Welcome to
Haywards Heath United Reformed Church

I spent January-March this year studying an online course on North European art in the 14th and 15th centuries. This related to Germany and the Netherlands and involved examining online a mix of about 20 paintings, sculptures, etchings, wood carvings and prints. Many were religious because the Christian story was the one everybody knew about in those days. At the end we were invited to choose any two and discuss them in a short article.

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My first choice was a simple black and white print showing Mary and the child Jesus sitting in a spacious courtyard surrounded by a plain white boundary wall and a gatehouse reminiscent of local German building style, and one bare outline of a tree. It seemed it was just the three of us, Mary, Jesus and me. No need for colour or crowds or clutter. Just us.   Just space. Here was INDIVIDUALITY.

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Second, while I could have chosen from a range of Gethsemane, Crucifixion and Resurrection scenes, in fact I chose a two-piece richly coloured painted altar panel showing on the left Peter and John, and on the right Mark and Paul. John was holding the text of the Gospel he had by then compiled and Paul a massive book signifying his extensive writings and travels. These panels, I felt, were the Church and four of the pillars on which it stands. The Church that includes us, our places, our times. Here was COMMUNITY.

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CHURCH = INDIVIDUALITY + COMMUNITY