Two sculptures express the Woolf Institute’s work in Cambridge with Judaism, Christianity and Islam

‘The Confusion’ by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom at the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

I spent Saturday in Cambridge, enjoying the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, founded in Cambridge in 1999.

The seminars, celebrations, worship and meals took place in Westminster College and its college chapel and in the Woolf Institute, which also shares the campus with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology and the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. All these centres are part of the Cambridge Theological Federation.

The Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths is dedicated to the study of interfaith relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims and aims to foster greater understanding and tolerance between the three Abrahamic faiths. It was founded as the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations by Edward Kessler and Martin Forward in 1998, a year before the IOCS was founded. It was renamed in 2010 and it has had a home at Westminster College since 2017.

During the move to the Westminster College site in 2017, the Woolf Institute commissioned two powerful works of sculpture that represent its values: ‘The Confusion’ by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom at the entrance to the Kessler Family Building and ‘Tree of Life: Encounter’ by Helaine Blumenfeld on the lawn between Westminster College and the Woolf Institute.

Zachary Eastwood-Bloom sees ‘The Confusion’ as a metaphor for looking at things from different points of view (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

‘The Confusion’ by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom is a sculpture in wood and gold leaf measuring 3 metres in diameter. He sees ‘The Confusion’ as a metaphor for looking at things from different points of view.

The artist works principally in sculpture but also in video, dance, sound, photography and drawings, and he explores the notions of human progress in relation to historical ideas, scientific development and digital technology, as well as the ways we try as humans to understand the world around us, using methods such as storytelling, religion, science or technology.

FAD Magazine described him as ‘the future of sculpture’ and The Art Newspaper listed him among eight up-and coming-sculptors.

He studied ceramics at Edinburgh College of Ar, before going to London to earn a master’s degree in ceramics and glass at the Royal College of Art. At the RCA, he began to explore the use of digital technologies in relation to a broad range of materials, and he began using digital technologies in combination with sculpture and drawing.

Recently, he has been Artist-in-Residence at the Scottish Ballet. He has exhibited widely and has undertaken a number of public and private commissions, including Cambridge University and the 2012 London Olympics. His work is in collections across the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

‘The Confusion’ by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom was commissioned as a centrepiece sculpture for the main entrance of the Woolf Institute’s Kessler Building and was the first public art installation at the institute. It took over five months to complete and is composed of 288 struts of Meranti wood coated in 24 carat gold leaf.

The Woolf Institute and the Kessler Building at night in Westminster College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

As you walk into the Kessler Building, the sculpture hangs above head height in the entrance, suspended above the main foyer. At first, it may look like a jumbled collection of gold lines, but from other vantage points its true geometry comes into view.

‘When you look up at the sculpture from the basement level, and from the first floor,’ the artist has told interviewers, ‘the exacting geometry of the sculpture reveals itself. The wider metaphor is about points of view.’ It reflects, mirrors and distorts traditional images and motifs found in Christianity, Judaism and Islam and explores the relationships between the three Abrahamic traditions.

Initially he met the architects of the new building and immediately saw the potential in the rotunda space in the entrance. It is a space where from three floors of the building could look you can see into the same space.

He began by researching the symbols of each religion, aware of Islamic conventions on idolatry and the representation of human form. He researched Islamic geometry, began drawing patterns into which he incorporated two-dimensional geometric patterns akin to the Star of David and then experimented with trying to pull the geometry into three dimensions that looked like a crown of thorns.

‘I think that the research and activities that happen in the Woolf institute help to re-frame points of view and common structures within each of the Abrahamic religions,’ he has told interviewers. He says ‘The Confusion’ is ‘a very appropriate sculpture’ and that ‘within most religions there is the notion of an unseen, subtle and meaningful order.’

The viewer can look at the sculpture from one point of view and not understand it, but change that point of view while moving deeper into the building and the sculpture has a structure that becomes understandable. The wider metaphor is about points of view.

‘Tree Of Life: Encounter’ by Helaine Blumenfeld … a monumental marble sculpture specially commissioned for the Woolf Institute (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

‘Tree Of Life: Encounter’ by Helaine Blumenfeld is a monumental marble sculpture that was specially commissioned for the Woolf Institute. It is 3 metres tall, weighs 4,500 kg and was sculpted from a 42-ton block of marble from the quarries in Carrera. It was completed in Italy and was then installed in the courtyard in front of the Kessler Building.

Helaine Blumenfeld is a long-time believer in the power of sculpture to ‘serve the public good.’ She has created more than 90 public sculptures, including ‘Tempesta’ overlooking Hyde Park in London and ‘Fortuna’ in Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf.

Helaine Blumenfeld has lived and worked in Grantchester for many years and has received world recognition for her sculptures. Her several commissions and public sculptures in the Cambridge area include ‘Flame’ at Clare Hall, ‘Shadow Figures’ at Vision Park in Histon and ‘The Chauvinist’ at UNEX House, Hills Road.

Speaking about her ‘Tree Of Life: Encounter’, she says it was inspired by the aims of the Woolf Institute to bring about understanding between Jews, Christians and Muslims ‘in order to reduce intolerance.’ These values are expressed in the words inscribed on its foundation stone, ‘A threefold cord is not quickly broken’ (Ecclesiastes 4: 12).

