University Sermons have been preached at St Mary’s since the end of the thirteenth century. Each year preachers from a variety of different traditions are invited by the Vice-Chancellor to deliver sermons before the University of Oxford. This term, in response to the pandemic, the University Council has given permission for these sermons to be delivered as podcasts. These sermons provide an opportunity to hear thinkers from a range of disciplines and perspectives, drawing together the life of learning, spiritual discovery and the quest for truth. This week we will listen to the Commemoration Day Sermon, when the University remembers the generosity of its benefactors. We welcome as our preacher a close friend and neighbour, the Revd Canon Dr Peter Groves. Peter is the Vicar of the Church of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, and a Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College. The prayers and readings are led by students who worship at the University Church. The podcast is introduced by the Vicar.
Welcome The Revd Dr William Lamb, Vicar
Prayer The Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Hymn This joyful Eastertide
Reading John 14.1-14 (Laura Roberts)
Organ Interlude
Sermon The Revd Canon Dr Peter Groves
Anthem Byrd, Alleluia. Cognoverunt discipuli
Prayers Stephen Maughan and Annie Calderbank
Blessing The Revd Charlotte Bannister Parker, Associate Priest
Organ Voluntary William Boyce, Voluntary in A Minor
