St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Stephen Walbrook

Next week I will begin the latest phase of my ordained ministry as Priest for Partnership Development with St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Stephen Walbrook. Here is some brief background on the significant histories of both churches:

For over a thousand years a place of worship has been at St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London and Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, the present church, is the fourth to have stood on this site. At the time of its building the great dome was unique in England and it was from this church that Wren developed his plans for St Paul’s Cathedral. 

Here Sir John Vanbrugh is buried and many distinguished men of letters and of the arts have graced the life of this place. John Dunstable the composer and past merchants and Lord Mayors have been a part its life. There is a plaque to the Revd Robert Stuart De Courcey Laffan, who with Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in 1890. 

Bombed in the Second World War and restored to its present magnificent state in 1981, twentieth century artists and craftsmen have adorned its interior. Henry Moore’s travertine marble altar now stands at the centre under Wren’s dome surrounded by dazzling kneelers by Patrick Heron. 

With an almost perfect acoustic for choral singing and a renowned organ famed for its regular recitals on Fridays at 12.30pm for City workers, St Stephen stands witness next to the Lord Mayor’s residence and at the heart of the City it was built to serve. 

A previous Rector, Dr Chad Varah, founded the Samaritans here. On Thursdays the community gathers for a Sung Eucharist at 12.45pm with mass settings designed to blend with its traditional liturgy and architectural environment. St Stephen is the home of the London Internet Church and its ministry of prayer and praise.

St Martin-in-the-Fields is a landmark. Its fine architecture and prominent location place it at the heart of the nation. Its work has valued historic tradition, but St Martin’s has always been innovative in response to changing needs. From London’s first free lending library to the first religious broadcast, St Martin’s has broken new ground in defining what it means to be a church. 

The example of St Martin was followed by Dick Sheppard, Vicar of St Martin’s during World War I, who gave refuge to soldiers on their way to France. He saw St Martin’s as ‘the church of the ever open door’. The doors have remained open ever since.

St Martin’s fight against homelessness was formalised with the foundation of the Social Service Unit in 1948. The work continues today through The Connection at St Martin’s, which cares for around 7,500 individuals each year.

Changing needs in society were again evident in the 1960s. St Martin’s was concerned for the welfare of new arrivals in the emerging Chinatown and welcomed a Chinese congregation. Today, the Ho Ming Wah Chinese People’s Day Centre provides vital services for the Chinese community in London.

Throughout the 20th century, St Martin’s has also looked beyond its own doors and played an active role in wider social, humanitarian and international issues. Architecturally, spiritually, culturally and socially, St Martin’s has helped to form the world around it:

• James Gibbs’ design has been imitated across North America and throughout the world.
• St Martin’s was involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the founding of many charitable organisations, including Amnesty International, Shelter and The Big Issue.
• The Vicar’s Christmas Appeal on BBC Radio 4 has been broadcast annually since 1924, now raising over £500,000 a year for disadvantaged people across the country.
• The Academy of St Martin in the Fields has become one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles.
• St Martin’s is a place where people of different faiths regularly pray together.

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Vivaldi - 'Winter' from Four Seasons.

Church renewal

East Window at St Martin-in-the-Fields

(designed by Shirazeh Houshiary, in collaboration with architect Pip Horne)

The latest edition of RA, the Royal Academy of Arts magazine, features two Church renewal projects that have been overseen by its members.

The first is the well-known and highly successful renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields by Eric Parry RA. It was in January 2006 that St Martin's embarked on the £36 million building project to restore and transform the church and surrounding buildings, and create a new sequence of beautiful, practical and inspirational spaces to serve the community, visitors and those in need. Due for completion at the end of 2008 the project is progressing well, with the restoration of the church almost complete and the new underground spaces open to the public.

Natural light now floods into the church bringing it closer to James Gibbs’s original, much-imitated Baroque design. The glorious decorative plasterwork of the ceiling has been restored; the pulpit relocated close to its original place, to improve the sightlines for congregation and audiences; and the chancel reordered to allow greater flexibility for worship and concerts. The finishing touch for the church itself is the installation of a new East Window, designed by artist Shirazeh Houshiary and architect Pip Horne, to replace the window installed following World War II bomb damage. Other significant new features are a glass-walled entrance pavilion and a remodelling of the crypt to include a new parish hall, rehearsal and office space, shop, and an enlarged cafe.

The second is the sculptor Anthony Caro who, over a period of several years, has been working on a major series of sculptures and architectural features to form part of the restoration of a chapel at Bourbourg in Northern France, about 12 miles east of Calais.

The Chapel of Light is situated in the choir of the Church of St Jean Baptiste. During World War II, a damaged English aircraft crash-landed on the roof of the church in order to avoid the houses in the town, and set it on fire. The church itself was restored, but the choir was separated by a wall from the body of the church and left in ruins until ten years ago. Caro was commissioned by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication to make a sculptural installation that would bring new life to the redundant choir.

Specifically for the project he has designed and built two huge internal oak towers each about 18 feet high. These towers are to be used for musical performances and allow vertical exploration of the church space. Caro has also made a concrete baptismal pool and a spectacular series of steel, wood and terracotta sculptures to fill a series of niches in the walls of the apex to the choir. Various other sculptures complete the east and west naves, linked through a doorway to a large exterior sculpture in corten steel. The sculptures follow the themes of The Creation (relating to the baptismal font) culminating in Adam and Eve.

Caro recognises that this monumental project is an exceptional opportunity for an artist. He stated, 'The light in the church is wonderful and it is such a privilege as an artist to be given a whole space to work with'. Not since Matisse's Chapel in Vence has another artist been given this opportunity."

The Church will be inaugurated on Saturday 11 October 2008 during a weekend of events to include the openings of the three exhibitions in Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines.

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Gustav Holst - On This Day Earth Shall Ring (Personet Hodie).