A celebration event was held in Llantwit Major to mark the unpacking of the Kingdom of Heaven Collection at the New Library
On Sunday 4th September 2022 the community came together in Llantwit Major to unpack of boxed books about the Kingdom of Heaven at the New Library in Llantwit Major. The books are a treasured collection about biblical scholarship and the Kingdom of Heaven tradition in Christianity that belonged to the British bible scholar and priest John Rogerson. The Kingdom of Heaven tradition is at the heart of the work of the New Library and follows in the footsteps of the Celtic scholarship and community that began in Llantwit around the year 500.
The Kingdom of Heaven was proclaimed and inaugurated by the ministry and death of Jesus. It is a dimension of right relationships for human life and the foundation of the Christian offer but, strangely, not a significant part of contemporary British Church culture. The New Library is championing fresh approaches to exploring and unpacking the Kingdom of Heaven.
What happened on the day?
The celebration began as a Sunday morning service at St Illtud’s Church Llantwit Major, led by Canon Edwin Counsell with the director of the New Library, Richard Parry, preaching on the Kingdom of Heaven and the offer of biblical scholarship today in proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven. Extracts from a live stream video of the celebratory service, including the sermon given by Richard celebrating the opening of the Library’s Kingdom of Heaven collection. can be viewed here:
The text of the sermon given in the above video by Richard Parry, Director of the New Library, will be available here shortly.
music from the composer and performer Noori Devlin in the central hall of St Illtud’s Church.
At 11.00am the community made a short walk up the hill to the New Library to unpack the Kingdom of Heaven collection, getting the books on the library’s shelves. It was a treasure hunt.
John Rogerson’s work has been published widely around the world and he has been described as scholar with an amazing learning, versatility, and skill in exposition, notable for his commitment to justice and applying biblical insights to the demands of the modern world.
We shared lunch afterwards and children and adults painted small pebbles form the town’s beach which now form part of the New Library’s entrance.
To mark this celebratory event at the New Library John Rogerson’s widow, Rosalind Rogerson, kindly donated to everyone involved in the celebration a free copy of John Rogerson’s book The Forgiveness of Sins.
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Below, is a video of a lecture given by John Rogerson in 2014 on the subject of the Kingdom of God – it’s the same thing as the Kingdom of Heaven! John was of University Professor of Biblical Studies, an internationally acclaimed Old Testament Scholar and an Anglican priest.
“The challenging and revolutionary work of a real Christianity appears first as a living, actual transformation of life. It shows as new life breaking through the old growths which have served their purpose and are ready to decay. It’s beginning brings the gift, not of a devastating clearance, a vacant institutionalism, but of a fresh green-leaf significance of a new birth – a renewal of the spirit of life and love.” That, I think, is a splendid description of some of the effects of the Kingdom of God.
John Rogerson quoting A D Lindsay
The New Library and St Illtud’s Church are in partnership to celebrate the region’s spiritual heritage and a special welcome for visitors. Come along and find out what’s on offer here. Everybody welcome.
