Morning Prayer from the Prayer Book of Thomas Becon

Thomas Becon (sometimes spelt Beccon or Bekon)

I found online (at this link) a copy of the Prayer Book of Thomas Becon (sometimes spelt Beccon or, as on the board in our church Bekon). He was Rector of St Stephen Walbrook twice. A Protestant reformer and a married priest, he was ejected from the church when Mary I came to the throne. He was sent to the Tower of London as a seditious preacher. He briefly returned to Walbrook as Rector after Elizabeth I came to the throne. There is an interesting article about his life and legacy here. Becon was known particularly for his writings in which he called on Christians to avoid partitioning their lives into 'sacred' and 'secular' and to pursue godliness in the rhythms of their daily lives. Some of the prayers in his prayerbook are now very dated - such as the prayers for handmaids and servants. But many of them are timeless. I used some for our service of Morning Prayer today:

Start:Stop - Restless Hearts : St Augustine & Anton Bruckner

Start:Stop offers the chance for busy commuters to Start their day by Stopping to reflect for ten minutes. Starting every quarter hour between 7.45am and 9.15am on Tuesday mornings at St Stephen Walbrook, in the heart of the City of London, we invite people to drop in for as long as they can to hear a sequence of bible readings, reflections and prayers or simply to sit and reflect. For more information visit our website. This reflection is from Tuesday 28th August 2018.

A prayer of welcome to St Stephen Walbrook

Whether we are here for the first time or more regularly, whether we are laity or clergy and whatever our faith, we are part of a community of the past, present and future, all drawn to this place as visitors.

Crucified Stormtrooper : Wounds that Abide

Art Below’s Stations of the Cross exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook comprises fourteen different works on the theme of Crucifixion. Ryan Callanan’s ‘Crucified Stormtrooper’ has, if press reports can be believed, proved challenging for some of my fellow parishioners, one of whom is reported on the pages of the Daily Telegraph describing the piece as “a bit silly.” The paper claims that the image of a life size body strapped to a cross placed in the church in a central location was too distracting during our services in Lent.