Silence and Music
Silence
At the College, we find encouragement to make times of quiet within our day
One of the striking things about the Community Church at Mirfield is the stillness. During our time at College, the Community Church provides, in the midst of our busy lives, a silent centre in which we can listen to God.
Christian spirituality has always valued silence as a medium within which we can discover our essential dependence on the God of grace and also – paradoxically – as a setting within which we can learn listen better to one another. One feature of our life together which many students particularly value is that we start our day in College quietly.
Music
Many Christians over the centuries have found music to be an indispensable part of the Church’s worship. At Evensong, we have a unique opportunity not only to hear monastic chant but also to join in singing some of the music that shaped the prayer of the western Church in the first millennium. This remarkable and beautiful music – most often settings of words from Scripture – offers us a chance to experience a language of prayer that makes equal demands on our minds and our hearts.
Alongside this, College worship brings students into contact with a great variety of music that is available for use in worship, ranging from contemporary choruses to the hymns of Wesley and Watts and the chants and songs of Taizé and Iona. Students and spouses are welcome to join the music group which leads our music on Thursday evenings, as well as the volunteer choir which sings at special events.