St Bride's Church, Fleet Street

Britten at Bride's - St Bride's: News

2013-07-17T07:47:43Z

As part of this centenary year marking Benjamin Britten's birth, on July 17^th St Bride's hosts two of our most distinguished soloists, soprano Claire Seaton, tenor David de Winter together with The Orchestra of St Bride's conducted by Matthew Morley for a performance of Britten's orchestral song-cycles Les Illuminations and Nocturne, juxtaposed with Arvo Pärt's haunting orchestral homage to Britten, the Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten.

Britten offsets the vocal brilliance of the French poetry of Rimbaud in Les Illuminations with an exuberant display of string-orchestral invention, whilst in Nocturne he increases the orchestral range with different obligato instruments for each of the poem settings of Shelley, Tennyson, Coleridge, Middleton, Wordsworth, Owen, Keats and Shakespeare.

The lesser known, single setting of Tennyson's Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal will also be performed; published posthumously in 1989 it foreshadows much of the music that opens the rocking strings of the Nocturne (and with the French Horn-vocal duet is a clear precursor to the other cycle, Serenade).

Composer Arvo Pärt was still trapped in Soviet-controlled Estonia when Britten died in 1976. For him, Britten was the only contemporary composer whose musical outlook resembled his own, and his sense of loss of never meeting Britten moved him to compose his Cantus. A typically evocative and atmospheric work, a single bell tolls above the 'tintinnabuli' strings of the orchestra. A fantastic chance to hear these works performed in the iconic setting of Wren's St Bride's.

Claire Seaton is one of the country's most adaptable sopranos, Claire's repertoire stretches from early music to world premieres of music by 20th century composers such as Jonathan Dove and Paul Mealor. Claire is renowned for her performances of Verdi's Requiem, Brahms Requiem and Mozart's C Minor Mass. Recent highlights included live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Andrew Radley and the OAE, and Paul Mealor's new work The Farthest Shore.

June 25 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-25T17:17:10Z

'Can anything good come from there?' (John1: 46)

When we reflect on our own journeys of faith, it is often unlikely people and places which have had an unexpected influence on us. Maybe someone quite insignificant and peripheral to our lives has said or done something which has changed the way we think or act. When Bartholomew first heard about Jesus he was very dismissive, but Philip encouraged him to come and see. Can you think of someone who challenged you to see things differently or take a new direction in your life? And as you do so give thanks for them, and the sometimes unexpected people who have influenced us.

Lord, so often we judge people on first or superficial appearances. Help us to treat people with open-ness and respect, ready to hear a new word from them about our own journeys of faith. Amen.

June 24 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-24T17:16:28Z

'Love your neighbour as yourself.' (Matthew 22: 39)

When challenged to sum up the whole Law in one sentence, Jesus told us to love God and neighbour. If we live both these commands out we are being true disciples of Christ. It sounds simple but it is very challenging. Furthermore, we are told that our neighbour is anyone we come across who is in need. We are challenged to love our work colleagues, our family, parishioners, acquaintances, even the rough sleeper on the street - as we love ourselves.

Lord God, when we are faced with difficult choices and decisions, guide us to seek the loving actions that will be true to our faith in you. Amen.

June 23 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-23T17:15:39Z

'Why be envious because I am kind?' (Matthew 20: 15)

The story Jesus tells us all about God's abundant generosity. God's generous love is poured out on all his people. Despite our failings God wants us to be part of his family. So we are to be thankful, humble, and above all we are not to judge anyone else. When we see other people's outward circumstances we often don't know the inner story of their lives. We are simply to be faithful in tending our own corner of the vineyard.

Help us, Lord God, to give thanks for the blessings of this life and not to be envious of others good fortune. May we be warm and welcoming of others in our words and deeds, with generosity of heart. Amen.

June 22 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-22T17:14:31Z

'Come, follow me.' (Matthew 19: 21)

It is not easy to let go of what gives us security, and provides a familiar structure to our lives. We come to depend on money possessions, status, career and relationships to protect us and give us a sense of identity. Jesus challenges each of us, as he challenged the young man in the Gospel, to make a relationship with Him and to follow in His Way. Jesus makes that invitation to me. Is there anything that I cling to that prevents me from growing in faith and offering my life to God?

Lord God, thank you for calling us to follow you more closely, and for the security of your love and care. Help me to reach out to others in need and respond with an open heart. Amen.

June 21 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-21T17:13:41Z

'It is the Lord our God we chose to serve.' (Joshua 24: 24)

One lesson which it is important for us to learn from childhood is to keep our promises. It matters that when we say we are going to do something that we keep to our word. In the City of London, the rule was that 'my word is my bond', and many deals were sealed with no more than a handshake.
Joshua long ago reminded the people of all that God had done for them, and challenged them to keep their promise to God. At our baptism and confirmation we make promises to God, and like all promises in life it is important that we try to keep them.

Lord God, you have been faithful to me in all the changes and chances of my life. Help me to keep the promises I make, and to be your faithful soldier and servant all my days. Amen.

