St George's Bloomsbury - 05/10/06

Yesterday was the feast day of St Francis. Praying in a dilapidated church he received the message from Jesus Christ, “Go and repair my church which you see is falling down”.

Francis did it with his own hands, we have been fortunate in having the assistance of our friends, benefactors and our royal patron who earlier this year, with his own hand affixed the golden horn to Tim Crawley’s sprightly unicorn.

In the past the exuberant tower has been the butt of popular wit. A squib from the 18th century claims,
“When Henry VIII left the Pope in the lurch
The Protestants made him head of the Church
But George’s good subjects, the Bloomsbury people
Instead of the Church made him head of the steeple.”

This is one of Hawksmoor’s most opulent concepts but in truth it was in a sad state at the beginning of this century. No major repairs had been carried out for a hundred years when the World Monuments Fund intervened.

Urged on by Colin Amery St George’s was placed on the Watch List of the World’s Most Endangered Sites. Then with the generosity of Paul Mellon and the Heritage Lottery Fund we have been able to carry through this campaign to a successful conclusion.

Paul Mellon has inspired a host of private benefactors including a 105 year old New Yorker, Albert Gordon, a lover of Anthony Trollope. Barchester was baptised here.

We have been fortunate here and we are grateful because the Church of England is responsible for 45% of the Grade I listed buildings in this country. Without the kind of public funding available in almost every other EU country, the achievements of thousands of volunteers, the labours of churchwardens and vicars like Perry Butler here and the generosity of friends are astonishing.

In the Diocese of London alone there are currently 167 projects which involve both restoration and the provision of new facilities to improve public access.

Partly this is a reflection of the return of the God of promise addressed by Solomon in our first lesson to the consciousness of 21st century London. As a city with global connections we are open to a world wide debate about the connection between religion and public truth. To treat faith as if it were a private lifestyle option like vegetarianism will no longer do. It is urgent that we learn to distinguish healthful religion from lethal religion.

This profound cultural shift is reflected in the pages of the Economist which is devoting much more space to religion than it did only 5 years ago. Last week the Economist revealed that of the 20-30 year olds who participate in Christian worship in England, 57% of them are in London.

The Church of England shares in the vigour that this phenomenon brings with it but we also are conscious that we are stewards on behalf of the whole community of public buildings in every place which are cherished by vastly more people than those who worship regularly. There are now more parish churches than post offices. Think of how much it would cost in today’s terms to provide such an extraordinary resource.

We are determined that our churches will continue to serve their whole communities and that they will be opened up still further to wider use. I am glad that the Lottery Fund is involved in monitoring the increase in public use of St George’s.

Already there are after school facilities to give extra educational help to local children especially those from ethnic minorities. I visited one of the 150 community schools in the Diocese recently and discovered that the students between them had 70 different mother tongues from Albanian to Zulu. Dayspring mishandled cometh not again and we are determined to relate our buildings to the wider educational strategy crucial to our future prosperity and cohesion as a society.

It is obvious that to realise the potential of our church buildings nationwide we shall need more realistic assistance not with paying vicars or promoting Christian faith but in our work as servants of the community.

Many local groups already use this church and there are plans for a Monday to Friday market on the East side. Churches should not be club houses for small groups of consenting adults but places open to local life and open to the God of promise as we see him in Jesus Christ whose presence was healing and whose word was love.

So for the past, especially today for the generosity of all our friends and the blessings of almighty God – thanks. For the future of St George’s restored to be a place of welcome and encounter in Bloomsbury, this wonderful part of London – yes.