Sermon-I Look Up to Him. I Look Down on Him.

 

Contempt of Hatred (Expressive Head), by Ernest Joseph Bailley, c1792 (Museum of Fine Arts Ghent)

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 13th September 2026 (Year A, Proper 19) based on the texts of Romans 14.1-12 and Matthew 18.21-35 and drawing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together”.

Great Fire Anniversary Sermon-Stirring Up Old Coals

The Great Fire of London, depicted by an unknown painter (1675), as it would have appeared from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September 1666.

A sermon given at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 6th September 2026 during a service of Holy Communion on Great Fire Anniversary Weekend. The service took place the day after our Faith & Fire Discovery Day, exploring the Great Fire through the lens of science and faith. The sermon is based on readings from Romans 13.8–end, Matthew 18.15–20 and the words of an Great Fire Anniversary Sermon preached at St Olave Hart Street on 2nd September 1682 by Reverend William Wray, the text of which can be read at this link. 

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. 

Easter Vigil Sermon-The green blade riseth

The nave of St Olave Hart Street following bomb damage c1941

A sermon given during the Easter Vigil at St Olave Hart Street on Saturday 4th April 2026 based on the Vigil Texts of Genesis 1.1 – 2.4a, Exodus 14.10-end; 15.1a, Jeremiah 31.31-34 and the texts at Holy Communion Romans 6.3-11 and Matthew 28.1-10 and the astounding history of this church.

Sermon-Love at the Cross

Memorial to John Letts in St Olave Hart Street (from 'A London Inheritance')

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 15th March 2026 (Mothering Sunday) based on readings from Colossians 3.12–17 and John 19:25b–27. 

Thought for the Day-Marked by God's Mercy

Detail of East Window of St Olave Hart Street

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service at St Olave Hart Street on Ash Wednesday 18th February 2026 at 12.30pm based on the texts of Joel 2.1-2, 12-17 & Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

Thought for the Day-Critical Examination

De Pannenkoekenbakster (The Pancake Maker), Jan Miense Molenaer, 1645

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service at St Olave Hart Street on Shrove Tuesday 17th February 2026 at 12.30pm based on the texts of James 1.12-18 and Mark 8.14-21.

Sermon-Lord, it is good for us to be here!

St Olave Hart Street in 1941 prior to restoration

A sermon given during a service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street, City of London on Sunday 15th February 2026 (Year A, Sunday next before Lent or Quinquagesima, based on the text of Matthew 17.1-9.

Thought for the Day-Loving Tradition

Mardi Gras on the Boulevards, Camille Pissarro, 1897, Harvard Art Museums

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 10th February based on the text of Mark 7.1-13 and preparations for Lent, which begins next week.

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-From the crib to the cross, from revelation to response

An old man writing a book by candlelight, Godfried Schalcken (1643-1706) 

A sermon given during a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 3rd February 2026, marking the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple or Candlemas. A version of this sermon was also given during the Church of England’s National Online Service on Sunday 1st February 2026 which you can watch below or at this link.

Sermon-Word of the Father now in flesh appearing

A homily given during a service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Thursday 25th December 2025 based on the text of Isaiah 52.7–10, John 1.1–14.

Thought for the Day-Texts of Healing

The Great Fire of London, with Ludgate and Old St Paul's, Yale Centre for British Art

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 2nd September 2025 based on the text of 1 Thessalonians 5.1-6, 9-11 and Luke 4.31-37 and the anniversary of the start of the Great Fire of London.

Thought for the Day-The Perfect Mediator

Khrystyna Kvyk (Ukrainian, 1994–), I Am the Light of the World, 2021

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 22nd January 2025 based on the text of Hebrews 7.1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3.1-6

Sermon-Why oh why oh why?

The Problem we all live with – Norman Rockwell, 1964

A sermon given at a service of Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 12th January 2025 – the First Sunday after the Epiphany based on readings from Romans 12.1-5 and Luke 2.41-52 and the Collect appointed for the day.

Sermon-Forgiveness

The Prodigal Son in Modern Life, James Jacques Joseph Tissot, 1882

A sermon given during Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 27th October 2024, The Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity, drawing on the text of Matthew 18.21-35 (The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant).

The bitterness and malice that inhabit the absence of forgiveness are a source of perpetual torment to so many. The testimony of those who have forgiven others of the most heinous crimes shows that the world can be so different when we forgive. May we have the grace to accept and the courage to share the forgiveness we have received. To help to bind together this broken world with God’s love.

Thought for the Day-The Prayer of all Prayers

Pater Noster Church, Jerusalem

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 9th October 2024 based on the text of Luke 11.1-4

Sermon-The Accession Day-Why Pray for the King?

A sermon given during Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on The Accession Day, Sunday 8th September 2024, drawing on the texts of 1 Peter 2.11-17 and Matthew 22.16-22. 

Why ought we to pray for the King? A former Rector of St Giles-in-the-Fields (and Chaplain to King George II) helps us to understand why…

Sermon-Seeing the real Unjust Steward

 

Brian Bilston, Refugees, 2016

A sermon given during Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 28th July 2024, The Ninth Sunday after Trinity based on the text of Luke 16:1–9

Using Brian Bilston’s “Reverse Poem” refugees as a way of re-reading the parable of the Unjust Steward.

Sermon - Blackbirds, Pigeons, Doves & our Wings of Faith

Charles McGhee - One of the St Giles' Blackbirds (1824. Painting by John Dempsey. National Portrait Gallery)

A sermon given during Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 12th May 2024 based on the text of 1 Peter 4.7-11 and John 15.26-16.4. You can listen to an audio recording of this sermon at this link.