She says her ‘Tree Of Life: Encounter’ at the Woolf Institute is ‘a powerful statement of the struggle for unity, with three strands joining together at the base and moving upward through dissonance and chaos to a beautiful flowering of hope.’

‘Tree Of Life: Encounter’ by Helaine Blumenfeld … ‘a powerful statement of the struggle for unity’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

A day to learn about the story of Westminster College, the college chapel, and the work of the Woolf Institute

Celebrations and pre-Christmas drinks with the IOCS at Westminster College, Cambridge, last weekend (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

It was a true joy and pleasure to be back in Cambridge last weekend and to take part in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies. The celebrations provided a delightful opportunity for about 70 people to celebrate and reflect on the work of IOCS over the past quarter of a century in promoting a ‘Generous Orthodoxy’.

I had been a student on the summer courses IOCS offered at Sidney Sussex College over many years (2008-2016), and this was an opportunity to renew old friendships and to make new friends.

It was my third time back in Cambridge this year. But Saturday – as well as being a day of celebrations and reflections – was also a day for prayer and worship, and it was my first time to visit Westminster College and its chapel, to visit the Woolf Institute and to learn about its work.

Westminster College on Madingley Road, Cambridge, is the theological college of the United Reformed Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Westminster College on Madingley Road, Cambridge, is the theological college of the United Reformed Church, training people for ordained ministry and also providing wider theological training in the URC.

The college was founded in London in 1844, after the synod of the newly-formed Presbyterian Church in England in 1842 decided to set up ‘as speedily as possible’ a college that would provide men with ‘a literary, philosophical and theological education, to qualify them for the office of Holy Ministry in the Presbyterian Church.’

The new English Presbyterian College was formed at Exeter Hall on the Strand in 1844. The Revd Dr Peter Lorimer (1812-1879) was appointed the first principal in 1845 and was also Professor of Hebrew and Biblical Criticism, teaching Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldee, as well as exegetical theology.

The college then had three successive homes in Bloomsbury: 51 Great Ormond Street, (1852-1858), 29 Queen Square (1858-1864) and Queen Square House, Queen Square (1864-1899). It was involved in the proposals in 1890 for a new federal University of Westminster, involving most of London’s higher-education institutions. When these proposals failed, the college moved to Cambridge in 1899 as Westminster College.

The portraits of Agnes Smith Lewis (left) and Margaret Dunlop Gibson in the Dining Hall in Westminster College (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The site near the centre of Cambridge was bought from Saint John’s College, and was the gift of Scottish twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis (1843-1920) and Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1843-1926), both noted biblical scholars, linguists and orientalists. They are known for their study of one of the earliest versions of the earliest Gospel manuscripts, the Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus, discovered in Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.

The contributions of these sisters to Biblical studies also include the publication of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, a sixth-century palimpsest that contains portions of the Old Testament and New Testament, and palimpsest manuscripts in Aramaic of the Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert and the Story of Eulogios, the Stone Cutter. They edited many other key manuscripts in Syriac and Arabic.

They found many of the manuscripts in the antiquities market in Cairo and acquired them for the library in Westminster College. While Lewis and Gibson were travelling in the Middle East in 1897, they also found and bought some fragments of parchment of the Cairo Genizah. With the support of Solomon Schechter, they made several more trips to the Middle East, locating the majority of the Genizah at the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. Schechter identified the fragments as part of the Hebrew Wisdom of Sirach.

The story of these women is told by Janet Soskice, Professor Emerita of Philosophical Theology at Cambridge, in her book Sisters of Sinai (2009), and their portraits hang above the High Table in the Dining Hall in Westminster College.

Inside the college chapel in Westminster College, facing the liturgical east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Following an appeal for funds, particularly among Presbyterians in England, Westminster College commissioned a new building designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Henry Thomas Hare (1860-1921), the architect who also designed Oxford Town Hall (1897), and the college was built in 1897-1899.

The college began to amalgamate with Cheshunt College, Cambridge, in 1967, in advance of the union of the Congregational Church in England and the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church in 1972.

Cheshunt College, the former theological college of the Congregationalists, was founded in 1768 by Selina Countess of Huntingdon after six Anglican students were expelled from St Edmund Hall, Oxford because of their alleged Methodist leanings. It moved to Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, in 1792 and to Cambridge in 1906.

Inside the college chapel in Westminster College, facing the liturgical west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The college chapel was the gift of Sir William Noble (1863-1935), later Lord Kirkley, and his wife Margaret (née Dixon) to commemorate their son William Black Noble, who died in 1915 during World War I, and was dedicated in 1921. Noble was a shipowner and a partner in Cairns, Noble & Co, who ran the Cairn Line.

The chapel looks more like a traditional Cambridge college chapel than a Presbyterian meeting house. It includes an antechapel with a gallery, a screen with gates leading into the choir, and a raised apse. The communion table is designed for standing rather than sitting, although it is set forward from the wall.

