How can morality best be shaped in a plural society which is constantly under pressure from multiple strands of opinion and a variety of social forces?  What shared historic and contemporary moral and religious resources can be brought to bear on issues such as the quest for wealth, fame, competition, self-esteem? Can faith and secular work together to renew our moral resources?  An agnostic professor of philosophy and a radical orthodox professor of theology debated the issues.

Professor Keith Ward. This lecture argued for the irrationality of a purely science-based belief system, and for the importance of cultivating a spirituality which can unite scientific, moral, liberal, and humane attitudes, and in which faith and critical enquiry overlap and complement one another.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The Saints can inspire and encourage us in our own Christian pilgrimage. They enable us to become what we are, the saints, the 'plebs sancta Dei', the holy common people of God. Read the sermon.

Professor Alister McGrath. This lecture explored educational approaches that encourage respect and critical dialogue between religious and secular positions.

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The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today we thank God for the energy and commitment of so many people to the renewal of this building and the vigorous life of this Abbey community. Read the sermon. 

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. I pray on this great feast of St Edward the Confessor that our lives and the life of our nation and Commonwealth, indeed the life of our world, might be inspired by the saint’s example, who rebuilt the Church as his centre and foundation and was able to ‘press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.’ Read the sermon. 

The Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford. May the great joy that will grip our nation and our world as these London Olympic and Paralympic Games begin, remind us of lasting values of victorious peace, something that is available and given to all of us because of what God has done in Christ, and awaken in us a hope for peace; may we run well, but also, recognising our failings, humbly seek the forgiveness that only God can bring, and then receive the prize that he has secured for everyone; “and may the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing”

His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama visited Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 20th June 2012 for A Moment of Prayer and Reflection in the Nave. The gathering included representatives from 17 other faiths and Christian denominations.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. A taxi driver said to me the other day that he quite liked religious buildings. They gave you something. He found it hard to describe it. Something numinous, he might have said; a sense of awe; a moment of peace. He did say it didn’t really affect him; he wasn’t religious. I was waiting for him to make the next claim, one I’ve heard so often, though in this case it never came: I may not be religious but I am spiritual.

The Right Reverend Dr Peter Selby. The well-rehearsed arguments about the establishment of the Church of England require revisiting at a time when the nature of sovereignty and location of power have substantially shifted. Unless the issues arising from those shifts are examined the established church may find itself, while imagining it occupies a place close to the levers of power, is actually remote from them, while at the same time alienated from those who lack power.

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The Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Carey of Clifton PC, Archbishop of Canterbury 1991-2002. We gather to honour a great lady who became a legend in her own time, reminding us that nursing is a calling from God, a vocation, to serve others sacrificially and devotedly.

Lord Plant. Exploring issues of faith and public policy. This second lecture looked at the highly contentious area of approaches to gender, sexuality and equality and the attitudes of faith communities to issues of this sort and whether any specific attention should be paid to them.

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The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Praise be to God! 'This is the day that the Lord has made; we shall rejoice and be glad in it.'

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. On the night when Jesus was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

Vernon White, Canon Theologian. The final lecture on the possibilities of believing in life beyond death examined both the intellectual and moral integrity of the belief. It asked how such a belief can be held without intellectual compromise, and without succumbing to merely wishful thinking. It went on to argue that, properly understood, this hope and belief does not detract from our commitment to living fully in the here and now, but strengthens and transforms it.

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Vernon White, Canon Theologian. The second lecture on the possibilities of believing in life beyond death presented some key images of eternity from christian theology. It sketched out how life beyond death had been imagined in scriptural narrative and imagery, and then asked whether these images are credible in a contemporary world view of space, time, and material reality. It considered whether the idea of 'soul' can and should be rehabilitated, in spite of its currently unfashionable status.

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Vernon White, Canon Theologian. This first lecture on the possibilities of believing in life beyond death first set out to make the case why it matters to 'put heaven on the agenda'; why it is important to think about what may lie beyond this life. It then considered how signs of this 'beyond' are woven into the fabric of life in the here and now. It drew on the experiences of ordinary life, as well as on literature and the explorations of science, to sketch out a context in which belief in the beyond becomes possible for us all.

