The Manifold Letters.

These letters were produced as part of a brilliant project managed by the Rev. Robert and Sarah Van de Weyer. During the Covid-19 pandemic, letters were written every day for two and a half years by both ordained and lay members of the congregation of St Clement's Church in Cambridge (England) and distributed to others both in the congregation and people outwith St Clement's as Dearly Beloved letters. (DB letters). They dealt with manifold issues including psychological survival during the pandemic, personal stories and experiences of life, philosophy and theology, music, secular and church politics, the mysteries of the Christian faith and the exigencies of the pursuit of a Christian life.

The Rt Rev. Rowan Williams was a contributor for six months whilst he worshiped and officiated at the St Clement's during his last months as Master of Magdalene College, just a stone's throw from St Clement's. He later published his letters as a book entitled Candles in the Dark, SPCK 96pp and described the diverse writers of the DB letters as "a brilliant constellation".

This author wrote  a Dearly Beloved letter every two weeks or so and some of these are presented below as The Manifold Letters.

Paul Munton, Cambridge 29th October 2022.



The Mystical Nativity by Sandro Botticelli
c.1500
(National Gallery, London. Wikipedia Public Domain).
 







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