Three of the 11 stained-glass windows in the college chapel by the Scottish artist Douglas Strachan (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The 11 stained-glass windows in the chapel are by the Scottish artist Douglas Strachan (1875-1950). Beginning at the far right as one enters is a series of windows, four from the Old Testament on the right and five from the New Testament on the left. Linking all the windows is the text of the canticle Benedicite opera omnia in the top panels: ‘O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord.’

The sequence begins with Ezekiel’s vision of God on one side of the organ and then Noah sacrificing at an altar after the Flood on the other. In the antechapel is a scene of the Ark of the Covenant in procession and another of Elijah with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.

The Old and New Testaments are linked by figures over the gallery, Law and Love, before coming to a Nativity scene, the Baptism of Christ, the Temptations, Christ stilling the storm and, finally, Saint John’s vision of the New Jerusalem.

Other symbolism and figures in the chapel includes the signs of the Zodiac, a Bambi-like deer, a robin in the snow and Sir Isaac Newton.

The decoration of the apse was completed in 1929 by W Jowsey, and there is some fine needlework in the hassocks.

An icon of the Samaritan Woman at the Well … a gift from the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

There are two small icons on the screen, a reminder of the role of the college in facilitating ecumenical dialogue involving the Orthodox Church.

An icon of the Samaritan Woman at the Well was a gift from the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. A small version of Andrei Rublev’s ‘Hospitality of Abraham’ was presented by Bishop Konstantin Tikhvinsky (Goryanov) of Tikhvin, Rector of St Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary, when he visited Westminster College in 1999.

The war memorial plaques include one with the names of both English and German students who died in World War II.

The Dining Hall in Westminster College … the portraits of Lewis and Gibson hang above the high table (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

To this day, the portraits of Lewis and Gibson hang above the high table in the Dining Hall in Westminster College. But the college sold many of the manuscripts found by Lewis and Gibson to the Green Collection in 2010 and they have since been put on show in the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.

Three years later, the Cairo Genizah collection was sold by Westminster College for £1.2 million in 2013. The Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford and Cambridge University Library got together to buy the collection.

Westminster College used the money to help finance a refurbishment of the college in 2013-2014.

Preparing for a celebration of the Holy Communion in the chapel in Westminster College (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Westminster College is not part of the University of Cambridge officially, but with other courses and institutes, including the IOCS and the Woolf Institute, it forms the Cambridge Theological Federation, which is affiliated with the university. Most students at Westminster College work for either a BA or MA degree from Anglia Ruskin University or a BTh or BA degree from Cambridge University.

The 11 member and associate member houses of the Cambridge Theological Federation are: the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide; the Eastern Region Ministry Course (Anglican); the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion; the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Orthodox); the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology (Roman Catholic); Ridley Hall (Anglican); Wesley House (Methodist); Westcott House (Anglican); Westfield House (Lutheran); Westminster College (Reformed); and the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths.

Westminster College has been home to both the Woolf Institute and the Faraday Institute since 2017. The Margaret Beaufort Institute has a home at the Woolf Institute since moving in October from Lady Margaret House in Grange Road, the convent of the Canonesses of Saint Augustine.

The Woolf Institute in the grounds of Westminster College is also part of the Cambridge Theological Federation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Woolf Institute, where most of our discussions took place on Saturday afternoon, was founded in 1998 by Edward Kessler and Martin Forward to ‘provide an academic framework and space in which people could tackle issues of religious difference constructively.’ It is dedicated to the study of interfaith relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims and aims to foster greater understanding and tolerance.

The institute began as the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, and expanded over time to include the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations and the Centre for Policy and Public Education. The three centres were combined in 2010 and renamed as the Woolf Institute in honour of Lord (Harry) Woolf, a patron of the institute and former Lord Chief Justice.

The Woolf Institute also contributes to the MPhil in Middle East Studies at the University of Cambridge, and offers a doctorate in collaboration with the Cambridge Theological Federation and Anglia Ruskin University.

Edward Kessler, the founder president of the Woolf Institute, is a leading thinker in interfaith relations, primarily Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, and chairs the Commission on the Integration of Refugees. He is a Fellow of Saint Edmund’s College, Cambridge, and is also a Principal of the Cambridge Theological Federation.

The Woolf Institute, the venue the IOCS seminars on Saturday, was founded in 1998 by Edward Kessler and Martin Forward (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

A weekend in Cambridge celebrating 25 years of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies

Westminster College, Cambridge … the venue for the weekend celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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.

With Father Dragos Herescu, the Principal of IOCS, Sir David Suchet and Archbishop Angaelos in Westminster College, Westminster

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.

Father Dragos Herescu, Principal of IOCS, leads Vespers in the chapel in Westminster College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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.

Daily prayer in Advent 2024: 1, Sunday 1 December 2024, the First Sunday of Advent

Advent and Christmas wreaths on Magdalene Street in Cambridge this weekend (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Season of Advent – and the real countdown to Christmas – begin today with the beginning of Advent and the First Sunday of Advent (1 December 2024).

I got back to Stony Stratford early this morning (after 2:30) after a much delayed and far too lengthy train journey from Cambridge through Euston to Milton Keynes. I had spent a long day in Cambridge at the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, where I was student for some years. Later this morning, I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Giles Church and, after an absence of many weeks, to sing with the choir.

