Sermon-Who is Jesus? Who am I? Who am I becoming?

Georges Rouault, Christ (1925–27)

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 27^th September 2026 (Year A, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity) based on readings from Philippians 2.1–13; Matthew 21.23–32 and a week before our Confirmation Service.

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.

Thought for the Day-God Save our Gracious Church

King Charles III (b. 1948) by Peter Kuhfeld (b. 1952), Royal Collection Trust.

A meditation drawing on the imagery of Proverbs 8.1-17 and Revelation 21.22-22.4 and on the words of the first verse of the national anthem, offered during a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 8th September 2026. Following the service, at 1pm, a 62 gun salute was fired at The Tower of London, nearby.

BOOK REVIEW- Lady Fanshawe’s Receipt Book: The Life and Times of a Civil War Heroine by Lucy Moore

It is a nice change to reada book about the record of a life of a woman connected to the church. Ann Fanshawe left a memoir and a ‘receipt book’ - not a record of things she has bought but a sort of recipe book, containing details of medicines as well as food and other tips on household management.

Ann was born in the parish of St Olave Hart Street in 1625 and spent her earliest years here. Her father, John Harrison, came from a modest background to occupy an important official position which involved engaging with the merchants, display rooms and warehouses that surrounded the church for most of its modern history and would have been well known in the parish.

In this book, Lucy Moore cross references both Ann’s memoir and her receipt book to tell the story of a woman raising a royalist family through the Civil War from exile to the Restoration.

BOOK REVIEW- Golden Lads: A Study of Anthony Bacon, Francis and their Friends by Daphne du Maurier

Daphne Du Maurier’s account of the lives of Anthony and Francis Bacon ends with a description of her visit to St Olave Hart Street in October 1973.

Like a passage from her novels and short stories it offers a romantic scene in which an organist suddenly starts to play the Tudor melody Greensleeves as she ponders the life of Anthony, whose burial at St Olave’s she had rediscovered in the parish records but whose final years are shrouded in mystery. Most of this book focuses on Anthony - the lesser known of the two brothers.

BOOK REVIEW-The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys. A Novel

There must have been more than a few novels inspired by St Olave Hart Street and the area around it - and if not, there are plenty to be written! Jack Jewers opens his imaginary “post diary” life of Pepys with a veiled reference to one of the many legends associated with this place - the burial of Mother Goose here (who he calls Mother Quick in the novel) - said by some to have been the Madam of the Winchester Geese - streetworkers licensed by the Bishop of Winchester - who we glimpse in the novel, in a flash. 

Sermon on the 75th Anniversary of the start of the restoration of St Olave Hart Street

A sermon given at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 21st June 2026 during a service marking the seventy fifth anniversary of the start of the restoration of the church after World War II, based on readings from Ephesians 2:19-22 and John 2.19-22 and the words given by Bishop Arne Fjelbu and King Haakon VII at St Olave Hart Street in June 1951. More information and pictures of the service are at this link.

Thought for the Day-Seeing Salvation

Earthrise by William Anders, Apollo 8, NASA, 1968

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 7th April 2026 based on John 20.11–18

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

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.

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.

Mapping Pepys Pubs in 'Our Own' Parish

A Midnight Modern Conversation, William Hogarth, 1733

A quest to identify the pubs that Samuel Pepys knew and frequented in his 'own' parish of St Olave Hart Street.

BOOK REVIEW-The Curious World of Samuel Pepys & John Evelyn by Margaret Willes

Margaret Willes’ book provided my first introduction to the life of John Evelyn, weaving aspects of his life alongside that of his friend and (the now arguably more famous) Pepys. The title is a nod to the ‘insatiable curiosity’ that the author states they both shared.

BOOK REVIEW-Walking Pepys's London by Jacky Colliss Harvey

Written during the Covid lockdown, when many of us living in Central London gained a new appreciation for walking in the car-free streets and of the cityscape around us, discovering or rediscovering hidden gems on our doorsteps, Jacky Colliss Harvey’s book offers five walks around “Pepys's London”.

BOOK REVIEW-The Joys of Excess, extracts from the diary of Samuel Pepys

Part of a series of twenty short paperbacks celebrating historical writing on food, “The Joys of Excess” offers selected extracts from the diary of Samuel Pepys that mention food and its effects (particularly excessive quantities of it). The book is arranged into ten chapters each covering one of the years from 1660-1669 that Pepys kept his (first and most famous) diary, every Chapter title a nod to one of the more obscure or eventful entries contained therein.

Announcement - New Rector of St Olave Hart Street

From The Churchwardens of the Parsish of St Olave Hart Street and All Hallows Staining with St Catherine Coleman, City of London:

We are delighted to announce that The Reverend Phillip Dawson has been appointed as the next Rector of St Olave Hart Street. A service of institution and induction will take place on 8th January 2026 at 6pm.

Sermon-Forward people of Christ, forward people of the Cross

The Crypt Chapel at St Olave Hart Street

A brief Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street, City of London on Tuesday 29th July 2025 – the Feast Day of St Olaf. The service, the last before the summer break, took place in the medieval crypt chapel, using the altar there for the first time in several years. Services resume at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 2nd September at 12.30pm when I will be back preach and celebrate.