A Note from the Guild Chaplain
WHY DOES THE GUILD OF BUILDING NEED A CHAPLAIN?
The Guild of Building is not unusual in having a Chaplain. Indeed all the York Guilds in common with Guilds elsewhere have their Chaplains. In the same way the Civics also have their Chaplains with each Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York electing their own Chaplain for their civic year.
BUT WHY IS THIS THE CASE?
To answer this question we need to dig into the foundations of the Guilds and back to a time when there was much less of a sacred /secular divide. The relationship between the Guilds and the Church as between State and Church in medieval times was an extremely close one.
This is evidenced for example in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays performed annually then by the Guilds on the feast of Corpus Christi. Each of the then 48 plays were performed by different Guilds with the Guild of Plasterers being responsible for the story of creation to the 5th day.
This explains how it is in the modern day four yearly cycle of wagon plays that the Guild of Building takes responsibility for the first of the plays – Creation. This four yearly cycle originated in 1951 with the Festival of Britain Celebrations rediscovering the York Cycle of Mystery Plays with a performance in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey and continuing this tradition since 1998 the Guilds have again taken a lead in delivering a cycle of 11 plays every four years.
Of course much of the work of the trade Guilds in medieval times would have related to the Church especially in a city such as York with its Minster and its plethora of churches and religious communities. Much of the work of the building trades would certainly have been connected directly to the Church. Today the Church continues to play a significant part in maintaining craftsmanship not least through the work at and for York Minster. This link is also often reflected in the craftsmanship awards.
The Chaplain to the Guild of Building helps the Guild to celebrate this historic relationship between the Guilds and the Church.
In addition to leading and preaching at our Annual Service and saying Grace at our Dinners he also offers a valued pastoral support to members of the Guild and their families.
Chris Cullwick our current Chaplain is well placed to do this. He serves as chaplain to a number of Guilds and other organisations including the Chamber of Commerce. He has also served as chaplain to both York College and York St John University. In addition he is councillor on the City of York Council where he serves on a number of committees including planning and economic development and transport scrutiny.
Asked about his role as Chaplain to the Guild of Building Chris says, ‘Jesus as a carpenter grew up working in the family business and in later life had no shortage of illustrations from building and craftsmanship in his parables. He told stories about good and poor foundations, about counting the cost of a project before making a start and about seeing through to the end what we have begun. We do well today to pay attention to this wisdom for our own lives and for our businesses.
Having a Chaplain to the Guild reminds all of us that what and how we build is not just physical but has a spiritual dimension. How and what we build creates environments which shape and contribute to human flourishing. It reminds us we are building not only on the strong foundations of the past history of the Guilds in this wonderful city but we are also shaping the future of the city itself.’
The Guild of Building is not unusual in having a Chaplain. Indeed all the York Guilds in common with Guilds elsewhere have their Chaplains. In the same way the Civics also have their Chaplains with each Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York electing their own Chaplain for their civic year.
BUT WHY IS THIS THE CASE?
To answer this question we need to dig into the foundations of the Guilds and back to a time when there was much less of a sacred /secular divide. The relationship between the Guilds and the Church as between State and Church in medieval times was an extremely close one.
This is evidenced for example in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays performed annually then by the Guilds on the feast of Corpus Christi. Each of the then 48 plays were performed by different Guilds with the Guild of Plasterers being responsible for the story of creation to the 5th day.
This explains how it is in the modern day four yearly cycle of wagon plays that the Guild of Building takes responsibility for the first of the plays – Creation. This four yearly cycle originated in 1951 with the Festival of Britain Celebrations rediscovering the York Cycle of Mystery Plays with a performance in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey and continuing this tradition since 1998 the Guilds have again taken a lead in delivering a cycle of 11 plays every four years.
Of course much of the work of the trade Guilds in medieval times would have related to the Church especially in a city such as York with its Minster and its plethora of churches and religious communities. Much of the work of the building trades would certainly have been connected directly to the Church. Today the Church continues to play a significant part in maintaining craftsmanship not least through the work at and for York Minster. This link is also often reflected in the craftsmanship awards.
The Chaplain to the Guild of Building helps the Guild to celebrate this historic relationship between the Guilds and the Church.
In addition to leading and preaching at our Annual Service and saying Grace at our Dinners he also offers a valued pastoral support to members of the Guild and their families.
Chris Cullwick our current Chaplain is well placed to do this. He serves as chaplain to a number of Guilds and other organisations including the Chamber of Commerce. He has also served as chaplain to both York College and York St John University. In addition he is councillor on the City of York Council where he serves on a number of committees including planning and economic development and transport scrutiny.
Asked about his role as Chaplain to the Guild of Building Chris says, ‘Jesus as a carpenter grew up working in the family business and in later life had no shortage of illustrations from building and craftsmanship in his parables. He told stories about good and poor foundations, about counting the cost of a project before making a start and about seeing through to the end what we have begun. We do well today to pay attention to this wisdom for our own lives and for our businesses.
Having a Chaplain to the Guild reminds all of us that what and how we build is not just physical but has a spiritual dimension. How and what we build creates environments which shape and contribute to human flourishing. It reminds us we are building not only on the strong foundations of the past history of the Guilds in this wonderful city but we are also shaping the future of the city itself.’