Written by
Esther Platt
ChurchWorks
ChurchWorks is working with Historic England to research the role of heritage on the wellbeing of individuals and communities accessing Warm Welcome Spaces located in historic church buildings.
As part of our research, we’re visiting Warm Welcome Spaces located in historic churches across the country. A few weeks ago, we were delighted to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the City of London.
Located at the heart of our historic capital city, the church functions as a parish church, and a city church, as well as the home of the Royal Fusiliers Memorial Chapel and the National Musicians’ Church. The church’s vision is to be a place of welcome, music, and prayer and to actively promote the Common Good of the city through stewarding the building, traditions and practices of the 15th Century heritage site.
I was fortunate enough to attend ‘Musicali-tea’ at the church, a weekly lunchtime event with sandwiches, chat, a live musical performance from professional musicians, and a talk from a City of London guide.
As I ate my way through an egg and cress sandwich, I listened to the conversation on my small table. Introducing myself and my purpose for being there, sparked a conversation on the challenges of modern life and we meandered through the perils and perks of dating, social media and shopping- not the conversation topics I thought would come up! Musicali-tea is a melting pot of experiences and traditions, people who know the cosmopolitan lifestyle but who are nevertheless still daunted by the pace of modern life. ‘I imagine young people wish the world would just stop for a bit,’ said one lady on my table, ‘there’s been so much change. We just need to get used to it’.
As we moved into listening to classical music and then learning more about the importance of the local area, both in terms of the 2015 Hatton Garden heist, but also the role of the church as a place of sanctuary for those fleeing criminal convictions, those words took on a renewed poignancy.
For hundreds of years, this church has sat in the middle of economic hubbub, the shouts and cries of the criminals with its proximity to newgate prison, and as an important ceremonial site of Christian faith in Britain. Today’s hubbub is a little different - the shouts of prisoners are replaced with the hooting of horns, the commerce happens in the pockets of business people on phones and computers, the struggle of daily life for most looks more like isolation, anxiety, and overwhelm than fleeing from criminal charges.
In a world of so much change, where we wish we could just stop and get used to it, musicali-tea, and Holy Sepulchre London, offers a refreshing and reassuring reminder of the temporality of today’s worries. While the music and the beautiful architecture sooth senses raw with over-exposure to screens and blue light, reflection on this space as a place of sanctuary, of consistency, of spirituality, grounds us.
This is the value of our research work with Historic England, not that old spaces are valuable for old spaces' sake, but that when we connect to the space around us, and to the past, we find a sturdiness, a sanctuary that is exactly what we need.
We would love to have more churches involved in our project. To be involved in interviews or site visits or if you have any questions please contact alisha.cole@goodfaith.org.uk
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