The College Record 2022

A YEAR IN THE CHAPEL
Revd Dr Katherine Price
College Chaplain
“Our days are like the grass, we flourish like a flower of the
field. When the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place
will know it no more.” Psalm 103
At the start of Trinity Term 2017, as I was seated in my stall
in Chapel for the very first time, the preacher gave some
words of guidance for my new ministry in the College.
The Ven Martin Gorick, then Archdeacon of Oxford and
Canon of Christ Church (and now Bishop of Dudley), took
as his theme three words: contemplative, compassionate,
and courageous. Not even an Archdeacon could have
foreseen what the next five years were to bring! Yet as I look back for this, my last
contribution to the College Record, it is precisely these three values which I see
brought to the fore by the challenges we have faced and continue to face.
Reports and College Activities
The 2021/22 academic year started well. Michaelmas saw the Chapel bucking the
national trend, as numbers in the congregation bounced back to pre-pandemic
levels. It was a joy to see the Chapel full again for the start of term Welcome Service
as well as the Carol Service, both
of which had seen people turned
away last year when capacity was
restricted. We had a particularly
strong Chapel team, with more
undergraduates getting involved
in the life of the Chapel, although
it must be admitted the numbers
sloped off a bit after they’d earned
their Christmas Dinner!
Contemplation in the widest sense
has been an unexpected fruit
of lockdown. We seem to have
discovered a greater appetite for
simplicity and peace, and a new
attention to the big questions of
how we want to live. For the second
year running, a number of students
attended confirmation classes.
Three were confirmed in the Chapel
in Michaelmas Term, and another
at the University Church later in
Katherine with guest preacher Revd Hasna Khatun
and Chapel Intern Philipa Kalungi
College Record 2022 | The Queen’s College 43