From Prayer to the Corners of the Earth

（The Revd Vincent Chan Wing Fung） 

Church of the Resurrection

From the Oxford Movement to Mirfield

The origins of CR can be traced to the Oxford Movement that swept through the Church of England in the 19th century. In the 1830s, Oxonians such as Newman, Keble and Pusey started a theological movement that sought to revive the ‘catholic faith’ of Anglicanism. They proposed that since the church is the body of Christ, it cannot be limited by the governance of national powers. They called for the Eucharist to become the central service, encouraged confessions, and championed the beauty of liturgy. They also attempted to renew the church’s life in faith via prayer and the ethos of monasticism. As a result, many religious communities were born out of the Oxford Movement, and CR was one of them.

On St James’ Day, 25 July 1892, six young clergymen gathered at Pusey House, Oxford and took a vow before the altar, and the Community of the Resurrection was born. Leading them was Charles Gore, a learned theologian and prophet who was willing to face his era’s challenges head on. He edited Lux Mundi, which boldly explored the ways in which scripture and church tradition can respond to the contemporary challenges posed by scientific academia. The publication caused waves of debate, but Gore did not relent. 

  
If Gore (left) was the founder of CR, then Frere (right) was the
one who moulded the monastic spirit of CR

Of the six, the youngest was Walter Frere, a Cantabrigian. History shows us that his influence on the CR was immense. Frere was a great liturgist, and a man deeply seeped in the ethos of monasticism. It was he who brought CR into a deeper life of shared worship and monastic tradition.

In its first few years since founding, the CR met in Radley, a few miles south of Oxford. There they experimented their way into monastic communal life. In 1898, they finally found a place to settle down at Mirfield, York, within a large house stained black by the soot of the industrial revolution. It was there, within the community of the working class and the realities of poverty, that the CR established their home.

The two pillars of College and South Africa

After establishing a permanent home in Mirfield, CR quickly started two ministries that came to define them.

The first is the College of the Resurrection, founded in 1902. At that time, England did not have any commonly accessible financial support for education, and a university degree was an essential prerequisite for becoming clergy. In effect this meant that if you came from the working class, and your education stopped at the age of 14, it would be impossible for you to be ordained. The brothers of CR thought this was a grave injustice, so they took action, and raised funds from various parishes across England. They built the accommodation in Leeds, the theological college at Mirfield, and began providing five years of theological training for free to these working class men. The College of the Resurrection proved to be a unique contribution to the Church of England, and it still operates to this day as an important centre of theological education in Anglicanism.

The ministry in South Africa is the other pillar of CR. In 1903, three brethren of the community visited South African after the devastation of the Boer War. They rode on bicycles and visited the mines of Johannesburg, the slums, and the countryside, building schools and churches along the way, and training African priests and preachers. In 1911, they established St Peter’s School, Theological College, and Priory at Rosettenville, thus planting an important base for educating black students there.

The most famous story that came out of their ministry in South Africa is the Bishop Trevor Huddleston. When serving as a priest in South Africa, he witnessed first-hand the ugliness of the Apartheid. With the courage of a prophet, he wrote Naught for Your Comfort, revealing to the world the horrors happening in South Africa. The book shocked the world, and became a central text of the anti-apartheid movement. CR’s ministry in South Africa continued for more than 100 years, and it was not until 2006 that they closed down the mission there.

The Rhythm of Monastic Life is the Font of all Ministries

Behind all these ministries that the world can see is the life rooted in monastic ideals at Mirfield. Each day, the brethren gather at church to chant the Daily Office and worship. This is no mere habit, but the font of all their ministries. As it is believed, Ora et Labora, prayer and work – or rather, prayer and work are one and the same. The greatest work one can do in life is prayer, and the prime reason of monastic life is to worship God.

The daily chores of doing the dishes, tidying the church, taking care of others, and working the field are all held to be as holy as prayer. Some brethren are called to pray for hours at church, in support of those brethren who are engaged in the more ‘visible’ ministries across Africa and England. Some brethren are tasked with receiving the endless stream of visitors and guests, providing them with spiritual guidance and hearing their confession. Some others dedicate themselves to the rigorous world of theological research.

Gore’s sarcophagus serving as a communion

Ora et Labora (pray and work)

CR is also active in the ecumenism movement. Frere visited the Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Later, the brethren of CR began dialogue with the Romanian Orthodox Church. In 1968, CR entered a covenant relationship with the Catholic Benedictine St Matthias’ Abbey in Trier, Germany. That relationship still stands to this day.

1992 marked the 100th anniversary of the community, and soon after that CR experienced a period of difficult transition. The number of those who were called to a monastic life in the West quickly declined, and increasingly its overseas ministries had to be taken up by the local churches. CR’s daughter organisations shut down one after the other: Emmaus at Sunderland, the London priory, and in 2006, their South African ministry. The only location left was Mirfield.

Despite all this, CR did not fade into obscurity. As their reach diminished they discovered a new calling from God: ‘This is a difficult but inevitable time for us, because God has called us to enter into a new way of community life. As we decrease in size, our community has become more like a family.’

The turn of the new millennium brought new hope. The younger generation rediscovered an interest in monasticism, and more and more people are now exploring the possibility of joining the monastic life at Mirfield. Their College also received a new identity: the Yorkshire Ministry Course is now a permanent fixture. And the Mirfield Centre is now hub for conferences. The refurbished church now attracts more and more people, as a place for retreat, prayer, and seeking God.

From 1984 onwards, CR reviewed and amended their monastic rule, based on a deeper exploration of the wisdom gained from the Rule of St Benedict. They are also planning to build a new monastery building next to the church, so that the brethren can enjoy a place of quietness amidst the hustle and bustle.

Within the sanctuary of the church at CR, we see two tombs at the sides of the altar. One is that of Gore, and the other is of Frere. They arranged as if to make a theological statement: the mission of the church begins at the altar, and through worship, spreads to the whole world. The forefathers, no matter how great their accomplishments, leave this world as nothing, and return to the source as one.

May God guide us, that in the days to come, we may share the same prayerful life as the brethren of the Community of the Resurrection, dedicating ourselves to prayer and service!

The Very Revd Samson Fan, the Revd Vincent Chan, and Fr Oswin, Superior of CR