the Minories, where she was one of the last Abbesses.

I wrote about Saint Botolph’s after a visit in early 2020. But I noticed last week that, since that visit, the bust of the 17th-18th century slave trader Sir John Cass has been removed from the church porch in response to a growing awareness of his involvement in the slave trade.

The bust was removed on 18 June 2020 with the approval of the Archdeacon of London after a vote at an emergency meeting of Saint Botolph’s parochial church council. The niche in the porch that once held his bust is now vacant, with a simple sign explaining the decision taken by the parish.

The decision to distance the parish from the former benefactor and from his involvement in the slave trade followed a similar decision by Sir John Cass secondary school in Stepney to change its name and a decision by the Cass Foundation in the City to of London remove a similar bust.

‘We voted unanimously to seek permission to remove the bust’, the Rector of Saint Botolph’s, the Revd Laura Jørgensen, said in a statement to the East London Advertiser.

‘We apologise for the years spent celebrating the legacy of a man without understanding the origin of his wealth, gained through slavery and human exploitation,’ she said. ‘Removing the bust is an important step in acknowledging that history, but it’s not the end of our journey. We are a diverse congregation and promise to do all we can to eradicate racism, discrimination and inequality.’

John Cass was born near Aldgate in 1661 and was a City alderman and sheriff before being elected an MP in 1712. He had set up a school in Aldgate for 50 boys and 40 girls in 1710 and rented buildings in Saint Botolph’s churchyard.

Cass’s name is linked with many institutions in the East End and the City. His foundation set up in 1748 gives grants to promote education in inner London, including the secondary school in Stepney Way and a primary school in Aldgate both named after him.

The secondary school has since changed its name to Stepney All Saints’ School. Two universities also adopted the name Cass for centres of learning with funding from the foundation.

The Metropolitan University’s Cass School of Arts was embroiled in controversy five years ago when the Aldgate and Whitechapel campuses were occupied by students to stop them being closed. The protest stopped the arts school being transferred to the university’s main campus in Holloway. The school also changed its name after the protest.

City University’s business school in Clerkenwell adopted the name Cass in 2002 following a donation from the foundation to promote education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It set about reviewing of all its historic funding sources to find out if there are any other links with slavery.

The foundation commissioned an independent academic in February to look into links to the slave trade. It reaffirmed its ‘abhorrence of racism and discrimination’ in an initial statement following George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests around the world.

Statues or busts of Cass have also been removed from the University of East London Stratford Campus; the façade of 31 Jewry Street in the City of London, headquarters of Sir John Cass’s Foundation, where the statue was a fiberglass replica of the original; and Sir John Cass Redcoat School, Stepney.

The parish has distanced itself from the legacy of Sir John Cass (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The statement in the church porch in Saint Boltoph’s reads:

‘Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020, there was an immediate global response which highlighted structural racism, both in the United States and here in the United Kingdom.

‘After the toppling of the Statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, the spotlight fell on other prominent people who traded in enslaved people and who were honoured with statues. One such person was John Cass (1661-1718). Having founded a school in the churchyard of St Botolph’s in 1710, John Cass endowed it under his Will to provide education to Portsoken’s poor children.

‘John Cass made much of his wealth from the exploitation and death of others in the transatlantic slave trade. It is estimated that he invested today’s equivalent of at least £1 Million Pounds in the Royal African Company. John Cass was involved in the management of the Royal African Company which transported nearly 150,000 enslaved women, men and children from Africa to the Caribbean. There are references to John Cass in this church, for example on the board to your left which records the names of the Aldermen of the Portsoken Ward. He is part of the history of St Botolph’s and as its current custodians we have a duty to speak out against the devastation brought about by the enslavement of human beings made in the image of God.

‘In this niche stood, since 1966, a bust of John Cass. It was a focal point of honouring him at the annual Founder’s Day service held here. The Parochial Church of St Botolph without Aldgate, on the learning the source of John Cass’s wealth, petitioned for a faculty from the Church of England to remove the bust. We leave this space empty, for now, as a sign of our repentance that we had not seriously understood his role in the Royal African Company, and that we had not thought to do a basic search for him.

‘We believe that racism and oppression are a denial of the glorious Gospel of love preached by Jesus Christ and to that end we are to anti-racism, acknowledging where we have fallen short, and doing our best to highlight and address the issue of modern slavery today.’

On Founder’s Day in February each year, the pupils of the Sir John Cass schools wore red quills in their lapels and made their way to Saint Botolph’s Church for a remembrance service, when each pupil receives an orange and a bun recalling the founder’s generosity.

Cass was active in public life in the City of the London as a merchant, builder and politician. This career began when he was elected Alderman for the ward of Portsoken, one of the 25 wards of the City of London.

He was a Conservative MP for the City of London in 1710-1715, and was elected one of the Sheriffs of the City in 1711. In addition, he was a member of the newly-formed Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, set up to oversee building new churches for the expanding population of the City. He was treasurer of both the Bethlem Royal and Bridewell Hospitals in 1709-1715. He was knighted in 1713, became Master of the Carpenters’ Company and in 1714 moved to the Skinners’ Company.

In 1709, Cass founded a school in buildings in the churchyard of Saint Botolph’s in Aldgate, attended by 50 boys and 40 girls. His health began to fail by 1718, prompting him to write a new will in which he hoped to secure future provision for the school, leaving it all the property he had acquired since making his first will.

While completing his new will, Cass suffered a brain haemorrhage and died with only three pages of his new will signed. His heirs contested the latest will in the Court of Chancery and their action continued for 30 years. His will was finally upheld, and the Sir John Cass Foundation was established in 1748.

Cass was buried in the churchyard of Saint Mary Matfelon in Whitechapel. The church was destroyed by fire in 1880. Today, all that remains of the church are a few graves and a small external arch on Whitechapel Road. The churchyard and church area were turned into Saint Mary’s Park, which was renamed the Altab Ali Park in 1998 in memory of the young Bangladeshi clothing worker murdered in 1978.

The bust of Sir John Cass was removed in 2020 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)