In search of the lost mediaeval and war-time Jewish communities in the heart of Dunstable,

By late 1942, the Jewish congregation in Dunstable had moved to 132 Luton Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

It is quite some time since I posted a variety of blog postings on Friday evenings, reflecting on an aspect of Jewish spirituality and prayer life or looking at synagogues or the sites of synagogues I have visited and places of interest in Jewish history, culture and life.

However, with the rise in antisemitism across these islands in recent months, I suspended these posts, unwilling to identify the location of synagogues or Jewish sites I was visiting. My fears seemed to be confirmed when the former East London Central Synagogue on Nelson Street in the East End suffered an arson attack shortly after I had written about its sale and its past history.

However, when I was in Dunstable last week I decided to resume me searches, looking for the sites of places that had served as synagogues, albeit briefly, and searching for stories of local Jewish history and past Jewish communities in the south Bedfordshire town.

Dunstable, with a population of about 40,000, is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire, about 30 km south-east of Milton Keynes, 8 km west of Luton and 50 km north of London.

There is no active, organised Jewish community or synagogue in Dunstable these days, and the nearest active Jewish congregation is Luton United Synagogue, about 8 km away. But Dunstable has had two Jewish communities in the past: a mediaeval community that survived until Edward I proclaimed the Edict of Expulsion in 1290; and a war-time community, mainly of evacuees, that lasted until the early 1950s.

Mediaeval Dunstable had a small but notable Jewish community in the 12th and 13th centuries. Thomas, the Prior of Dunstable, borrowed £50 from Aaron of Lincoln, a Jewish banker and financier, in 1185. Aaron of Lincoln (1123-1186) was a prominent financier and one of the wealthiest individuals in 12th century England. He ran a major banking network with agents across the country, he financed major building projects, including Dunstable Priory, St Albans Abbey, Lincoln Minster, Peterborough Abbey, and several cathedrals.

Aaron of Lincoln died in 1886, and three years later, during anti-Jewish riots and violence in 1189, the entire Jewish community in Dunstable was forced to choose accepting baptism or facing massacre.

However, Jews may have returned to the town quite quickly, albeit in small numbers. In what seems to have been an antisemitic diatribe in 1210, when a great storm destroyed the Priory Church, the Prior of Dunstable, Richard de Morins, documented his vision of two Jews who said the Anti-Christ would be born 40 years later.

Mossy, a Jew, unsuccessfully sued the same Prior of Dunstable for £700 in 1221. His friends paid the king a mark of gold and £100 to save him from hanging for forgery. A converted Jew named Henry obtained a letter from the Pope in 1275 promising that the prior, William le Breton, would maintain him and his family.

Following the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, all Jews were forced to leave England, effectively ending the mediaeval presence of Jews in Dunstable, although there is no record of the number forced of people who were forced to leave the town.

Aaron of Lincoln (1123-1186) financed major building projects, including Dunstable Priory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In the inter-war and war-time years, the Cohen family owned Barwythe Hall, near Dunstable, from 1931 until 1945. The most prominent member of the family was Harold Cohen (1873-1936), the Liverpool-born businessman, communal leader and philanthropist. He was a major benefactor to Liverpool University and Harold House, which was named in his honour, was the main centre for Jewish communal organisations, youth activities and social events in Liverpool from the 1920s until it closed in 2009.

In the mid-20th century, a modern Jewish community was established in Dunstable during World War II, mainly for evacuees who had fled from other parts of the UK.

The Dunstable United Synagogue Membership Group was formed following a meeting in October 1941 called by Jewish residents and World War II evacuees. During the war, the congregation first met in a hut until it was requisitioned by builders, with Jewish refugees worshipping at a temporary synagogue in Poynters Road, Dunstable.

The Revd Louis Blumenthal (1912-1985) was the minister in Dunstable from 1941 until at least 1943. He had previously served as the reader of Leyton and Walthamstow New Federated Synagogue, later known as Queen’s Road Synagogue, east London (1936-1939).

For most years, festival services were held in Dunstable Town Hall or in a school hall and Hebrew classes for the children were held by Rabbi Waxman at Burr Street School. Weekly Hebrew classes were held at Dunstable Grammar School and other schools in 1942.

By September 1942, the congregation had moved to 132 Luton Road, Dunstable, and this continued as the community address until at least late 1946. Following the appointment of the Revd Judah Hosea Rockman in 1946, Hebrew classes were held at two separate venues on Sunday mornings.

By 1946, the congregation was also using a temporary synagogue at Watling House, 123 High Street North, which was described as ‘very unsuitable’ and ‘bleak’. This developed into the Dunstable Hebrew Congregation, which was established about 1947. A hall adjoining 119 High Street North, Dunstable, was offered to the congregation in July 1947 for its exclusive and free use for services, classes and other activities by Barnett Green president of the congregation from 1947 to 1955.

The membership group was affiliated to the United Synagogue. When the war-time membership group scheme came to an end, the congregation was one of only five small membership groups that applied for affiliation status with the United Synagogue. The congregation became an affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue in 1948.

The last recorded minister in Dunstable was the Revd I Gross, from 1950 until about 1952. There appears to have been no further references to the congregation in the Jewish Chronicle after 1951, the congregation had closed in 1955, and the Dunstable United Synagogue membership group, which met at the Town Hall, was disbanded by the mid-1950s.

For community events, religious services, or kosher resources today, most Jewish people living in the Dunstable and Central Bedfordshire area are connected with the Luton congregation. There is no Jewish cemetery in Dunstable, and Bushey Cemetery, about 30 km away, was established in 1947. Any former members of the Dunstable congregation were probably absorbed into the Luton Hebrew Congregation.

When I went looking for signs of the Jewish community in Dunstable last week, it seemed the two addresses at High Street North have been replaced in recent decades by social housing, although the house on Luton Road is still standing.

As for the former Dunstable Town Hall at 11 High Street North, which had hosted festival services for many years, it was sold in 1965 and demolished in 1966, and the site has been redeveloped for commercial purposes. The present building is a branch of the Santander bank, while the town hall has been located since the 1990s in the Grade II-listed Grove House.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום‎

The two buildings used by the Jewish community in Dunstable in the 1940s have been replaced in recent decades by social housing (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Visiting churches and places of worship in Staffordshire and in the Diocese of Lichfield

Lichfield Cathedral … I have been visiting the cathedral since my teenage years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

In recent weeks, I have been writing about churches I have been visiting in Staffordshire, including churches in Stafford, Rugeley, Brereton and Armitage.

