Looking for Britain’s future leaders? Try evensong Oxbridge chapels report quiet revival in digital era as Christians, Muslims and atheists alike seek solace in choral music and Prayer Book Evensong at New College, Oxford, this weekend | Photo: John Lawrence/The Telegraph By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor 8:16AM GMT 01 Mar 2016 In the popular imagination, evenings in the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge are a time of drunken hedonism, white tie parties or angry political agitation, depending on one’s preference But one evening pursuit which has been enjoying an unexpected boost in popularity in the two universities is as far from the cliché of raucous student life as it is possible to imagine – choral evensong. College chaplains have seen a steady but noticeable increase in attendances at the early evening services which combine contemplative music with the 16th Century language of the Book of Common Prayer. It mirrors a similar trend reported by cathedrals across England for growing congregations at choral midweek services, which appears to challenge the view that the church is in irreversible decline. Evensong at New College, Oxford Chaplains say the mix of music, silence and centuries-old language appears to have taken on a new appeal for a generation more used to instant and constant communications, often conducted in 140 characters rather than the phrases of Cranmer. Neil McCleery, assistant chaplain of New College, one of Oxford’s oldest and grandest chapels, said it was now rare to see an attendance below 150 at a weekend evensong. “We get people, especially very hard working postgraduate students who say that it provides a time towards the end of the day, when you can just sit in silence and tune out all of these influences and instead tune in God perhaps,” he said. “We get a lot of people who perhaps come to faith or return to faith by being drawn into that worship experience. “I do wonder if it might be related to the trend for mindfulness in this era where we are constantly bombarded from the internet, from media, from mobile which are hard to get away from.” Mr McCleery, a member of the Oxford committee of the Prayer Book Society, said it reflected a wider interest in older styles of worship, including greater interest in the Prayer Book among trainee clergy. “The era of jaded folk worship is coming to an end,” he said. “Indeed I think the people who want that sort of thing are the older generation now and the young are coming back to traditional worship and the choral tradition.” Click here for the rest of the article: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12176998/Looking-for-Britains-future-leaders-Try-evensong.html