Oxford Pastorate

The Pastorate at St Aldate’s Church

 

After three decades of Pastorate ministry in Oxford, decisions were taken which were to impact upon the work of the rest of the twentieth century.

In 1921 it was agreed, on the suggestion of the retiring rector of St Aldate’s, one of the major evangelical churches in the city centre, that his successor might be appointed as a Pastorate chaplain [...] St Aldate’s would provide an identifiable base for the Pastorate [...] and gradually changed the centre of gravity of the Pastorate’s work.[1]

The coming-together proved immensely fruitful beyond what might have been expected of a partnership of Christian ministries through the ceaseless change of the twentieth century.  Turner, writing his chapter in The History of the University of Oxford, notes: ‘Curiously, Anglican evangelicalism has been to Oxford religious life in the present [twentieth] century what the high-church movement was in the past’.[2]  He highlights the role of both the Pastorate and St Aldate’s in the prominence of Anglican evangelicalism.  He draws particular attention to the period of the ministry of Rev. Dr Michael Green at St Aldate’s:

The various rectors of St Aldate’s did what no one else, with the exception perhaps of the Roman Catholic chaplaincy, achieved: they made religion interesting, emotionally warm and intensely personal while providing a distinct community of faith.  As a result their Sunday services attracted hundreds of Oxford students, senior members and staff while the University Church and the college chapels generally experienced a severe decline in attendance.  Furthermore, without apology and with zestful enthusiasm the rectors of St Aldate’s, most importantly Michael Green, attacked the liberal theology emerging from Oxford’s faculty of theology.[3]

There is little doubt that the success and vitality of St Aldate’s ministry to Oxford University students was closely linked to their partnership with the Pastorate and, indeed, to the way in which the two organisations became completely interwoven.  The Oxford Pastorate newsletter of 1977-8 which celebrates the Pastorate’s 85^th birthday, states, ‘The Pastorate was formed in 1893.  However, it looks anything but octogenarian in the common understanding of the word.  It exercises a vigorous ministry among students, and new activities are constantly appearing [...] All five of the Pastors – Michael Green, Colin Bennetts, Branse Burbridge, Amiel Osmaston, Bruce Gillingham – are part-timers, since they give varying proportions of their time to work in St Aldate’s Church.  No clear division can, or should, be made between the two, since many of the activities are open to town as well as gown, to the great advantage of both.’[4]

The advantage was indeed great.  Having a church, its ministry team and its physical plant, as a base allowed the Pastorate chaplains to develop a wide range of ministries.  Over the years, a hugely successful programme developed that could allow Michael Green to state without fanfare in 1981, ‘It’s been a good year for evangelism, and some 200 have been through our beginners’ groups’.[5]  This success was achieved by beginning on the very first day of the academic year.  ‘Challenged by Michael Green’s sermon, in the first Sunday morning of the Michaelmas term, some 40 students stayed behind to enquire more deeply into the meaning of commitment.  Within 36 hours they had been interviewed personally, and were settled into one of a number of Beginners’ Groups – each an informal 8-week course in Christian doctrine.’[6] 

In addition to the Sunday services and their small groups, students were welcome into the Chaplains’ homes for ‘Friday night open house’, where ‘each week from 20-40 drop in and out of 23 Leckford Rd, drink coffee, chat together, and listen to music.  For some part of the evening a breezy discussion takes place on some contemporary topic.’[7]  There was also a informal ‘Sunday lunch club’ after church, where discussion addressed the topic of the morning’s sermon.  In addition, the Pastorate has long run a Holy Communion and breakfast on Wednesday mornings which was a ‘focus for student fellowship’ with ‘between 80 and 100 turning out at all seasons and in all weathers’.[8]

The newsletters of this period bear witness to the great number and diversity of other projects and initiatives that were underway.  These include:

• ‘Seminars’ for theologians who met weekly with Michael Green to ‘seek the truth, rigorously yet reverently, on topics not covered in their course and on problems of contemporary concern’;[9]
• ‘Graduate Groups’, with up to 100 people meeting to ‘discuss their specialties from a Christian perspective’;[10]
• ‘Intern Programme’, where workers from abroad come to learn from the church and Pastorate team, and from being practically involved in the ministry;[11]
• ‘Alpha’ and ‘Omega’ conferences, run as two separate weekends at the end of Michaelmas term for new-Christians and for potential leaders, respectively;[12]
• ‘Agnostics Anonymous’, as described above, for rational discussion of the questions that inhibit some from believing the Christian faith;[13]
• ‘Counselling’, associate chaplain Amiel Osmaston wrote, ‘A sizeable proportion of my time continues to be spent in helping individuals to sort out a variety of large and small problems – emotional, intellectual, practical, spiritual’;[14]
• ‘Jubilate’ and ‘Parable’, ministries of music and of dance and drama that performed nightly during Billy Graham’s crusade to Oxford in 1980 and whose contribution was ‘greatly appreciated – significantly by Billy Graham himself, for the measure of support it gave to the proclamation of the message;[15]
• ‘Training for Leadership’, led by associate chaplain and IFES worker, Branse Burbridge, for groups of up to 40, it aimed at ‘provoking middle-year students to think more deeply about their part in the local church in today’s world’;[16]
• ‘Adam and Eve’, a course on relationships that was not just for couples and was regularly over-subscribed with a maximum of 40 meeting allowed to attend each series;[17]
• ‘Lee Abbey Working Parties’, up to 130 Oxford students would visit the Christian community of Lee Abbey during the Easter vacation to work in the grounds and to enjoy one another’s company;[18]
• ‘Christians in Sport’, which met weekly, to ‘invite men and women involved in University sport to consider the claims of Christ’.[19]

The work of the Pastorate in cooperation with St Aldate’s continued through the 1980s, 90s and into the new millennium.  Through this period Chris Pemberton, Simon Ponsonby and Greg Downes exercised the chaplain’s ministry.  Each bringing their own gifts and passions to the role, they both built upon the foundations laid by their predecessors and developed new avenues and modes of ministry.  While personal discipleship, small group teaching, Sunday lunches, missions and houseparties continued, Wednesday morning communion was re-branded as CCC (Coffee, Communion and Croissants) and the main focal point for the student ministry became the Thursday evening meeting of Risky Living.  Interestingly, the three biggest weekly events of this period (Sunday lunch, Risky Living and OCC) were all constructed around the joy of eating together.  It was estimated that in the academic year of 1990-2000 in excess of 7000 meals were prepared and eaten![20]