December 16th, 2011 - Friday

Location: Cathedral Gardens fountain, 2nd bench
Designer: Ros Watson, Student Minister

Location Notes: Bounded by some of Manchester's oldest buildings and newest, Long Millgate is an ancient road that cuddles Cathedral Gardens. Next door is the old Manchester Grammar School building, Chethams School of Music (past residents and visitors including Dr John Dee and Karl Marx). At the far end is the Cathedral and the old Corn Exchange (now called the Triangle), with Victoria train station at its back. Completing the picture is the modern and distinctive Urbis and the almost complete Chethams extension. In Victorian times, Long Millgate was a Victorian slum. In the 1960s it housed the Manchester Sports Guild, home to the local jazz scene of the time.

Shrine Notes: The shredded timetables represent the many constant demands on our time and are intended to catch the wind and vibrations from the city so that they are continually moving and making a noise. They are hung as a curtain masking, yet occasionally giving us glimpses, of the offer of peace and stillness printed at the back of the shrine (Psalm 46 v 10).

Designer Notes: The shrine is placed on a bench, near a fountain in sight of Manchester Cathedral. However it is also in the centre of a busy city, near a main road, shopping centre and railway station. I wonder how many of us who regularly come into Manchester city centre have ever been able to find the time to slow down, to sit still and to find peace and calm here? How many of us keep busy, but long for stillness? How many of us keep rushing around, because we fear stillness? How many of us keep moving, because we don’t know what we would do if we stopped? To each of us God offers Himself, His presence and His peace. The message of Christmas - ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1 v 23).

Feel free to write about your thoughts and experiences with this shrine, or how you've seen people using it, as a comment (see below) or tweet @sanctus1mcr.