June 20 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-20T17:10:46Z

'The two become one body' (Matthew 19: 5)

Jesus had quite a lot to say about marriage, and he was especially critical of the view that women were disposable assets, who could be divorced at will. Marriage is a partnership for life - that is God's ideal. It is a wonderful thing when two people grow into an ever deepening unity of love and mutual trust, but sometimes things go wrong. Mistakes are made and marriages do break down. When that happens we need to acknowledge that a relationship has died, learn the hard lessons, and begin to move on. It is always painful but the Gospel does give us the hope of new life after death, of new beginnings after failure. We need to maintain the high ideal of marriage while being supportive and compassionate with those who can't live up to that ideal.

Lord God, you have blessed marriage and made it a sacrament in which two people become one. Support all who are setting out on this path and be compassionate with those who stumble, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Seven Churches - St Bride's: Reflection

2013-06-19T11:23:41Z

In the whole of my forty years of ministry I think I have only preached on the Book of Revelation a handful of times. Just a few sermons in forty years. And that is largely because it is an odd and difficult book, full of strange stuff about beasts and battles, visions and weird bits of symbolism. And yet this book has probably had more influence on religious aspiration and political ideology than almost any other part of the New Testament. Think of Hitler and the Third Reich, think of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints - Mormons, think Jehovah's Witnesses. It has, as a book, had an extraordinary impact so when the chance came to visit the Seven Churches of Asia, which are mentioned in the first three chapters of Revelation, I was intrigued.
Our parish pilgrimage covered all seven sites, as we journeyed through the peninsula of Asia Minor, or Anatolia, which protrudes into the Aegean Sea. Just off the coast is the island of Patmos, which is where St John the Divine wrote his book. He is, in many people's minds, identified with John the Evangelist, and he seems to have lived for a time in Ephesus before being exiled to Patmos, probably having been accused of being an agitator against pagan cults or maybe because he refused to sacrifice to the Emperor Domitian, who wanted people to regard him as a god.
Revelation begins with John's letters to the seven churches. Now, there were, of course, more than seven churches in Asia at the time but John intends us to read these as addressed to every church: these, he says, are the strengths and weaknesses which every church is prone to. But from the details that John gives of each town - their particular history, topography, buildings, trades etc - it's clear he knew these places at first hand, and he wanted to use local references to drive home a particular point.
So we began at Ephesus. At Ephesus the danger was from false apostles who tried to usurp the authority of the local leadership. John commends the church for standing firm, but he also accuses them of not being as strong or loving in the faith as they were when they first believed. They are, he says, to remember their faith and repent. While at Ephesus we saw the Temple to Emperor Hadrian, remains of the huge Temple of Artemis and visited the vast Theatre where 40 years earlier, St Paul had caused a riot by the silversmiths of the town who were afraid that he was undermining their trade by condemning the worship of Artemis. We saw too, the Church of St John the Theologian. This is regarded as the traditional burial place of St John of Patmos. It's a large church built and then rebuilt until it came to its final form in the 6th century with an octagonal baptistery and all around, many Christian crosses carved into the marble.
Then on to Smyrna, the second of the churches. Smyrna and Isthmia, almost obliterated by the modern city, only the remains of the market place survive. A poor people, says John in his book, but rich in faith. John warns them that persecution is coming. They are to patiently endure. 'Be faithful unto death.'
And then Pergamum. Pergamum was an important city and atrading post. The original city is on the Acropolis which is 1,000 feet above the valley. We ascended to it in a cable car. It was the first city where imperial cult was established; the cult of worshipping the Roman Emperor as a god. It also has an important medical centre, the Asclepion, which was established by the Romans and which Paul didn't like because it was tending to the worship of pagan gods. Despite this the early Christian community kept the faith, although St John says, some were falling away. So repent!
And then the fourth church, Thyatira. Thyatira is now a modern town. It was the church in John's day that had a false prophetess, Jezebel. It was only a small church in this manufacturing town. Turn aside says St John, from exotic mumbo jumbo of the mystery cults and embrace the truth of God.
Then Sardis, the fifth church. There are remains of a number of churches at Sardis and the remains of a very substantial synagogue. But it sounds as though the glory days of the city and of the church are in the past. It was a church, St John said, that had fallen asleep. But a faithful few remained and they, he said, shall walk with Christ.
Philadelphia. There John is less critical, more gentle; he doesn't say anything bad about the church in Philadelphia. If they are faithful Christ will protect them in their hour of trial.
And then finally, Laodicea. A wealthy, prosperous community, a commercial and banking centre, but it had become self-content and self-satisfied. It was, in John's words, neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. Where did he get that image of hot and cold from? Well, from the hot-springs nearby at Pamukkale. We visited them in these extraordinary calcium outcrops. And then nearby at Hierapolis, we walked in the early morning through a lovely Christian burial ground, and at Aphrodisias we saw a well-preserved Roman site with a superb stadium.
Surrounded by all this prosperity; the pagan temples; the power of the imperial cult; the might of Rome, it's easy to picture these small Christian communities struggling to remain faithful to the faith they inherited and always facing the threat of persecution. St John of Patmos wrote to them to encourage, to warn and to reinvigorate those churches and his words speak to the church today.
We leave St John with Mary in a little house about six miles from Ephesus where she ended her life, so the story goes, tended by St John. There we celebrated communion together and reflected on the fragile Christian communities of 1st century AD whose ruins we had seen, and how Christianity has now almost vanished from that part of Asia. One of the cradles of the early Church, now a place of ruins and ghosts. It makes you think. What of the future of Christianity here in Britain and in Europe? What will pilgrims find in 100 years time when they visit our churches and our cities and our towns? Surely we can take nothing for granted.
Well, if all this sounds a rather sobering conclusion to our travels, reflect on this. Amidst all the ruins of the past glories that we saw, we did see many crosses. Crosses on tombs, crosses on walls, crosses on marble panels, crosses on mosaics and on pillars. The church in Asia minor may have vanished but the cross remains. St John of Patmos makes the same point in his book. Through the Cross of Christ God has won the ultimate victory over sin and over evil. And though kingdoms can rise and fall, no power can frustrate his ultimate victory. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. As John ends each of his letters to those seven churches: 'Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches'. Amen.

