Previously at St Mary-le-Bow

The Lord Bishop of London licensed the Revd Rosamond McDowell as Assistant Curate of St Mary-le-Bow at a Eucharist on

8th September.

Rosamond says ‘St Mary-le- Bow has been a major influence in my own development as a Christian and a Priest. I am delighted to have the chance of this more formal attachment, and hope that I will, in some small way, be able to help to deepen the links between this historic place of prayer and the City's businesses and financial and charitable institutions.’

Pictured (from left): The Bishop of London, the Rector, the Assistant Curate, the Archdeacon of London

On 27th August, in hot sunshine, 30 Pearly Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses walked from London Bridge to Lambeth Bridge in aid of Help the Heroes, a charity that benefits soldiers injured in action. They stopped off at Bow Churchyard for a well deserved breather before heading west.

The latest JustShare Lecture on Christian Social & Political Thought was given by Brother Timothy Radcliffe OP (Formerly Master of the Dominican Order worldwide) on 24th July 2009, entitled ‘Our Father: A Prayer for Justice’.

We were delighted to welcome Brother Timothy Radcliffe OP to give the fourth in our series of lectures on Christian Social and Political Thought on Wednesday 22nd July at St Mary-le-Bow. Brother Timothy explored the Lord’s Prayer in terms of its emphasis on justice in our relationship to God and one another. ‘Our Father’ itself, for example, affirmed our mutual brother- and sister-hood as children of God, whilst ‘hallowed be thy name’ simply meant giving God his due. The first half of the Lord’s Prayer, he suggested, referred to justice in our relationship with God and the second half (’As we forgive those…’) to justice in our relationship with others. ‘Our’ daily bread (not ‘my’ daily bread’) signified the rights of all to daily bread, and the injustice that is perpetuated when we and our unequal society deny it to others. The challenge for our times, Br. Timothy concluded, was to ensure that the common good took priority over the private good.

Questions from the audience included how we might help to make people more just, what role politics might play in achieving greater justice and how to hold politicians to the reality (rather than the rhetoric) of their promises. Informal discussions continued over Fairtrade wine kindly donated by La Riojana.