Advent Sunday - New Beginnings

On the evening of Advent Sunday - a day when we turn our hearts and minds to new beginnings, it was announced that, following my ordination as a Deacon in July next year, The Bishop of London has invited me to serve as Curate at the parish of St Giles-in-the-Fields, with The Reverend Captain Thomas Sander as my training incumbent; an invitation that I could not refuse!

Leaving the spectacular St Stephen Walbrook after seven glorious years will be a wrench, but I won’t be going far away. Whilst based full time at St Giles, my training will involve popping up elsewhere from time to time, including the neighbouring parish of St George’s Bloomsbury. 

Tom asked me to write a short intro blurb about myself for the parish bulletin:

Start:Stop - A Song of Thanksgiving

Emmanuel Ekefrey, Joyful Noise, 2020

Hello and welcome to St Stephen Walbrook and Start:Stop, when we start the day by stopping to reflect for ten minutes, beginning with a short bible reading followed by a reflection and prayers. Please stay as long as your schedule allows. You can hear an audio recording of this reflection at this link.

Today, 22nd November, the church remembers St Cecilia - the patron saint of music, whose life changed when she heard the Lord ‘singing in her heart’. Later this week, people in the United States of America celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Inspired by both of which, the bible reading chosen for this morning is a song of thanksgiving, which has been used as a call to morning worship since the earliest days of the church. 

A Parish Remembers - War Memorial Stories

While at Christ Church, Southgate I produced an exhibition in 2018 recording just a fraction of the stories I had discovered about the men listed on the War Memorial inside the church. These stories came from obituaries in the parish magazine, online research by others and a great deal of information held at the Bishopsgate Institute. The project involved locating the home addresses of as many of the 146 men as I could and writing to the people who live at these addresses now, giving them information about the war memorial and inviting them to our Remembrance Sunday service. The research was featured in the Armistice Centenary edition of The Church Times and inspired a number of events and activities in the parish organised by others.

I have recently found copies of the display boards and am uploading them below as a record of the exhibition and research. To view the boards at full size, click on the thumbnails below and then right click 'Open image in new tab'.

Sermon - Tears that talk

Jurij Solovij, Untitled (Tears) - Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago

A sermon given at Choral Evensong at Holy Sepulchre London on Wednesday 9th November 2022, commemorating the life of Margery Kempe, mystic, referencing the readings set for the day (Isaiah 6, Matthew 5.21-37)

Start:Stop - We cry to you Lord

Roy Lichtenstein, Crying Girl, 1963

You can listen to an audio recording of this Start:Stop reflection for St Stephen Walbrook at this link.

Prayers of Intercession - Dreams and Wonders

The Dream, Marc Chagall, 1931

Prayers of Intercession for Morning Prayer on Saturday 5th November 2022 at St Augustine’s College of Theology, based on text from Daniel 4.1-18 and Revelation 4. 

The prayers of intercession this morning take the form of a litany. The response to each petition is “We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.”

Eulogy - Johan Christian Lamprecht and Marie Cornelia Lamprecht

Olafur Eliasson The Weather Project 2003

A eulogy given at the Memorial Service for Johan Christian Lamprecht (05/01/1942-14/09/2021) and Marie Cornelia Lamprecht (06/12/1941-31/01/2020) held at St Stephen Walbrook at 3pm on Thursday 3rd November 2022  A recording of the service is at this link.

Sermon - Saints and Sinners: Revised and Edited

Icon by Olya Kravchenko (Ukrainian, 1985–)

Sermon given at the Choral Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook celebrating the Feast of All Saints on Thursday 3rd November 2022. A version of this sermon was also preached at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday 30th October and St Sepulchure-without-Newgate on Tuesday 1st November 2022. (All Saints Day, Year C) based on readings from Ephesians 1.11-end and Luke 6.20-31.

Prayers of Intercession - All Souls Requiem at The National Musicians Church

Symphony Orchestra, John Albert Cooper (1894-1943), Leeds Art Gallery

Prayers of Intercession written for the Requiem for All Souls at Holy Sepulchre, the National Musicians’ Church on Wednesday 2nd November 2022 based on readings from Revelation 7.9-17 and Matthew 5.1-12.