Tourism Dominates University Church, Oxford

The restaurant in Congregation House of the University Parish of St. Mary the Virgin serves excellent scones and coffee. Clerics have complained about tourist behavior in University Church, but the church has done little to distinguish it from nearby university buildings.2 The two entryways lack literature and newsletters featuring Christian programming and mission activities common at entrances of other Oxford churches. On this Palm Sunday, the church is illuminated naturally and set for the first of its two services - the second being Organ Vespers at 3:30 p.m. Communion elements rest on a small table in front of the university chancellor's wooden throne located at the rear center of the nave while a plain wooden table, topped with a simple linen and two small candles, stands at the other end in front of a stone rood screen separating the nave and chancel. Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), Anglicized Edition.