A Very Different St Benedict

St Martin-in-the-Fields Annual Parochial Church Meeting, May 18, 2025

Vicar’s Address

In an influential concluding paragraph to his celebrated 1981 book After Virtue, Scottish-American moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre sums up the condition of moral incoherence and unresolvable disputes in the modern world. He compares it to what he calls ‘a new dark ages,’ and prescribes what he outlines as ‘the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained.’ He memorably contrasts contemporary situation with that of 1500 years ago, noting, ‘This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time. And it is our lack of consciousness of this that constitutes part of our predicament.’ What we need, and are waiting for, he says, is ‘another—doubtless very different—St Benedict.’

Reaction to these words has gone in three directions. Some have blamed MacIntyre and his fellow travellers for a complacently critical attitude to liberal democracy that has proved ineffectual in responding to the populist and antidemocratic threats that have emerged in the last ten years. Others have criticised him for fostering an overly negative estimation of modernity and promoting a self-indulgent and disdainful withdrawal from mainstream society. But closer examination of the role Benedict actually played in the early middle ages from his founding of the most influential of all monastic orders around 500 AD yields a subtler message. With the collapse of much of civilisation following the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the monasteries that preserved ancient manuscripts, provided education, offered healthcare, supplied welfare, extended hospitality, and developed agriculture. They did so within a culture of worship, with the practice of a disciplined life, and in a context of widespread poverty.

Alastair MacIntyre is now 96 years old. But I’d like to think that if he came to St Martin-in-the-Fields, he’d quickly recognise a great deal of what he was describing in his celebrated paragraph. The global backdrop is more alarming than anyone imagined in 1981; and that can make all of us feel powerless in new ways. But St Martin’s is responding much as MacIntyre prescribed. This is indeed a ‘local form of community.’ Like the monasteries, it’s fostering culture and creativity and arts and imagination. It is centring all in a context of worship. It is immersed in social welfare and hospitality. Through the Oasis St Martin’s Village in Tulse Hill, it’s now engaged in innovative forms of education. Through the Nazareth Community and Companions of Nazareth, it’s now grounding all in the disciplines of devotion and communal life. Through the Being With course, it’s now permeable to newcomers exploring or returning to faith. Through national choral music initiatives and HeartEdge, it’s now influencing the culture of the church far and wide. Through publications and events, it’s now shaping the theological imagination of the wider church. In short, it’s seeking corporately to be a new and very different St Benedict. When people ask what we’re really trying to do together, this is what I say: rather than simply lament the precariousness of democratic culture, or just denounce the horror of what’s being done with impunity in other countries, we’re trying to build together a kind of local community with national reverberations that can model healthy society and inspire imitators, all within the context of Christ’s promise and example of being with us. It’s our calling; and it’s what we regard as the most faithful way we can be a Christian today.

I want now to acknowledge, celebrate and thank just some of the people who are advancing this vision in this community today. Richard Carter has been foundational to this project for many years and like a good wine continues to get better and better. Angela Sheard has been a treasure and we already much miss her. We’re thrilled to welcome Andrew Woodward as our new Associate Vicar, and I’m delighted he so amply embraces the portrayal I’ve just set out of what we’re about. We’re served by remarkable wardens who in often hidden and granular ways have taken forward the practical aspects of building this beloved community.

Chris Denton has embodied the administrative and commercial aspects of our common vision. I’m glad SMITFL has now peeped above the line of profitability and both in dynamism of programme and faithfulness of service has been a source of pride and admiration those near and far. I want to thank Chris for his patience, imagination, and dedication – and his leadership of an ever-stronger team. Lucy Littlewood is an accomplished generator of funds, a constant source of energy and vision, and a humble member of this beloved community who truly understands the Benedictine vision and with her team seeks to provide the resources to help us realise it. After the ravages of covid, SMITFL and the PCC would not be here without the Trust and we should never forget it.

