Thought for the Day-Our Family of Faith

Egon Schiele, Mother with Two Children III, 1915–17. Oil on canvas, Belvedere, Vienna.

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 22nd September 2026 based on the text of Luke 8.19-21.

Baptism Homily-Another verse in an ancient song

State Baptism of a Child of Noble Blood, Anonymous, c1612, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A homily given on the baptism of [N] by The Reverend Phillip Dawson at St Olave Hart Street in the City of London on Saturday 19th September 2026.

Baptism Homily-The Original "Glow Up"

The Street Light: Study of Light, Giacomo Balla (1909)

A homily given during Holy Baptism at St Olave Hart Street on Saturday 7th February 2026 based on an extract of a text written by Terry Pratchett ‘The Little Spark’ and Mark 10.13-16.

Sermon-Who is the Greatest?

The Second Lord Baltimore Cecilius (Cecil) Calvert (1605-1675) by Gerard Soest, c. 1670

A sermon given during Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields at 11am on Sunday 24th August 2025 (Saint Bartholomew, Apostle) based on the text of Acts 5.12-16, Luke 22.24-30 and referencing the International Day for the Remembrance of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its Abolition. The service was followed by the baptism of Ava Coumbe.

Thought for the Day - Decisions, decisions

Hugo Simberg, Tienhaarassa, 'At The Crossroads' (1896)

A Thought for the Day for Wednesday 14th May 2025 based on Acts 1.15-26

Baptism Homily - Standing at the crossroads of time and eternity

Crossroad Blues, Oli Kellett, 2016

A homily given at the baptism of Remy Cane at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 13th October 2024.

Homily-The Baptism of Frederick William Wright

View of Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament with a Hay Barge by James Francis Danby (1816–1875)

A homily given at the baptism of Frederick William Wright at St Mary le Bow on Saturday 21st September 2024 inspired by one of the readings chosen for the service – ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ by William Wordsworth.

Sermon - Time to kick off our ruby slippers

Paul Sérusier (1864-1927), Le Chemin jaune, Châteauneuf-du-Faou

A sermon preached at the Sung Eucharist at St Anne’s Soho on Sunday 18th February 2024 (Year B) Lent 1. Based on readings from Genesis 9:8-17 and Mark 1:9-15. You can listen to an audio recording of this sermon at this link.

Sermon - Dead ends, life starts

The Raising of Lazarus, 1943, by Jose Clemente Orozco

A sermon preached at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday 26th March and St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 30th March 2023 (Year A, 5th Sunday of Lent) based on readings from Psalm 130, Romans 8.6-11 and John 11.1-45.

Sermon - We “are” baptised

Ivanka Demchuk (Ukrainian, 1990–), Baptism of Christ, 2015. 

Sermon preached at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday January 15th 2023  and St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 19th January 2023 (Year A, Second Sunday of Epiphany) based on readings from 1 Corinthians 1.1-9 and John 1.29-42.

Prayers of Intercession - The Baptism of Christ

The Baptism of Christ, David Zelenka, 2005

Prayers of Intercession written for the celebration of the Baptism of Christ (Epiphany 1, Year C) at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 13th January 2022, based on readings from Acts 8.14-17, Luke 3.15-17, 21-22 and the text of the Liturgy of Baptism.

Prayers of Intercession - All Saints

Jerzy Nowosielski, The Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan, 1964.

Prayers written for a Choral Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook celebrating All Saints, Commemorating All Souls and incorporating the baptism of Ralph Christopher Atterbury-Thomas based on readings from Revelation 21.1-6a and John 11.32-44

Start:Stop - Decisions, decisions!

Georges Rouault, Christ and the Apostles, 1937-8

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, my name is Phillip Dawson.

Decisions, decisions! Before the lockdown, one newspaper reported that we each make up to 35,000 decisions every day. Sounds a bit far-fetched to me – but whatever the figure, I imagine it’s considerably lower at the moment. It may be no exaggeration to say that at the present time, life and death decisions are being made by those with responsibility for our health and wellbeing. Decisions which, for the most part, are outside of our control. Decisions which are certainly having an impact on people living in the poorest countries in the world; supporting whom is the focus of this year’s Christian Aid Week appeal, which continues until Saturday.

On Thursday, the church celebrates the life of St Matthias. Virtually all we know about him is from a few short passages in Acts of the Apostles, which I’m about to read. This tells us that he’d been a loyal follower of Jesus right from the start, as had another man, Justus. Faced with the task of selecting a replacement after the death of Judas, the eleven remaining apostles found they could not decide between Matthias and Justus, so they prayed to the Lord, before casting lots. The rest, as they say, is history - or perhaps 'unknown' history in the case of Matthias.

Start-Stop : Head in the clouds, feet in the water

Urizen, from Europe, A Prophecy by William Blake, 1794

Start:Stop at St Stephen Walbrook offers busy commuters in the City of London the chance to start their day by stopping to pray and reflect for ten minutes. This is my reflection for Tuesday 10th March 2020. Good morning and welcome to Start:Stop. Our readings and prayers will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates - please don’t be disturbed if others do the same!

Through Lent we are exploring the creation story in Genesis using the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book “Saying Yes to Life.” Our short reading this morning describes the second day of creation, when God separates the waters to create the sea and sky:-