June 19 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-19T00:00:00Z

'Where two or three meet, I shall be with them.' (Matthew 18: 20)

Jesus promises that however small our Christian community is, He is in the midst. Some of our village churches rely on a very small number of people to keep them going, and the same people may be active within the wider community. Churches need to become community hubs, open to all the activities of the village or town, able to build bridges towards those who are not yet members. In that way we become salt and yeast in the world, enabling big things to happen from limited resources. Because where two or three gather, Jesus in in their midst.

Lord, whether few or many, give us confidence that by the power of your Spirit, we can be salt and light in the communities we seek to serve. Amen.

June 18 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-17T23:00:00Z

'Who is the greatest?' (Matthew 18:1)

From this story in the Gospels some of the disciples were ambitious, arguing about who was the most important. Ambition can be dangerous: it can cause bullying and brutality. Jesus spoke of leadership in terms of servant-hood. The desire for public service and the betterment of society is a worthy ambition, for which many people have striven.

Lord Jesus, you washed the feet of your disciples, and invited them to do the same. Help us to treat others with respect and fairness, seeing ourselves as servants of each other. Amen.

June 17 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-16T23:00:00Z

'From whom do Kings collect taxes?' (Matthew 17: 25)

No-one likes paying taxes, but we do so for the greater good of society. It was the same in Jesus' day when Jews paid a religious tax that was given to the Temple. Even Jesus himself submits to lawful authority by paying the tax. The fact that Peter asks him about payment means that he hadn't fully grasped Jesus divine status. Through his daily contact with Jesus, the disciples were gradually deepening their faith and understanding of the Son of God.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that you walked the earth as a human being, subject to the rules of society. We acknowledge that you are both human and divine, and we worship you as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.

June 16 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-15T23:00:00Z

"Lord", she said, "help me." (Matthew 15: 26)

The woman is desperate. She is a mother and her child is very sick. She cries out to Jesus, 'Lord, help me.' She perseveres because she will do almost anything for her child. Each of us may well face times of great difficulty or anxiety or sorrow. Even if all we can do is turn to God in prayer, saying 'Lord, help me'. That can bring great comfort and strength and we can ourselves bring that same comfort to others. Sometimes what is important is just being there, available to listen and to love.

Lord God, you surround us with you love and hold us with your compassion. When we are afraid help us to turn to you. When we are in pain, comfort and support us. Amen.

June 15 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-14T23:00:00Z

'Give them something to eat yourselves.' (Matthew 14: 16)

In today's world nearly half of all children under five are malnourished. In the Gospel reading we hear how Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes, urging his disciples to do something practical themselves. We are called to do the same. There is enough food in the world to feed everyone: we need the will to make it happen. It's tempting to wait for someone else to do something, but we all belong to one family. It is our problem.

Lord Jesus, you are our example and our inspiration. We pray for those who never have enough to eat. Give us the will and the generosity to bring about change. Amen.

June 14 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-13T23:00:00Z

'And they would not accept him.' (Matthew 13: 57)

During the Second World War the German Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke out against Hitler's regime and he paid the price; he was hanged at Flossenberg in 1945. He saw Christianity and the Christian Church as a radical movement challenging the values of the surrounding culture. Jesus, too, challenged those around him to look beyond their limited horizons, and he was vilified for doing so. The Church always needs a prophetic voice to witness with integrity to the fullness of the Gospel.

Lord Jesus, you often spoke truth to power. We pray for courage to witness our faith when its values are under attack in society. Amen.

June 13 - St Bride's: Soul Thoughts

2013-06-13T10:40:00Z

'A householder who brings out of his storeroom things both new and old.' (Matthew 13: 52)

In his teaching Jesus brought together ancient tradition and new interpretation in a remarkable way. The power of the Gospel is that it is ever old and ever new. In every generation we have to honour the tradition, the inherited ways, and also find ways of renewing them, so that they come alive and speak powerfully to a new generation.

Lord Jesus, you made the scriptures speak with a new power about God's love for his people. Through your Spirit may we too interpret our traditions so that they speak afresh in our generation. Amen.