I am tired, and I have little sleep. But, before the day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Christmas lights and decorations were up in Kuching long before Advent began (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Luke 21: 25-36 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 25 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’

29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Christmas lights and decorations at Station Place in Cambridge last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s reflection:

It is almost 70 years since Spike Milligan and the Goons recorded a hit single, I’m Walking Backwards for Christmas. It was originally sung by Spike Milligan in the show to fill in during a strike by musicians, and was one of the 14 singles released by Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan from June 1956 on.

It was released on 25 June 1956, quickly reaching No 4 in the UK singles chart. I am barely old enough to remember it, but I think it was so crazy that it inspired the title of an Advent book by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, some years ago: Walking Backwards to Christmas: An Advent journey from light to darkness.

Most people have learned the Christmas story from school nativity plays and carols, some adults think they know it, but only know it because of the libretto of Handel’s Messiah. But most of the familiar tellings of the Christmas story are more concerned with light than darkness.

The backwards approach taken by Archbishop Stephen Cottrell in his book takes the journey in the opposite direction, as he explores the Advent story through the eyes of a variety of characters. He began by seeing through the eyes of Anna, the prophetess who encounters Jesus in the Temple; followed by Rachel, who weeps for her children in Bethlehem; King Herod; the wise man Casper; a shepherd named David; Martha, the name he gives to the innkeeper’s wife; Joseph; Elizabeth; Mary; Isaiah and, finally, Moses.

Each imaginative reflection is prefaced by a Bible reading and followed by a prayer, to set it in context, as he invites us to step imaginatively into the Advent story.

It is certainly a very different approach to preparing for Christmas. It is very difficult to prepare for Christmas when Santa has already arrived in every shopping centre, when the Christmas lights are already strung across the High Street or Main Street in every town and village, and many of our parish choirs are already singing Christmas carols. Indeed, it is hard to distinguish between Advent and Lent when Cadbury’s crème eggs are on sale all through the year.

But even in the Church we often manage to confuse Advent and Lent, probably because they are both seasons of preparation when we change the liturgical colour from Green to Purple or Violet.

The word Advent, from the Latin word adventus, means ‘coming.’ That Latin word is simply a translation of the Greek word παρουσία (parousía), used for the Second Coming of Christ.

This season is a reminder of the original waiting for the coming of the Messiah. But more especially it is a reminder of our waiting for Christ at his the Second Coming. This season, which begins today, the First Sunday of Advent, is the season when the Church marks a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ, not just as a cuddly child in a Christmas crib, but his coming in glory and as king.

Throughout these three or four weeks of Advent, the readings, collects, post-communion prayers and the other seasonal liturgical provisions try to focus us on Christ’s incarnation, but more particularly – if less successfully – to focus us on Christ’s coming judgment and reign.

Because of that, the ‘Four Last Things’ – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell – have been traditional themes for Advent meditation. The characteristic emphasis in Advent, therefore, is expectation, rather than penitence.

Purple is not a penitential colour … it is a rich, royal imperial colour, originally derived from a very rare source. Πορφύρα (porphyra), the rare purple dye from Tyre, could command its weight in silver and was manufactured in classical antiquity from a mucus secreted by the spiny dye-murex snail.

As a seller of purple, Lydia was a wealthy woman of independent means. And as Judith Herrin points out in her beautiful book on the powerful woman of Byzantium, Women in Purple, a child born to a reigning emperor was πορφυρογέννητος (porphyrogénitos), ‘born in the purple’.

So, we change our liturgical colour in Advent to purple to signify we are preparing for the coming of Christ as the King of Kings, the ruler of all, in all his royal, imperial, majesty, splendour and glory.

Although comparisons are too often made with Lent, Advent is a time of preparation rather than a time of penitence, Lent too is a time of preparation for the completion of Christ’s majestic task, seen in his passion, death, burial and Resurrection. It was a time too, in the Early Church, of preparation for baptism, which required penitence and repentance and μετάνοια (metánoia), conversion, turning round to face Christ.

Today’s office parties, Christmas lunches, early Santas, hastily-planned carol services, and bringing the last posting day forward to the week before Advent, make it difficult to sustain this sense of being alert and watchful.

Yet, can you remember with glee and warmth the child-like waiting and watching you experienced during the build-up to Christmas? In the cold and dark of winter, can you remember that warm glow you felt as you anticipated such a wonderful festival?

‘Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength … to stand before the Son of Man’ (Luke 21: 36).

I’m Walking Backwards for Christmas by Spike Milligan and the Goons reached No 4 in the charts … in June 1956

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 1 December 2024, Advent I):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Hope – Advent’. This theme is introduced today with Reflections by Esmeralda Pato, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Representative and Chair of USPG’s Communion-Wide Advisory Group:

Read Luke 21: 25-36

Luke flags three signs that will precede the Advent of God in Christ. He suggests there will be [1] ‘distress among nations’; [2] ‘nations … confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves’; and [3] ‘people will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world’. The scenarios that Luke paints speak to our lived experiences. War and violent conflicts. People, especially the most vulnerable, are confused, anxious and helpless. Greed has consumed the earth resulting in immeasurable plundering and destruction of its resources as implied in verse 25.

