Christ Church United Reformed Church on Chase Side, Enfield, widely recognized for its iconic spire, will be throwing open its doors this coming Holy Week to host a community exhibition entitled "Imago Dei".
"Imago Dei" will focus on images of God, and also images of humanity e.g. refugees and others from various parts of the world, including our own.
"Imago Dei" will include poetry, music and art around this theme and is a community event.
Poetry workshops and readings
On Wednesday 17th April and Saturday 20th April between 11am and 1pm local poet Mary Duggan will run a workshop called "Where word meets art", which will provide a practical opportunity for members of the local community to add their own work and thoughts to the exhibition
On Saturday there will be readings by local poets from 2pm to 3pm.
Other contributions to "Imago Dei" will include:
- Photographer Debbie Jay will have some of her photography on display.
- Artist and theologian Elizabeth Gray-King has supplied two of her paintings to be displayed – pictures which are bound to provoke discussion.
- Local schools and youth organisations from the Enfield and Barnet area are contributing artwork and poetry.
- There will also be a display about the history and architecture of the church and guided tours of this historic building.
Revd Mark Meatcher, minister of Christ Church, explained the aims of the exhibition:
"Christ Church United Reformed Church are keen to show off their building and to encourage a greater use of it.
"We are eager to encourage people to come and share with us when we worship week by week, and also, with the support of the local community, provide opportunities for shared experiences together.
"This exhibition enables us to do just that, and we look forward to welcoming people to spend some time with us during Holy Week in whatever way they can, or wish to do so."
"Imago Dei" will be open daily during Holy Week from 15th to 21st April (10 am to 4pm Monday to Thursday, 1pm to 4pm on Good Friday and 10 am to 4pm on Easter Saturday). The church will be open for worship at 11 am on Easter Sunday.
Christ Church Chase Side
Christ Church Chase Side photographed by Christine Matthews
Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence 2.0 icence
Christ Church Congregational Church was built in 1874/5 to a Gothic design by John Tarring.
Christ Church is a grade II listed building, built in the gothic style, and faced with Kentish Ragstone outside and Bath stone inside. There is a stone relief of the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples on the apse wall which is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting.
Late 19th Century Memorial stained glass windows in the building represent Christ the Saviour and the Good Shepherd, the four gospel writers, Peter and Paul, three first century Christian Deacons and the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.
Christ Church was built on the site of Zion Chapel (built in 1780) after Zion Chapel had united with the adjoining Chase Side Chapel (built in 1791 and re-built in 1830).