![[John Binns]](../by/John_Binns.jpg)
by the Revd Dr John Binns, Vicar and Chairman of the Michaelhouse Committee
The Michaelhouse Project has two purposes - to reorder a medieval church and to use it for a new style of ministry and mission.
![[St Michael's Exterior]](October/St_Michael's_Exterior.jpeg)
Of course we have to do the reordering of the building first. We are deeply conscious that we are stewards of a marvellous resource, a historic church, in the centre of Cambridge, already adapted to community use. We are also conscious that it is in a poor condition. A conversion was done in the 1960s which lacked sensitivity to its architectural qualities. The facilities are now outdated and inadequate for our use. We cannot leave such a remarkable building in this condition. When he visited St Michael's recently to look at the plans, the Chancellor, who is the senior legal officer of the diocese, reminded us of the importance of preserving our listed buildings, of which St Michael's is certainly one.
But the conversion is only a means to an end, and the bigger challenge is to use the building well. It is a Christian Church - a space set apart for the service of God and our neighbour.
Like every generation we have to discover for ourselves what it means to follow Christ. We cannot accept uncritically the methods and practices of previous generations. We live in a rapidly changing society and so we must be ready to support, care for and challenge as we seek to live creatively.
I suggest that our life as disciples of Christ should have three characteristics.
First, exploration: our faith has to be our faith - not somebody else's. We have to explore together how we are challenged to live. Of course we recognise our dependence on the past. But we need to listen to each other, to reflect on our experience, to encounter new and fresh ways of prayer, meditation and worship. We need openness and we need to be ready to experiment and try new things.
Secondly, encounter: the Church of England cannot claim a monopoly of the truth. We witness alongside other Christian Churches, and we also recognise the value and the insights of other faiths. We have to admit, as well, that secular groups have often been more effective in the struggle for justice, peace and freedom than the Churches. We have to share with others in the task of building a just and inclusive community in which all are valued. A first step is to meet each other and work together. It is always invigorating and surprising (although it shouldn't be) to discover common ground and commitments with others we had not met before.
Thirdly, effectiveness: our faith must have results. We cannot live at ease in a world in which war, poverty, inequality, racism and violence devastate the lives of individuals and communities. Our internal faith must result in external action;our love for God cannot be separated from our commitment to our neighbour. The needs of the marginalised and excluded must be moved from the margins to the centre of our priorities.
The task facing the Michaelhouse Project is to develop a programme and a way of working which is shaped by and carries out these principles. So we move on to the next stage - practical ways in which the Michaelhouse Project will actually work.
First, St Michael's will be accessible to as many people as possible. There will be a new entrance which will be attractively designed and clearly visible. There will be easy access for disabled people. Once one is inside there will be a refectory-style café serving drinks and snacks. It will be open six days a week. Anybody will be able to come in, look around, have a cup of coffee or a meal, and find out for themselves what is going on. It will not be a closed facility for the initiated, but an open space for everybody.
Secondly, it will be used by local church, charitable and community groups. So often local groups are severely hampered by lack of funds, no place to meet, and no contact with others who might be interested. In St Michael's there will be five spaces available for use by local groups, ranging in size from a small meeting room for a dozen or so to a multi-purpose chancel, which can easily accommodate a hundred people.
The building will be financed largely by the profits from the refectory, so costs to charitable groups will be low - or non-existent. There will also be opportunities for publicity and for sharing ideas with others.
Thirdly, the spiritual dimension of life will be a permanent part of the Project. The medieval Founder's Chapel will be a place for quiet prayer and meditation and will be the focus for a variety of styles of spirituality and worship.
Fourthly, people who use and value Michaelhouse will not be tenants or visitors but - to use the new phrase - stakeholders. They will be able to become members of the Project, share in decision-making and elect trustees.
Of course there is much to do to transform this vision into reality - and not only fundraising and building. We have to think through how these principles can be applied in practice. We have to work out the right balance between being truly inclusive in our approach and not compromising our Christian commitments. We have to ensure that St Michael's remains available for parish events as well as being shared with others. We have to identify the groups who will become our partners as we set up this new venture.
It is an exciting and inspiring vision. If we can think, pray, plan and act effectively, then St Michael's could become the home of an effective, radical, creative force for living and learning within our city.
