__NOTOC__ St John the Evangelist Church is a non-parochial church on

Iffley Road Iffley Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England. It leads from the Plain, near Magdalen Bridge, southeast towards the village of Iffley. While it becomes Henley Avenue at Iffley Turn, and then Rose Hill, the whole stretch from the ri ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. It was built as the community church of the mother house of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

religious order known as the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE, aka the

Cowley Fathers The Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE) is an Anglican religious order for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford, Eng ...

). Since 1980 it has served also as one of the college chapels of

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

. The building was designed by

G. F. Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott and worked with C. E. Kempe. He was in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career and was o ...

(1827–1907) predominantly in a

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

style and built in 1894–96. Its aisles and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

have pinnacled

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...

es. The castellated west tower was added in 1902. The east, west and north-east windows contain

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

designed by C. E. Kempe (1837–1907) and made in about 1900. The Church contains a set of Stations of the Cross, by the leading late Pre-Raphaelite artist

Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne (1854–1921) was a leading British late Pre-Raphaelite painter of portraits and subject pictures, who in later life became one of the country's best-known creators of decorative art for churches. Family and early ...

. Representing the pinnacle of his painted devotional work, Prynne thought that the Church “afforded a unique opportunity by reason of the splendid wall-space" and regarded the commission as “a very great pleasure and high privilege." The striking – although not unproblematic – set of images was finally installed in the Church in 1921. The painting of "Jesus Christ Condemned to Death” was based on an earlier picture by the artist painted in 1898, and now held by

St Peter's Church, Ealing St Peter's Church, Ealing, is an Anglican parish church in Mount Park Road, North Ealing, in the Diocese of London, regarded by Sir John Betjeman as an example of a Victorian-built church "of which we can be proud". Held to be one of the premie ...

. In 1980, the Society of St John the Evangelist prepared to close its Oxford chapter and relocate all its activities to St Edward's House, in London. At that time, St Stephen's House moved from its buildings in

Norham Gardens __NOTOC__ Norham Gardens is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. It adjoins the north end of Parks Road near the junction with Banbury Road, directly opposite St Anne's College, Oxford, St Anne's College. From here it skirts the ...

to the monastic buildings of the SSJE, which were well-suited for a

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

. The SSJE's buildings included the Mission House on Marston Street, St John the Evangelist Church, and the extension to the Mission House that connected the earlier building to the chapel and to the church with a refectory and cloister. The church's architect G. F. Bodley also worked on the adjoining cloisters, college buildings, chapel, and old mission house. The Sunday

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

is celebrated in the church during Oxford's academic year. St John the Evangelist Church is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

which underwent some refurbishment and restoration in 2008, including the provision of underfloor heating. Since 2012, SJE Arts Oxford has been running musical and arts events in the church. The church is opposite the Roger Bannister running track. When

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub- 4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...

(1929–2018) ran the first ever sub- four-minute mile at the track on 6 May 1954, he used the St George's flag on top of the church tower to determine that the wind was low enough to make an attempt on this record.

References

Sources

External links

St John the Evangelist's Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John the Evangelist Church, Oxford 19th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1896 Christian organizations established in 1896 Chapels of the University of Oxford

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

Oxford, Saint John the Evangelist Church Grade II listed buildings in Oxford Gothic Revival church buildings in England English Gothic architecture in Oxfordshire St Stephen's House, Oxford Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Oxfordshire

See also

References

Sources

External links