I have been visiting churches in Lichfield, the Diocese of Lichfield and throughout Staffordshire since my teenage years. But when I began this blog almost 20 years ago (10 November 2007), my blog postings were without order and organisation, and so my blog postings on these churches have appeared randomly over the years.

My first blog postings on these churches were about Pugin churches or repostings of magazine features. But, before this blog began, I had written extensively about Lichfield Cathedral, the chapel in Saint John’s Hospital, and the church in Comberford village, among other churches. In time, they multiplied, although occasionally they were only brief reference or a photograph or two in more wide-ranging posting.

As my blog postings roll over, year after year, it becomes increasingly difficult to scroll through these posting or to find them.

I tried to catalogue these postings about five years ago (12 February 2021) and to update it, but it has become unwieldly over the passage of time.

Some of my recent posts on churches in Staffordshire and in the Diocese of Lichfield have had so many ‘hits’ that I thought a new guide to my postings on churches and cathedrals in Lichfield and Staffordshire would be helpful.

I have similar guides to cathedrals and churches in Limerick, cathedral, churches and chapels in Wexford, to church buildings in the Greater Milton Keynes area, to cathedrals, church and college chapels in Oxford, and to synagogues I have visited around the world.

Each church name has a built-in hyperlink that enables readers to click and move to that posting.

I plan to update this guide as I visit more churches throughout Staffordshire and throughout the Diocese of Lichfield, or as I find more photographs in my files.

The chapter stalls, choir and high altar in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Cathedrals:

1, Lichfield Cathedral (xxx)

2, The Cathedral Close, Lichfield (12 May 2014):

The church-connected buildings discussed in that walking tour of the Cathedral Close in 2014 include:

3, the former Bishop’s Palace (now Lichfield Cathedral School and Chapel)

4, the Bishop’s House (No 22)

5, The Deanery

6, The Precentor’s House (No 23)

7, The Chancellor’s House (No 13)

8, Selwyn House or ‘Spite House’ (also 7 October 2014)

9, Saint Mary’s House

10, The Visitors’ Centre

11, The former Lichfield Theological College

12, Vicars’ Close (Flats) and Vicars’ Hall

Houses in the Cathedral Close and Vicars’ Close, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Armitage:

13, The former Dominican Priory, Hawkseyard Hall and Spode House (22 April 2026) and HERE (2 October 2019)

Brereton:

14, Saint Michael’s Church, Brereton (20 April 2026)

15, (former) Brereton Methodist Church (22 April 2026)

Cheadle:

16, Saint Giles’ Church, Cheadle (12 June 2010)

Comberford:

17, (former) Saint Mary and Saint George, Comberford (5 June 2013)

Farewell:

18, Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Farewell (24 August 2022), and HERE (7 June 2016)

Handsworth (historically in Staffordshire):

19, Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, formerly in the Diocese of Lichfield (22 August 2024)

Haselour:

20, The private chapel at Haselour Hall (27 January 2021)

Haunton:

21, The Church of Saint Michael and Saint James, Haunton (28 January 2021)

Hopwas:

22, Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas (10 May 2026)

23, (former) Saint John’s Chapel, Hopwas (11 May 2026)

24, Hopwas Methodist Church, Hints Lane, Hopwas (11 May 2026)

25, (former) Methodist congregation, School Lane, Hopwas (11 May 2026)

26, (former) ‘Hopwas Congregation’ (Roman Catholic), Hopwas (11 May 2026)

Saint Mary’s Church, Market Square, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Lichfield:

Church of England:

27, Christ Church, Leamonsley (27 June 2015)

28, Saint Chad’s Church, Saint Chad’s Road (2 March 2019)

29, Saint Mary’s Church, Market Square (19 September 2019)

30, Saint Michael’s Church, Greenhill (18 January 2015)

31, The Chapel, Saint John’s Hospital (27 November 2018)

32, The Chapel, Dr Milley’s Hospital, Beacon Street (31 May 2015)

Other Traditions:

33, Christadelphian Hall, Station Road (6 June 2016)

34, The Kingdom Hall. Lombard Street, Lichfield, former Wesleyan Methodist chapel (3 January 2024)

35, The Methodist Church, Tamworth Street (26 March 2020)

36, (former) Quaker Meeting House, Cruck House, Stowe Lane (1 June 2015)

37, Holy Cross Church, Upper Saint John Street (13 August 2011)

38, (former) Roman Catholic chapel, corner of Bore Street and Breadmarket Street (17 February 2018)

39, United Reformed Church, Wade Street (18 September 2019)

Historic sites:

40, The (former) Augustinian Friary (2 April 2017)

41, The (former) Franciscan Friary, Lichfield (2 April 2017)

42, Former Bishop’s Lodgings, The Friary (25 June 2015)

The chapel and Saint John’s Hospital in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Penkridge:

43, Saint Michael’s and All Angels, Penkridge (4 December 2016)

Rugeley:

44, Saint Augustine’s Church (Old Chancel), Rugeley (18 April 2026)

45, Saint Augustine’s Church (19th century), Rugeley (19 April 2026)

46, Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda (Roman Catholic), Rugeley (17 April 2026)

Stafford:

47, Saint Bretelin’s Chapel, Stafford (13 April 2026)

48, Saint Chad’s Church, Stafford (3 August 2014)

49, Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church, Stafford (3 August 2014)

50, Saint Paul’s Church, Lichfield Street, Stafford (13 April 2026)

51, The chapel, Sir Martin Noell’s Almshouse, Stafford (14 April 2026)

Inside Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Tamworth:

52, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (7 July 2019)

53, The Comberford Chapel, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (1 April 2025)

54, possible Comberford chapel, Moat House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth? (12 August 2020) and HERE (12 May 2028)

See also:

55, the Revd William MacGregor, Vicar of Tamworth (30 May 2020)

56, Exhibition of Stained Glass, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (13 May 2026)

