It is a popular belief that the Celtic peoples described what they called ‘thin places’: locations where heaven seemed to draw close to earth, where things seemed somehow less separated and disconnected. A ‘thin place’ may be so because of communal perception – this chapel is a place where prayers and hope and longings have been expressed for hundreds of years. Equally, we might describe a place that is for us personally ‘thin’ – a sofa where transformative conversations happened, a place of natural beauty and peace or of important memories. A ‘thin place’ could be somewhere that features daily or weekly in our lives, where we process life’s little moments. Or it may be a place we journey to once, or return to rarely but deliberately, investing significance through infrequency.

This Summer, we are leading several simple ‘Pilgrimage & Pub’ walks from St Mary’s out to discover the beauty and history of churches on the edges of the city – places that have, for centuries, been the ‘thin places’ of their communities, dreaming of heaven in the midst of earthly pain and joy. These are chances to walk with and lay down our own pains and joys too, to join our story to those of the places we visit. We walk also in the faith that each person we walk with – a new face, or a familiar friend – is themselves also a ‘thin place’, a means of heaven’s grace breaking into the here-and-now. There will be chance to look around, pause for prayer, and grab liquid refreshment at a local pub.

This Saturday afternoon we have the first of our walks, from St Mary’s, Oxford, down the river path to St Mary’s, Iffley – a gem of an English village church, featuring windows by John Piper and Roger Wagner. Join us in the De Brome Chapel at 14.00, or meet us there at 15.00. The walk is 2.3 miles each way – please wear suitable footwear, and bring a bottle of water.