St Giles for you We are here to love God and to make Christ known in word and deed.  We are an inclusive church and welcome all comers

We are the Church in the Barbican and we invite everyone to come and see for themselves; whether that is to a Sunday service, a wedding, a memorial service, a concert, a book fair, or simply to light a candle and sit quietly in the course of a working day. The church is open on Sundays for services and Mondays - Fridays 11am - 4pm. If your marriage is going bad, your kids on dope, your work unsatisfactory, you're really unhappy, maybe the place not to go to is the pub, maybe the place to go to - even if you've lost all faith in the divine - is into the church, a safe spiritual space of no judgement. Just go in, and let some of that into you. John O'Donohue, Poet, priest and religious writer "St Giles' is one of only a few places in this country which can boast two complete and well-equipped organs in the same building - unlike some Continental countries, especially France, where it's much more common." Radio Times Jan 2010. The novelist A.N. Wilson writes: "The Barbican is now an immense plate-glass fantasy, enormous gleaming towers soaring upward to the sky. But, doggedly, in the middle of it all, St Giles Cripplegate, bombed and repaired, stands as the last imaginable little memorial of that vanished city that Shakespeare knew." Directions. If you are arriving by public transport or on foot it is simpler if you keep at street level and access the Barbican Estate at the corner of Wood Street and Fore Street. Come round the corner past Wood Street Wine Bar and the church is in front of you. Instruct taxi drivers to drop you at the corner of Wood Street and Fore Street. If you are coming from the Barbican Centre you need to cross the bridge over the lake and take the lift or steps down from the walkway level. The map shows the route on foot using the walkway from St Paul's. There are two coach parking spaces outside Roman house, Fore Street. Other maps to help you find us June readings Parish Diary Historic associations. Frank Major conducts informal tours of the Church, usually on Tuesday afternoons between 2 and 5 p.m. Weddings With changes in the rules, more people with an association with St Giles are now able to marry there - see photos of the couples The bells are rung by the Ancient Society of College Youths. St. Giles Church is available for hire. Please contact the Parish Administrator We relate closely to Wesley's Chapel, St Joseph's Bunhill Fields and St Anne's Lutheran Church, Gresham Street, London EC2V 7BX and Jewin Welsh Presbyterian Church, Fann Street, EC1Y 0SA We now have a small archive of pictures, including two paintings, under records and memories

The east window was designed by Nicholson Studios and follows the pattern of the medieval window. The saints depicted commemorate those after whom churches in the benefice were named: St Giles (Cripplegate) with St Bartholomew (Moor Lane), St Alphage (London Wall) with St Luke (Old Street) a separate parish when the window was designed] with St Mary (Charterhouse) and St Paul (Clerkenwell) Other saints are St John the Evangelist - perhaps because of the knights of St John, Whitecross Street and their histrorical connection with the parish, St George of England, and St Anselm - Archbishop of Canterbury when the stone of first church on this site was laid, Lancelot Andrewes - Scholar and Anglican divine. Vicar of the parish 1588 - 1604. The instruments of the Cross feature

Contact Diane Corbin, Parish Administrator Contact webmaster

A quiet place

St Giles in the sun, May 2013

During June, July and August, the Rector is on sabbatical leave and there are temporary alterations to the times of services. There is no First Sunday of the Month Holy Communion at 8am Morning Prayer at 8 30 a.m. only on Wednesdays   Parish Office opening times Monday – Friday 10am – 2pm admin@stgilescripplegate.com 020 7638 1997

Recent events in the Church's life

Katharine, the Rector, cutting her birthday cake after the service on 12th May.  The service was designed to welcome back many who had previous connections with the Church, for example as the place of their marriage.  There was also a Baptism (see services - baptism), a short concert given by baritone Tom Kennedy, and finally a parish lunch at Pizza express.      This year with the very cold weather our Palm Sunday celebrations were inside St Giles’ instead of starting in the churchyard. After a very early start our donkeys arrived from Norfolk as usual and were soon being welcomed by the congregation who gathered in a circle at the back of the church, some holding palms waiting for the service to start

We were joined by clergy from St Paul’s Cathedral and a fanfare from the trumpets and drums told us the service had begun. We sang the great Palm Sunday hymn, there were bible readings and the blessing of the palms. We processed around the church with the donkeys and our palms and after a blessing for those going to St Pauls’, those left behind made their way to seats at the front of the church for the Parish Eucharist.

On 27th March a book signing was held for 'Working with the Labyrinth, and those present  could walk the labyrinth

Some future events

NEXT BOOK FAIR Sunday 9 June – Sunday 16 June. Open daily from  11 a.m. Sunday 18 August and Tuesday 20 August until Bank Holiday Monday 26 August Music for Brass and Organs 7 p.m. - Saturday 22 June click on the poster for details.

PRIVATE PRAYER For a session of private prayer and reflection in the Sanctuary, normally on the last Thursday of the month from 1-130pm A suggested prayer guide will be provided to include a biblical text from the month’s lectionary, subjects for prayer, including our neighbours, our families, for peace in the world, church festivals and anniversaries. We will finish by saying the Lord’s Prayer. The next sessions in 2013 will be on Thursdays 25April, 23 May and 4 and 25 July.  There will be no session in August..