8. Farm Street Roman Catholic Church, Mayfair, London: January 2022

 

Over the Christmas/New Year holiday we called into Farm Street Church (we were just passing) and felt we had discovered a much-loved building.  One thing that struck us straight away was the huge painting by the church’s artist in residence, Andrew White.  It’s a modern depiction of the Last Supper and it had me transfixed; I love it.

So, we decided it would be good to join the congregation on one of my Sabbatical Sundays and so we visited them for their 11 o’clock service (one of six they hold every Sunday) on 9^th January 2022, a sparkling, blue sky mid-winter day in London.

We’d already discovered a very helpful website and so we appreciated that this would be a service held in Latin with the professional choir in attendance, as opposed to the 9.30am service which was a Family Mass in English, and the 5.30pm service with ‘informal’ music.

Farm Street (incredible to think this area of Mayfair was once Hay Hill Farm!) is a Roman Catholic Church and was established in the mid 1800’s by the Jesuits, around the time when the Roman Catholic hierarchy was restored to England after years of discrimination, even persecution.  It makes a bold statement even today with its very powerful neo-gothic architecture.  I found it a very welcoming space, one that ‘envelopes’.  On this occasion it was still rather beautifully decorated for Christmas.

I confess that at 10.55am it did all seem a little last minute!  People were arranging service books and communion vessels in the chancel, the choir only just managed to get to the gallery by 11 am and only about twenty people seemed to be present.  However, by 11am, although not a minute sooner, everything was in order and the congregation had at least tripled!  From that point on this was an utterly seamless and well-ordered service.

I appreciated the service book which doubled as a hymn book (with 80 hymns at the back) because alongside the Latin text, clearly loved and appreciated by the congregation, there was an English translation.

We sang just one hymn during the entrance procession and to be honest not many people did!  Obviously in Free Church worship hymns are foundational to worship, on Sunday it was clear that the liturgical responses, mainly sung by the choir, took their place in this service.  And the choir, ten of them, were great!  The music (organ and voice) was so uplifting.

We had a super American reader who led the lessons and intercessions from the pulpit.  She did so with warmth and great poise.  The intercessions were relatively short and consisted of Bidding Prayers.

The priest, one of seven connected with the church and living in the Jesuit community next door, gave a really helpful and warm-hearted homily of six minutes on the theme of Christ’s baptism and related it to all those seminal moments that come our way when God is close, and we discover something of our place and mission in the world.  Here was a pastor gently encouraging his flock and doing so with such gentle sensitivity.

The service proceeded without announcements, everyone seemed to know exactly what to do at the right time.  After the prayer of consecration, I looked up and realised only Rachel and I were not kneeling!  The sense of deep sincerity was palpable.

Although predominately ‘retired’, there was a mix of ages with a number of children present.  I looked at one little boy, so excited to be going up for communion and cupping his hands in anticipation with a big smile on his face.

One of the interesting ministries at Farm Street is called ‘Landings’.  A programme designed to help Roman Catholics ‘return’ to church if they have been away for some time.  These meetings are run both by and for ‘returning’ Catholics.

Another significant ministry, set up with the blessing of Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, is that Farm Street actively reaches out and welcomes members of the gay catholic community.  They are encouraged twice a month at the 5.30pm Mass to ‘contribute’.  Surely this is to be commended.

Personally I have attended very few Roman Catholic services, and I’m in no position to make any specific critique of the Church’s traditions.  However, on Sunday at Farm Street I came away with one overriding impression.  SINCERITY!  I think we encountered a community that so desired for Jesus to be at the centre; indeed, at one point the priest said: Your personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in the world. 

The folks on Sunday may have been expressing that relationship in a tradition with which I am unfamiliar, but I came away in no doubt that the love of God in Jesus had been very evident among us as we gathered.  We both felt it and walked off to lunch pleased to have shared in worship with such a sincere congregation in the centre of Mayfair.

I felt I learnt a lot about my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters on Sunday and I was very glad to be in their company.

7. St Stephen's Walbrook, City of London: January 2022

 

On a recent ‘day off’ I attended the lunch time Sung Eucharist at St Stephen’s Church, Walbrook, next to London’s Mansion House.  This is the church where The Revd Chad Varah, founder of The Samaritans, was vicar.  It’s an architectural masterpiece designed by Sir Christopher Wren with a stunning domed rood, yet it has recently been ‘modernised’ inside with ‘circular pews’ around a central stone altar.

