The Gospel according to Mark. A lecture by the Revd Dr Kevin Walton

The Revd Dr Kevin Walton is giving a lecture on The Gospel according to Mark at the Lincoln Cathedral Chapter House on Saturday 7 November, from 3pm to 4pm. It's a single hour's talk, and it sits within the cathedral's wider church lectionary, which follows Mark throughout the year and invites the congregation to spend a full twelve months looking at the second gospel. Walton's lecture opens up the features of what is now considered the first attempt at the gospels, a text known for its urgent literary style and for the question it puts to Peter and to the reader: 'Who do you say that I am?'.

Beyond that central question, he also looks at the abrupt ending of the earliest texts, weighing whether an original ending was lost or whether the gospel was always intended to end that way. It's the kind of thing that usually stays in the footnotes, but here it gets a bit of room to breathe. The talk runs for about an hour, so it's a focused session rather than a whole afternoon's commitment.

Walton is the Canon Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral, so he's speaking from within the very place the lectionary is used. The lecture takes place in the Chapter House, inside the cathedral grounds at Minster Yard, LN2 1PX. There's no charge for the talk, but booking is essential, with a suggested donation of £5. It runs from 3pm to 4pm on Saturday 7 November.