And yet God does not leave us in that place. Verses 27-28 are a sign of hope for all. Luke submits that with the coming of the Son of Man, ‘redemption is near’. As a time of waiting Advent serves as a sign of hope for communities longing and waiting for peace and stability. Hope is an important thing. It helps us during significant trial. Hope is not flimsy or merely wishful thinking. It can help us to withstand fire, trials and despair. However, hope is not optimism. Optimism glosses over the present realities and invites us to sit passively and do nothing. But Advent hope is action-oriented. It invites us to trust God; to live carefully; to be watchful and to pray in troubled times.

Advent seasons of our lives can be long, difficult, and painful. But we never face those seasons without signs of hope and reassurance, signs that point to the one who is coming – the Son of Man, our source of strength, our Saviour, and our peace.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 1 December 2024, Advent I, World AIDS Day) invites us to pray:

Lord, on this World AIDS Day, we lift people living with HIV who face misdiagnosis, stigma, and exclusion. We thank you for places of refuge like Casa A+ (run by the Diocese of Brasilia) and for the love and perseverance of caregivers. As we move into Advent, encourage us to see that you are a God of hope who transforms lives.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

O Lord our God,
make us watchful and keep us faithful
as we await the coming of your Son our Lord;
that, when he shall appear,
he may not find us sleeping in sin
but active in his service
and joyful in his praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
as your kingdom dawns,
turn us from the darkness of sin
to the light of holiness,
that we may be ready to meet you
in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Purple is a rich, royal imperial colour, as Judith Herrin points out in her book on the powerful woman of Byzantium, ‘Women in Purple’

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

Daily prayer in the Kingdom Season: 30, Saturday 30 November 2024, Saint Andrew the Apostle

Saint Andrew the Apostle … a sculpture on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints’ Day and Advent, comes to end today and the Season of Advent begins tomorrow, the First Sunday of Advent (1 December 2024). Today, the Church Calendar celebrates Saint Andrew the Apostle (30 November).

Later today, I am in Cambridge for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, where I was student for some years. The programme for ‘25 Years of Generous Orthodoxy’ involves a day of prayer and celebrations at Westminster College, Cambridge. It includes a seminar in the Woolf Institute, a concert by the Mosaic Choir and Vespers in Westminster College Chapel, and lunch and a festive dinner in the college dining hall in Westminster College.

It means, of course, that I am going to miss the Christmas Fayre in Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford, today, the Lantern Parade, and the Christmas lights being switched on in the Market Square later this afternoon. But, before the day begins, before I head off to begin the long train journey, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Saint Andrew the First-Called … an icon in the chapel in Saint Columba’s House, Woking (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 4: 18-22 (NRSVA):

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Saint Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe in London is the last of Christopher Wren’s city churches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

Today (30 November 2024) is the feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle, who is often known as the first-called of the disciples.

Before he was called, Saint Andrew was a fisherman, an every-day ordinary-day commercial occupation, working on the Lake of Galilee in partnership with his brother Simon Peter. It is said that when Saint John the Baptist began to preach, Saint Andrew became one of his closest disciples.

When he heard Christ’s call by the sea to follow him, Saint Andrew hesitated for a moment, not because he had any doubts about that call, but because he wanted to bring his brother with him. He left his nets behind and went to Peter and, as Saint John’s Gospel recalls, he told him: ‘We have found the Messiah … [and] he brought Simon to Jesus’ (John 1: 41, 42).

The call in today’s Gospel reading – to Peter and Andrew, to James and John, the sons of Zebedee – comes to us as individuals and in groups. It is not a story of an either/or choice between proclaiming the Gospel to individuals or groups, but a both/and choice.

And this is a two-way call, as Saint Paul reminds us in the Epistle reading today (Romans 10: 12-18): God calls us, and we call to God. Saint Paul’s inclusive language – ‘Lord of all’ … ‘generous to all’ … ‘Everyone who calls’ … ‘all the earth’ – is unambiguous in ruling out all discrimination: ‘For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.’

But that particular form of discrimination is already, inherently, rejected in the Gospel reading. There are two brothers, one with a very Jewish name, Simon from the Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן, meaning ‘listen’ and ‘best’; and one with a very Greek name, Andrew, Ἀνδρέας, meaning ‘manly,’ even ‘brave’ … ‘strong’ … ‘courageous.’

From the very beginning, the call of Christ rejects the most obvious discrimination between Jew and Greek. Standing against discrimination is inherently built into the mission of the Church.

Some years ago, on my way to or from a meeting of USPG trustees, I visited one of the surviving London churches by Sir Christopher Wren, Saint Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe on Queen Victoria Street. It is two blocks south of Saint Paul’s Cathedral and close to Blackfriars station, and it is the last of Wren’s city churches.

The church was destroyed by German bombs during the Blitz in World War II, but was rebuilt and rededicated in 1961.

