Christ Church - The Chapel of Oxford University

The first place we wanted to visit in this city full of history was Oxford University's Christ Church.  It  was the first Anglican Church established by Henry the VIII after several Catholic  popes refused him the right to divorce and marry   He solved that issue by having the popes murdered and making himself the head of the church in England.  He then he moved into the church and took up residence.  There goes the neighborhood!  

Somehow God has seen to redeem those early roots and it has become a place of true worship and beauty.  

What a difference a 500 years makes.

During the second world war British laymen removed the beautiful stained glass windows from churches all over England to save them from the bombings.  They were stored here and there and after the war there were a lot of stacked up windows in storage.  Not all of them were marked so many were just randomly placed back in vacant church widows so you can't always be sure the window you see is the original one placed there.

There are famous dead people everywhere you step.  Oh, my.

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 Yes, those Wesley brothers

This table and cross were gifted by Queen Elizabeth   They were carved from a tree on her property.  This Sunday we will attend a concert (evensong) at this church given in honor of her coronation.

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This man led an anti bombing of German villages movement during the war.  He was met by much resistance as you can imagine but his 'two wrongs don't make a right' stance ultimately won him great respect.  He was a friend of Detrick Bonhoeffer and kept up with the early movement of the Nazi's ethnic cleansing.  Although many did not want to hear it he spoke out with the truth.
I realize we need to know our past before we can fully address our future with wisdom.