2011/12 Events

Between Prayer Books: the debate over ‘set’ and ‘free’ public prayer in Revolutionary England (1645-1660)

Dr Judith Maltby - Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford

The suppression of the Book of Common Prayer by Parliament in 1645 created an unprecedented period of liturgical experimentation in English church life before the modern period which has yet to be properly explored by historians.  This paper will examine the theological debate between those who favoured prescribed forms for public worship and those who believed public worship should be based on either extempore or ‘conceived’ (prepared in advance by the minister) prayer.  The diversity of worship experienced in the Interregnum forms a crucial background for contextualising the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

7:30pm, Wednesday 29th February, Hollybank, University of Chester

Admission at the door: £2.50 including wine & refreshments

Accommodating Dissent: Some Lessons from 1662 Professor Clyde Binfield, University of Sheffield

24 August 1662 (Black Bartholomew’s Day) saw the Great Ejectment of ministers unable to conform to the reshaped Church of England.  Organised Dissent was thus built into the fabric of English and Welsh politics and society: a mindset was in rapid formation.  It has become customary to express penitence for such divisiveness.  Dissent is inevitably negative but from the late 17th C to the late 20th C the Dissenting tradition made a positive contribution to national life.  This evening we consider that paradox; after 350 years there is much to celebrate as well as remember.

7:30pm, Wednesday 2nd May, Hollybank, University of Chester

Admission at the door: £2.50 including wine & refreshments

Past Events

Using Pompeian Evidence to Think About Early House Church Life Dr Peter Oakes, University of Manchester.

Prisca and Aquila were tent-makers who hosted a house church.  Many other early Christians too were craft-workers.  New research from Pompeii shows for the first time what first-century craft-workers’ houses could be like, even down to the contents of individual rooms.  This illustrated talk displays the results of this research and considers its implications for understanding what it would mean for a church to meet in a craft-workers’ home.  What sort of people would that involve?  What impact would New Testament teaching have on the lives of such people?

Tuesday 18th October Hollybank, University of Chester

Are There Any Bishops in the Bible?   Professor Loveday Alexander, ANNUAL CATHEDRAL LECTURE View lecture notes

“It is evident to all men diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the Apostles’ time there have been these Orders of Ministry in Christ’s Church: Bishops, Priests and Deacons.”  When the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was published, this was a controversial claim, striking at the heart of the Reformation.  This lecture will take a fresh look at biblical patterns of leadership and ask what they can teach us as we struggle with the challenges and controversies of “re-imagining ministry” in the life of the church today.

Saturday 28th January, Chester Cathedral

2010/11 Events