The Michaelhouse project now has some web pages of
its own (including some of the architectural diagrams) at http://www.ely.anglican.org/parishes/camgsm/michaelhouse/
![[Kerry Ramsay]](../by/Kerry_Ramsay.jpg)
By the Revd Kerry Ramsay
My house in south-east London overlooked huge tower block estates that were home to lovely, dignified and intelligent people who happened to be poor. But for some the only way to manage the poverty was to drink a way out of it. I frequently met a couple who did this. They were usually drunk, clutching a can of lager, sometimes as early as 9.30 in the morning. I heard them too, abusive and violent, saying ugly things - very ugly things - to each other and probably believing each other, believing themselves.
The first time I heard them I found it, if I am honest, offensive. I wasn't alone. Sometimes people in churches are a little ignorant about the stark realities and sadness of other people's lives. We lament the destruction of communal values and care, the government's failure to deliver on jobs and employment promises, benefits and housing, and grieve for a world that creates the poverty of some while profiting the purses of others. But translating that thinking into an appropriate response is more difficult. The congregation struggled to interpret local people's needs, to find ways of welcoming them into their midst, to see them as part of their church community. It is one thing to talk about community and loving the stranger, it is quite another to do it.
The letter to the Hebrews says: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." Part of our work, as a faith community is to find ways of showing hospitality to those around us. We might not have towering blocks of poverty around us, but there will be other needs. Our pastoral vocation is as much to the needs of the wider community as it is to the gathered few.
This edition of Majestas is concerned with the role of the Church in the community, and it is therefore appropriate that it should pay special attention to the Michaelhouse Project, which has been evolving over the last ten years or so. The past year has seen a major fundraising campaign for Michaelhouse, and we are now half way to our target. It is a great encouragement to know that so many institutional donors and committed individuals have endorsed the project through their support. Last week the consistory court met and granted us a faculty for planning permission.
All of this is good. What lies ahead now is some creative thinking about strategies that might help us to meet some of the needs and priorities of our wider community with responsibility, ingenuity, sensitivity and wisdom as we seek to break down the barriers that church walls so often erect. The Michaelhouse Project is an appropriate focus for our engagement with the world around us and has the potential to enhance our mission as we explore our faith and meet and offer space to groups who work for a better world. The life of faith and prayer is as much about the struggle to love God as it is about the struggle to love and serve each other.
![[Vicarage Tea Party]](October/Vicarage_Tea_Party.jpeg)
The Vicarage Tea Party was held on Sunday 18th July. Good weather and a wonderful tea made for a relaxing and enjoyable summer's afternoon. The Tea Party was one of a number of very successful events in the social calendar of GSM. These have included a rounders match at Girton College.
Test your knowledge of wine at Jesus College on 22nd November. Teams of four to six are invited to join in and raise a glass or two for Michaelhouse. Details from Jackie Hills on 525950.
The theme this year is 'Freedom'.
There are children arriving in Britain to seek asylum, some with no parents or families to receive them. There are children, too, whose mothers have been held in Thai gaols for many, many years. These worthy causes seek our help and we at GSM would like to appeal for generosity on 10th October, when we hold our Harvest Thanksgiving and think gratefully of our own freedoms.
From January, Jeremy Clark-King will be Vicar of St Anthony of Egypt, Byker, in the east end of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. As part of his job, half his time will be spent on the team of a Project in Urban Mission and Theology. This project is being set up in a group of three parishes and is part of the regeneration of a deprived area of the city.
Ellen will be studying full-time for a PhD in 'Spirituality of the City', working in the Project and developing spiritual direction.
Death is a universal human experience, yet something which we find
hard to think and speak about. Yet we need to be able to face up to
our own mortality and to relate creatively to those facing death or
suffering bereavement. On Saturday 30th October, in St Michael's,
there is to be a symposium on this theme. It will bring together
speakers and participants from different disciplines and backgrounds,
in order to share ideas and insights.
![[Friends Card]](October/Friends_Card.jpeg)
![[Tunnacliffe Card 1]](October/Tunnacliffe_Card_1.jpeg)
Produced by the Friends of GSM. £3 for ten cards and envelopes.