Other traditions in Tamworth:

57, Hermon Mar Thoma Church, Aldergate, Tamworth (17 May 2026; not available yet)

58, (former) Baptist Church, Church Street, Tamworth (12 June 2016)

59, (former) Congregationalist Church, Aldergate, Tamworth (12 June 2016)

60, Central Methodist Church, Aldergate, Tamworth (12 June 2016)

61, (former) Primitive Methodist Chapel, Lichfield Street, Tamworth (11 August 2023)

62, (former) Wesleyan Temple, later Victoria Street Methodist Church, Tamworth (12 June 2016)

63, (former) Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Lichfield Street, Tamworth (11 August 2023)

64, Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church, Tamworth (7 August 2023)

65, (former) Unitarian Chapel, Colehill, now Victoria Road, Tamworth (12 June 2016)

The Comberford Chapel, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Uttoxeter:

66, Saint Mary’s Church, Uttoxeter (12 June 2010)

Wall:

67, Saint John’s Church, Wall (21 April 2017)

Weeford:

68, Saint Mary’s Church, Weeford (24 April 2018)

Wednesbury:

69, Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Wednesbury (26 June 2023)

Wigginton:

70, Saint Leonard’s Church, Wigginton (3 May 2026)

Wolverhampton:

71, Saint Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton (20 August 2023)

72, Saint Silas Church, Church of England (Continuing), (former) synagogue, Wolverhampton (29 September 2023)

The former Church of Saint Mary and Saint George, Comberford … closed in recent years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last Updated: 16 May 2026

At the Chrism Eucharist in Christ Church, Oxford: both a cathedral and a college chapel

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is unique in its dual role as a cathedral and a college chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I was at the Chrism Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, this week, with the renewal of ordination vows by deacons, priests and bishops on Maundy Thursday (2 April 2026).

It was one of the last public services for Bishop Steve Croft before he retires as Bishop of Oxford, and he reminded as sharply of the words in the ordinal that ‘the trust that is now to be committed to your charge. Remember always with thanksgiving that the treasure now to be entrusted to you is Christ’s own flock, bought by the shedding of his blood on the cross. It is to him that you will render account for your stewardship of his people.’

The Diocese of Oxford has more church buildings than any other diocese in the Church of England and has more paid clergy than any other diocese except London. The diocese includes Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, with another five churches in nearby counties.

Inside Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, looking east from the choir towards the High Altar and the Rose Window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is both the college chapel of Christ Church and the cathedral church of the Diocese of Oxford. It was founded by Henry VIII with Cardinal Wolsey, and Christ Church is the largest Oxford college.

This was my second time as a priest living in the Diocese of Oxford since 2022 to take part in the Chrism Eucharist. Holy Week and Easter 2022 had been fraught times in the immediate aftermath of a stroke. I was at the Chrism Eucharist in Oxford in 2023, but missed it again in 2024 due to a hospital appointment in Milton Keynes, and in 2025, when I spent Holy Week and Easter in Crete.

I was a teenager when I first visited Christ Church more than 55 years ago. Despite the size of the diocese, this is one of the smallest cathedrals in the Church of England, and its dual role as cathedral and college chapel is unique.

Inside Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, looking west from the choir towards the organ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The cathedral was originally the church of Saint Frideswide’s Priory. The site is said to be the location of the nunnery founded by Saint Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, and her shrine is now in the Latin Chapel. It once held her relics, brought there in 1180, and it was the focus of pilgrimage from at least the 12th until the early 16th century.

Osney Abbey was surrendered in November 1539 and dissolved at the dissolution of the monastic houses. The last abbot was Robert King, who became the first Bishop of Oxford.

The Diocese of Oxford was formed out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln in 1542, and from September 1542 until June 1544, Osney Abbey was the seat of the bishop of the new diocese.

However, Osney was costly to run as a cathedral and in 1545 the bishop moved to the smaller and cheaper cathedral at Christ Church. Later, during the reign of Queen Mary, Bishop King was one of the judges at the trial of Thomas Cranmer.

Great Tom, described as the ‘loudest thing in Oxford’, now hangs in Tom Tower (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The abbey buildings soon fell into decay and were despoiled for the sake of the new foundation. Much of the stone found its way into local buildings, including Saint Frideswide’s as it was transformed into Christ Church. Osney Abey has been described as the greatest building that Oxford has lost.

Great Tom, the bell described as the ‘loudest thing in Oxford’ and now hanging in Tom Tower at Christ Church, was taken from the tower of Osney Abbey at the dissolution. Much of the monastic property was also transferred to Christ Church.

A statue of Cardinal Wolsey, founder of Christ Church, above the entrance to the Great Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Saint Frideswide’s Priory was surrendered in 1522 to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who had selected it as the site for his proposed college. However, in 1529 the foundation was taken over by Henry VIII. Work stopped, but the college was refounded by the king in June 1532. Henry VIII transferred the recently-created See of Oxford from Osney to Christ Church in 1546.

There has been a choir at the cathedral since 1526, when John Taverner was the organist and master of the choristers. The statutes of Wolsey’s original college, initially called Cardinal College, mentioned 16 choristers and 30 singing priests.

The nave, choir, main tower and transepts are late Norman. There are architectural features ranging from Norman to the Perpendicular style and a large rose window of the ten-part or botanical type.

The monument to the Irish philosopher Bishop George Berkeley of Cloyne in Christ Church, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Visitors to Oxford are often pointed to monuments such as those to the Wesley brothers, John and Charles Wesley, who were ordained in Christ Church, or the memorial to the poet WH Auden.

But this week I also noticed a number of monuments of Irish interest.

The philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753), who was born in Co Kilkenny, was Bishop of Cloyne when he died in Oxford on 14 January 1753, and he was buried in Christ Church Cathedral.

The monument to William Brouncker, who was almost ruined when he bought an Irish peerage weeks before he died (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A monument in the south transept remembers Colonel William Villiers (1614 -1643), 2nd Viscount Grandison of Limerick, who was killed during the First English Civil War. His father Sir Edward Villiers (1585-1626) was the older half-brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, a favourite of both James I and Charles I, and was the Lord President of Munster when he died in Cork in 1626.