I was encouraged, as I approached the church, to hear its bell ringing out announcing that a service of worship, at which about 30 would attend, was about to commence.  I was given a very warm welcome and handed both hymn book and service sheet. 

This service, held every Thursday is recorded and then uploaded onto the church’s website on Saturday, effectively also becoming their Sunday eucharist too.  St Stephen’s, being in The City, is not really a weekend church, catering instead for a weekday congregation.  Indeed, the young man attending the service in the pew in front of me slipped out quickly after the blessing, I presume his lunchbreak was up and he was off back to the office.

It struck me that so much effort had been put into this lunchtime service, as in many senses it was the church’s main event of the week.  That meant there was wonderful music provided by a young lady organist who played beautiful, with a soloist who sang some inspiring anthems.  The clergy and helpers were dressed in full attire and there was a significant sense of ‘occasion’ during the 45 mins we were together.

St Stephen’s uses a communion liturgy based on the Anglican 1928 Prayerbook, the one never sanctioned by parliament!  This prayerbook has a lot of words!  I suspect that compared to the AFC Communion Liturgy it was three times as long.  I think it made me realise what a wonderful opportunity Free Churches have of writing their own liturgy, spending time crafting words that give a nod to history but reflect the rhythm of the way we speak today.  It’s also true that so many words give the officiant the great challenge of ‘getting through them’ without speaking too quickly.

It being the Feast of the Epiphany, the characters of the three kings were ceremonially put into the church’s crib scene at the beginning of the service, complete with incense.  Indeed we were told that St Stephen’s keeps a ‘long Christmas’ right up to 2^nd February and the Feast of Candlemas, and until then the Christmas Tree will stay in place!

The sermon was very good and finished with a tribute to Desmond Tutu who died on St Stephen’s Day last year.

During the offering I was interested to see that not only did the steward hold a basket for cash and envelopes, but in the other hand was a card machine and, indeed, some people around me did swipe their cards as they sang the offertory hymn!  Times are changing!

After the service, although I didn’t stay for it, a light lunch was served at the back of the church and it was obvious that this gathering would be well attended by folk who made it their regular ‘meeting up’ time.

I came away so impressed by St Stephen’s Walbrook and its integrity in doing something so relevant to its context, that of a Thursday lunchtime Eucharist.  Such energy and commitment is keeping this community of faith alive and vibrant and maintaining a wonderful witness to Jesus Christ at the centre of the City of London.

6. All Hallows by The Tower: December 2021

 

On a dark Tuesday evening in Advent 2021 I attended the Worshipful Company of Bakers’ Carol Service at All Hallows by The Tower.  I had been invited by Sara from our congregation, herself a Master Baker.

I’ve visited All Hallows on a number of occasions but never for a service. I’m usually there because it’s a church often included in Christian Aid’s Circle the City circuit.  It is impressively placed, lover looking both the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. 

The church was bombed in World War Two and extensively rebuilt afterwards.  Its one time Vicar was Tubby Clayton, the famous war time chaplain and founder of TochH.

It was a delight to be in Sara’s party for the carol service and the evening was shared with two other Companies, those of the Woolmen and Watermen. That thrilled me somewhat as my eight times grandfather was a Waterman in the 1700’s based the other side of the river at Southwalk.  Members of these honourable companies read the lessons, often dressed in their colourful robes.

It was a lovely traditional service and we were blessed to have music provided by the Choral Scholars of The Square Mile Singers.  This group has been recently formed by Andrew Earis, the Director of Music for St Martin in the Fields.  For many years now St Martin’s has provided bursaries for choral scholars and Dr Earis has now broadened this to provide singers for other city churches including All Hallows and St Stephen’s, Walbrook by The Bank of England.  It is a super idea and is a great gift to these city churches to have the services of such wonderful singers.

The Vicar of All Hallows, Katherine Hedderly gave the warmest of welcomes and led the service beautifully.  I was impressed that she also gave a sermon!  She focussed on the church’s work with refugees from Afghanistan and told us of a forthcoming evening when these folk were due at the vicarage to cook a meal for the community.  It was truly inspiring to hear of this ministry.

Being a church in such a famous context yet without too many resident in the parish must be very challenging, yet I sensed that the Revd Katherine and her team were calm, committed and upbeat.

The evening was a wonderful example of the Church interacting with its community.  Playing host to three of London’s ancient Guilds was just that, touching base with neighbours, offering hospitality, respecting each others’ contribution to society and standing together as a force for good and God in that specific locality.