Sermon-The Gate to Salvation

Christ a la Porte from La Passion, Georges Rouault, 1939

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 26th April 2026 (Year A) - also the day of the London Marathon which passes nearby and “Vocations Sunday” in the Church of England and based on readings from Acts 2.42-47 and John 10.1-10. 

Thought for the Day - The Beginning and the End

The Course of Empire: Destruction, Thomas Cole, 1836

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 29th April 2025 based on the text of Mark 13.5-13

Our gospel reading today forms the start of what some call the “Little Apocalypse”. As well as recording the longest speech by Jesus in the whole of Mark’s gospel, it’s a passage that may reveal something about the people who first heard the text, whose writer the church remembers today.

Thought for the Day - The Road to Everywhere

Emmaus by Janet Brooks Gerloff, 1992

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St-Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 23rd April 2025 based on the text of Luke 24.13-35.

Wedding Sermon - The Song of Divine Love

A sermon given at the marriage of Scott Westoby and Shani Cantor at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Thursday 26th September 2024. Scott manages The Phoenix Arts Club, a drag and cabaret bar next to the church. Shani is a fantastic performer and sings at the club as well as in numerous productions on the West End stage. The marriage service ended with a procession behind a band down Denmark Street. The sermon draws on lyrics from songs recorded, demoed or written in Demark Street – the UK’s version of Tin Pan Alley, which is next to the church.

Thought for the Day - And the greatest of these is love

War & Peace (Peace), Candido Portinari, 1957

A Thought for the Day given at the lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 18th September 2014 based on the text of 1 Corinthians 13

A reflection on the primacy of love in the Christian life, inspired by the writing of Dag Hammarskjöld who died on this day in 1961.

Sermon-The Art of Why?

Job: A Masque for Dancing - Original Production at The Cambridge Theatre, July 1931 (V&A Collection)

A sermon given during Choral Evensong at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 28th July 2024 based on the text of Job 19.1-17. A canter through the artistic masterpieces inspired by the Book of Job - one of which was premiered in this parish.

Thought for the Day - Everyone is searching for you, Jesus

Faeq Hassan, The Three Wise Men, 1964

A “Thought for the Day” given at Mattins at St Giles-in-the-Fields at 1pm on Wednesday 10th January 2024 based on the text of Mark 1.29-39 and 1 Samuel 3.1-10, 19-20

“All men seek for thee.”

 

Everyone is searching for you, Jesus - the disciples say. 

 

Everyone.

 

This season of Epiphany is bookended by the celebration of events in which a search for Jesus is fulfilled and a new journey begins.

Bonhoeffer's "New Year" Prayer

The Rocket, by Edward Middleton Manigault, 1909

A New Year hymn based on a poem written for all those for whom “the old year still torments our hearts” has been introduced into the Anglican church in a new hymnal.

Sermon - Grappling with the Armour of God

Anatoly Zverev, Don Quixote (1971)

A homily given at Choral Evensong at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 29th October 2023 based on readings from Ephesians 6.10-20 and Matthew 14.13-33.

Sermon - Spiritual Warfare

'Struggle' From the History of the American People by Jacob Lawrence

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 29th October 2023 (The Twenty First Sunday after Trinity) based on readings from Ephesians 6.10-20 and St. John 4.46-end and the Collect for the week: Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lessons from a "well seasoned" Saint

Autumn Landscape with Four Trees (1885) by Vincent van Gogh

Message for the Parish Magazine of St Giles-in-the-Fields, September 2023:

On the day the church remembers St Giles, the patron saint of leprosy sufferers, summer turns to autumn in the UK meteorological calendar. Seasonal change was a pet topic of the pioneering ecologist, ornithologist and priest Gilbert White. While many of his conclusions have since been disproved by modern science - such as his belief that swallows hibernate underground (rather than migrate) in winter - his observations about leprosy appear to be borne out, in part. 

The Life of St Giles - a Living Text

The Mass of Saint Giles, by The Master of St Giles c1500 (The National Gallery)

My parish church is dedicated to St Giles whose feast day is September 1st. Surveying recent scholarship on surviving manuscripts shows how the ‘Life of St Giles’ is a living text - how his story has evolved as he inspired each new generation. How do we respond to the text today?

BOOK REVIEW : Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton

Abbey of Gethsemani – August 1962 by Pimon Singhasin

Since starting at St Giles-in-the-Fields I think have said more psalms each day than ever before! The Book of Common Prayer is the basis for all the liturgy here. In it, all 150 psalms are said consecutively, with the Psalter dividing the text into sixty groups of Psalms to be said each day of the month at Morning and Evening Prayer.  When a month has thirty one days, the psalms set for the thirtieth day are repeated. 

‘Praying the Psalms’ is a short essay by the Catholic Priest and Trappist Monk Thomas Merton. In it he offers advice on how to gain a “lived sense” of the Psalms - something he says is vital if we are to truly pray with them. 

Coffee with Caiaphas - The Chester Mystery Plays 2023

The Mystery Plays tapestry quilt by B.J.Elvgren, displayed in Chester Cathedral

I once met a nun who felt called to a cloistered life after being captivated by the musical Godspell as a teenager. I confess that I too find dramatic representations of the Passion of Christ encountered outside of the liturgy of the church to be particularly powerful. One of the most arresting such experiences has been watching the Mystery Plays. 

Choral Classics - Our Journey

David Hockney, Pearlblossom Highway, 1986

It was a great joy to introduce Choral Classics at St Stephen Walbrook this week, five beautiful choral works and two readings on the theme 'Our Journey'. A recording of the service is on YouTube. My script is below:

Choral Classics - Ev'ry time I feel the spirit

James Keay-Bright, Trinity Redemption, 2013

It was a great pleasure to introduce Choral Classics at St Stephen Walbrook on Wednesday 8th February 2023. My script is below. You can watch the recording below or on YouTube at this link.

Sermon - The Lord doth magnify my soul

Piety Choi, A Mustard Seed, 2015

A talk given during the Contemporary Worship service at Holy Sepulchre London on Sunday 2nd October 2022 (Year C, Proper 22) and Tuesday 4th October 2022 based on 2 Timothy 1.1-14 and Luke 17.5-10. My script is below. An shorter version of this sermon was preached at Choral Evensong on Wednesday 5th October 2022.

Start:Stop - Her Majesty's Life of Faith

The People's Monarch - Helen Marshall, Gatwick Airport/BBC South East, 2012

Hello and welcome to St Stephen Walbrook and our Start:Stop reflection, when we start the day by stopping for ten minutes in prayer and reflection. Please come and go as your schedule dictates. You can listen to an audio recording of this week's reflection at this link.

The world is mourning the death of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II; monarch, Supreme Governor of The Church of England and perhaps one of, if not the most prominent advocate for the Christian faith in recent times. 

I confess I have found it impossible to put into words the loss of someone known to 94% of the population of the globe - the single most visually recorded human being in history.  

So, rather than my words, this morning’s reflection, which follows uses her own. Words of wisdom drawn from just some of the public statements and Christmas Broadcasts (CB) she gave over her long reign. Please do take a sheet away with you to reflect on these words further.

Prayers of Intercession - Trinity 5

The Sower by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Prayers of intercession for the Sung Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 16th July 2020 (Trinity 5/Proper 10) based on the Gospel Reading from Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23; The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Sower Explained.

BOOK REVIEW : Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist

Barabbas, a novel by the Swedish Author Pär Lagerkvist written in 1950, tells the story of the man held captive at the same time as Jesus but released by Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast - thus avoiding crucifixion.