York Minster

I spent what turned out to be a good few hours visiting York Minster.

Having been brought up in Liverpool with our two 'new comers' in the world of Cathedrals, it is hard to imagine that the present Minster took over two hundred years to complete. Generations of stone masons and labourers worked on this magnificatnt building without any hope that they would ever see the finshed product.

Although a massive tourist destination, it manages to retain a peaceful and prayerful atmosphere inside, during my visit we were called to pause for reflection and led in prayer for peace and the sick. It is a vibrant worshiping community. The windows tell the story of the community and their desire to share the story of God's promise with all who worshiped there.






The first thing I was drawn to on entering the Minster was the giant cross draped in white cloth - a real foucs for the celebration of the resurrection of Easter. Apparently during Advent a very large Advent wreath hangs in the same space.





I'd always wondered why it was called a Minster - the name comes from it being a church built to minister to a new community rather than a church build on the site of a monastry or existing site.












I was impressed by this simple and effective Easter garden found in the Cathedral. the sun was shining right on to it giving the open tomb a very mysterious appearance, deliberate or not the path from the cross to the open tomb is very symboic of our own journey through Holy Week.
Although the Easter garden has no tradition for devitions as the Crib does at Christmas, many of the visitors stopped by the garden, perhaps pausing for prayer and reflection or just being taken in by the beauty and the message of the scene. Perhaps many of ideas may appear in a Church in Woolton come Easter 2010!