William Villiers inherited the Irish peerage title of Viscount Grandison from his great-uncle Oliver St John (1559-1630). He fought as a royalist at the Battle of Edgehill and at the Storming of Bristol, where he was wounded in the right leg. He was taken to Oxford and died there he died on 29 September 1643. His daughter Barbara Villiers (1640-1709) was later a mistress of Charles II and Duchess of Cleveland.

Close by, another monument commemorates William Brouncker (1585-1645), 1st Viscount Brouncker of Castle Lyons and Baron Brouncker of Newcastle. His father, Sir Henry Brouncker, was Lord President of Munster (1603-1607). Malicious gossip said William Brouncker paid the then enormous sum of £1,200 for his titles in the Irish peerage, which he given on 12 September 1645, and was almost ruined as a result. He died a few months later.

The 17th century window by Abraham Van Linge shows the prophet Jonah looking over the city of Nineveh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The cathedral has a fine collection of stained glass, the oldest being the 14th century Becket Window in the Lucy Chapel. It is one of very few images of Thomas Becket to survive the Reformation.

The glass at the west end of the north aisle is by the 17th century Dutch artist Abraham Van Linge. It dates from the period of Laudian Reform, around 1630, and shows the prophet Jonah looking over the city of Nineveh. A second window by Abraham van Linge is dedicated to Bishop King.

The window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in the Latin Chapel is a tribute to Saint Frideswide (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The cathedral also has windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones, best known for his work with William Morris. The east window in the Latin Chapel was designed by Burne-Jones when he was still in his mid-20s and was made in 1859 by James Powell and Sons. It is a bold and colourful tribute to Saint Frideswide, and perhaps the finest of his early works, but also a dramatic contrast to his later work with Morris.

The Vyner window by Edward Burne-Jones (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Vyner memorial window remembers two undergraduates who were murdered in the late 19th century. This Pre-Raphaelite window is a also pun on their family name, with vine leaves prominent in upper part of window.

The Saint Cecilia Window by Edward Burne-Jones in the North Choir aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Saint Cecilia Window by Burne-Jones depicting scenes from the life of Saint Cecilia and her martyrdom is the East Window in the North Choir aisle or Saint George’s Chapel. The angels in the tracery at top were designed by William Morris. Malcom Bell was of the opinion in 1895 that the source of the three panels showing the saint’s life was in Chaucer’s ‘Second Nun’s Tale’.

The Saint Michael Window by Clayton and Bell in the north transept (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Clayton and Bell created the dramatic Saint Michael Window in the north transept in 1870.

A window unveiled in 2023 as a memorial to EH Burn. It depicts Saint Francis of Assisi and is by John Reyntiens.

The newest stained-glass window in Christ Church Cathedral is the Prodigal Son Window by the British artist Thomas Denny. It was commissioned through the generosity of an anonymous donor and unveiled last September.

The chrism oils on a side altar in Christ Church Cathedral on Maundy Thursday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Dean of Christ Church is both the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and the head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford.

The chapter of canons of the cathedral has formed the governing body of the college since its foundation, with the dean as ex officio head of the chapter and ipso facto head of the college.

The Very Revd Dr Martyn Percy stepped down as the Dean of Christ Church in 2022 after a lengthy and acrimonious dispute. Previously, he had been the principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon (2004-2014). The governing body of Christ Church voted in 2023 to separate the ecclesiastical role of dean from the position of head of house of the college.

The Very Reverend Sarah Foot has been the Dean of Christ Church since 2023. She is also the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford since 2007, the first woman ever to hold that chair.

The other senior cathedral clergy include the Sub Dean, the Revd Canon Peter Moger, who introduced the Chrism Eucharist on Thursday and welcomed us to Christ Church, and the Archdeacon of Oxford, the Ven Jonathan Chaffey. The university’s four senior theology professors are also ex officio canons residentiary.

Looking towards the North Transept from the font and the pulpit (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In his poem ‘Thyrsis’, the Victorian poet Matthew Arnold called Oxford ‘the city of dreaming spires’, describing the architecture of the university buildings. WB Yeats refers to Christ Church in his poem ‘All Souls’ Night, Oxford’:

Midnight has come and the great Christ Church bell
And many a lesser bell sound through the room;
And it is All Souls’ Night …

The Communion vessels after the Chrism Eucharist on Maundy Thursday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

• The Easter Vigil with the Confirmations and the First Eucharist of Easter is at 8:05 in Christ Church Cathedral this evening. The Easter Day services tomorrow (Sunday 5 April 2026) are: 8:05 am, Holy Communion (1662 Book of Common Prayer); 9:35 am, Choral Matins for Easter Day; 11:05 am, Choral Eucharist for Easter Day; 6:05 pm, Festal Evensong for Easter Day. Choral Evensong takes place in the Cathedral each evening at 6pm and is open to the public.

Prayers for Peace in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2026, but dates back to 1851

Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching, which includes Sarawak and Brunei (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

During this visit to Kuching, I am attending the Cathedral Eucharist each Sunday in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching, which includes Sarawak and Brunei. We are staying beside the cathedral, which is a three-minute walk from where we stay, and I hear the cathedral bell ringing thtroughout the day, including ringing for the angelus at 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm.

The present cathedral is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The cathedral grounds include the cathedral, the bishop’s house on the top of a hill, the diocesan offices, the cathedral hall, the parish centre, and the House of the Epiphany, the theological college for the Diocese of Kuching. Nearby are Saint Thomas’s, the diocesan boys’ school, Saint Mary’s, the diocesan girls’ school, and the Marian Hotel, once the Ong family home, then the boarding house of Saint Mary’s School, later became the diocesan guesthouse, and now a charming boutique hotel where we stayed for a week at the beginning of our visit in 2024.

Saint Thomas’s Cathedral was built in 1954-1956. It is a plain but modern structure that in many ways is typical of many large churches of this size and importance built in the English-speaking world in the mid-20th-century.

Inside Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, facing the east end from the west doors (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The cathedral faces Padang Merdeka (Independence Square) with its monumental kapok or Java cotton tree. But the cathedral compound is also accessed from Jalan McDougall, a street named after the first Anglican bishop in Kuching, Francis Thomas McDougall (1817-1886), who arrived in Sarawak on Saint Peter’s Day, 25 August 1848.

