December 21 - a bit of a pilgrimage

I had a bit of me time this afternoon mooching around York. York is a lovely city. It felt like  almost like stepping back in time as I explored the streets around the Minster. It was good to go into the Minster a few days before Christmas. It’s an impressive building. The Advent wreath high above our heads was impressive. 

 What made those going into the Minster this afternoon go? Were they tourists or were they pilgrims? It’s always powerful in our great sacred buildings to imagine those who walked in them before us. The present York Minster was consecrated in 1492. Here we are in 2023! 

I’m a huge Stephen Cottrell fan. He speaks and writes in a way people can understand. I haven’t met him but I sat behind him at the service in Ripon Cathedral to mark the late Queen’s Jubilee last year. What York Minster is trying to do by being open (albeit for £16 - but the ticket is for a year) is to try and enable people passing through a glimpse of heaven on earth, a time of quiet, a sense we are part of Christian history by being in there today.

Last Christmas morning, the Archbishop talked about comfort. He quoted the Messiah and said that during the great Hallelujah Chorus the choir sing from Revelation 11:15: “the kingdom of this works has become the kingdom of our God.” And he said “ this is the hope of the Gospel, the vision that sustains us. God is committed to us.”

Do our buildings help people encounter the story?

How did people leave the Minster this afternoon? A lot of Chinese tourists! 

I was sent an article about the Methodist Church at High Street Harpenden, my home town, and the star in the stained glass window: “ The star was made by Mr A Sturgess, who was a member of the church choir in the 1950s and worked for The De Havilland aircraft manufacturers. It is made from sheet brass shaped to form the outline of a star and the front is covered by pale blue tinted Perspex secured by tape.

It has a wooden back which holds the bulb holder and a bracket, which is hooked over one of the strengthening window bars. A length of clear mains cable runs from the star to the base of the window clipped onto other window bars.

The star was originally put in place as Christmas approached and taken down again afterwards. This was no mean feat as a ladder had to be positioned against the stonework to the left of the window in such a way that it would not slide onto (and through!) the stained glass.

Church member Paul Wren climbed the 18ft ladder to fix the star in place. This was before the use of scaffolding towers, so the cooperation of a trusted colleague was needed to secure the base of the ladder. Paul would hold on to the stone work with one hand while leaning across to clip the star and cable in place with the other.

After Mr Sturgess left the choir, he let the church borrow the star each Christmas after which it was returned to him. Paul collected and returned the star for a number of years until one year Mr Sturgess said he was moving away and as Paul had looked after the star so well he would like him to keep it. So Paul became its keeper.

From 2009, Paul decided to leave the star in place as it was becoming more difficult to put up and take down each year.

Since then, the bulb has not yet failed - and the current property team offer up a prayer each year that it will continue to shine out when it is switched on!”

Do our buildings tell the story? How are you sharing Christmas in them without saying a word? Are we enabling people to meet Jesus having them open? Let’s hope so. Remember people need space and peace and a church building might be a good place to find it. Don’t leave your church locked all week!!!