St Stephen Walbrook: Autumn Newsletter

The Autumn Newsletter for St Stephen Walbrook is available by clicking here and features information about new curate Revd Sally Muggeridge, feedback on our Discover & explore and Start:Stop initiatives, news of a programme of events focusing on Philanthropy in the City, details of our Business Harvest Festival, and news of our art and music programmes.

This year’s Business Harvest Festival takes place at St Stephen Walbrook on Wednesday September 30th at 1pm, and will be followed by a Reception.

Traditionally harvest is a time when the country gives thanks for the natural gifts of the land and the safe harvesting of them. We give thanks for that, but in the City of London we also take the opportunity of bringing to the altar symbols of the work we do in our City. It might be hospitality, accounts, commodities, money, building, the wine trade or any of the variety of businesses associated with the wider family of St Stephen Walbrook. By tradition the parish has been a centre for the insurance markets, banking, hospitality, tourism and law. You could add, at this time, the building industry and property developers.

We have a tradition that companies designate someone to bring an object to represent their work and to place it on the altar as a symbol during the service. All are most welcome and we very much hope that you will include your business associates in the invitation and ask you to pass on to them our hope that they might join you for this traditional celebration of harvest with a modern slant.

This is a time of change and at such times it is encouraging to be reminded of the continuity of life and the many blessings we each receive focused on harvest time. The Business harvest includes all aspects of the wider parish of St Stephen and has representations from the City Civic as well as the City of London Police and the Friends of Walbrook.

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Barclay James Harvest - Hymn.

Philanthropy: The City Story

In November we plan to have the exhibition ‘Philanthropy: The City Story’ at St Stephen Walbrook. This exhibition explores the story of philanthropy in the City over 800 years in 15 panels; charting its evolution and celebrating the great philanthropists who have helped lay the foundations of the City and the nation through their generosity and vision.

The aim of the exhibition is that more people can be made aware of the great philanthropic tradition of the City. The City of London is a place where London’s spirit of enterprise is distilled to the maximum and arguably, is the historic centre of charitable-giving in Britain.

To find out more watch the City Philanthropy exhibition video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbdiBHr6S0I&feature=youtu.be.

The exhibition has been created through a partnership with City Philanthropy, the Museum of London and the Charterhouse. As part of developing our plans for showing this exhibition, I visited the Charterhouse this afternoon.

The Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery in London, to the north of what is now Charterhouse Square. Since the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century the house has served as private mansion, a boys’ school and an almshouse, which it remains to this day.

Tours take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday and cost £10 per person. Tours are led by the Brothers of the Charterhouse. All services in the Chapel are open to the public. The gatekeeper admits anyone who would like to attend. Charterhouse lies outside the parish structure of London Diocese. As a Peculiar it’s overseen by an Ordinary, rather than a bishop. Their Ordinary is the Master, but, in practice, the chapel priest (the Preacher) is appointed in consultation with London Diocese, and is licensed by the Bishop of London.

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Ralph Vaughan Williams - Charterhouse Suite for strings.