Designed by Chantal Tunnacliffe and featuring Great St Mary's in full colour. The message inside will help to publicise Michaelhouse and proceeds will support the Michaelhouse appeal.
£3.95 for a pack of ten cards with envelopes.
![[Tunnacliffe Card 2]](October/Tunnacliffe_Card_2.jpeg)
Another colourful design by Chantal Tunnacliffe.
Majestas is in need of one or more people to join the committee and help with the many tasks involved in putting the magazine together: developing themes, contacting contributors, taking photographs, reporting on church events and so on. To find out more about what is involved, contact Sheila Cameron on 01954 251040; e-mail shc@ula.cam.ac.uk; or in writing, care of the Church Office.
![[Robin Blackall]](../by/Robin_Blackall.jpg)
Robin Blackall on the Church's role in rural communities
The Revd Robin Blackall is the Officer for Rural Mission in the Diocese of Ely.
![[Fenland Cope]](October/Fenland_Cope.jpeg)
As a country parson writing from my very rural benefice of four parishes in Norfolk, I serve in communities which are very different from those which the University Church and the Michaelhouse Project seek to serve.
For some newcomers, villages are havens of escape where they don't want to be known. Their schools, post offices, vicars and even pubs may be elsewhere and the motor car facilitates solitude. Others see in the isolation caused by losing these facilities the unsustainability (a current buzzword) of their community.
In 1990 the Archbishop's Commission on Rural Areas published the report Faith in the Countryside. This followed Faith in the City of a year or so earlier. The report is an in-depth look at life in the countryside towards the end of this century and the position and role of the Church there. It includes a section on Community, contrasted with the current emphasis on the individual.
Drawing on a little Bible study in Deuteronomy, Matthew 5 and 1 Cor. 12 (Paul's understanding of "the Body"), the report suggests that "a person is only fully personal when in proper relationship with Christ and with others. We are not most personal when we are most distinctive. Instead we are most personal when we are dependent on the community to grow and relate and love."
![[East Of England Show]](October/East_Of_England_Show.jpeg)
The creation of community, then, is our goal both in town and country. Bishop Stephen, in the Diocese of Ely's response to Faith in the Countryside, identified in its theology the major themes of Creation and Personhood. He wrote, "The worshipping congregation is not a club which prefers hymns to golf and gardening and washing the car, but men and women, old and young who represent the praises of those whom other occupations have temporarily distracted. There is in other words, an implicit relation between Church and Community."
Those of us who worship regularly in small congregations may be tempted to ask how long, with the limited resources of very small populations, we can be expected to continue this vicarious ministry! Statistics show that, as a percentage of the population, church attendance is often higher in rural areas than in urban. But with limited resources the small congregations need support in their mission if they are to succed in growing communities.
As a continuing response to Faith in the Countryside, this Diocese designated 1994 the Year of the Small Parish. It was recognised that our small parishes should be affirmed - not thought of as failed Churches but supported in their mission through provision of resources appropriate to their needs. Mainly, those resources are the people and clergy of the parishes augmented by a part-time Rural Officer and the availability of specialist staff in the Diocese and of course training.
![[Trailer]](October/Trailer.jpeg)
The most telling stratagem in the rural mission of the Church is that it is seen. Presence is of fundamental importance to both Church and Community. This presence includes a building, very often the pride and joy of a village. It includes a Rector or Vicar, and a Reader (sometimes spread thin, but present nonetheless!); and it includes, very significantly, members of the Body of Christ who, if not seen all that often on Sunday, are also members of the Parish Council, the Women's Institute, the Bowls Club, the School Governors and other village organisations which may also be theatres of mission.
Many who live in the countryside have a strong allegiance to their village, and the church building is indeed part of the village. Today, when many small villages have few communal facilities, an encouraging number of parishes are enabling the village church to serve the whole community. A Millennium scheme which helps fund such projects has resulted in some very imaginative reordering.
Although the pleasantness may be tinged with deprivation and isolation, the countryside is nonetheless where townsfolk like to escape for refreshment and recreation. It is largely the farmers and landowners who are guardians of our landscape; it is the countryside where our food is grown, where the agricultural economic pinch is felt, and where the issues which activate the Countryside Alliance are lived out.
