2012
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8 January 2012 Sermon given at Matins on the Baptism of Christ 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
Some Gospel stories appear to portray a Jesus with human limitations, who needed to grow, change, and learn like any human being. This might seem to compromise his divinity and perfection. But properly understood this is actually the way that real human perfection is made, and it is how his effectiveness as a divine saviour is also displayed. The baptism of Christ was a sign of this, especially when interpreted through such stories as his encounter with the Gentile woman.
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6 January 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on the Epiphany of Our Lord 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
‘May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.’
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15 January 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 15th January 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
Conversion involves seeing more - and then being willing to be transformed by what we see, and whom we meet. This second sermon on the theme of change, conversion, and new life, describes something of the anatomy of personal conversion, using the story of Nicodemus as paradigmatic.
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22 January 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 22nd January 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
There is a major reorientation involved in conversion, which affects social attitudes as well as spiritual change. There is also some cost involved, a 'little death' on the way to new life. This third sermon on the theme of change, conversion, and new life, draws on St Paul's conversion as the paradigm.
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29 January 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 29th January 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
Religion is a matrix for nourishing healthy spiritual life. But not all aspects of religion help, and some hinder. Prompted both by the people and the underlying events of the presentation of Christ in the Temple, this last in a series of sermons on conversion considers how religion itself may need changing if it is to change us in the right way.
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2 February 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist for Candlemas 2012
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'.
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5 February 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 5th February 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In this first sermon in the February Series, ‘Saints and their Churches’, I trace the Abbey’s link with Rome through the work of the Cosmati family whose richly decorated pavements also adorn the Church of San Clemente in Rome. Hidden beneath the floor, however, is an even more intriguing story of the transmission of faith, which prompts questions about the future of European Christianity.
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7 February 2012 Address given at a wreathlaying ceremony to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens
Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams,, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan
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5 February 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 5th February 2012
The Right Reverend Susan Moxley, Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
God calls us to seek and serve Christ in all persons. Jesus taught us that serving the least of the brothers and sisters is serving him.
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12 February 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 12th February 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the second sermon in the February series, ‘Saints and their Churches’, I am on the edge of the desert in Egypt. The Monastery of St Macarius has been in continuous occupation since the fourth century. Is this a history of escape from the world or of faithful witness to it?
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7 February 2012 Address given at a Service of Reconciliation, Healing of Memories, and Mutual Commitment for the Church of England and the United Reformed Church
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan
‘Until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.’ [Ephesians 4.13]
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19 February 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 19th February 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the third sermon in the February Series, ‘Saints and their Churches’, the life and death of the ‘troublesome priest’, Thomas à Becket, prompts questions about the boundaries of Church and State.
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26 February 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 26th February 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
The last sermon of the February Series, ‘Saints and their Churches’, concludes with Edward the Confessor, whose legacy and shrine are of particular significance to Westminster. His ‘kingdom first’ policy led to his canonisation, but did it simply reinforce England’s insularity?
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22 February 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, Ash Wednesday 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
Does the idea of Lent fill you with foreboding? Or might we be able to see this day instead as a day suffused with a gentle but glorious light, a day full of promise and hope, of quiet joy?
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4 March 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 4th March 2012
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
The first in a series of sermons on the doctrine of the atonement which examines the question, To what problem is the death of Jesus considered to be the answer?
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4 March 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 4th March 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
None of us goes through life without suffering. If we are to follow the way of Christ, we must embrace suffering. We must embrace at least self-limitation, self-discipline. During this holy season of Lent and at other times, we are called to embrace abstinence, repentance, and generosity to others.
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11 March 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 11th March 2012
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
The second in a series of sermons on the Atonement, which looks at the atonement as a sacrifice.
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18 March 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 18th March
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
The third in a series of addresses on the atonement, this one reflecting on the cross as an example of God's love and engagement with the suffering of the world.
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28 March 2012 Address given at A Service to Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Peabody
The Right Reverend Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark (1998-2010)
It’s a privilege to be invited to preach at this service honouring George Peabody and marking the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Peabody. It’s a privilege but it’s an invitation which I approached with mixed emotions.
