Chapel Report

One of Clare’s former Deans, Jo Bailey Wells, used to quip that the role of the Chapel (and the Dean) was to make the workings of the College human, and the worship of the College divine. I hope that, over the past year, the life of the Chapel has gone some way towards fulfilling that lofty vocation.

 Sunday Choral Evensong services have continued to provide the heartbeat to our weekly worship, consistently drawing in a wide range of Clare undergraduates, graduates, staff and Fellows, as well as local alumni and regulars. We have welcomed a host of distinguished and engaging guest speakers this year, including Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, Dr Paula Gooder, Professor Jane Williams, Professor David Fergusson, Bishop Vivienne Faull, Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani, and Bishop Jo Bailey Wells. It was a particular delight to welcome an all-female speaker line up for Lent Term, as the Chapel marked the 50^th anniversary of co-education at Clare with a special series of services that celebrated the experiences, music-making and faith stories of Clare alumnae.

 As well as Sunday Evensong services, it’s also been a huge encouragement to witness how late-night Choral Compline, sung by the Choir by candlelight, has struck such a chord with Clare students. Similarly, it’s been wonderful to see how our annual Chapel services marking Matriculation, All Souls’ Day, Remembrance Sunday, Advent, Ash Wednesday, Passiontide and the Commemoration of Benefactors – plus a special BBC Radio 3 Evensong broadcast to boot! – have brought such joy, conviviality and beauty to the rhythms of the College year. The Chapel is also the place where we have given thanks for Clare lives well lived – including memorial services to Chris Cooper in November, and Anne Brewin in June. Amid the tapestry of fond service memories from the past year, I shall perhaps most cherish the experience of processing into Chapel to a full choral rendition of Handel’s Zadok the Priest at our special Evensong to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. It was both amazing, and just a little bit bonkers – which seems to me a quintessentially Clare combination. Over the course of the summer, we look forward to some exciting upgrades in Chapel, thanks to the huge generosity of a Clare benefactor, including a new lighting system.

 Beyond the confines of the Chapel building itself, it’s been a year when the post-Covid possibilities have really roared back into life. Dean’s Port evenings in E3 have been a reliable source of good cheer (and good port), the Chapel Reading Group enjoyed getting to grips with Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, we had a lovely visit from our friends at Clare Hall for a special reception, and there was a fantastically eye-opening trip to the Parker Library, for a private tour of some of its treasures. During Easter Term, the fine weather allowed the return of the Dean’s Tuesday Teas for students in the Scholars’ Garden, as well as a special Tea to celebrate the hard work of Clare’s staff, plus I once again captained the Staff & Fellows cricket team to another glorious defeat. It’s also been a great blessing and privilege to be able to meet up with a group of students to read the Bible together each week, and to discuss matters of faith and belief.

 More widely still, I’ve tremendously enjoyed my first full academic year as a College Tutor, have loved hosting socials (and Hugh Latimer-related events) for our Clare Theologians, and have continued lecturing, supervising and examining in the Divinity Faculty in both patristics and NT Greek (as well as nudging two books closer to publication). I’ve also had the chance to give talks and make podcast appearances on topics including the Epistle of Jude and the Donatist schism, and have served my third and final year in office as a Proctor of the University. This year I was elected to the Council for Christian Unity, in addition to my ongoing role on the Church of England’s General Synod – and I’ve also been doing a little bit of research into Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, who I believe is the only Clare alumnus to have played cricket for England.  

 Most of all, I think, I am grateful for the new friendships made, and the existing friendships deepened, in Clare this year. It has been a particular pleasure to welcome Gabrielle Bell as the new Head of the Chapel Office. Gabrielle has made an absolutely superb start, and is a fantastic addition to our team. Hannah Fytche has been a resourceful, dependable, conscientious, kind and astoundingly gifted Decani Scholar. I’m profoundly thankful for a hugely encouraging year.