College bulletin: 1 June
Just a short Bulletin from us today as we race against time to wrap everything up before we raise a glass during the Bank Holiday to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
All the events you can attend over the next week and beyond are below but we’ve held back all the exciting news from across the College for next week’s issue so you all have something to look forward to once the excitement of the Jubilee has died down.
College news
New artist’s impressions released of community hub
The revamp of the south-west corner of Second Court to transform it into a contemporary social centre is continuing apace and new images showing the proposed transformation have been produced.
What’s on
Chapel
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
Taking place in Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Evensong – daily, 6.30pm
Student communion – Sunday 5 June, 8.30am
Student Communion takes place every Sunday at 8.30am, followed by a subsidised cooked breakfast in Hall.
Solemn Sung Eucharist – Sunday 5 June, 10.30am
Sung Eucharist for the feast of Pentecost
Open to all, admission free.
Organ recital – Sunday 5 June, 6pm
Lidia Ksiazkiewicz (Laon Cathedral, France) will be performing works by Bach, Franck and Guilmant.
Open to all, admission free.
A full programme for the term is available here.
Sunday Evensong Sermon series: No Shame in a Tutu – Sunday 5 June, 6.30pm
Preachers at Evensong this term have been invited to explore some of the areas about which Archbishop Desmond Tutu was passionate, and to which he made a significant contribution. The preacher this Sunday will be Canon Sarah Snyder from the Rose Castle Foundation. Her sermon addresses Reconciliation.
Open to all, admission free.
Week commencing 6 June
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
Taking place in Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Evensong – daily, 6.30pm
Evensong – Monday 6 June, 6.30pm
Sung by St John’s Voices and Cambridge University Chamber Choir. This will include ‘I was glad’, the anthem originally written for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902 and heard at major royal services ever since.
Open to all, admission free.
Evensong – Friday 10 June, 6.30pm
Sung by the College Choir and the Choir of St John the Divine, Kennington.
Open to all, admission free.
Choral services continue as listed on the website.
- Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for Chapel service updates; and Andrew is on TikTok @thedetoxpriest. The Chapel is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways: please contact Andrew.
Other events
Metropolitan Regatta – Saturday 4 June and Sunday 5 June
The two men’s rowing crews (M1 and M2) are heading for the Metrapolitan Regatta held at Dorney Lake. If they perform well, the crews have a chance of pre-qualifying for Henley.
Cambridge Nature Festival 2022 – now until Thursday 30 June
From art exhibitions and wildlife safaris to landscape heritage walks, there are an enormous range of events to get involved in during Cambridge Nature Network’s Cambridge Nature Festival 2022. Many events are free and there is a small fee for others.
Live lunchtime meditation – 1.15-1.30pm Monday to Friday (online)
Spend 15 mindful minutes relaxing or meditating with the University’s mindfulness practitioner, Dr Elizabeth English, in these weekday sessions. Free to students and staff.
Workshop on choosing a dissertation – Tuesday 7 June May, 3pm
This workshop and presentation aims to provide students taking on a dissertation next academic year with some inspiration on choosing a dissertation topic or creating a shortlist of potential topics.
Zoom. Meeting ID: 772 922 6894. Passcode: 410795.
Open to all students, admission free. For further information email Rebecca Le Marchand.
Palaeography for beginners – Tuesday 7 June May, 3pm
Weekly online sessions for anyone interested in reading handwriting from c1500-c1750, using documents from the College’s institutional archives.
Sessions are informal and aimed at beginners, or those with a little experience who wish to practice their skills. Photographs of the documents will be emailed out in advance.
Open to all College members, admission free.
To register or make further enquiries, contact the archivist, Dr Lynsey Darby.
Opera: Handel’s Xerxes – Tuesday, 9 and 10 June, 8.15pm
College Chapel.
This semi-staged production of Handel's Xerxes by St John’s College Music Society will feature singers and instrumentalists from across Cambridge. Sung in the original Italian with a free English translation provided, it is the first opera to take place in the Chapel since 2016, so provides a unique opportunity for students with exams (or who have just finished exams) to enjoy two hours of beautiful music and de-stress.
Tickets are free, with donations to Alzheimer's Research UK, and can be obtained either via Eventbrite or on the door.
More details on Facebook.
Upper Library open afternoon – Wednesday 8 June, 2-4pm
Upper Library, entrance via E staircase, Second Court, only.
The Upper Library is open for members of the College community and their guests every Wednesday 2-4pm during Full Term. Different items from the collections are on display each week and a member of staff will be available to answer questions.
(Note: drop-in visits are not available to the Upper Library via the Working Library this term.)
The Reading Room is open Monday to Friday for the consultation of Special Collections by appointment. Direct booking requests and enquiries to Special Collections.
Lecture on Monotheism and Divine Translation – Wednesday, 8 June, 6-7pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Professor Ron Hendel will deliver a lecture, hosted by St John’s Fellow Professor Nathan McDonald, to examine how cross-cultural discourse about gods occurred in the ancient world and how this related to the development of monotheism in ancient Israel.
Professor Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of numerous books including Remembering Abraham: Culture, History, and Memory in the Hebrew Bible, The Book of Genesis: A Biography, and How Old is the Hebrew Bible? A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study.
The lecture is free and open to all.
Fellows and Staff Golf Competition – Tuesday, 14 June, 8.30am
Ely Golf Club.
All Fellows and staff are invited to join in this social golf event for the President’s Cup. It is a Stableford competition, which means the player with the highest point total is the winner.
Email Porter Mark Nelligan for full details or pop into one of the Porters’ Lodges for a chat.
Service of Thanksgiving for the birth and legacy of William Cecil – Wednesday, 22 June, 11.30am
Westminster Abbey, London.
St John’s alumnus William Cecil, 1st Lord Burghley, served as Principal Secretary and Lord Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I for almost all her reign. During this time, he was the most powerful man in England. There was no aspect of foreign or domestic policy in which he was not involved. He was the man who made England function and was at the heart of all the drama of the times and his influence can still be seen today.
The Lord Burghley 500 Foundation was established to celebrate the quincentenary in 2020 of his birth and to create an educational legacy in his name. The Foundation has arranged a Service of Thanksgiving to take place at Westminster Abbey where Burghley was High Steward.
Open to all. Register for tickets.
End-of-term staff celebration – Friday 1 July, 4-7pm
Scholars’ Garden.
This drop-in ‘do’ for College staff will feature food trucks, drinks and music.
So we can have an idea of numbers, please register before Friday 17 June via Eventbrite.
And finally…
The St John’s SBR Football Team beat opponents The University Contractors 7-0 to lift the MCR Cup in the final match of the series at Comberton Village College on Sunday.
Not only was it the first time the postgraduate team has won the Cup, but it was student doctor and captain Adil Lakhar’s final game for the club as he graduates this summer.
See the team’s Instagram @sjcgradsfootball for lots more highlights from the game and the ensuing celebrations.