If the Church's role is to create community, then at the heart of that community will be a Jesus-centred spirituality that will be concerned for both people and the care of God's creation. It is not too fanciful to say that the Church's rural mission is to enable the creation of community and to care for the soul of the countryside. What about twinning some of our town and country parishes as another stratagem in mission?
Chris Rose on a Church community initiative in the city
Chris Rose is Centre Manager for Romsey Mill.
It is a very strange sensation to inexperienced youth to feel itself quite alone in the world: cut adrift from every connection; uncertain whether the port to which it is bound can be reached, and prevented by many impediments from returning to that it has quitted."
Jane Eyre
The sensation that Charlotte Bronté described was one that was rare to her and indeed to many in her society, as the communities that existed tended to be more stable and supportive than ours today. While our society tends to promote choice for everyone, there are many who pay the price of this or who are excluded from active involvement. For those in this situation, isolation, bewilderment, lack of power and an inability to change their situation are feelings and experiences that are all too common. The term 'socially excluded' has been used to describe those who often fail to benefit from active involvement in society. In Jesus' time there were many in a similar situation and the gospels make it clear that Jesus' concern was with these people. In John 9 we read of Jesus not only healing a blind man but then going and finding him when he had been excluded from the temple.
Romsey Mill's role is to offer hope, support, advice and activities which challenge people and shine a light onto their lives - past, present and future. For the last 20 years Romsey Mill has been working with young people and young families. Over this time the Christian faith of those involved has been added to by a commitment to professional practice and a desire to be as relevant as possible in responding to the needs of a fast changing community.
We run four major areas of work, which have been developed in response to immediate local needs, Cambridge-wide needs and national agendas.
![[Romsey Mill Interior]](October/Romsey_Mill_Interior.jpeg)
Our local community has changed dramatically. Ten years ago many living in the city had no idea of what lay on the far side of Mill Road - except for Sainsburys! Now the old railway workers' cottages have become the new 'affordable' residences for many families, as much of Cambridge remains well out of their price range. This change has led to a rapid increase in the number of young families in the local area. For them we offer a wide range of provision, including a playgroup, five different toddler groups and postnatal care support groups. These sessions allow parents the chance to talk about problems and difficulties, to meet others and to allow their children to develop with other children.
The Under-5s work, while highly popular, is not appropriate for many of the most needy young parents - those aged under 20 and often as young as 13 or 14. In order to develop a suitable response to these highly vulnerable young women and their children, the Young Parents' Project was established. This works with over 60 teenage mothers and their children throughout Cambridge. There is a combination of activities, which include drop-in times at Romsey Mill, antenatal classes, IT training, first-aid and self-awareness courses, with a very active home-visiting programme.
Like the Young Parents' Project this provides a response to distressed and deprived young people aged 14-20. We work particularly with those who are facing exclusion from school, the young unemployed, those in trouble with the police and those facing difficulties with their domestic situation or who are bracketed as being 'at risk'. This work includes individual work, group work, open evenings, school-based projects and detached work.
This is a new initiative being delivered in Cambridge by Ridley Hall Theological College in partnership with Romsey Mill. It is the first course that combines a professional youth work qualification with theological study. We hope that those involved will be equipped with the tools to undertake quality youth work and to convey the Christian message in both their actions and their words.
Romsey Mill also runs other areas of work, including the famous summer holiday club, the J Team, group work with 9-14-year-olds and a series of collaborative ventures with local churches. We also run two community charity shops, which generate funding for our work and also provide a much appreciated service.
![[Romsey Mill Logo]](October/Romsey_Mill_Logo.jpeg){kind=logo}
The work obviously costs - both at a personal level for those involved and also at a financial level. We are constantly amazed by God's provision to us and how He draws people into the work at Romsey Mill. If you would like to find out more, or would like to support the work through prayer, by volunteering or through your giving, please do contact us at the address in the margin.
Romsey Mill,
Hemingford Road,
Cambridge,
CB1 3BZ.
Tel. (01223) 213162
![[Roger France]](../by/Roger_France.jpg)
Roger France on St Michael's Church, Michaelhouse and Bishop John Fisher
Roger France lectures in urban conservation and is a consultant architect and town planner.
