Out of the Original Sacred Tongues – the Bible and Translation, The Great Hall, Lambeth Palace
King James Bible
Jenny and I have been to two fascinating exhibitions in London. The first was in Lambeth Palace Library where there is an outstanding show of early books and documents leading up to the publication of the King James Bible in 1611. The text of the Bible is not a new translation as is sometimes thought but was very much based on the Tindall translation made some 60 years earlier, with nearly 83% of Tiindall’s work being reproduced in it. Its purpose was to enable the Bible to be read out loud so that people could hear it in their own language. In 1611 most people were still illiterate.
At a lecture at Hampton Court, Melvyn Bragg drew attention to the fact that both the King James Bible and Shakespeare’s work, probably the high point of English literature, often used monosyllabic English. Shakespeare would have heard Tindall through the Geneva Bible which would have been read out in his Church. Here are two examples:
“To be or not to be, that is the question” – Hamlet
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” – St John’s Gospel
I had never realised this before and feel it is a guide to all of us in writing English today.
Treasures of Heaven, British Museum
Treasures of Heaven, British Museum
The second exhibition is Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum. It brings together the tradition of Relics and reliquaries, how they merged as an important symbolism within the early and medieval Christian church. The exhibition has been mounted very sensitively, enabling the visitor to feel the veneration in which these objects were held by pilgrims, realising that they still had deep meaning for many people today. The visitor therefore sees a range of outstanding craftsmanship and senses that it is all directed towards the Glory of God. The quality of the objects is stunning and covers loans from the Vatican and across Europe and the United States. They come from a range of museums, private collections, churches and chapels.
Jenny and I were both entranced and moved by both these exhibitions and would commend them to our friends.
Lincoln and Northampton Universities
Mary Stewart Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln
Two very different university occasions have happened during the last week. On Saturday I attended the inaugural meeting of The Court of Lincoln University.
The Vice Chancellor, Mary Stewart, had made contact through our Lincoln Minster School and our wish to engage that school with one or more academies in or around Lincoln. She and I found that we held the same vision for both University and UCST to engage with academies and to seek to raise standards, enabling more local children to gain entry into higher education.
Presentation of the Coat of Arms at the University of Lincoln
We had the pomp of the Bluemantle Pursuivant from the Royal College of Arms bringing the newly awarded Coat of Arms to the University. It was a seminal moment in recognition that the University was fully fledged to give not only its degrees but to conduct research and grow into becoming a major institution. It is making remarkable progress and has a very high student satisfaction response. Discussion covered the nature of University direction and life with Douglas Hogg reminding us all that students, now paying considerable fees, would be more critical about the courses they undertook and would wish to make sure that they helped to further their careers. Lincoln already exceeds the national average for graduates entering graduate quality employment within six months of leaving and therefore has its eye firmly on this area. Nonetheless it made me reflect that the most creative part of my university career had been attending lectures not needed for my degree, but catching my imagination, given by some of the great figures of that generation such as Niklaus Pevsner and Dom David Knowles.
It reminds me that David Knowles came to Trinity Hall to speak to the Hesperides Society of which I was undergraduate secretary. It was my job to entertain him before he went into dinner at the high table, prior to speaking to us. When I offered him a sherry he replied that he didn’t drink (something I never even considered before at Cambridge!). I was nonplussed but we sat down and looked at each other in my rather meagre rooms. He as a monk was used to silence, but I was profoundly embarrassed by it, feeling that I was failing in keeping him interested or amused. I tried various openings but received the most economic replies and I became rather desperate. But I eventually asked him about his own research into the Monastic Orders of Medieval Europe and from that moment conversation bubbled. That experience gave me a lifelong lesson – always try to get people onto their home territory before opening up a conversation in other areas!
Graduate Fashion Show, University of Northampton
The second was a very different experience but just as relevant. At Northampton University, where Jenny is on The Court, and I am a member of the Chancellor’s Advisory Group, we attended the Graduate Fashion Show. It was the complete works – The Derngate Theatre had been turned into a catwalk and the most remarkable range of clothes and shoes was demonstrated to us. We were allowed to cheer and applaud and it was exciting that all of this creativity and skill resided there in the University. The School of Design, supported by the Leathersellers Company from the City of London, has a national reputation which is beginning to grow internationally as well – just what a young university needs for building its self confidence and reputation. The new Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, recently arrived from Bournemouth University, brings a verve which is just what is needed in leading a young institution during these very difficult times for universities. Tighter funding and the introduction of fees are creating a new world and one which will no doubt lead to closures and mergers during the next decade. I would back both these universities to be survivors and to survive with distinction.
50th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs
It was in Northampton that we attended the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs. I have had the honour and pleasure of being engaged with it for 35 years and greatly value my role as a Vice Patron. The current Director, John Whittaker, whose father Harry had established the association in a very humble way with the support of a local landowner, Sir Hereward Wake, was able to reflect on the joy of now having an association with well over 200 clubs.
50th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs
NAYC has had a strong Christian vision throughout its life and has opened remarkable youth centres on the Welsh coast near Harlech, in the West Midlands and the Outer Hebrides, as well as Northamptonshire. It was a celebration of dance and song, hymns and praise, with the Bishop of Peterborough giving an excellent address which showed his great affinity with young people.
Education lunch hosted by the Lord Mayor of London, Guildhall
Yesterday I was a guest at the education lunch hosted by the Lord Mayor of London in the Guildhall. Michael Gove was the speaker and it was interesting that he listed three great strengths of British education as being our universities, our independent public schools and growingly our independent academies. He mentioned the work at Dulwich School and Wellington College who are both sponsoring academies.
Lambeth Academy's Foundation Ceremony
We were the pioneers, to quote Antony Seldon, Master of Wellington, in a recent letter, and are delighted others are building so successfully on our lead. When the United Church Schools Trust first agreed to sponsor Lambeth Academy in 2002, we were alone amongst the independent schools in taking that step. A number of people felt we were deserting the independent sector by supporting a Labour Government. We felt that we were clearly taking actions within the charitable objects of our founders and that therefore it was absolutely right for us to make this move.
We now have twenty city academies and one city technology college, Emmanuel College in Gateshead, as part of the Group, as well as ten independent public schools, and one independent prep school. We believe deeply that education can both provoke social division, and also be a source of healing it. Our vision is for a united society where the usual divisions of class, ethnicity and creed do not matter but where the whole focus is on children, no matter in which bed they were born. It is that focus which gives us our unity, which is helping us bind the different parts of our Group together, with integrity and a generosity of spirit.
We now employ over 6,000 people and educate 8,000 children whose parents pay fees, and 22,000 children, mainly in inner cities. Many people don’t realise this significant side of our work but we are always looking for more people to engage with us and to help us in different ways.
Jonathan and Caroline Allen
If you feel you can help us with offering work experience or sitting with children helping them to read, please make contact with Jonathan Allen who runs our marketing – jonathan.allen@church-schools.com.
Jonathan recently got married to Caroline, the daughter of one of our trustees, David Barnes, and our photo shows them at their wedding last summer. We are all delighted that they are now expecting their first child before Christmas.
