Queen Victoria is reputed to have avoided Oxford, describing it as ‘too dark and monkish’. The city is full of landmarks built on sites of old churches that would have kept her away, for example: Carfax Tower. However, with acts of worship being live streamed to enable social distancing, now is a great time to - virtually - visit a new church.
Oxford is dotted with active churches that serve the local community, e.g. St Anthony of Padua, Headley Way, is located at the foot of the John Radcliffe Hospital; their clergy are also Catholic chaplains for the NHS hospital.
Virtual attendance at one of Oxford’s religious services is easy thanks to the internet. The Oxford Oratory live stream is at http://www.oxfordoratory.org.uk/stream and the vibrant University Chaplaincy streams services from the Newman Rooms: chaplaincy.org.uk/live-stream-of-masses/.
Whilst these services are Roman Catholic, there is an uplifting sense that all may find welcome. There are a number of apps online that provide a Roman Catholic missal to follow the service with.
Religion in Oxford cannot be escaped, it is literally in the bricks; the Bishop of Waynflete, whose face is carved on the corner of Magdalen College, blesses those who leave and enter the city. I headed out of the city, virtually speaking, to Headington.
Corpus Christi Church on Margaret Road has an established congregation of local families along with transient students and workers. Online, the church is full of light even though it is empty; a presence is felt. JRR Tolkien used to be a reader here and the first mass was said in Headington during Easter 1932. Canon Mervyn Tower, the Parish Priest, says mass in front of an intensely coloured, vivid stained-glass window.
The central Altar is in French limestone and either side of it is a Pieta statue with baptismal font and a Lady Chapel. The central icon in the Lady Chapel is created by Moscow painter Alexander Gormatiuk.
The Priest is inclusive, welcoming and hopeful in his sermons. Weekday services are daily at 9.15am (except Thursday) and the live-streamed mass typically lasts 30-40 minutes with recorded hymns: https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/oxford.
I left the broadcast with a valuable sense of community. I felt glad to be in a historic city that continues to honour the Saints, except now our iconic figures of faith are honoured online.
St Giles, the patron Saint of outcasts and has a church devoted to him on the outskirts of the city centre. For those in the Church of England, the church’s live streamed services on YouTube are as inspiring as the building itself: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiT51iE2v2TIvHmV6OQXZTg/.
Perhaps the most welcome gift of all these services is the moment where the sign of peace is exchanged; without contact this act of faith oddly becomes more profound.
