Librarians' Christian Fellowship

Louise Manners reports ....

A group of 13 LCF members and friends met on a sunny morning to view the Winchester Bible and visit the Morley Library. Jo Bartholomew, a librarian at the university and volunteer at the Morley Library, gave us a brief history of the Winchester Bible.

The Winchester Bible was probably commissioned by Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to 1171. It was made in the scriptorium of Winchester Cathedral between circa 1160 and circa 1175. The artists working on the illustrations took 25 to 30 years and did not finish. They used lapis lazuli from Afghanistan for the blue and gold leaf for the gold.

Bishop George Morley, 1597 to 1684, was a prolific collector of books, buying many during exile with the future Charles II. There are also 1,000 books given or bequeathed in advance of Bishop Morley’s bequest. Bishop Morley left money to pay for the two globes, which were also on display. The terrestrial globe shows California as an island. The celestial globe shows the constellations.
The Morley Library

After a hearty lunch LCF members and friends gathered at the United Church in Jewry Street to hear Paul Valler, Associate Speaker with the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, give his thoughts on juggling work, family and church commitments and read from his book on the subject.

Lives are lived nowadays at such a breathless pace that periods devoted to thought can be lost. Our sense of identity is caught up in always being busy. People who give up work can lose their sense of identity. The pattern of behaviour can become very damaging.
Paul Valler with Gordon Harris

We show different faces to different people. We have an identity as a Christian so should not be so much in need of an identity that we work impossible hours to achieve it. We should seek to learn more about what we are good at so we can use that in our work and in our church life, such as listening to people. We are not all called to be high-flyers. We should use our Church community more and we should learn to say no more. We should write our personal mission statements and learn from them.

Mr Valler has a chapter on leading a low-debt lifestyle as a Christian in his book, “Get a life: winning choices for busy people, IVP Press, 2008, ISBN 9781844742172”. Financial discipline is the key to freedom.

After breaking up into small groups to discuss Mr Valler’s words, representatives of the groups summarised the discussions and the conversation continued over tea.

A longer version of this report will appear shortly in Christian Librarian.

Paul Valler's book can be purchased online from St. Andrew's Bookshop.