Another month exploring some European (and beyond) churches in London, which all have a tradition of providing a home from home to immigrants and a welcome to visitors, and still do so today.

Ulrika Eleanora, the Swedish Church

This is a Swedish Lutheran Church, member of the Church of Sweden Abroad, which has been a spiritual home for 300 years for Swedish residents in London. It includes the Swedish Seamen’s Mission which, like the other Nordic churches in London, has for hundreds of years supported sailors and merchant seamen travelling to the Port of London. Today the church has a café (sadly not open when I visited) and activities for all ages. All services are in Swedish, except for Parish Communion, held twice a year and conducted in English. Music plays an important part in the life of the church, particularly singing; there are several choirs which perform for the local community. The Ulrika Eleanora is the main choir, but there is also a Children’s Choir, a Male Voice Choir and a Senior Choir. There’s also a choir formed specially for the Feast of St Lucia, the Patron Saint of Sweden, which performs throughout the month of December up until Christmas, Also in December a Christmas Shop opens, selling Swedish gifts and the delicious-looking Julbord, Christmas Food Box.

Sources: Churches Together in Westminster website; Church website

The best thing about the church is the artwork: a traditional picture of The Last Super above the altar….

….and the children’s artwork, displayed around the church!

St Katharine’s, The Danish Church

‘Since 1952, St Katharine’s Church, near Regent’s Park, has been a Danish church and cultural centre, offering a haven for Danes in London and an insight into the life and culture of Denmark’* The Danish Church in London is a branch of the Danish folkekirken, holding Sunday worship services and conducting christenings, confirmations, weddings and funerals. As a Danish cultural centre, the church hosts talks, exhibitions, concerts and a book club as well as a small shop and café. Most services and activities are in Danish but some are bi lingual. The church also has its own language school which provides opportunities for learning Danish at Saturday school and evening classes. The church has an enviable location, being a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park, and the building is the former Anglican chapel of St Katharine’s Hospital. There is a Danish Seaman’s Mission in Rotherhithe, close to the Finnish and Norwegian Churches, reflecting the tradition of support and fellowship provided for Nordic seafarers.

*from ‘Tired of London, Tired of Life’, Tom Jones, Virgin Books

Other sources: Wikipedia, Church website (English translation).

Roman Catholic Polish Church

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa and St Casimir is situated in a residential street in Islington, N1. This has been the church’s home since 1928 having previously been located in the East End of London. The ‘new’ premises had attached buildings so as well as regular worship, there was space for a mission centre and a Polish Saturday school. Following the Second World War, the Polish Church in England took on the pastoral task of caring for almost 200,000 displaced people, mainly soldiers, and the number of churches, chapels and Parish halls grew. In the 1980s, following martial law in Poland in 1981, there was another influx of Poles to England, and another following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. There are over 200 towns in England and Wales where services are conducted in the Polish language, including large congregations in Hammersmith and Balham. The Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales reports: ‘Today, Polish churches are full on Sundays and new Polish pastoral centres continue to be established.’ I couldn’t find out very much about this particular church, as it was only open for Mass twice a day, but it appears it also holds cultural events (see poster.) The interior shots are images from ‘Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England and Wales.’

Source: The Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales

The Ukrainian Cathedral, off Oxford Street, Mayfair

I last visited the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London in August 2021. I mentioned in August’s Blog post that the shoppers in Oxford Street probably aren’t aware that just around the corner is this dramatic building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse who was the architect of the Natural History Museum. I wonder if more people know about it now, in the light of the events of the past three months? Formerly the home of a Congregational Church, ‘The King’s Weigh House’, it was sold to Ukrainian Catholics in 1967 and became an Eparchy (bishopric) in 2013. The church has served London-based Ukrainians for 55 years but became ‘a rallying point for the British Ukrainian community during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine’ (Wikipedia.) The invasion has caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War, with more than 6.4 Ukrainians fleeing their country. Most refugees (three million) have relocated to Poland and other neighbouring countries, but many have travelled to countries further West; at 22^nd April, 27,100 refugees had entered the UK. I would like to think that this beautiful building and its community is a place of welcome and solace for newly-arrived Ukrainians to the London area.

Source: Wikipedia