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Monday, November 30, 2015

Advent Quiet Afternoon


Some of those who gathered in the Lady Chapel today for the Quiet Afternoon.  The theme was the components and dynamics of prayer. Inspired by the insights of Ignatius Loyola we followed meditations presented in Prayer Book by Alan Walker (Godsfield Press 2003).  This text had its origins in spirituality workshops for people of different faiths given at the Chaplaincy in the University of Westminster.  So as well as Biblical texts we also considered a few from the Qu'ran, Upanishads and Buddhist and Sikh scriptures.



Saturday, November 28, 2015

Advent Sunday



The High Altar prepared for Advent (a painting by Beth Zanders)

Friday, November 27, 2015

Advent Quiet Afternoon


Advent Quiet Afternoon

A time of preparation 

Monday 30 November 230 in the Lady Chapel 
Ends with Mass at 4pm.

Monday, November 23, 2015

'The Roosterfish' by Barbara Bliss



ONE WINDY NIGHT THE COCKEREL TOOK FLIGHT,

FOLK WENT IN SEARCH OF THE COCKEREL’S NEW PERCH,

THEY HUNTED AROUND BUT HE’S NOT ON THE GROUND,

HE’S HIGH UP ABOVE ON A LEDGE OF THE CHURCH.

NOT ONLY DID HE GET BLOWN THROUGH THE AIR,

THERE WAS ALSO A FISH – A CURIOUS PAIR,

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION?  WE PONDER IN THOUGHT,

PERHAPS BY THE COCKEREL THE FISH HAD BEEN CAUGHT!

A COCKEREL’S A ROOSTER AS EVERYONE KNOWS,

SO THE ANSWER IS UNDER EVERYONES NOSE,

IN THE SEA OFF PERU,

LIVES A CURIOUS FISH,

BUT WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME IF I TELL YOU THIS,

TO EXPLAIN THIS DISASTER,

‘ROOSTERFISH’ IS THE ANSWER.



The fish found!


The parish drone - recharged overnight - found the fish above the corresponding window on the Square side of the church.


Sunday, November 22, 2015

The weathercock found!

Weathercock found.  Fish still missing.  Drone batteries exhausted.






Saturday, November 21, 2015

The weathercock (and fish)

The high winds on Tuesday night brought down our weather vane and lightning conductor. 
The cockerel and fish have disappeared.  Please help us to find them.



Photographs by Henry Walker

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

London stands in solidarity with Paris - The Bishop of London

London stands in solidarity with Paris

The Bishop of London


London’s heart was broken in the attacks of 7/7 – but not her spirit. Now we stand in solidarity with Paris in the face of its own heartbreak. As we look on, recalling those feelings of shock and horror we experienced 10 years ago, Paris and London are united in grief.

Nor can we neglect the deadly attack that took place in Beirut last Thursday. No religion can justify the evil of extremism or truly explain any of these assaults around the world. There is no defence for creating a god in our own image, an idol projecting rage and a lust for power.

I heard the news of the Paris attacks in the midst of conversations with Russian Orthodox leaders last Friday in Moscow. There was a renewed undertaking to address the isolation that is so often the root of extremism. We agreed to a series of fresh engagements between Russia and the UK next year, including the visit of a delegation of educators from the Orthodox Church next Spring.

On Thursday evening, I had also met with Russia’s Islamic leader, the Supreme Mufti, who denounced any attempt to use Islam to advocate indiscriminate violence. The meeting was hosted by the British Embassy and it is clear that the Foreign Office is rightly paying close attention to a strategy of engagement and understanding by civil society and religious bodies, working in partnership. No doubt social and economic factors have a role in incubating religious extremism but the religious element cannot simply be reduced to something else. You cannot exorcise the satanic by creating a spiritual vacuum.

We find ourselves in the midst of a debate about identity, including what it means to be British. Some are reacting to change by retreating into ever narrower definitions of their identity. On the other hand, merely invoking the universal concepts of tolerance and respect, with which we probably all agree, is not enough alone to transform lives and build a community.

A significant emphasis in immediate response to these recent acts will be on security and defence – the “hard power” invoked by the Prime Minister yesterday. Crucially, though, he also stressed the importance of addressing the narrative of radical extremism, building links across communities, a sense of identity that does not exclude other people. More than ever before, this is a time where friendship and solidarity must unite us in condemning these barbaric acts.