Only a stone's throw to the north of Great St Mary's lies its 'daughter' church of St Michael. Sensibly, it was placed in the care of the Great St Mary's PCC when it was no longer able to survive as an independent entity. Yet St Michael's is unique among the ecclesiastical buildings of Cambridge. Its primary connection is with 'The House of Scholars of St Michael' - Michaelhouse - founded in 1324 by Harvey de Stanton, who acted as Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Exchequer to Edward II and as a Canon at York. This foundation is second only to that of the hostel of St Peter - Peterhouse - of 1284, and it precedes the next earliest foundation, University Hall - subsequently Clare College, by one year. The church building has been dated to 1324 and the college of Michaelhouse took it over at the time of its foundation. So the building that we see today is an extant college chapel of the early 14th century, older than any other college chapel in Cambridge and more complete as a contemporary architectural statement than any college chapel in Oxford or Cambridge.
The other special historical feature of St Michael's is its association with Bishop John Fisher (1469-1535). Fisher came to Michaelhouse at the age of 14 in 1483. At that time there were only twelve colleges in Cambridge. The majority of students lived in lodgings or hostels in the town, but Fisher was one of the few who were privileged to live in college. Michaelhouse, which was subsequently amalgamated with The King's Hall to create Trinity College in 1546, was known in Fisher's day for its emphasis on the study of law in the service of both the state and the church.
Fisher was elected into a fellowship at Michaelhouse on receiving an MA in 1491. In 1494 he was elected Senior Proctor of the University, and he then withdrew to the household of Lady Margaret Beaufort to act as her personal confessor. In 1501 he was elected Vice-Chancellor of the University, where he subsequently gained his Doctorate of Divinity. Fisher's close connection with royalty led to an endowment for a Readership in Theology by Lady Margaret; he was the first holder of this post. At the comparatively young age of 35 he was elected Chancellor of the University. In the same year, 1504, he was appointed not only to the see of Rochester but also to the Presidency of Queens' College, Cambridge. Building on the initiative of the Readership, he then persuaded Lady Margaret to make two important benefactions. One was for God's House to be refounded as Christ's College in 1505, and the other was for the creation of St John's College out of the old monastic Hospital of St John in 1511.
Fisher came to have reservations about the way in which the concerns and scholarship of Erasmus were being overtaken by Lutheran ideas and the 'new humanism', which had begun to permeate England from the continent. Henry VIII and Archbishop Cranmer were more sympathetic to this process, making Fisher appear theologically conservative. As a Roman Catholic, he opposed the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon. As a consequence he became the first significant martyr of the split with the Church of Rome. He was executed on 22nd June 1535 and was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church in 1935.
Fisher was the most distinguished scholar, administrator and pastor of his day and a landmark figure in the early days of the English Reformation. The church building of St Michael's provides us with a tangible link with him and with this major split in European Christendom.
![[St Michael's C1910]](October/St_Michael's_C1910.jpeg)
Another unique feature of St Michael's Church is its relatively undisturbed physical state. In terms of its plan, it remains unextended over its life of 670 years (apart form the addition of a north porch in the 19th century). A feature that is particularly unusual is that the central space used as chancel is greater than the part used as nave. This is certainly unusual for a parish church, though normal in college chapels.
Ideas for its adaptive reuse have been presented over the years. One was for a library for Gonville and Caius College, whilst another involved the Roman Catholic Chaplaincy. A proposal for subdividing the church was implemented in the 1960s with arguable success and there are at present plans for further refurbishment. Whatever the outcome, the connection of John Fisher, Cambridge scholar, Bishop and martyr, is stronger with this building than with any other in Cambridge. It is to be hoped that this legacy is appreciated and respected.
![[Chris Mcdouall]](../by/Chris_McDouall.jpg)
Chris McDouall reports that the fundraising campaign is now half way to its target of £750,000.
Chris McDouall is a Trustee and campaign committee member for Michaelhouse.
When people hear that the ideas for the Michaelhouse project started over 10 years ago, they might ask why has it all taken so long? There were discussions about the fundamentals - the role of the church in a constantly changing and increasingly mixed-faith society; and how to present the language and ideas of Christian liturgy in an accessible way.