The Borneo Church Mission and McDougall and his party were invited to Sarawak by James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak. McDougall who led the group was both a doctor and a priest. The Rajah gave the missionaries a considerable area of jungle-covered hill. on which they built Saint Thomas’s Church, a wooden church that could seat up to 250 people.

Saint Thomas’s served as a pro-cathedral for many years and stood on a hill where the parish hall now stands, about 50 metres north of the present cathedral. These first missionaries also built a school that later became Saint Thomas’s and Saint Mary’s, and a dispensary.

Inside Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, facing the west end from the chancel and choir at the east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Kuching was then within the Diocese of Calcutta, and Bishop Daniel Wilson of Calcutta, consecrated Saint Thomas’s Church on 22 January 1851. The church became the home church and base of the Borneo Church Mission in Sarawak.

McDougall returned to England in 1853 to manage the transfer of the mission from the Borneo Mission Society, whose funds came to an end, to the Anglican mission agency SPG (the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), now USPG.

The initiative to create a separate diocese based in Kuching came from SPG and SPG contributed £5,000 (about £875,00 today) towards the endowment of the new diocese. McDougall returned to Sarawak in 1854 and the work of the mission grew.

McDougall was appointed the first Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak in 1855. His title was chosen carefully because Labuan was a British territory and Sarawak was not, and was ruled as an autonomous state by the Brooke family with the title of rajah. McDougall was consecrated a bishop in Calcutta on Saint Luke’s Day, 18 October 1855, by Daniel Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta, under a commission from John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury. His consecration was said to be ‘the first consecration of an English bishop performed outside the British Isles.’

The cathedral chancel was built with funds from SPG (USPG) to mark more than 100 years of links between SPG and the Diocese of Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Saint Thomas’s Church was wrecked in the Chinese insurrection in 1857, but was restored soon after, and continued to serve as the Pro-Cathedral after McDougall returned to England in 1868.

Walter Chambers (1824-1893) was the second Bishop of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore from 1868 to 1881. Chambers had arrived in Sarawak in 1851, and he brought his first four converts to Kuching to be baptised on Christmas Eve 1854. He married Lizzie Wooley, another missionary and a cousin of McDougall’s wife, Harriette McDougall, in 1857.

George Frederick Hose (1838-1922), a former Archdeacon of Singapore, was the third Bishop of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore from 1881 to 1909. He organised the first Iban conference in 1893, and expanded mission work in Sabah. Hose is also credited with having planted the first rubber seeds in Borneo.

The Lady Chapel in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral was the gift of Yap Ghee Heng (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

When Hose retired, a separate Diocese of Singapore was formed, and the diocese reverted to the name of Labuan and Sarawak with William Robert Mounsey (1867-1952) as the fourth bishop (1909-1916). He founded the Borneo Mission Association in 1909, and after he retired, he joined the Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, where he was known as Father Rupert.

Ernest Denny Logie Danson (1880-1946) was the fifth Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak (1917-1931). During his time, the old Saint Thomas’s continued to serve as the Pro-Cathedral. While Danson was bishop, the building was enlarged and it was given the status of a cathedral in 1920.

Danson saw these enlargements as temporary measures, and by 1920 he was proposing a permanent cathedral building of brick. However, those dreams were not realised for another 35 years.

Danson was succeeded as bishop by Noel Hudson in 1932-1937 and Francis Hollis in 1938-1948. After Hudson resigned from Sarawak, he became Secretary of SPG, then Bishop of St Albans, of Newcastle and later of Ely.

The figure of the Crucified Christ on the Rood Beam appears to be modelled on a man from one of the indigenous people of Sarawak (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Francis Hollis (1884-1955) first came to Sarawak in 1916, and was the assistant priest at Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching (1916-1923), priest-in-charge of the Land Dayak mission of Saint James, Quop and Tai (1923-1928), principal of Saint Thomas’s School (1928-1938), and Archdeacon of Sarawak (1934-1938).

He became Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak in 1938. During World War II, Hollis was interned at Batu Lintang camp near Kuching for 3½ years (1942-1945), and his time in internment seriously undermined his health and his eyesight. He resigned in 1948 after 32 years in Sarawak.

During World War II, the wooden cathedral suffered from four years of neglect and abuse, and the occupying Japanese forces used the old cathedral as a store. After the devastation of World War II, the Diocese of Labuan and the bishopric of Sarawak were joined into the Diocese of Borneo.

The Calvary in the cathedral grounds, close to the west doors of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Nigel Edmund Cornwall (1903-1948) became the first Bishop of Borneo in 1949. His immediate task was to restore the churches, schools and other church property destroyed during the Japanese occupation. The high points of his time as bishop were the construction of the new Saint Thomas’s Cathedral in Kuching, and the centenary of the founding of the Anglican Church in Borneo.

Soon after he arrived in Kuching, Cornwall commissioned an architect in England to design a new cathedral and an appeal was launched.

The foundation stone of a new cathedral was laid by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, on 15 October 1952. The old cathedral building was dismantled carefully, and the parts that could be reused were taken by boat to the Iban village of Sungai Tanju, located in the Samarahan division.

The architect’s plans sought to incorporate a western plan and layout with the outward appearance of the Far East. However, it was soon realised the plans would have placed a heavy financial burden on the diocese. Alfred George Church of the Singapore architects Swan and McLaren drew up new plans that were unanimously approved in October 1954.

The coat of arms of the Diocese of Kuching beside the choir stalls and chapter stalls in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Swan and Maclaren group is one of the oldest architectural practices in Singapore and was formerly known as Swan & Maclaren and Swan & Lermit, and was one of the most prominent architectural firms in Singapore when it was a crown colony during the early 20th century.

The firm has designed numerous heritage buildings in Singapore and Malaysia, including Raffles Hotel (1899), the Teutonia Club (1900, now the Goodwood Park Hotel) and Victoria Memorial Hall (1905, now the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall), the Chesed-El Synagogue (1905), and the Sultan Mosque (1924-1928) in Singapore.

The architect of the new cathedral in Kuching, Alfred Church, had been a prisoner of war during World War II at Kanu Camp, a Japanese POW camp in Siam (Thailand).

