Christian London – Introduction

I love London, I love history, and I’m a Christian, so I decided to do a Blog about Christian London, past and present. Equipped with my 60+ Oyster Card (thanks, Mayor of London), I’ve spent a lot of time wandering the capital and have found that Christianity is alive and well and living in London! Yes, God is here and always has been: in churches, charities, in people and ordinary places. There’s over 1,000 years of Christian heritage in the City, which spread outside its ancient walls as London grew.

So…this is how it’s going to work. Each month I’m going to take a different theme: e.g. buildings/people/churches/places/museums, with a current or historic Christian connection, which I have personally visited, and give my own, sometimes quirky perspective on. There will be 4 or 5 each month, depending on the number of Sundays in the month, totalling 52 by this time next year. That’s the plan, anyway.

First, some acknowledgements.

Tired of London, Tired of Life: One thing a day to do in London; and London: The Weekends start here: 52 Weekends of things to see and do (Virgin Books) are two wonderful books by Tom Jones (not the singer!) about anything and everything that can be visited in London, much of it free. Other ‘What to do in London’ books are available!

Open House London weekend: held on the third weekend in September; all types of buildings in the 33 London boroughs open their doors for free visits, including churches and synagogues. If you’ve never visited, I recommend you go this year!

http://www.london-city-churches.org.uk There are at least 50 church sites in the Square Mile, these are mostly open to the public and each has its unique story and characteristics. It’s encouraging to see how much these churches have done and continue doing to serve their communities. Some have been involved in social action for 1000 years!

So here goes, hope you enjoy my exploration of Christian London……

 

 

January – A Parish Church, a Palace, a Park and…some Plants

Walking down from Waterloo Station towards the River, past the London Eye, the London Dungeon, the Shrek Experience, a variety of eateries, and the other tourist draws, you go under Westminster Bridge and it feels like a different part of London. With St Thomas’ Hospital and Evelina’s Children’s Hospital on the left and the Houses of Parliament across the River on the right, there’s a sense of heritage and history, goodwill and peace. A 15-minute stroll brings you to Lambeth Pier, not included in my ‘things beginning with P’ heading, but which I do have something to say about later. Cross the road and you reach….

A Palace – Lambeth Palace has been the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for 800 years. (I thought Justin Welby was looking old….) The oldest remaining part of the palace is the Lollard’s Tower (1435) which was used as a prison in the 17^th Century. And there’s this Tudor gatehouse which gives the palace its imposing frontage.

When I walked down Lambeth Palace Road to look at other parts of the Palace, I found it was covered with hoardings as the palace’s library is being refurbished. I was a little disappointed until I noticed what’s written on the hoardings: