News archive 2002

Rowan Williams to preach at King’s

23 Sep 2002, PR 41/02

The Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales, will preach at the King’s College’s London Opening of Year Service on Wednesday 25 September at 1.10 pm in the College Chapel at the Strand Campus.

Dr Williams, who will take up his duties as Archbishop of Canterbury next year, is a noted author who has spent much of his career in an academic environment, including posts at Oxford and Cambridge. He was also a keynote speaker at the College’s Millennium Festival of Medicine.

The theme of the service will be 'True Wisdom', taking up one of the texts on the Chapel walls. The George Gilbert Scott designed Chapel recently underwent extensive restoration and redecoration, returning it to its former glory.

The Revd Dr Richard Burridge, Dean of King’s College London, commented, “I’m really delighted that Archbishop Rowan is coming to preach at King’s. I have admired him and his writing for many years and I’m sure that he’ll have something significant to say to us about the past and future of King’s as well as the spiritual dimension of the search for truth through higher education.”

During the service the poem Sancte et Sapienter, which raises the same themes, will be read and hung on the Chapel wall. Also there will be the dedication of the new altar frontal, which re-uses Gilbert Scott’s original designs.

The King’s College London Students’ Union President, David Utting, will read the first lesson, 2 Chronicles 6.18-21, and the Principal of the College, Professor Arthur Lucas will read the second lesson, 1 Corinthians 1.20-30.

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with some 12,400 undergraduate students and over 4,700 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. It is in the top group of five universities for research earnings and has an annual turnover of over £300 million and research income from grants and contracts in excess of £87 million (2000-2001).

The College Chapel at the Strand Campus has recently undergone major restoration, made possible by the generosity of many friends and alumni of the College. Originally completed in 1864, it was designed by George Gilbert Scott the leading Victorian Architect, whose other creations include the Albert Memorial, the St Pancras Hotel and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Chapel is a typical gothic revival building with rich decorations of this style. It remains at the heart of the College and is used daily for a variety of religious and other events.

The College’s motto is Sancte et Sapienter. The figures of Holiness and Wisdom stand in the main entrance hall and also on the outside of the building. This theme of holiness and wisdom is also reflected in the Wisdom texts with which Gilbert Scott adorned the Chapel – contrasting the wisdom of God with the foolishness of human wisdom.

Sancte & Sapienter, written by Christopher Southgate, was specially commissioned in honour of the work of King’s College Chapel, for the Service of Thanksgiving for its Renewal, held on 2 May 2001.

Dr Southgate is Director of Modular Studies and Honorary University Fellow in Theology at the University of Exeter, and Assistant Chaplain (Mental Health) at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Wonford. He teaches and writes on the interface between science and theology, and is the editor of God Humanity and the Cosmos: A Textbook in Science and Religion (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999). His fourth book of poetry, Beyond the Bitter Wind: Poems 1982-2000 was published by Shoestring Press.

Altar frontals: four separate designs for an altar frontal, chasuble and stole have been produced by Watts and Company, the renowned ecclesiastical furnishers. The designs are for ordinary weeks of the Christian year, Lent, at Advent and on festal occasions. All are unique and were inspired by the interior of the College Chapel at the Strand. The College hopes to raise funds to purchase all four sets.

Watts and Company was founded in 1874 by George Gilbert Scott II, son of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who designed the Chapel.



Further information
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