Oxford is a city of doors – some often open, many usually closed. Like Alice in Wonderland, all of us will have looked through doors in the city at some time, wondering what lies beyond, curious about whether we might one day pass through. This weekend, many of those doors will be unlocked as part of Oxford Open Doors, when people are invited to see the city in new ways, discovering its secret places. I’ll never forget seeing All Souls chapel for the first time one Open Doors weekend. After many hours of gazing at the college’s clean, classical lines through the Radcliffe Camera windows, I was taken aback to find a throng of golden angels lining the chapel roof!

Stepping over a threshold, being invited in to a new or unfamiliar place – these moments help us to see our city differently and experience it afresh. Our assumptions and expectations can be challenged, our understanding of each other deepened. Standing in our neighbour’s spaces, we are reminded of the many and varied communities that make up our city, and the multiple layers of history that have shaped them. And as guests in each other’s spaces, going through each other’s doors, we can help to build friendship and understanding between those communities.

Our doors at St Mary’s will be open this weekend, as usual, and we look forward to welcoming many visitors. Some will never have seen the church before, some will have distant memories of it, others will know it well. Each visitor brings something unique. For the sharing of spaces across the city is also a sharing of stories, stories that enrich us all.