Sermon - All Change

Noli Me Tangere (Illustration for Andre Suares, Passion) Georges Rouault, 1871-1958

Sermon preached during the Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 22nd July 2021 – the Feast of St Mary Magdalene. Based on the text of John 20.1-2, 11-18 and 2 Corinthians 5.14-17


Good News in under 100 words

We’re better at change than we think. But to see it we can’t rely on our own human sight; we need God’s grace to see His new creation. This means turning away from our old, established ways of measuring and labelling change to understand the world and turning towards Christ – just as Mary Magdalene did.  

Start:Stop - Business as usual

Monk (Mönch) by Katharina Fritsch, 1997/1999 (Art Institute Chicaco)

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few moments and start to reflect on a passage from scripture. My name is Phillip Dawson. You can find an audio version of this reflection at this link. This week we begin with a passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans. Described as his ‘theological masterpiece’ Paul’s reasons for writing the letter - to diverse congregations he did not establish and had not visited - are unclear; but in it, he sets out his view on the demands that living a life in a Christian community entails:

The Practice of the Presence of God. Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence

Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, c1809

Why do we need to “practice the presence of God” when we know that God is with us at all times?

The answer to that question lies at the heart of four conversations with and fifteen letters by Brother Lawrence, a lay brother of the Discalced Carmelite Order who lived in France in the seventeenth century and were published posthumously, becoming a spiritual classic.

Sermon – A Pause before Freedom Day

Nelson Mandela Memorial by Marco Cianfanelli, unveiled by Jacob Zuma in 2012

A sermon preached on Sunday 18th July 2021 at St George’s Bloomsbury. The Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Proper 11, Year B) responding to the thematic readings: Jeremiah 23.1-6, Psalm 23, Ephesians 2.11-end, Mark 6.30-34, 53-end and referencing Nelson Mandela Day, celebrated across the world each year on 18th July; the day of his birth.

You can hear an audio recording of this sermon at this link.

Prayers of Intercession - Pointing Truth to Power

The beheading of John by Baptist by Nicholas Mynheer 

Prayers written for the Sung Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 15th July 2021 (Year B, Trinity 6) based on readings from Mark 6.14-29

Further Prayers for Morning Prayer on Wednesday 14th July

Vision of Ezekiel, David Bomberg, 1912 (Tate Gallery)

Further prayers written for Morning Prayer (BCP) at St Stephen Walbrook on Wednesday 14th July 2021.

BOOK REVIEW : The Naked God by Vincent Strudwick

The Naked God by Vincent Strudwick was published by Darton, Longman & Todd in 2017

Part autobiography and part theological history, this book by Vincent Strudwick explores questions around the future direction of the Church of England from a historical context, drawing on the author’s long career as a priest, theologian and teacher and his experience working closely with Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion. 

The Cloud of Unknowing

Painting by Ian Fisher (ianfisherart.com)

It has been wonderful to revisit this book recently, which I was first introduced to on a course led by John-Francis Friendship at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction,– an excellent venue for engaging with every aspect of Christian Spirituality with regular events and seminars and well worth looking up. The beautiful paintings throughout this post are by Ian Fisher.

There’s a reason why nearly seven hundred years after it was first written, The Cloud  is still considered a spiritual “classic” and each time a modern translation is released, can still be found on the best-sellers list. The author – anonymous by design - describes an innately complex subject (the unknowability of God) using simple language and images, the like of which you could imagine adorning the best and most engaging modern-day power-point presentation or You-Tube tutorial video!

Prayers of Intercession - Leave your baggage behind

Two Travellers, Jack Butler Yeats, 1942, Tate Gallery

Prayers written for the Sung Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 9th June 2021 (Year B, Fifth after Trinity) based on the gospel reading Mark 6.1-13 and text from the sermon.  

Start:Stop - It’s all in the cloud

Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Sankt Peter, 2013

Hello, my name is Phillip Dawson and it is a great pleasure to welcome you to our Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few minutes and start to reflect on a passage from scripture. You can hear an audio recording of this reflection at this link.

This week, a great prayer from the Letter to the Ephesians, that we might be strengthened by the fullness of God’s love for us - a love that surpasses knowledge.

Daily Devotion - There's a wideness in God's mercy

Jesus and Peter on the Water by Gustave Brion, 1863

A Daily Devotion written for St Stephen's Rochester Row. You can read all the Daily Devotions on the church website at this link.

It was wonderful to be back at St Stephen’s Rochester Row to celebrate Jeremy Cavanagh’s ordination to the Diaconate and a great treat to sing a hymn again for the first time in six months - and quite appropriate to sing this particular hymn in the great outdoors!

Prayers of Intercession - The Hem of His Garment

The Hem of His Garment by Iain Campbell

Prayers written for the Sung Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 9th June 2021 (Year B, Fourth after Trinity) based on readings from 2 Corinthians 8.7-end and Mark 5.21-end and drawing on texts from Prayers for Wholeness and Healing published by the Church of England.

Let us pray to God our Father, that His Church and this world might be guided by the example of His Son and transformed by the healing power of His Spirit.