![[St Michael's 1863]](October/St_Michael's_1863.jpeg)
There were serious financial considerations. At the time Great St Mary's diocesan quota was a fraction of the £1,500 per week we now pay, but even so it was clear that the congregation could not bear the burden of maintaining two big churches. (St Michael's costs an average of £20,000 a year to maintain.) At this point St Alban's Abbey gave us the benefit of their experience and the idea of a refectory-style café inside St Michael's was born. There were doubters, so we tried it out with an experiment in 1992. Over three months two dozen volunteers helped serve in St Michael's: we broke even financially, and the work was rewarded by the establishment in that short period of a core of regular customers. We were convinced of a market in Cambridge for this kind of facility, and a study of the finances showed they would enable St Michael's to become self-sustaining, lifting the burden of maintenance from the congregation.
![[St Michael's Door]](October/St_Michael's_Door.jpeg)
Plans for conversion were drawn up, and because little money was available many professionals gave their time free or for a fraction of the normal charge. The Michaelhouse Project will for ever be indebted to this unstinting generosity. The first plan made as little change as possible to the main fabric of the building, but it did feature a new entrance from Trinity Street, copied from an existing medieval door. We presented the scheme to the diocesan committee but they rejected it. "Great scheme," they said, "but not bold enough!" So we revised our plans and they incurred strong criticism from other sources: "not preserving churches! Damage to precious fabric!" Finally, the situation resolved itself when we discovered that the 1937 contract with Gonville and Caius College would allow us to use the original main south door. The scheme which gained a Faculty in August this year is based on that door once again becoming the main entrance of St Michael's.
The Michaelhouse Trust was formed and in March this year a fundraising campaign was launched with Lady Broers as President and supported by other distinguished patrons. A display about the proposed Michaelhouse Centre has been produced, reflecting the innovative quality of the planned conversion. This now stands in Great St Mary's. Organisations and individuals have been very generous, which is why we have reached the half-way point of the appeal so quickly. Aiming to open in the Millennium year, we have applied to a number of funds for grants, including Cambridge City Council, the National Lottery and local trusts and businesses.
In the mean time the Harambee Centre and Friends of the Earth have offices in the Montefiore and Fison Rooms. We are delighted that our Orthodox brethren regularly use the Hervey de Stanton Chapel, and a programme of community events is planned for the future. The Eucharist is celebrated in St Michael's each Wednesday.
As we strive towards our goal of opening next year, we continue our fundraising campaign. To all of you who have already donated, thank you; your support is truly appreciated. If you have not yet given, we have included a donation form in this edition of Majestas for your convenience. Remember that a donation through Gift Aid (minimum £250) or by regular covenant will enable the fund to reclaim tax, increasing the value of your gift by 30%.
In addition you may have useful contacts in the Cambridge area or beyond who might help the campaign, or you may want to join our fundraising group. This autumn will be decisive for the Michaelhouse project: we really need to put sufficient fundraising initiatives in hand to ensure that building work can start next year.
The Campaign brochure, covenant and Gift Aid forms are available from Brigid Peat, the Parish Secretary, on 350914.
We would like to thank the following for their generous support:
as well as many generous individuals and anonymous benefactors who have given donations or their time to help the Michaelhouse Project.
Saturday 30th October 1999, in St Michael's Church, Trinity Street
10.00 am Coffee
10.30 am 'Living with our own Dying'
Martin Israel, doctor, priest and writer on spirituality
11.30 am 'Death and Medicine'
Robert Twycross, Macmillan Clinical Reader in Palliative Care at Oxford 12.30 pm Lunch
1.30 pm 'Supporting Bereaved Families'
Penny Cook, Family Liaison Sister for Children's Services, Addenbrooke's Hospital
2.30 pm 'Meanings of Death'
John Bowker, formerly Professor of Religious Studies, University of Lancaster, and Dean of Trinity College
3.30 pm Tea
Since this is the same from issue to issue, we have included a single copy of it on the site, as our Who's who at GSM page.
Majestas is edited by John Parkin, Sheila Cameron, Andy Martin, Philip Oswald (proofs) and John Sturdy (HTML) and published by: Great St Mary's The University Church, Cambridge CB2 3PQ, Tel (01223) 350914, Fax (01223) 426555.
Please contact the editors at the above address.
For further details of the parish, including the regular service times, please see the GSM home page.