York Minster

Transcendence

Transcendence, An Ancient Future Mass, is a Multimedia Eucharist held in York Minster. The service is a collaboration between York Minster and the Visions Alternative Worship arts collective. Once a month we gather to celebrate a service of Holy Communion which contains all the elements of Common Worship Order One, expressed in a cultural form which makes the most of contemporary forms of imagery and technology. Transcendence is registered as an Anglo Catholic Fresh Expression: the ministers wear traditional vestments; there is incense and other ceremonial, and the aim is to provide a place where the tradition can be renewed for our contemporary situation.

A key element of Transcendence is the mixing up of old and new - plainsong chants over ambient beats, live video mixing using ancient iconography, beats and DJs working alongside Palestrina sung by the Minster's musicians. We named the service Transcendence because we wanted to express a sense of awe; to inhabit a space where someone would want to fall on their knees in adoration of the majesty and mercy of God.

Going to Transcendence has been compared to stepping into a medieval painting, bathed in light and moving images. Its a place where you can sit on a cushion (or a chair) and watch incense curl through the projector beams, lighting up the futuristic technology, and journey around an ancient building by night  kneeling at a creative prayer installation, before sharing in the ancient life-giving sacrament of the Eucharist in bread and wine.

Transcendence is designed to enable worshippers, or simply the curious, to participate in a way which is appropriate to them. You can use each one of the prayer installations, or simply be in the building. There is ample space for reflection, the lighting has a candlelit feel and no one is required to join in with anything which makes them feel uncomfortable.

Transcendence happens on the second Sunday of the month, 7.30 p.m., in York Minster - there's coffee from 6.45 p.m, and the service takes no more than 90 minutes.

For further information, and pictures, join the Transcendence Facebook Group, or visit www.transcendenceyork.org

Forthcoming Services

Sunday 10th January - Baptism of Christ

Sunday 14th February - Moses, Mountaintops (with Mirfield Students)

Sunday 14th March - Motherhood and Apple Pie (with Bishop Graham Cray, head of Fresh Expressions)

Sunday 11th April - Easter

Future Dates

May 9th, June 13th, July 11th, August 8th