Ministry and Mission
Our Worship
We offer worship which is reverent, traditional, dignified and uplifting, all within the ethos of the Anglican tradition and drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and the Authorised Version of the Bible. Our worship draws on the richness of the Christian tradition of language and music to identify ourselves with the past generation of worshippers, to pray for the world and our local community and to look to the future with hope.
Visitors and newcomers are always especially warmly welcomed at St Giles. If you have any questions about our worship, please do feel free to contact us or speak to a member of the clergy or a churchwarden. If you are able to join for Sung Eucharist on Sundays, then please do stay after the service for coffee and a chance to meet other members of the congregation.
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What if I don't know anyone?
What do I need to bring?
Just yourself! Printed leaflets are available for all services in order to help you follow the liturgy and readings easily. Braille materials are also available for anyone who is blind or partially-sighted and a loop hearing system is installed in the church.
You will be welcome whenever you join us, be it once a month or several times a week. Our congregation is drawn from across London and reflects a wide range of ages and backgrounds.
Do I need to attend every week?
St Giles has long been embedded in its community and takes to heart the gospel challenge to offer praise to God as known in Christ, to preach the word in and out of season, to pray for the needs of the people of this place and to provide hospitality and hope to all. Worship is inseparable from compassion and prayer from involvement in the lives of others. Whether welcoming visitors and newcomers to our Sunday services or working in collaboration with a range of social welfare providers throughout the week, we seek to live out the responsibilities we have under Christ to proclaim the loving kindness of the Lord in word and deed.
Our Mission
Children's Ministry
Visitors are often surprised to learn that there is a numerous and active local resident community around St Giles, but the flats around the churchyard and above shops and cafés in the neighbouring streets are home to many families and young people in our midst. We value their presence here and are mindful of how difficult it can be to raise children in the West End.
In recent years an engagement with families has begun and it is our intention develop this work in the coming time. We offer a monthly Sunday School, a free playspace in the church and occasional family days in the churchyard.
Guest Ministries
At St Giles, we are delighted to play host to Christian communities which pursue important and specialist ministries with groups who sometimes find it difficult to engage with formal religion. We currently host Asylum London, a Christian ministry working with people from various underground subcultures in London.
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St Giles & St George Charities
Together with our neighbouring parish of St George's Bloomsbury, we work with two charities focused on alleviating hardship and supporting educational achievement in our area. The charities provide grants to local schools and educational initiatives, almshouse accommodation in Covent Garden and small grants to people experiencing hardship and homelessness. The Rector and Churchwardens are trustees of the charities, alongside a dedicated group of experienced individuals from the wider community. These charities are the modern successors of a number of historic foundations established in the St Giles area.
Homelessness
The problem of homelessness is visible everywhere in our part of London. At St Giles, we work with and facilitate several specialist organisations who work with homeless people.
The Simon Community provides a weekly Street Cafe outside the church every Saturday and Sunday. Quaker Homeless Action provide a lending library at St Giles to people who would otherwise not have access to books every Saturday. Street Storage provides a facility to allow homeless people to store their posessions, which might otherwise be at risk of theft. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous hold various meetings at St Giles every week.
Who's Who?
St Giles-in-the-Fields is served by a full-time parish priest, Rev. Tom Sander and an associate priest, Rev. Chris Smaling. The church administration is overseen by the parochial church council (PCC) and the churchwardens, who are elected annually. The PCC is supported by a parish administrator, and a small team of part-time staff. Church music is led and overseen by our Director Of Music, Jonathan Bunney.
Rev. Tom Sander
Tom became Rector of St Giles-in-the-Fields in February 2021. He is also an Army Chaplain and currently serves as Padre to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Tom was previously vicar of the benefice of Flamstead and Markyate Street in the Diocese of St Albans, where he also served as Rural Dean of the Wheathampstead Deanery.
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Rev. Chris Smaling
Chris became an associate priest at St Giles in December 2021. Chris is a self-supporting minister and during the week works in special needs education, as deputy headteacher of Richard Cloudesley School in Islington. Chris was ordained in 2014 and has spent the last seven years at St Gabriel's Church, Aldersbrook in east London.
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Oliver Flory & Catherine Campbell
Oliver and Catherine are the current churchwardens of St Giles-in-the-Fields. They are the senior lay members of the congregation, elected by the annual parish meeting.
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Oliver has been churchwarden since 2018 and works in art & antiques. Catherine was elected for the first time in 2022. She works as a solicitor.
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Rev. Phillip Dawson
Phillip joined St Giles-in-the-Fields as Curate in July 2023. Prior to ordination he worked as a Director of a firm of architects and served as Non-Executive Director of a number of local charities and social enterprises. Phillip has distant family links to the parish – his great-great grandparents lived in Seven Dials! He is currently undertaking an MPhil in World Christianity at the University of Cambridge.
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Jonathan Bunney
Jonathan has been Director of Music at St. Giles-in-the-Fields since 2004. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Margaret Phillips.
Jonathan is also a teacher at the RCO Academy Organ School. In 2015 Jonathan was awarded his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. Cathedral recitals have included Winchester, Chichester, Coventry, Sheffield, Liverpool and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
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Lesley Goddard
Lesley is parish administrator at St Giles-in-the-Fields. In this role, she oversees the day-to-day running of the church. She is the first point of contact for inquiries and visitors to the church and also assists people wishing to hire the church for concerts and events.
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