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25 March 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 25 March 2012
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
The last in the series on the atonement; this address looks at the idea of the cross as a victory.
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26 March 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist for the Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
The feast of the Annunciation of the Lord comes as something of a surprise most years, falling as it so often does either just before or just after Easter. Christmas and Easter we think should be separate. And yet, here we are, so near Holy Week, hearing the story of Mary and the angel Gabriel.
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5 April 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist with the Washing of the feet, Maundy Thursday 2012
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.’
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8 April 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Easter Day 2012
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.'
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22 April 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 22nd April 2012
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Sub-Dean and Canon Treasurer and Almoner
Some reflections on forgiveness in the light of the Eucharistic readings.
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6 May 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 6th May 2012
The Reverend Robert Reiss, Sub-Dean and Canon Treasurer and Almoner
A reflection on prayer in the light of the gospel passage for the day.
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6 May 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 6th May 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon Theologian
Do we, and society as a whole, still have the capacity and the will to be faithful? Seeing our life as a whole, and sticking faithfully with the whole narrative of life rather than just disconnected moments, is a uniquely human capacity with great benefits. A sermon on the virtue of 'love-as-fidelity' - the first in a series of sermons on faith, hope, love and humility, the great virtues of Christian faith.
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9 May 2012 Address given at a Service to Commemorate the Life of Florence Nightingale 2012
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.
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17 May 2012 Address given at A Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the Life and Work of The Rt Hon Lord St John of Fawsley
H.E. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster
I first met Norman St. John-Stevas over 40 years ago when I was Rector of the Venerable English College in Rome, a seminary for training priests where, indeed, Norman himself had studied for a short time.
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17 May 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Ascension Day 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
Hymn-singing is an important part of our tradition of worship. The monks who worshipped in this holy place for six hundred years would begin each of their seven offices – prayer services – of the day with an Office Hymn. Many of these hymns were translated into English in the 19th century by John Mason Neale and form an important part of our own liturgical tradition. The New English Hymnal contains no fewer than 39 of Neale’s translations.
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6 May 2012 Sermon given at St Mark’s Church, Philadelphia, USA on Sunday 6th May 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
Where in the world could it be better to give a sermon on today’s bible readings than here in Philadelphia, a city dedicated for over three hundred years to the love of the brotherhood or perhaps we should say to brotherly and sisterly love?
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13 May 2012 Sermon given at St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue NYC on Sunday 13th May 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
When I was an undergraduate, my circle of friends delighted in a recording of a speech made in the Oxford Union some ten years earlier. The speaker was a musician with an extraordinary sense of humour, who was passionate about the arts, but who is little remembered now. His name was Gerard Hoffnung. In his speech he gave advice to people visiting London from overseas. The good people of St Thomas Church do not generally need advice about visiting London, but this advice they should, certainly, not follow. On entering a railway compartment, be sure to shake hands with all the passengers. Ignore all left and right signs on the roadways; these are merely political slogans.
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13 May 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 13th May 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
We have a unique capacity to hope, and often to keep hoping against all odds. Like faith, this is deep disposition of the human soul, a gift from God. A sermon on faith and hope - the second in a series of sermons on the great virtues of Christian faith.
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27 May 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Day of Pentecost: Sunday 27 May 2012
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.
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20 May 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 20th May 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
What moral virtues has christian faith helped contribute to the world? One of the most distinctive is humility. It is also much misunderstood and criticised. But, properly grasped, it is arguably the most important of all, in the sense of being foundational for all other virtues. The last in a series of sermons on the great virtues or 'dispositions' of Christian faith.
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20 May 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 20th May 2012
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
We do wander, we might flail around, and we will get it wrong, but we have within us the Testimony of Christ, the Good News of a love stronger than death.
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27 May 2012 Sermon given at Evensong on the Day of Pentecost 2012
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
If we examine what is going on on the day of Pentecost, we see that it is principally about two things - revelation and identity - the fundamental revelation of God’s identity, Pentecost provides the lens through which to view the whole sphere of our existence.