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Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended a ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 7th February 2012 at 11.15 am to celebrate the life and work of Charles Dickens on the 200th anniversary of his birth. The great Victorian writer was buried in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey on 14th June 1870. Excerpts of Dickens' writings were read during the ceremony. Claire Tomalin, Dickens' biographer, read from a letter that Dickens wrote to his sister. Mark Charles Dickens, Great Great Grandson and Head of the Dickens Family, read from The Life of Our Lord, which Dickens wrote for his children. Actor and director Ralph Fiennes read 'Jo's Will' from Bleak House. The Right Reverend Michael Dickens Whinney, Great Great Grandson, read Luke 14: 7-14. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, gave the address.

The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence.In this Sermon for Candlemas, the Christian aspiration to ‘a good death’, dying prepared is considered in the light of Simeon’s response: 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace'.

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. What is a good translation? Not one that just allows me to say, when I pick it up, ‘Now I understand’. Of course, if I’m faced with a text in a strange language, I need to be able simply to read it; but a good translation will be an invitation to read again, and to probe, and reflect, and imagine with the text. Rather than letting me say, ‘Now I understand’, it prompts the response, ‘Now the work begins.’

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. In our minds and hearts, this afternoon, as we come to receive the bread and wine, which are the Body and Blood of Christ, the fruits of Christ’s sacrifice, we bring as it were to stand beside us the souls of all those we love and see no longer.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The way of the saints is a way we can tread as well as the saints. Our weak wilfulness is no barrier to God, whose love is made perfect in weakness.

In the final of Westminster Abbey’s autumn series of King James Bible lectures Nick Spencer spoke on the political impact of the Bible, how the British commitment to equality, freedom, democracy and toleration emerge from the biblical roots of our political history.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. As we celebrate the dedication of this church, we whose lives are associated with this holy place - and all who join us in worship today - should dedicate ourselves anew to being the place of God’s glory on earth.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Our task on the feast of St Edward, in honour of our founder and benefactor, is to re-imagine, to conceive afresh in our minds, the influence and reach of our Christian faith within this nation and the nations of our world and to act and react accordingly.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams pays tribute to the work of the National Society.

13 October 2011

In the second of Westminster Abbey’s autumn series of King James Bible lectures Lord Bragg, the author and broadcaster, covered the impact of the King James Bible on cultural life and literature in England between 1611 and now.

06 October 2011

In the first of Westminster Abbey’s autumn series of King James Bible lectures Lord Judge lectured on the historic and legal context of the King James Bible and the relationship between the king, the rule of law and the church and our constitutional development.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. It is the love of God revealed in our Lord’s life, death and resurrection that is able to transport us to heaven, God’s love alone, his self-giving love.

Prof. Alister McGrath, one of the world’s leading authorities on Richard Dawkins and the New Atheism, speaks about the challenges of radical secularism. Beginning from the premise that New Atheism is the start of an important theological conversation, Prof McGrath moves on to discuss some of the major themes and a Christian critique of them. *Please note the last few minutes of the talk was not recorded*

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Yesterday, after six weeks of solemn penance during the Lenten fast, Westminster Abbey rang again with the sound of the Easter song Alleluia as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. On Good Friday, we remembered the death of Jesus on the Cross, the ultimate sacrifice of self-giving love. Yesterday, Easter Day, we celebrated the new life of the risen Jesus Christ, the vindication of that sacrifice, the guarantee that the triumph of generous service and self-giving love is the secret at the heart of the world, the touchstone for all that is true and good.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. ‘Rise heart; thy Lord is risen.’

A Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service was held at Westminster Abbey on Sunday 27 March 2011. The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall gave an address and The High Commissioner for New Zealand HE Derek Leask read an Address from the country’s Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Key.

A Service of Blessing for the Benedictine Torch took place at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 2 March at 12 noon. The Addresses were given by the Right Reverend Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield and Chairman of Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome; and the Archabbot of Montecassino. Westminster Abbey was the first non-Roman Catholic Church to host the lighting of the Benedictine Torch.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today’s feast offers us an opportunity to renew our commitment to receive afresh the grace and power of God through his Word and in his Sacraments so that we can more effectively share his love with others.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. In his Christmas day sermon, the Dean of Westminster speaks of the gentle love of God revealed in God’s Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. In his sermon at the Midnight Eucharist the Dean of Westminster reflected on the longing that we should see the mystery at the heart of the universe: God’s love.

