A SERVICE REFLECTING

ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Sunday, 3 March 2021 | Exeter College Chapel, Oxford

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The end of this Hilary Term coincides with the pandemic having been part of our lives for a year. This service is an opportunity to set aside some time to reflect upon our emotions and experiences of the past year; we hope that it will provide space to grieve, to express confusion, to shed tears, but also, very gently, to draw on hope. All the music for this service has been recorded since start of the pandemic, which has greatly affected how music can be made. Some pieces have been sung in isolation, and some were recorded — socially distanced and with masks — in the chapel in Michaelmas Term. This too, serves as a memorial to these difficult times. The order of service can be found here.

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Order of Service:

 

0:00 Bell

0:22 Introit: Ubi caritas, Duruflé (recorded in isolation)

4:55 Psalm 102, Plainchant (recorded in isolation)

 

Tears

11:26 Reflection, The Rev'd Andrew Allen

14:23 Lesson: Psalm 56

15:02 Anthem: Like as the Hart, Howells (recorded in isolation)

21:05 Hymn: Jesu, Lover of My Soul (recorded in isolation)

 

Confusion

24:01 Reflection, The Rev'd Andrew Allen

25:00 Introduction to the Anthem, Max Parfitt

27:37 Anthem: Since I Believe in God the Father Almighty, Gurney (recorded in isolation)

33:23 Hymn: Come Down, O Love Divine (recorded in isolation during Trinity Term 2020)

 

Death

36:38 Reflection, The Rev'd Andrew Allen

38:45 Lesson: John 11. 28–36

40:02 Act of Remembrance

42:01 Hymn: Be Still, My Soul

 

Hope

45:39 Reflection, The Rev'd Andrew Allen

48:35 Lesson: Revelation 21. 1–7

49:49 Reflection on the Vaccine Development, Prof. Catherine Green

54:13 Psalm 121, Bairstow

57:36 Hymn: All My Hope on God is Founded

1:01:22 Prayers

1:03:56 Anthem: Abendlied, Rheinberger

1:08:08 Voluntary: Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, BWV 641, J.S. Bach

 

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In this service:

Officiant: The Rev'd Andrew Allen

Assisted by The Rev’d Canon Dr Margaret Whipp

Reflection: Prof Catherine Green

Introduction to the Anthem: Max Parfitt

Readers: Gwynfor Morgan, Marco Bodnar, Urania Chiu

 

Exeter College Choir

Conductor: Christopher Holman

Organ: Christopher Holman, Miles Swinden, Theodore Hill