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3 June 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Trinity Sunday 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
The June series of Matins sermons considers the Monarchy in relation to Christian faith. This first address focuses on the Jubilee and the Christian vocation as ‘freedom to serve’.
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10 June 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 10th June 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the second of this Matins series about the Monarchy in relation to Christian Faith, we look at how the Bible understands kingship and the way that Jesus both inherited and transformed the concept.
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3 June 2012 Sermon given at Matins on the Celebration of Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
The final stage of the Coronation service 59 years ago was the moment when the Sovereign received the Bread and Wine in Holy Communion, confirming her intention to live and work after the example of our Lord.
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11 June 2012 Address given at Evensong on the Feast of St Barnabas 2012
His Eminence Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
It is with great joy that I offer you my greetings in this sacred and venerable Abbey of Westminster. I well remember my last visit to the Abbey, just over two years ago, when I was present with many of you for the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict.
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17 June 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 17th June 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the third of this Matins series about the Monarchy in relation to Christian Faith, the theme is ‘Continuity and Change’, and looks at how successive monarchs in England have responded and adapted to the responsibility of spiritual leadership.
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24 June 2012 Sermon given at Matins on 24th June 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the last of this Matins series about the Monarchy in relation to Christian Faith, I highlight the historic role of the monarch as Defender of the Faith and consider how this relates to the multicultural society found in Britain today.
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6 July 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on the Octave Day of St Peter 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
They stand, those halls of Zion, conjubilant with song, And bright with many an angel, and all the martyr throng; The Prince is ever in them, the daylight is serene. The pastures of the blessèd are decked in glorious sheen.
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15 July 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 15th July 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
Sermon to mark the end of the Choir School Year.
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15 July 2012 Sermon for a Service in Celebration of the London Olympic Games
The Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford
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22 July 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 22nd July 2012
The Reverend Dr Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
Some reflections on Psalm 67 in the light of human experience.
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29 July 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 29th July 2012
The Reverend Dr Robert Reiss, Sub-Dean and Canon Treasurer and Almoner
The first in a series of four sermons on themes from the Olympics, this one reflecting on competition
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12 August 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 12th August 2012
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
Jesus says, “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” You cannot bear the weight of this calling in your own strength, but only by the grace and power of God.
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5 August 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 5th August 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
The sixth chapter of St John’s Gospel is read through on the last Sunday of July and the four Sundays of August. May we all enjoy hearing it unfold this August!
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15 August 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
No biblical Christian can ignore our Lady. All Christians can and should love and honour our Lady for the sake of her beloved Son and for the sake of our own eternal salvation as she inexorably points us to him.
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2 September 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 2nd September
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
All our own moralising about other people, other lifestyles, can be a very useful avoidance tactic to avoid concentrating on our own hearts. Christ’s crucifixion stands in judgement on all our moralising.
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2 September 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 2nd September 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
What is imagination? Is it just escape and fantasy, or is it a way of seeing things more truly? The first in a series of sermons about imagination and its relationship to faith. It explores the nature and power of imagination as a gift of God which helps us see new possibilities in life. Imagination is a gift for motivation and transformation.
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9 September 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 9th September 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
William Blake saw visions of God. He also saw visions of a better world. Were these real revelations, or just the product of a fevered mind? In fact Blake's profusion of images follow a pattern similar to other christian mystics. When they are kept in close relationship to the person of Christ they really can help us see some things more truly. The second in a series of sermons about imagination and its relationship to faith.
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16 September 2012 Address given at the Service of Thanksgiving and Rededication on Battle of Britain Sunday 2012
The Venerable Raymond Pentland QHC RAF, Chaplain-in-Chief
Preaching my 27th Battle of Britain sermon, and my 5th and probably last as a commissioned chaplain, in this great Abbey, I have some sympathy with the Bishop! But there is truth in the Hymn Writer’s words ‘Tell me the old old story…….’ for this is a story that must never be forgotten.