Most of us come to this service tonight with vivid memories of departed relatives and friends, with a sense of loss and with a degree of pain. We remember those we have loved and who have loved us, those we love still, but from whom we are now parted. For some, the sense of loss and pain is recent and sharp; others have come to terms with the loss and find the pain deadened by the years. We know that those from whom we are parted would not have wanted us to grieve – and yet, naturally, we do, even when we are thankful for a long life well lived, or for a period of acute suffering and privation ended. Where death has been sudden or tragic death, we can be left mystified, bewildered as to what happened and why – and what might have been.

In the Dean’s All Saints’ Day sermon, he recognised the call for Christians, inevitably influenced by the world, to be positively engaged with the world for the sake of the Gospel.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The Dean’s sermon for the feast of the dedication, celebrating the consecration of the Abbey Church (current building) on 13 October 1269.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Saturday in the Octave of St Edward is set aside as a day when pilgrims are especially welcomed, as they have been since the 12th century, to St Edward’s Shrine. This Sung Eucharist celebrates St Edward’s life and holiness on the day of the national pilgrimage to his shrine.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The life of Westminster Abbey is so rich in the anniversaries of the men and women who are buried or memorialised here and of the great events that have happened through the thousand years and more of our wonderful story that to say of any year that it is likely to go down in history as remarkable is to make a bold claim. And yet, it is I believe justifiable in relation to this year that we are all experiencing.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster.It is impossible for us to know what Queen Elizabeth I thought when she signed the Charter but it would not be surprising if she had thought of the turmoil the Abbey had undergone in the previous twenty years. The Charter makes it clear that she intended to end the turmoil. Of this renewed Collegiate Church, the Charter says that it is ‘in all future times to endure and to be inviolably observed.’ And so it has been for the past 450 years. There seems every reason to suppose it will continue as long as there is time on earth.

Archbishop Tutu in his sermon on Ascension Day says that through worship we must 'open our eyes to the essential sacredness of life' and oppose injustice.

The late and slow emergence of daffodils and tulips after our long cold winter and in our late spring has somehow seemed right this year. In previous years I have often found a worrying mismatch between a blazing spring full of colour and vibrancy and the penitential Lenten mood of self-denial and abstinence. This year, in London anyway, the emergence of spring has, almost if not quite, waited for Easter: as if now nature with the Church is ready to celebrate the arrival of the season of hope and joy and new life.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. This evening the Lord Jesus Christ welcomes us to a meal, to supper with him and his closest friends. The occasion is unusual; this will be no ordinary supper. The circumstances are strange, a little disturbing: there are threats and rumours all around. We are in an odd place: the Lord of all has nowhere of his own, nowhere to lay his head, but a room has been found; preparations have been made.

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Oscar Romero is commemorated as a martyr in the Church of England’s liturgical calendar on 24 March each year. His image is among ten statues of martyrs of the twentieth century placed over the Great West Doors of Westminster Abbey in 1998.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Celebrating the Annunciation in Passiontide helps us see both the beauty of God’s creation and the need for atonement between humanity and God.

‘Nothing less than Christ will do. We are to be imitators of Christ.’

Lying behind the modern democratic political system is a shadow structure that acknowledges the Sovereignty of Christ. The Dean said it was an important question how far elected politicians and we personally acknowledge in practice God’s Sovereignty.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, Nick Spencer, author of Darwin and God, delivers the 2009 Gore lecture, tracing Darwin's religious biography and asking what we can learn from this most courteous and humane of scientists.

In his All Souls’ Day sermon, the Dean faces the inevitable truth that we shall all die and asks us to be prepared for our own death.

On the Abbey’s dedication festival, the Dean identified the ultimate purpose of the Abbey as to give greater glory to God. That test must be applied to the Abbey’s daily life and work and to any proposed changes.

A special evening of Samuel Johnson readings on the 300th anniversary year of the birth of Dr Johnson. In association with the Johnson Society of London. Readers: Lance Pierson, Karin Fernald, Michael Bundock and David Nokes. Introduced by: The Reverend Dr Nicholas Sagovsky

Preaching on the 740th anniversary of the relics of St Edward the Confessor being enshrined behind the Abbey’s high altar, the Dean of Westminster spoke of the saint’s remains uniting Christians and pointing us to heaven.

Professor Richard Carwardine gave a lecture in St Margaret's Church on Tuesday 7 July to mark the 200th anniversary year of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

In his Easter 2009 sermon in Westminster Abbey, the Dean spoke of the contrast between the solemnity of Holy Week and the joy of Easter, between the reality of suffering and the joy of new life. Christians, he said, need to live and work on both sides of the contrast.