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Organ Appeal At St Giles we hear sounds from the organ that our predecessors, including Byron, Shelley and John Soane, have heard for more than three hundred years. This historic organ urgently needed sympathetic restoration more>

Building on History is the name of a project in which the diocese of London is working in partnership with King’s College London, the Open University and Lambeth Palace Library to help us to understand better the Church in London, by making available insights of historical research about the diocese during the period of great social change from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the beginning of the Second World War. We think that there are striking parallels between that period, and the present here in London. During that time the churches were obliged to respond to vast population growth, and an enormous expansion of London. While in 1815 St Giles was not still in the Fields, there were fields to the north of Marylebone Road, where Regent’s Park was to laid out. There was massive migration into London, particularly of Irish into St Giles. The Church of England had to adapt to rapid change. For example, initially large numbers of people moved into the City and westwards into St Giles, Covent Garden and the Strand, and then, when cheap railway fares were provided the poor people who thronged these areas moved to distant suburbs, leaving central London parishes semi-deserted outside working hours. The new churches that had been built for the vastly increased population of St Giles – St John’s Red Lion Square, Holy Trinity Kingsway, St John’s Drury Lane, Christ Church Endell Street, the Seven Dials Mission, St John’s Charlotte Street -, were all closed or declining by 1939. Again, in our time there is very significant population growth in London. The equivalent of a new town is to be built on the derelict land to the north of King’s Cross Station. Even in St Giles there will be a significant increase in population, with, as a first step, more than 100 new flats in Central St Giles. As anyone who frequents the area knows there is great cultural, religious and ethnic diversity in the area, and to meet those needs, there is a Hindu temple, just outside St Giles, in Soho Square, and a mosque in Goodge Street.

Population growth, social change, adapting to different situations are nothing new to the congregation of St Giles. We have been doing it since at least the seventeenth century, when a ‘colony’ of Arabs was reported to be living in Drury Lane, and from when baptisms, marriages and burials of black people from Africa and the West Indies have been recorded in our registers. Our tradition of prayer, worship and teaching has continued through the centuries at St Giles, which is an obvious and important piece of history we build on. We can also build on a tradition at St Giles of responding to changes over the centuries. Our history, like the story of the development of the Church and its preaching the gospel since the time of the apostles, is a story of learning from ways in which the Church and local congregations have adjusted to changing situations in the past, in order that then current generations may learn of and discover God’s love and care for his creation. We have the challenge of building on our history, to help us to make God’s saving love revealed in Jesus known to the current generation of people living in, working in and visiting St Giles.

May I commend to your prayers the repose of the soul of Gordon Taylor, who died on Saturday 27th June at 3.00 p.m. Gordon Taylor was Rector of St Giles for almost 51 years, from January 1949 until December 1999.

We congratulate Harley Sherlock, a member of the Sunday morning congregation who was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to architecture and conversation. Anyone wishing to see an example of Harley’s design should go to the Geoffreye Museum where there is a staircase designed by Harley on exhibition.

Bill Jacob.

THEATRE CLUB

The Theatre Club is planning a visit to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, for a performance of the musical OLIVER! with Omid Djalili as Fagin, on Monday, July 20th. Those who have received invitations and are interested must return the forms by Tuesday, July7th. Anyone who would like to go with the group but who doesn’t have a letter should contact Mark, the verger.

Julia Arady

FLOWERS

If anyone would like to help with arranging the flowers (usually just one vase) in the church about once every five weeks please contact mark, the verger. Your help would be very welcome & you would be shown everything necessary. The flowers are usually done on a Friday morning.

Sheila Zachariah.

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