York Minster and Evensong

We walked the city walls. They are old walls with parapets and slits for defense. Soon the stone structure of York Minster dominated the skyline. It is captivating in its shape and size. Outside the church there is a statue of the Roman Emperor Constantine. He was crowned Emperor in York in 306. There has been a Christian witness in the city since the 4th century.

York Minster

The exterior is nicely carved in light brown sand stone. It shines in the sunlight and gives a soft response to overcast days. Tall walls are held up buttresses as an outer skeleton. Some calls the style Norman, others English Gothic. 

           

The interior has clear lines of what categorizes the English Gothic style, with upward strokes and large glass windows. Pointed arches point to God. There are lower walls decorated with rows of mock windows, but the décor is thoroughly Trinitarian with trefoils, some encircled.

A church or cathedral is a building with kinetic possibilities, in a way, like unharnessed energy. It has potential to be what is intended to be: a place where people meet with God. A church is not merely a building, but needs people to meets its function.  Church architecture is not art history, but art in function.

Interior, during service

The real meeting with the massive building came at the service of Evensong. Beautiful voices sang much of the liturgy. The Scripture was read out loud, psalms sung, and a short contemplation on the texts was given, and one the saints in remembrance was brought in as a martyr and witness. And the choir sang. The bright voices shattered the evening still, bringing life to the old stones. Candles were lit in the choir seats. I could kneel in prayer. I could reflect on the songs, texts, and I could join in the collective prayers said. I looked at strangers on the adjacent wall. They were brothers and sisters in the moment.  The Metropolitical church of St. Paul is not my home church, but together with other believers, I belong here. I am a stranger to this land, a sojourner in this world, but where the genuine axis mundi exists, there is my place in this world.

These old stonewalls have no parapets and slits for defense. They are dedicated to St. Peter, the martyr of the early church. And they come alive when the old building reverberates with people in prayer, praise and proclamation. Indeed, age has no impact, when the soul of the church is in function as the meeting point between God and man.