As the bitter weather of winter takes hold, I am reminded of a prayer, appropriate for Advent and this winter weather, I found at Saint Andrew’s and which the church offers for people who have no shelter on the streets:

God of compassion,
your love for humanity was revealed in Jesus,
whose earthly life began in the poverty of a stable
and ended in the pain and isolation of the cross:
we hold before you those who are homeless and cold
especially in this bitter weather.
Draw near and comfort them in spirit
and bless those who work to provide them
with shelter, food and friendship.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Saint Andrew’s Cross (centre) on a hassock in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 30 November 2024, Saint Andrew the Apostle):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a Programme Update.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 30 November 2024, Saint Andrew the Apostle) invites us to pray:

May we be inspired by the apostle obedience of Saint Andrew, that we may hear the call of the Lord and fulfil his holy commandments.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
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:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Advent I:

Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The programme for ‘25 Years of Generous Orthodoxy’ at Westminster College, Cambridge, today celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 116, Tuesday 3 September 2024

‘For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’ (Luke 4: 36) … a gargoyle at Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIV, 1 September 2024). Sunday was also the first day of Autumn, when the Season of Creation began, and it continues until 4 October.

The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Gregory the Great (604), Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘A man who had the spirit of an unclean demon … cried out with a loud voice’ (Luke 4: 33) … an image at La Lonja de la Seda in Valencia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 4: 31-37 (NRSVA):

31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. 32 They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 ‘Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. 36 They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, ‘What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’ 37 And a report about him began to reach every place in the region.

‘And a report about him began to reach every place in the region’ (Luke 4: 37) … newspapers on sale at a kiosk in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

We began reading a series of readings in Saint Luke’s Gospel yesterday, and they bring us to the end of the Church year.

In yesterday’s Gospel reading, Jesus began his public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth, the small towns where he had grown up.

As he finished the reading, people began wondering why he was not doing in Nazareth what he had been doing in Capernaum and other places. His remarks so angered the people of Nazareth that they thought of killing him and drove him out of that synagogue and out of town.

But, as our readings in Saint Luke’s Gospel continue, we see how Jesus continues to bring good news to the poor, he releases this poor captive, he can now see things as they are and as they ought to be, the oppressed may go free, and all are amazed.

In this morning’s Gospel reading, the good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed, continues to be put into action by Jesus, not just in words, but in deeds, as he returns to Capernaum, which seems to have been his home town after Nazareth.

Capernaum, was a prosperous town on the Sea of Galilee, and once again Jesus visits the synagogue on the sabbath, where they were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority’ (verse 32).

Jesus speaks directly, confident of his authority and of his very essence. The Greek word here, ἐξουσία (exousía), has the same roots as the word in the Nicene Creed that is translated as ‘being’ or ‘substance’: ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί (‘of one substance with the Father’).

The man with ‘the spirit of an unclean demon’ (verse 33) was, we might say, possessed, or under the influence of evil forces. In the understanding of the time, he was under Satan’s direction, separated from God.

The demon, speaking through this man (see verse 34), asks what Christ is doing meddling in the domain of evil: ‘Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’

He recognises who Christ is and that his coming spells the end of the power of the devil. He understands the significance of the coming Kingdom. Wonder-workers of the day healed using ritual or magic, but Christ exorcises simply through verbal command (verse 35), so clearly he is divine.

Are we comfortable with identifying or naming evil forces that are entrapping people in society today?

Do these malign forces manage to get a hearing in our places of worship today?

How would you name and identify them?

Would you include racism? Homophobia? Sexism? Class discrimination? Recent far-right rioters and the people who have egged them on? Support for war and violence?

What inner demons in myself have I failed to cast out? My prejudices, my misjudging of people, my failings in relationships and friendships that continue to cause hurt? My self-indulgence and personal vanity? My failure so often to speak out on behalf of the hurt, the marginalised, the oppressed, the victim?

It is interesting that in his response, Jesus leaves the man unharmed (verse 35). We are not told what happened to him afterwards. All we know that he is still there, standing among the people of faith, in the community of faith, that Saturday morning. The evil in him has been cast out, but he has not been cast out of the community of faith himself. I too can be forgiven and restored.

But how happy are we with the idea that compassion for the victims of hatred and violence and appropriate responses to the people trapped in a world of hatred and violence both find expression in Christ’s ministry, message and mission?

‘We pray for all who are involved in climate justice’ (USPG Prayer Diary) … fields of green and gold near Chicheley in Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 3 September 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘To Hope and Act with Creation.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection on Creationtide.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 3 September 2024) invites us to pray:

We pray for all who are involved in climate justice, and who are dedicating their time and efforts to raise awareness of climate change and global warming. We pray for a generation of leaders with the courage to take responsibility and act justly for our changing climate.

The Collect:

Merciful Father,
who chose your bishop Gregory
to be a servant of the servants of God:
grant that, like him, we may ever long to serve you
by proclaiming your gospel to the nations,
and may ever rejoice to sing your praises;
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:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Saint Gregory in a stained-glass window in Saint Giles Church, Cambridge … the Church Calendar in ‘Common Worship’ today remembers Saint Gregory the Great on 3 September (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

IOCS in Cambridge announces plans to celebrate ‘25 years of Generous Orthodoxy’

The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies on Jesus Lane … celebrating ‘25 years of Generous Orthodoxy’ in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge is celebrating its silver jubilee this year and ‘25 years of Generous Orthodoxy.’ A special celebration of institute’s 25th anniversary is to take place in Cambridge on Saturday 30 November, marking the feast day of Saint Catherine, the patron of IOCS.