Bishop Cornwall cut the first sod on 27 January 1955, the building was completed by May 1956, and Cornwall consecrated the cathedral on 9 June 1956.

An image of the original Saint Thomas’s Pro-Cathedral in the cathedral office (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Saint Thomas’s Cathedral is built in the style of a basilica, with a bright red barrel-vaulted ceiling. As light pours in the upper windows, the of yellow and golden light and the red ceiling create a combination of colours that many Chinese people associate with prayers, worship and the spiritual life.

The 12 pillars are each marked with consecration crosses. The white pillars are thin at the bottom and thick at the top, and the arches reach a height of about 48 ft. The Rood Beam has a figure of the Crucified Christ, with the Virgin Mary and Saint John on either side. The figure of Christ on the Crucifix appears to be modelled on a man from one of the indigenous people of Sarawak.

The greater part of the cost of building the cathedral came from within the Diocese of Kuching, but there were generous outside contributions, while each parish in the diocese provided a part of the building.

The chancel was built with funds from SPG (USPG) to mark more than 100 years of links between the diocese and SPG. The six stained glass windows high above the chapter and choir stalls depict six of the seven sacraments and commemorate Geraldine Ng Siew Lan, who died in 2014.

Inside the original Saint Thomas’s Pro-Cathedral, an image in the cathedral office (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A plaque above the lectern reads: ‘Borneo Mission Association, 1909-2015, For its memorial look around you.’

The coats-of-arms of the Diocese of Kuching, Singapore, Calcutta, London, Canterbury and other linked dioceses decorate the walls above the chapter and choir stalls.

A plaque at the west end records that Saint Andrew’s in Brunei paid for the roofing, Saint Philip and Saint James in Kuala Belait provided the cost of the terrazzo paving of the floor, and the new parish of Saint Margaret and All Saints, Seria in Brunei bore the cost of the electric lighting.

The Lady Chapel is the gift of Yap Ghee Heng (1880-1967).

The chime of bells in the tower were presented jointly in 1956 by Sarawak Oilfields Ltd, British Malayan Petroleum and the Shell Company of North Borneo. The eight bells in the tower were dedicated to eight priests who were ordained on the centenary of the diocese in 1955.

A plaque above the lectern reads: ‘Borneo Mission Association, 1909-2015, For its memorial look around you.’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Sarawak and Sabah became parts of the new Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Bishop Cornwall was succeeded by Bishop David Nicholas Allenby (1909-1995), and the Diocese of Borneo was the divided into the Diocese of Kuching and the Diocese of Jesselton, later renamed the Diocese of Sabah.

Allenby appointed the Very Revd Michael Lim as the first Sarawakian Dean of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, and Ven (later Bishop) Basil Temenggong, the first Sarawakian and Iban, as Archdeacon.

Bishop Allenby retired in 1968 and spent the last years of his life at Willen Hospice, near Milton Keynes. When he died in 1995, he was is buried in the churchyard of Saint Mary Magdalene, Willen.

The Diocese of Sabah, which covers Sabah and Labuan, was formed in 1962. The Diocese of West Malaysia was formed to separate that region from Singapore in 1970.

The Bishop’s House in the grounds of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Bishop Basil Temenggong, who became bishop in 1968, was the first Sarawakian and the first Iban to be made bishop. He died suddenly in Simunjan while administering Confirmation in 1984. Bishop John Leong was consecrated in 1985 and enthroned in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching.

The Diocese of Kuching became a part of the Province of South East Asia when it was formed in 1996, with the neighbouring Dioceses of Sabah, West Malaysia, and Singapore. The Church of the Province of South East Asia is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its formation this year (2026).

Today, the Diocese of Kuching includes Sarawak in Malaysia and Brunei, as well as part of Indonesian Borneo lying north of the equator and west of longitude 115 42. The Right Revd Danald Jute has been the 14th Bishop of Kuching and Brunei since 2017; the Right Revd Andrew Shie is the assistant bishop.

The House of the Epiphany beside the cathedral has provided ordination training for the Diocese of Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The House of the Epiphany beside the cathedral was established in 1952 and has provided ordination training for the diocese. The House of the Epiphany has been closely identified with the work of Peter Howes (1911-2003), later an assistant bishop in Kuching. He was arrested by the Japanese at Kuap in 1942. While he was interned in the Batu Lintang Prison Camp, he celebrated the Eucharist for the prisoners, together with Biship Hollis and other missionaries.

After World War II, Howes returned to Sarawak to begin rebuilding the Church. He became the first Warden of the House of Epiphany when it opened in 1953. Later, he became Archdeacon of Sarawak and Brunei, Archdeacon of Brunei and North Sarawak, and then Principal of the re-founded House of the Epiphany (1971-1976). He was an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Kuching from 1976 to 1981.

There has been a warm welcome in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral from the Dean of Kuching, the Very Revd Kho Thong Meng, the Revd Dato Bong Ah Loi who preached last Sunday and who presided this morning, from my friend the Revd Dr Jeffry Renos Nawie, who preached this morning, and from the priests of the cathedral each time I visit. Saint Thomas’s has become my home church and cathedral each time I visit Kuching.

• Saint Thomas’s Cathedral has six regular Sunday services: Holy Communion in English, 6:30 am; Sung Eucharistic in English, 8:30 am; Bahasa Malaysia Service with Holy Communion (McDougall Hall, Level 3, Parish Centre), 10:30 am; Mandarin Service with Holy Communion, 10:30 am; Iban Service with Holy Communion, 2 pm; Evensong with Holy Communion in English, 5:30 pm.

The eight bells in the cathedral tower were dedicated to eight priests who were ordained on the centenary of the diocese in 1955 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A changeover that left no time to get into Kuala Lumpur or to visit the Anglican cathedral

Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur (Photograph: Flaming Ferrari / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Patrick Comerford

After a furtive flurry rushing through Kuala Lumpur International Airport, dashing from a flight from Muscat to catch a flight to Kuching late on Thursday night and early on Friday morning, I put aside entertaining any dreams of snatching a few hours in the Malaysian capital, of perhaps even visiting the Anglican cathedral in Kuala Lumpur.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin or Saint Mary’s Cathedral is the cathedral of the Diocese of West Malaysia in the Anglican Church of the Province of South-East Asia. From one small congregation in a simple wooden building in the 19th century on the present site beside Independence Square or Dataran Merdeka, the cathedral community has grown into 10 diverse and active congregations that form one cathedral community.

