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.

Sermon-That is The Question

Henry Moore - Three Seated Figures - 1975

A sermon given during the Sung Eucharist at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday 20th October September 2024 (Year B, Proper 24) based on readings from Isaiah 53.4-end, Hebrews 5.1-10 and Mark 10.35-45 (the request of James and John).

Jesus knew that one of the most effective ways that power and authority can be intentionally transferred – and withheld – is by asking questions. Do we know what we are asking?

Thought for the Day - Regenerating 'The Waste Land'

If Not, Not by Ronald Brooks Kitaj 1975-6

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 16th October 2024 based on the texts of Galatians 5.18-end and Luke 11.42-46 and inspired by the text of T.S.Eliot's 'The Waste Land' which was published on this day in 1922.

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.

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-Unto thee shall all flesh come

A sermon given at Evensong at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 6th October 2024 inspired by the life and writings of abolitionist and radical Robert Wedderburn one of the ‘St Giles Blackbirds’ and readings from Deuteronomy 26.1-11 and John 6.26-35. This sermon was given on Harvest Sunday and during Black History Month.

A Grace before a dinner celebrating the Civil Partnership of two good friends

The Owl and the Pussycat - Screen Print by Joyce Hargreaves

A grace given before a dinner celebrating the Civil Partnership of two good friends:

From the Yorkshire Moors to The Golden State;
there’s no distance too far for your soul mate!
Now a new journey has begun, no time to reminisce
  about blowing the last long-goodbye kiss.
Sharing a home and all their stuff
They’ve celebrated their love together at Goodenough.
So let us thank God for such a special day;
before sharing the First Supper after anchors aweigh
and give thanks for being with them on this new trip; 
   the maiden voyage on their civil partner-ship.
Amen.

Image : The Owl and the Pussycat by Joyce Hargreaves

Sermon-The Way to the heart is through the stomach?

Anxiety by Edvard Munch, 1894

A sermon given at the Harvest Festival at St Barnabas Pimlico on Sunday 29th September 2024 and at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 6th October 2024 based on readings from 1 Timothy 6.6-10 and Matthew 6.25-33. At St Giles-in-the-Fields the sermon was preached following the baptism of James Roberts and took place in the week leading up to World Mental Health Day. 

This Harvest Festival Day the scriptures are packed with food for thought about how each of us might best grow by nurturing our "felt sense" - engaging both our rational brains and our 'gut' feelings....

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.

LSHTM Chaplaincy Welcome Week Presentation

Frieze outside the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street by  P.R.Morley Horder

It is a great privilege to serve as Honorary Chaplain to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I work as part of the Student Support Services Team and at the start of each year we offer welcome presentations and hold a ‘marketplace’ (a post-graduate version of a freshers fair) for new students, many of whom are studying one year Masters Degrees, often travelling from overseas, leaving behind families and friends and having never visited London before.

Here is an approximation of my ‘welcome’ speech which I have given over various presentations to different grounds of students today:

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.