Patrick Comerford
I spent most of Saturday back in Cambridge at the special celebrations in Westminster College marking the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies.
The day’s celebrations began with lunch in the Dining Hall at Westminster College, before a full afternoon programme in the Shasha Conference Suite of the Woolf Institute, which shares the campus of Westminster College.
ccc Our first discussion in the afternoon was Introduced by Father Dragos Herescu, the Principal of IOCS, with a panel that included the Very Revd Dr John A Jillions, the institute’s founding principal (1997-2003); Dr Christoph Schneider, the IOCS academic director; Dr Razvan Porumb, Vice-Principal and Director of Research at the IOCS; and Dr Jeremy Ingpen, a recent doctoral student at IOCS.
Father John Jillions is the former chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, an associate professor of theology in Ottawa and at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, and an adjunct professor at Fordham University.
He spoke of turning weaknesses into strength: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me’ (II Corinthians 12: 9).
He talked about the pervading atmosphere of optimism at the founding of IOCS, after the end of cold war, and said we live in a different kind of world today, when there is less optimism and Orthodoxy fragmented, citing the difficulties within Orthodoxy in Russia. He spoke too of the need to speak the word of God without fear, and to speak truth, speaking out for the voiceless and with courage.
Dr Christoph Schneider also spoke of the current debates and tensions within Orthodoxy, and asked whether they were not mainly theological but political and secular.
Dr Razvan Porumb spoke of the context of the work of the IOCS, including the ecumenical context and as a theological college within the university. He said ecumenism is not simply strategical but an integral part of Orthodoxy, and he spoke too of dialogue within academic life in the university in Cambridge.
Later in the afternoon, a keynote panel conversation included Archbishop Angaelos, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London; Professor John Jillions; , one of the founders and the first Principal of IOCS; Father Dragos Herescu; and the actor Sir David Suchet, known for his television roles as Inspector Poirot.
Archbishop Angaelos spoke of how he advised people not to so much to speak about Coptic Orthodoxy but to speak about Jesus Christ and how the impact he has on their lives as members of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
He also spoke of the importance of visiting one another’s churches, the difficulties about creating Eucharistic hospitality and the hurts created by the lack of it, and the need for sermons to accessible and practical.
He discussed how differences are often emphasised instead of engaging with similarities, and spoke of how liturgical practices in the Orthodox traditions, including icons, incense, silence, and fasting have spread beyond Orthodoxy into many parts of western Christianity.
Citing the example of how Jesus engaged with the Samaritan woman at the well, he said: ‘We need to engage with people where they are.’
In this discussion, Father John Jillions also spoke with pain about priests who being defrocked in Russia for praying for peace instead of not blessing war and violence. He spoke eloquently of the need for institutional humility, and said just as IOCS could not exist without the help of others, Orthodoxy cannot exist on its own.
A concert by the Mosaic Choir in the college chapel afternoon was a musical adventure across borders, sharing in the beauty and spirituality of folk songs, liturgical music and Christmas carols from around the world. The Mosaic Choir is made up of singers of many Orthodox jurisdictions, coming together to sing at concerts, celebrations and services.
This was followed by Vespers in Westminster College Chapel. The day concluded with a festive dinner in the Dining Room in Westminster College.
I was first a student on the IOCS summer school programmes in Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 2008, when I received the Oulton Prize for Patristic Studies, with encouragement of the late Canon Sidney Lang, a former Rector of Tallaght.
The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies is a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation and works with Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Cambridge and Durham University. The institute was founded in 1999 with the support of all the Orthodox traditions in Western Europe. Guest lecturers and supporters over the years have included the late Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia (1934-2022), Metropolitan John Zizioulas (1931-2023), who died last year, Father Thomas Hopko (1939-2015), Father Professor Andrew Louth, Archimandrite Symeon and Archimandrite Zacharias of Saint John the Baptist Monastery, in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, and the late Metropolitan Antony (Bloom) of Sourozh (1914-2003).
Initially I wanted to develop my skills in offering an elective in patristics I was teaching on the MTh course at Trinity College Dublin at the Church of Ireland Theological Institue. But I came back again and again, and those IOCS courses in Cambridge became an important part of my own postgraoduate theological education. I was a student again at the summer schools and summer conferences for seven further years (2009-2011 and 2013-2016).
I found many friendships among those who were lecturing and those who were students on those courses. Each year, we had a one-day retereat at Saint John’s Monastery at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex, while Saint Bene’t’s Church became, effectively, my parish church during those weeks I stayed in Cambridge.
Because of those study weeks, I was invited to preach in the chapels in Sidney Sussex College and Christ's College, and also stayed in both Clare College and Westcott House. In addition, I took part, along with the late Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Professor David Frost and others, in a video promoting the work of IOCS. It was a peculiar coincidence to note at the weekend that the one course I missed out during those years was the summer school in 2012, coincidentally the first year the course took place in Westminster College. Some years earlier, in 2000, I had a paper published in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs.
They were short, sharp bursts with the IOCS, in concentrated blocks. But if they are counted as accumulated years, then I have spent more time across the years numerically in Cambridge (2008-2011, 2013-2016), eight in all, than at any other place of learning. But this is an amusing but idle way of counting. The weekend was an opportunity to share memories, to catch up with old friends and colleagues, and to pray and celebrate. I even managed to call into Sidney Sussex College during the day.
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