Altar to St Anselm, Canterbury Cathedral / Stephen Cox, sculptor (2005)

Despite these troubling times (or possibly because of them), I feel pretty good about the 150th anniversary of Christ the King parish this year and their commitment to add a chapel dedicated to St Ahab. At least a couple generations in Agincourt have grown up unaware that the church had a different name when the parish was founded in 1868.

Our friend Jonathan Rutter is creating an icon of St Ahab—painted as a traditional representation of Orthodox saints and martyrs—and I’m pleased to report that fifteen third-year architecture students are undertaking the design of the chapel that will house it. And all of that will form a major component of the next Agincourt exhibit. If I have any negative reaction to all this, it’s probably that ending my teaching career will eliminate any opportunity to repeat the experience. Students have been the mainstay of this project; their creative enthusiasm is infectious, and it has surely infected me. I’ll be sorry to find distance between me and them—particularly if I’ve put it there.

Gethsemane Chapel, Coventry Cathedral / Sir Basil Spence, architect

Baptismal Tank, Church of St John, Bourbourg, FR / Anthony Caro, artist

Altar, St Stephen Walbrook. London / Sir Henry Moore, artist (1972; 1978)