The original church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was consecrated by Bishop George Frederick Hose, Bishop of Singapore, Labuan and Sarawak, on 13 February 1887. This early church was built of timber on Bluff Road, on top of a hill now known as Bukit Aman, where the headquarters of the Royal Malaysian Police are now located. It served a small number of Anglicans in Kuala Lumpur at the time, and the parishioners at that time included the British Residents of Selangor, Sir William Hood Treacher (1849-1919) and Sir Frank Swettenham (1850-1946), later Resident-General of the Federated Malay States and Governor of the Straits Settlements.

With a growing congregation, a decision was taken in 1893 to build a new church and a new site was found beside the Padang or Parade Ground of the Selangor Club, now known as Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square. The congregation raised the funds to build a new church a further 5,000 Straits dollars came as a gift from the government of Selangor with the support of the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (1840-1916), a grandson of the composer Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) who lived at the end of his life in Lichfield in Lincroft House, now the Hedgehog Vintage Inn.

The foundation stone was laid on 3 February 1894 by the British Resident of Selangor, Sir William Treacher, and the service was led by Bishop Hose. It was the first brick church in the so-called native States of the Malay Peninsula and it was consecrated by Bishop Hose on 9 February 1895.

The church was designed by the government Arthur Charles Alfred Norman (1858-1944), whose design was based on Early English Gothic architecture. Norman contributed to the design of some of Malaysia’s most important buildings in the historic core of Kuala Lumpur lining the perimeter of Merdeka Square, including the Sultan Abdul Samad Building (1897), the Royal Selangor Club, the Residence of the British Resident of Selangor (1888), the Victoria Institution (1893) and Kuala Lumpur Library (1909).

Norman designed Saint Mary’s Church with a nave that is 87 ft long by 28 ft wide, and a chancel 29 ft long by 22 ft wide with an octagonal end, along with a vestry and organ chamber. The nave can hold a congregation of 180 people and the chancel a choir of 20.

The back of the main sanctuary was extended in 1958 to accommodate a hall named the Jubilee Hall. Later developments have included a multi-purpose hall, as well as offices for the clergy and a studio apartment.

The pipe organ in the church is a second-hand built in 1898 by Henry Willis (‘Father Willis’), the English organ maker who also built the organ of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, and the original grand organ in the Royal Albert Hall. One of his organs is also in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

The organ was originally bought by Frederic Duberly, the Acting Resident of Pahang, for his personal use in 1898. Duberly died of a heart attack on 3 April 1903, and his organ was packed up and shipped to Kuala Lumpur. It was installed in Saint Mary’s in 1904 and dedicated on 7 August 1904 but it was soon dismantled after a dispute over its legal ownership. The church eventually paid Duberly’s executors $2,000 in 1915, and the organ was then installed on the north side of the church.

The organ was damaged in two floods in 1925 and 1926 and repaired and then moved to its present position in the loft. The organ was rebuilt in 1927, when most of the wooden pipes, the pedal board, the wind chest, and some of the keys were replaced. It was badly damaged again during World War II and was completely rebuilt in 1951.

Canon Paul GT Samuel laid the foundation stone for a two-storey annexe on 28 April 1968. This annexe replaced the ‘old wooden parish hall on stilts’ was dedicated by Bishop Chiu Ban It, Bishop of Singapore and Malaya, on 5 February 1969.

The Diocese of West Malaysia, covering the entire West Malaysia, and the Diocese of Singapore were formed out of the former Diocese of Singapore and Malaya in 1970, and Saint Mary’s Church became the seat of the Bishop of West Malaysia. Saint Mary’s Church was proclaimed the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin by the Bishop of West Malaysia, Bishop Tan Sri JG Savarimuthu on 8 September 1983.

The Church of the Province of South East Asia, with four dioceses, was formed on 2 February 1996, with the dioceses of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore and West Malaysia. It includes most of South-East Asia as well as Nepal, apart from Myanmar and the Philippines.

The cathedral was designated a National Heritage building of Malaysia in 2014. Today, Saint Mary’s stands in a strategic location in the most historical and charming section of Kuala Lumpur.

The Right Revd Dr Stephen Soe is the Bishop of West Malaysia and the Very Revd Andrew Cheah is the Dean of Kuala Lumpur Cathedral.

The cathedral has three traditional liturgical services in English on Sundays: Said Eucharist (7 am), a Sung Eucharist with choir (9 am), and a said Family Eucharist with choir (11 am). Other Sunday services include the three ‘Contemporary Sunday Services’ at 9 am off-site at Wisma Anglican, at 11 am and at 5 pm in the Multipurpose Hall beside the cathedral.

In addition. an Iban Service for the Iban congregation, made up mainly of ethnic Iban migrants from Sarawak, is held at 8 am on Sunday mornings in the Multi-Purpose Hall. There are Bahasa Malaysia services at 11 am and 3 pm in the Lady Chapel, mainly for people from Sabah and Sarawak.

After all the fuss and frenzy of changing flights and catching flights on Thursday night and Friday morning, I never did get into Kuala Lumpur and I never got to see Saint Mary’s Cathedral. Perhaps I may share some of my impressions of the airport in the next day or two. And, perhaps, I may even look at the opportunities to visit Kuala Lumpur itself on my return journey at the end of next week.

Inside Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur (Photograph: Tripadvisor)

Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 4, Saturday 21 February 2026

The Crucifix above the High Altar in Saint Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began this week with Ash Wednesday, and tomorrow is the First Sunday in Lent (Lent I). After our marathon journey that began in Heathrow on Ash Wednesday (18 February) and that included stopovers and connections in Muscat and Kuala Lumpur, we are settling into our flat in Kuching today.

As I wake this morning, I wonder whether I am going to find a suitable place later today to see the Six Nations Championship fixtures between England and Ireland (14:10 Irish and British time) and Wales and Scotland (16:40). In any event, I am looking forward to dinner with friends and extended and family in the Sarawak Club in Kuching this evening.