The institute announced the celebrations last week, and more details can be expected on the IOCS website and social media in the weeks to come.

I have been a student at the IOCS over the years, taking part in summer school and summer conference programmes at Sidney Sussex College between 2008 and 2016, and contributing to one of the institute’s videos.

The celebration on 30 November promises to be a day to reconnect with the institute, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. The day will involve talks by distinguished friends of the IOCS – including the actor Sir David Suchet – a concert and a special dinner.

In the week leading up to the celebration day, IOCS is also running a five-day iconography course in Cambridge from Monday 25 to Friday 29 November 2024.

These two anniversary celebrations are opportunities to become an active part of strengthening IOCS ‘as a home for Generous Orthodoxy’.

The iconography course is taking place in the professional art studio at Westminster College on the corner of Madingley Road and Northampton Street, Cambridge. Westminster College is a resource centre for learning of the United Reformed Church (URC) and a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation. It is close to the Castle Mound, Kettle’s Yard and Magdalene College and is only a short stroll away from the Backs.

The five-day course, which was announced last week, The course will be led by Joseph Craveiro.

The course is designed to immerse students in the fundamental and advanced techniques of Byzantine Iconography. Participants will explore various aspects of ancient techniques, such as painting with egg tempera and gilding with gold leaf, culminating in a comprehensive understanding and practical application of this ancient art form.

At the end of the five-day course, students will finish their own icon of the face of Christ and receive a certificate from the institute recognising their efforts and completion of the course.

Further details about registration for both the celebration day on 30 November and the five-day course from 25 to 29 November will be available in the coming weeks.

As part of this year’s celebrations, IOCS co-organised an outreach day at Southwark Cathedral last month (3 August), held a fundraising day at Westminster Abbey earlier this summer (24 June), and commissioned a new icon of Christ the Teacher by the iconographer Aidan Hart, a Research Associate of IOCS.

The principal of IOCS, Father Dragos Herescu, recently met Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira – one of the trustees of the institute – to discuss avenues for closer co-operation and for the future development of IOCS.

IOCS is based at Wesley House on Jesus Lane, Cambridge, beside Jesus College and across the street from Westcott House. The wider mission and vision of IOCS is to provide a place for Orthodox education, research, and mission in Cambridge.

IOCS relies on the generosity of donors to support its work. This work is multi-layered, and donations are needed to support students, including bursaries for MA students and scholarships for PhD students, and for teaching, student supervision, research, sabbatical visiting fellowships and other events. Donors supporting existing or new academic positions at IOCS facilitate teaching and research and also strengthen Orthodox scholarship in Cambridge.

Westminster College, Cambridge … the venue for the IOCS course and anniversary celebrations in November

A traditional but modern community is at the heart of Jewish life in Cambridge today

Cambridge Synagogue and the Cambridge Jewish Student Centre on Thompson’s Lane … designed by CJ Eprile and RJ Hersh in 1937 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

In recent weeks, in my Friday evening postings, I have looked at the sites of the mediaeval Jewry and the mediaeval synagogues in Cambridge (19 July 2024), and of the locations of the early modern synagogues in Cambridge (26 July 2024). In a separate posting, I also asked once again (24 July 2024) whether Portugal Place in Cambridge was so named because Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who found a welcome in Cromwell’s England had first settled in that part of Cambridge from the mid-17th century on.

Indeed, Portugal Place is close to the Cambridge Synagogue on Thompson’s Lane, although the synagogue dates from 1937, over a century after Clement’s Lane was renamed Portugal Place.

By late 1912, the Jewish community in Cambridge had moved into premises behind a bicycle shop opposite the entrance to Sidney Sussex College, possibly in premises on the site that is now part of Sainsbury’s.

A new, purpose-built synagogue was built in 1937 in Ellis Court in Thomson’s Lane, off Bridge Street and parallel to Portugal Place. It was built for the Cambridge Hebrew Congregation, a continuity of the earlier ‘Lyon’s Synagogue’. It now houses both the Cambridge Synagogue and the Cambridge Jewish Student Centre.

The synagogue is close to Saint Clement’s Church and stands on the site of a house that was known as Church House (1886) and the Vicarage (1928). Ellis Lane took its name from Robert Ellis, the parish clerk of Saint Clement’s, who once lived in the earlier house.

Although that house was described in early leases as a house rather than houses, it had two basement kitchens and two staircases, and until the end of the 19th century there were invariably two families living there.

The building included the Church House Mission Room and School in 1881. An appeal on behalf of the Church House was issued in 1884 in the name of the Revd Edmund Gough de Salis Wood (1841-1932). He was the curate of Saint Clement’s in 1865-1885, and then the Vicar in 1885-1931. By 1887, the name of the house had been changed to Edmund House, but by 1891 it was known as the Vicarage and Canon Edmund Wood was living there on his own.