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21 September 2012 Sermon given at the Eucharist with the Ordination and Consecration of The Reverend Canon Dr Edward Condry
The Reverend Dr A Katherine Grieb, Professor of New Testament, Virginia Theological Seminary, USA, and Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral
Today the Church remembers and gives thanks for Saint Matthew the Evangelist. Our Gospel passage recounts the call of Matthew, the tax collector. He was sitting at the tax booth when Jesus walked by and said to him, 'Follow me.' He got up and followed him.
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23 September 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 23rd September 2012
The Reverend Professor Vernon White, Canon in Residence
Thomas Hardy provides a test case for imagination and faith. His imagination is undoubted. But so too was his determination to see life truly, not just as he would like to see it: life not just in its glory and godfulness, but also in its cruelty and apparent godlessness. This sort of honest, probing, imagination may lead to radical doubt - but it can also point to authentic faith. The third sermon in a series on imagination.
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1 October 2012 Sermon given at the Judges Service on Monday 1 October 2012
Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon of Westminster and Rector of St Margaret’s Church
It is an exquisite depiction of religious faith. Rather stereotyped, rather formal, but undeniably pious. The young couple are kneeling, facing one another at prie-dieus, their hands clasped in reverence, their prayer-books open before them.
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7 October 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 7th October 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In this first Residence Sermon in the series ‘New Forms of Public Religion’, the thriving Pentecostalism of Brazil is considered as an example of how Christianity is changing globally.
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7 October 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 7th October 2012
The Venerable Dr Jane Hedges, Canon Steward and Archdeacon of Westminster
In this sermon Canon Hedges looks at the words of Jesus in St Mark's gospel about divorce and re-marriage and the context in which he said them.
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14 October 2012 Sermon given at Matins on the Dedication of Westminster Abbey 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In this second Residence Sermon in the series ‘New Forms of Public Religion’, on the dedication festival of Westminster Abbey, I consider how architecture continues to express spiritual aspirations, especially on the ‘Highway to Heaven’ in Vancouver.
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12 October 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on the Eve of the Translation of St Edward the Confessor 2012
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.’
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14 October 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on the Dedication of Westminster Abbey 2012
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.
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21 October 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 21st October 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In this third Residence Sermon in the series ‘New Forms of Public Religion’, we look at how persistent the Christian church has been under an extended period of what appeared to the West to be a repressive environment in Communist Romania.
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28 October 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 28th October 2012
The Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Canon in Residence
In the fourth and last Residence Sermon in the series ‘New Forms of Public Religion’, I draw on the work of Professor Linda Woodhead at Lancaster University in giving an overview of the changing religious landscape in modern Britain.
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28 October 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 28th October 2012
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
The destiny of the Christian is to be raised up to the life of God. Not to become God, as the Father is God, by nature and by essence, but rather to share in the Sonship of Christ by grace and adoption.
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1 November 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on All Saints' Day 2012
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.
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2 November 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on All Souls' Day 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
In this holy Eucharist on All Souls’ Day, we give thanks for the lives of those we love and see no longer, the faithful departed, trusting in the mystery of God’s good providence that our prayers and love can be to their benefit.
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4 November 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 4th November 2012
The Reverend Dr Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
A reflection on the lasting significance of Richard Hooker, who is remembered throughout the Church of England on 3rd November.
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25 November 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 25th November 2012
The Reverend Dr Robert Reiss, Canon in Residence
Reflections on the life of the hymn-writer Isaac Watts, who died on 25th November 1748
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2 December 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Sunday 2nd December 2012
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist
Jesus said, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.”
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24 December 2012 Sermon given at First Eucharist of Christmas 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
St Luke really wants us to know the story, the eternal truth at the heart of the universe, that all this is for love.
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25 December 2012 Sermon given at Sung Eucharist on Christmas Day 2012
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
‘But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.' That is God’s gift to us, if only we will receive it. May the assurance of the prayers and best wishes of the whole Abbey community be to you and yours for a very happy Christmas.
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30 December 2012 Sermon given at Matins on Sunday 30th December 2012
The Venerable Dr Jane Hedges, Canon in Residence
At Christmas time we are surrounded with pretty images of all kinds. But behind the pretty images there's a much harsher and less comfortable side to the Christmas Story.