One of my abiding memories of 7/7 is when the Mayor summoned thousands to Trafalgar Square. A succession of community leaders and politicians went to the microphone to denounce the crime and declare our solidarity with one another. The leaders of the various faith communities were there, the Cardinal, the Chief Rabbi and representatives of the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities. We all knew one another already and so we decided to go to the microphone together to make a common pledge.

Ten years later, during the service to commemorate the London bombings in July of this year, I pointed to the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral as a representation of the one world in which we all live. It is supported by eight figures, four teachers from the East looking West and four Western teachers looking East.

In the face of a real and present threat, brought so close to home once again by the scenes in Paris, how do we go forward as Londoners? Ultimately our focus must be on unity, a celebration of that which we share together as we inhabit this great world city but which transcend our individual faith or ethnicity. We must hold fast to that which is good, whilst we render to no one evil for evil.

This article also appeared in the Evening Standard on 17 November 2015.

Image: Tricolor at Trafalgar Square by pinn, taken in January 2015 and used under Creative Commons licence.

Friday, November 13, 2015

A proposed Hampstead Garden Suburb Cultural Hub


Please let us know your views!

The magnificent Church of St Jude-on-the-Hill lies at the heart of Hampstead Garden Suburb.   This Grade 1 Listed Building may be one of Lutyens’s masterpieces, but its poor condition means the church is on Historic England’s “At Risk” Register.    

The church intends to apply for Heritage Lottery Funding to help fund essential restoration work, but also to create a heritage and visitors’ centre for the Suburb itself. This will be located in a large chapel with its own access from Central Square, and will celebrate the diverse heritage of the Suburb, its architectural gems, its place in the garden suburb movement, the role of Dame Henrietta Barnett and much more.  The plans also include the creation of additional community and studio space.   For more information about the proposals, click here.

It is important that the church consults about these proposals as widely as possible.   Please let us know what you think, by taking just five minutes to complete a short online survey.

The link to the survey is here.    Do please tell us your thoughts – tell us what you like about the proposals and tell us what you think should change.   


Thank you

Reverend Alan Walker                                    David White



Vicar, St Jude’s                                                Church Warden, St Jude’s

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Visions of Paradise at the National Gallery.



Join Lucrezia Walker to look at the current exhibition, to think about angels and the Nativity. 

Saturday 5 December

Meet at 2pm in the Sainsbury Wing foyer 
To conclude with tea at about 3.30.

The exhibition is free.
£10 donation invited for church funds.

Francesco Botticini’s Assumption of the Virgin has bewildered scholars for centuries. ‘Visions of Paradise: Botticini’s Palmieri Altarpiece’ showcases new research on this monumental painting, clarifying long-perpetuated misunderstandings about its authorship, date, original location, and iconography. 

Remembrance Sunday 2015


Photograph Hampstead and Highgate Express      Click image for link

Friday, November 06, 2015

Welcoming the new Bishop of Edmonton

More pictures on Twitter @stjudeonthehill
Important people
A graduate of the Vicar's Doctrine class (centre)
Another graduate of the Vicar's Doctrine class (left)
Other people from Golders Green
A  candle for every parish







Monday, November 02, 2015

Remembrance Sunday


Service of welcome for the new Bishop of Edmonton and Archdeacon of Hampstead


On Friday this week, 6 November, there will be a service of welcome for the Borough of Barnet for the new Bishop of Edmonton and Archdeacon of Hampstead at 7.00 p.m. at St Mary and St John School, Hendon (Bennet House campus on Sunningfield Road, NW4 4QR).  All are welcome to attend.


Bishop Robert writes:

I am really grateful for the warm welcome which John and I have received since becoming Bishop and Archdeacon in the Edmonton Episcopal Area. We do extent a warm welcome to each and every one of you to this special service ... As you will be aware, John Hawkins and I are currently are at the beginning of a nine month listening exercise and the services of welcome are really to kick start that process. We would like as many lay people and clergy as possible to attend the event.

There will be refreshments afterwards but please do come along and pray for your local area, please pray that we are listening well to God’s inspiration and guidance for our Area and let’s come together in order to perceive what the next chapter will be in the Edmonton Episcopal Area.

I very much look forward to welcoming you.