Wood died in 1931, and when the Vicarage was put on sale in October 1931 it was sold to trustees acting on behalf of the Cambridge Jewish community.

A new purpose-built synagogue was designed by architects Cecil Jacob Eprile (1897-1982) and RJ Hersh. Cecil Eprile (later Epril) also designed synagogues in New Cross, East Ham, Cricklewood, Hackney, Willesden Green and Southend.

The foundation stone of the synagogue in Cambridge was laid on 25 April 1937 by Sir Robert Waley-Cohen (1877-1952), a Cambridge graduate and leading industrialist who was president of the United Synagogue and vice-chairman of University College London. The new synagogue was built within six weeks and was consecrated by the Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Dr Joseph Herman Hertz, on 21 October 1937.

At the time, there were about 50 active Jewish students In Cambridge. A number of organisations, including the Schechter Society, the Oxford Zionist Society and the Oxford branch of the Anglo-Jewish Association, came together to form the Cambridge University Jewish Society (CUJS).

The Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation (CTRC) was established around 1979 as an independent orthodox community, sharing the synagogue building with the students. During term-time, the CUJS runs shabbat services and the CTJC organises the High Holy Day services and the other services.

Weekday services are agreed on a Shabbat morning or by special arrangement. There is usually a kiddush on Shabbat morning. During term, weekday shacharit is at 7:45 am and Sunday shacharit at 8:30 am.

Illustrative image of the proposed new synagogue on Thompson’s Lane, Cambridge (Image: RH Partnership Architects/Trustees of Cambridge University Jewish Society)

Today, the original building designed by Hersch and Eprile in 1937 is hidden behind a front extension.

The trustees of the Cambridge University Jewish Society had applied to redevelop the existing synagogue and community facility in Thompsons Lane. They described the current building as ‘inadequate’ and no longer ‘fit for purpose’, and said the new building would make a ‘positive contribution to Thompson’s Lane’.

A project to renew the synagogue has been worked for about 14 years and it has been the subject of three pre-applications with the city council in 2011, 2015 and 2018, and two public consultations in 2018 and 2019.

The proposed new building would wrap around the rear of the Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts (CSVPA) on a similar footprint to the existing synagogue, but would be enlarged and extended forward.

However, Cambridge city councillors last year rejected plans to demolish and rebuild the synagogue following concerns from neighbours on Portugal Place.

The houses on Portugal Place behind Cambridge Synagogue on Thompson’s Lane (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Some neighbours who objected to the plans raised concerns about the impact of the new larger building on their gardens, particularly the sunlight reaching homes in Portugal Place.

Council planning officers had recommended the approval of the plans, but recognised that the impact the proposed changes would have on householders. In a report, they said the harm to neighbours would need to be balanced against the wider community benefits the new building would bring.

Some councillors questioned how the plans related to the neighbouring houses, and one councillor said the proposed building ‘turns its back on Portugal Place’ rather than ‘smile’ on it.

Earlier this year, a planning inspector upheld Cambridge City Council’s refusal of the application to build a new synagogue in Thompson’s Lane. The inspector said the proposed new synagogue would have an ‘intrusive’ impact on neighbouring homes and would ‘unduly harm’ the living conditions of two neighbours at 25 and 26 Portugal Place. However, the inspector found that ‘the living conditions of the occupiers of numbers 27, 28 and 29 would not be unduly harmed’.

The planning inspector disagreed with the city council’s concerns about the design of the proposed new building, saying it would be ‘compatible with the relatively diverse surrounding’ buildings and that it would make a ‘positive contribution to the street scene’.

The inspector also said there were ‘significant’ public benefits of the redevelopment and that the current building is ‘not fit for purpose’ and ‘too small.’ However, the inspector said these benefits were not enough to outweigh the harm it could cause.

The Chabad House on Castle Street, Cambridge, is run by Rabbi Dr Reuven Leigh and his wife Rochel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

In addition, there is a Chabad House at 37a Castle Street, Cambridge. It is run by Rabbi Dr Reuven Leigh and his wife Rochel. He studied at yeshivot in Manchester and Montreal and received semicha (rabbinic ordination) in 2001 from the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva.

The couple moved to Cambridge in 2003 and established Chabad of Cambridge, and they remain its rabbinic couple and directors. He has also served as a Jewish chaplain at the university and became rabbi to Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation in 2009.

Rabbi Reuven Leigh received his PhD in Cambridge in 2020. Rochel Leigh, who has taught Jewish Studies in Florida, California, Texas and New York, received her MEd in Cambridge in 2018.

The Chabad House has a mikvah that is available for Jewish women in a Jewish marriage.

Today, there are two other active Jewish congregations in Cambridge. The Beth Shalom congregation, founded in 1981, developed from the Cambridge Reform Jewish Community which was established in October 1976. Professor Nicholas Lange is chaplain to a Progressive Jewish Community in Cambridge.

The Cambridge and Suffolk Jewish Community, also known as Hama’ayan, was formed about 2005, and had its own nursery and mikvah. But it does not seems to have been active after 2007.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום

A menorah outside the Chabad House on Castle Street, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)