It's been a heavy fortnight. We hosted the AGM of the Ecclesiastical Architects' and Surveyors' Association, which happens alongside a joint awards ceremony with the National Churches Trust, and I had to speak to them, with Biba Dow, our architect, about the Project. We were also shortlisted for the Presidents' Award, which we didn't get. The winner was St Augustine's Priory Church, in Fulham Palace Road, which was a worthy winner. The field was a lot stronger than last year, though I do think it is hard to judge new work inside old buildings against whole new buildings. Last year I thought the runner-up, a lovely brand new church in Scotland, which was the only actual new building, should have won. This year there were beautiful refurbishments, like the winner and St Andrew's, Holborn, as well as whole new buildings, like the runner-up, in Bethnal Green, and ourselves, all of high quality, so I wasn't surprised no to win (though obviously I thought we should have done). The logistics of this event were very complex, involving keeping the people just coming for the awards ceremony separate from the EASA members' AGM, and feeding them first, so that EASA members could look at the shortlisted projects in their lunch break, along with the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Nicholas von Preussen, the chief judges. Obviously, HRH had to have special provision as well. All went off very smoothly, (though the royal protection officers grumbled about the size of lunch) and people were very kind about our talk. NCT still like us, which is very good.
The next day we had the boys of Sussex House School rehearsing for their processions at the Requiem, which is always a bit of a circus. This year, they have a new music master, much younger and less scary than his predecessor, so some of the dynamics were different. Then the excellent Sheila, who arranges flowers and cleans, had to be let into the church (and let out again) late at night to prepare for the Requiem. I successfully unset and reset alarms, and Sheila made wonderful, huge flower arrangements. The Requiem is always a little easier when All Souls' Day falls on a Saturday, as it did this time, because you can devote the day to preparations, and also we do it at 6pm, rather than the normal 7.30pm, and so clearing up afterwards is much less traumatic. They sang Durufle, which is lovely, and I was joined by the Vicar of St Augustine's, Kilburn, who brought a competent thurifer with him. All very good. The sanctus and benedictus of this setting work tremendously well with the canon of the Mass in the (deeply old-fashioned, but authentic) way we do it. The only down-side of Saturday is that fewer of the Sussex House families turn up than they would on a weekday. Still, it was a big congregation, and a superb act of worship. Also our new heating worked wonderfully well.
Then on the Sunday, after our own worship, we went along to All Saints, Margaret Street, for Fr Alan Moses's final service, Solemn Evensong and Benediction. Fr Alan has been there a long time, and has always been a good friend to St Mary Mags, looking after our huge monstrance when there was nowhere secure to store it here (and kindly restoring the lunette). There was a real sense of reverence and joy about the worship, although I was sorry not to be able to hear much of the sermon, seated at the back of the nave. The preacher was Bishop Allen Shin, who is suffragan bishop of New York, and was attached to All Saints twenty years ago. He was Chaplain of Keble when I first came here, so he presented me when I was licensed. Fr George Bush, seated at the side, but mush closer to the pulpit, heard it all, and said I didn't miss much. I thought it was a problem with the sound system, but old members of All Saints said they could never understand what he said when he was a regular preacher.
On the Monday morning after that, it was straight off to France for the Two Cities Area Clergy Conference, held at Merville, near Lille, in what had been the seminary of the Archdiocese of Lille, a vast, echoing brick pile of the 1920s. The rather handsome chapel had clearly been stripped of all decoration in the reforms, and there were a couple of mosaics in corridors just to tantalize you with how it might have been, but it suited our gathering, seventy clergy from the cities of London and Westminster. It was a surprisingly enjoyable few days with excellent input from Malcolm Guite, poet and Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge.
Straight off the Eurostar I put on smart clothes and mingled with donors at an Emmanuel College drinks party in St Mary Mags. I arrived just in time to give a little talk about the Project, which the Master, Dame Fiona Reynolds (who used to run the National Trust) was very kind about. The lead up to this had been bizarre, as the Emma development office had arranged the event with our caterers without realising that it was my church, and then didn't invite me. I sent in a donation I had long promised, but the penny didn't drop until Robert Folkes emailed them to point it out. I was in France when the development office finally emailed me to invite me along, so I thought I should make the effort. There were a couple of old faces I knew, and other people were kind about our works.
This week we hosted a visit from the Ancient Monuments Society, who had to be divided into three groups, so many of them were there, so Oliver Caroe (our conservation architect) and I had to do our tours three times over, as well as an introductory double-act. This was good fun, but it would have been more enjoyable had it not been arranged for the same day as the Grand Junction Launch Party, which meant that preparations for that were going on around us. Still, AMS said they wanted to see the church at work, and they certainly did.
The Launch Party was well-attended, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Blondel Cluff CBE spoke for the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and we were very impressed with her (except that she continually referred to us as "St Mary's"). Bill Jacob did the thanks, and I just welcomed everyone and reminded them how far we had come. The community team had produced a nice little 3 minute film about the community projects. The Area Dean, Fr Paul Thomas, spoke for the Diocese, and the excellent Graham King spoke for Westminster City Council. At least some of the major donors were there, which was good, along with lots of our volunteers. We had a singer and a poet perform, before an interval at which most people left, which was a shame, as we then had a hip-hop artist called Kitch, who was quite remarkable, as he had a terrible stammer when speaking, but became entirely articulate when rapping. The last band were just a bit weird for my taste. A fair amount was drunk, and lots of the people involved with the Project were there and were able to celebrate together, which was nice. One of the designers presented me with two little tiles, uniform with our signage, of my initials, which was sweet.
In the meantime, I have had two PCC meetings, a management board meeting, First Communion preparation and anxious discussions with a school head about the mental health of a member of staff. Now I've got a funeral to arrange.
