THE P
RTAL
Window to the Church of England
The Revd Paul Benfield
February 2017 Page 11 Anglican News
am currently on sabbatical from parish life and am spending the first part of it at St Stephen ’ s
I House , a theological college in the Catholic tradition in Oxford . The college has some 25 ordinands , and other residential places are taken by students studying for the post-graduate certificate in education or other courses .
The day revolves around worship in the college chapel : the public recitation of Morning Prayer ( said according to Common Worship ) and Evening Prayer ( sung according to the Book of Common Prayer ) and mass said at varying times each day . On Sundays mass is sung in the Church of St John the Evangelist , which is part of the college .
When mass is said by the woman priest on the staff there is another mass said that day by a male priest , so that those who do not accept the ordination of women are catered for . There is a large number of young men training for the priesthood here who hold to the traditional understanding of ordination , so the Catholic part of the Church of England is still attracting vocations .
When not working in the House library I am able to enjoy some of the delights of Oxford including Pusey House , the Ashmolean Museum and the wonderful college choirs .
Whilst here , I was able to travel to Highcliffe in Dorset for the funeral of Oswald Clark CBE . Born in 1918 , he had worked for the London County Council and Greater London Council from 1937 to 1979 , retiring as Assistant Director General , but it was as a churchman that he will be known to many readers . He served on the Church Assembly and General Synod from 1947 to 1990 , being Vice Chairman of the House of Laity from 1970 to 1979 and Chairman from 1979 to 1990 .
He was Chairman of the Catholic Group in General Synod and a doughty defender of the Catholic faith . He also served as a Church Commissioner , as Principal of the Society of the Faith and as Chairman of the Council of the Corporation of Church House . He was a member of the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks , serving a year as Master .
At his request , extracts from his will were included in the order of service . “ … I desire it to be known that I die in the historic faith and order of the Church of England Catholic and Scripturally Reformed as it has been maintained unbroken and as it stands distinguished from all papalist additions , protestant diminutions and liberal dilutions and deviations .”
He went on to give directions for his funeral , which he directed was to be according to the Book of Common Prayer . He concluded that there were to be “ No ‘ tributes ’ or ‘ words of appreciation ’ by anyone ; no poetry or prose ‘ readings ’; no solos , no Crimond or Jerusalem ; nothing by Bach , Handel , Purcell , Vaughan Williams , Elgar or Walford Davies ; no choruses , no Easter music , no Negro spirituals or Irish melodies ; no whining Nunc Dimittis , no waltzing “ The day thou gavest ”. The Prayer Book Service says all that is necessary or desirable .”
Back in Oxford , the first mailing of papers for General Synod has arrived . These include a statement by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on the Reformation Anniversary in 2017 , in which they say , “ Many will remember the lasting damage done five centuries ago to the unity of the Church in defiance of the clear command of Jesus Christ to unity in love .
Those turbulent years saw Christian people pitted against each other , such that many suffered persecution and even death at the hands of others claiming to know the same Lord . A legacy of mistrust and competition would then accompany the astonishing spread of Christianity in the centuries that followed . All this leaves much to ponder .
Remembering the Reformation should also lead us to repent of our part in perpetuating divisions …”