But, even before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house’ (Luke 5: 29) … in the Great Dining Room in Aston Hall, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 5: 27-32 (NRSVA):

27 After this he went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ 28 And he got up, left everything, and followed him.

29 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 31 Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

‘The Bull’ by Laurence Broderick is a popular feature in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist yesterday (Matthew 9: 14-15), Christ discussed the question about fasting put to him by the disciples of John the Baptist. The same question comes up again in today’s reading (Luke 5: 27-32) in the response to the lavish banquet Levi arranges in his house to welcome Jesus. It is especially relevant during Lent, which we are supposed to mark with ‘prayer, fasting, and self-denial’, and I suppose I ought to reflect on it in before this evening’s dinner in the Sarawak Club.

However, the difference between the welcome Jesus receives from Levi and the large crowd of tax-collectors and sinners at the banquet on one hand, and on the other hand, the criticism levied at him by those who complain about this eating and drinking reminds me of ‘Indifference’, or ‘When Jesus came to Birmingham,’ a poem by the priest-poet Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (‘Woodbine Willie’).

Woodbine Willie wrote this poem while he was a chaplain during World War I. He felt God’s heartbeat for people and ministered faithfully, through practical love and through his poetry, to the ordinary soldiers living through ‘hell on earth’ in the trenches.

In this poem, Kennedy compares the behaviour of Christ’s contemporaries with our behaviour today towards the stranger and the outcast, and challenges us in Lent to consider whether we are following Christ to Golgotha.

Kennedy once wrote: ‘We have taught our people to use prayer too much as a means of comfort – not in the original and heroic sense of uplifting, inspiring, strengthening, but in the more modern and baser sense of soothing sorrow, dulling pain, and drying tears – the comfort of the cushion, not the comfort of the Cross.’

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy was given his nickname ‘Woodbine Willie’ during World War I because of his reputation for giving Woodbine cigarettes along with pastoral and spiritual support to injured and dying soldiers.

He was born in Leeds in 1883, the seventh of nine children born to Jeanette Anketell and William Studdert Kennedy, a vicar in Leeds. His family came from Co Limerick, Co Clare and Clonfert, Co Galway, places I know well from my parish and cathedral ministry. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School and then went to Trinity College Dublin, where he received a degree in classics and divinity in 1904.

After a year’s training for ordination, he was appointed a curate in Rugby. He was appointed Vicar of Saint Paul’s, Worcester, in 1914. On the outbreak of World War I later that year, he volunteered as a chaplain on the Western Front, and it was there he was given the nickname ‘Woodbine Willie.’

In 1917, he ran into ‘No Man’s Land’ at the Messines Ridge, to help the wounded during an attack on the German frontline. For his bravery, he was decorated with the Military Cross.

His poems about his war-time experiences were published in Rough Rhymes of a Padre (1918), and More Rough Rhymes (1919).

But during the war, he was also converted to Christian Socialism and pacifism, which influenced his books Lies (1919), Democracy and the Dog-Collar (1921) – which included chapters such as ‘The Church Is Not a Movement but a Mob,’ ‘Capitalism is Nothing But Greed, Grab, and Profit-Mongering,’ and ‘So-Called Religious Education Worse than Useless’ – Food for the Fed Up (1921), The Wicket Gate (1923) and The Word and the Work (1925).

After the war, he was appointed to the Church of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr, in Lombard Street, London. But he soon moved to work for the Industrial Christian Fellowship, travelling throughout Britain on speaking tours.

He addressed the Anglo-Catholic Congress in London in July 1923, when he said:

‘It is not enough to make the devotional life our main concern, and allow an occasional lecture or preachment on social matters to be added as a make-weight. The social life must be brought right into the heart of our devotion, and our devotion right into the heart of our social life. There is only one spiritual life, and that is the sacramental life – sacramental in its fullest, its widest, and its deepest sense, which means the consecration of the whole man and all his human relationships to God.

‘There must be free and open passage between the sanctuary and the street. We must destroy within ourselves our present feeling that we descend to a lower level when we leave the song of the angels and the archangels and begin to study economic conditions, questions of wages, hours and housing. It is hard, very hard, but it must be done. It must be done not only for the sake of the street, but for the sake of the sanctuary, too. If the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament obscures the Omnipresence of God in the world, then the Sacrament is idolatrous, and our worship is actual sin, for all sin at its roots is the denial of the Omnipresence of God.

‘I have been to Mass in churches where I felt it was sinful – sinful because there was no passion for social righteousness behind it. When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make long prayers I will not hear you; your hands are full of blood … Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek judgement. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

‘Remember that medieval ritual was a natural expression of medieval life, which, at any rate, tried to consecrate all things to God – tried to build the Kingdom of God on earth, and dedicated all arts and crafts, all human activities to him. In that setting it meant much; apart from that setting it means nothing, and worse than nothing – it is a hollow mockery. The way out is not to destroy ritual, but to restore righteousness, and make our flaming colours the banners of a Church militant here on earth …’

Woodbine Willie was taken ill on one of his speaking tours and he died in Liverpool 97 years ago on 8 March 1929.

Indifference, by GA Studdert Kennedy

When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by.
They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do,’
And still it rained the winter rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall, and cried for Calvary.

The Crucified Christ and candlesticks by Peter Eugene Ball in the north aisle of Saint Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham … the cross is made from a simple wooden sleeper, the Crucified Christ from copper and bronze foil (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 21 February 2026):

The theme this week (15-20 February 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been: ‘Look to the Amazon!’ (pp 28-29). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Most Revd Marinez Bassotto, Bishop of Amazonia and Archbishop of the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 21 February 2026, International Mother Language Day) invites us to pray:

God of all peoples, bless the preservation of language and culture. May communities celebrate and pass on their heritage, strengthening identity and pride for future generations.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
you have given your only Son to be for us
both a sacrifice for sin
and also an example of godly life:
give us grace
that we may always most thankfully receive
these his inestimable gifts,
and also daily endeavour
to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Holy God,
our lives are laid open before you:
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son
bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Lent I:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘When Jesus came to Birmingham’ (‘Woodbine Willie’) … inside Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Aston, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org