19th March, 2011

The first OM Clergy Conference was held on Saturday 19th March 2011 and was attended by around forty people, with interest expressed by about two dozen others who were unable to come. 

The occasion began with a service of Holy Communion in Chapel, addressed by the Rt. Revd. Tom Butler, formerly bishop of Southwark and now Bishop in Residence in the College for this year. He has made a most valuable contribution to the spiritual life of the school among both staff and pupils. He spoke eloquently about the contribution that a school like Marlborough can make to the life of the wider society.

After coffee in the Common Room, the Revd Douglas Dales spoke about Christian education, its nature and scope, as well as some of the challenges it faces in the current educational and social climate. There was then a reception in the Mount House, where there was also an exhibition of photographs by pupils of the valuable collection of old Bibles which the College possesses. Lunch was served in some style in the Common Room Dining Room where Martin Evans delivered a fine peroration of welcome and appreciation.

After lunch, the Venerable Luke Miller, Archdeacon of Hampstead and until recently vicar of St Mary’s Tottenham, spoke in a vivacious manner about his eighteen years ministry in a multi-racial area in London of rapid social change. He painted a very encouraging and inspiring picture of the growth of the church there and paid tribute to the long and fruitful friendship with the College, which founded the parish towards the end of the nineteenth century. The occasion closed with a quiet service of evening prayer, basking in the evening light that filled the Chapel.

The Revd Douglas Dales – College Chaplain