The energy of this community for choral music is phenomenal. I’m in awe of the accomplishments and community spirit of the Choir, and want to celebrate Jenny’s role in that. Andrew Earis continues both to direct our vast music programme, to push us into new partnerships nationally and internationally, to raise our profile in broadcasting, and yet to have the humility to show up before dawn on Easter morning to play the organ for the vigil. I want to salute the volunteers who’ve taken on the mantle of the children’s work on Joy’s departure and shown resilience and flair. I’m hugely grateful to Andrew and Sian Yates for starting to coordinate HeartEdge and we’re all thrilled to see it get its mojo back. I’m moved and inspired to see under James Fawcett’s leadership how Being With is becoming a movement of international significance, and grateful to Flora Saxby for her leadership of our congregational groups. I’m also delighted by Louisa Price’s appointment as our archivist; and my sincere hope is she remains with us for a thousand years.

I greatly appreciate how Sherry has stepped up during the 15 months we’ve now had without an associate vicar for ministry, and I want to express on everyone’s behalf how crucial Sian is to the healthy ordering of our worship and common life. Jolley Gosnold and Maddie Naisbitt have been like two Scottish terriers, bringing life and warmth and helpfulness and returning everyone’s slippers to them every day. Kristine Wellington has been an exceptional Safeguarding Officer and I hugely value her counsel and wisdom. Our vergers continue to serve us with selflessness and dedication. Nothing could happen here without Ryan and his Estates team and we are all hugely in their debt. Lucy Brace, our Head of People and Culture, has been an immense help to me in countless hidden ways. Kristine, Steve and our stewards continue to provide a warm welcome and many other vital roles; Anne and our flower-arrangers continue to excel themselves on high days and holy days; and our online stewards welcome newcomers and enhance our fellowship. We’re hugely grateful to Bron and our hospitality team and also our café staff for close cooperation and helpfulness. Our Autumn Lectures again achieved fantastic success, and our Education Group also gave us an excellent Lent Course and special Parish Weekend. Our justice and peace group and eco church are among a host of leaders of and participants in our many activities and I especially want to thank Susannah Woodd for her service as she steps down from leading Global Neighbours.

Our Chinese lay leadership team is a thing of wonder, and has harnessed the energy and faithfulness of our Chinese congregation as an example and inspiration to all of us. We had an exuberant celebration of 60 years of the Chinese-speaking congregation in September. I also want to thank Alice for her dedicated work at the Bishop Ho Ming Wah Association and express deep gratitude to Edith Lau who has stepped down after many years as project leader.

International Group remains the flagship of our outreach ministry. The relationships made there are a constant source of healing and hope, and the annual Palm Sunday drama and Canterbury pilgrimage and south coast trip display that vision in beautiful ways. The Nazareth Community remains an amazing blessing, and the Companions of Nazareth continue to grow and become more profound under Cath’s leadership. Our online community enriches our life in countless ways. Online Morning Prayer, compline and Saturday walks are tremendous gifts, and Sermon Workshop still thrives. Our disability work, led by Fiona MacMillan, including the 14^th theology and disability conference, continues to transform perceptions of disability, church and God. Chair Bob Demming and the Friends Committee embellish our wider ministry.

We welcomed Duncan Shrubsole in June to become the Charity’s new CEO, and he’s made an outstanding start.  Pam Orchard continues to lead The Connection with wisdom and excellence. Among our many dedicated and talented non-executives, I want particularly to recognise the four chairs, Mark Bromley at the company, Malcolm Butler at the Trust, Mark Devlin at the Charity and Tim Jones at The Connection. We’ve had a period of unusual stability in leadership and we’re the stronger for it.

The annual meeting is more than anything about good governance, and in that spirit, I want to thank our PCC members who give so many hours to the work of strategy, scrutiny and culture-setting. A particular word of thanks for Wendy Quill for six stellar years of service; we’ll soon discover if Yen Leung will be continuing, but I’m grateful for her three years of faithful service so far.

Meanwhile John Milton could have been writing about St Martin’s when in his nineteenth sonnet he reminded us, ‘God doth not need/Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best/ Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state/ Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed/ And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:/ They also serve who only stand and wait.’ Thank you to those who speed without rest and to all who stand and wait – or, in our case, in the words of Shakespeare’s Ophelia, pray, love, remember.

I want to finish by returning to Alastair MacIntyre’s vision of disciplined, generous, faithful, imaginative local community within the context of Christian faith. Isn’t that what the first disciples were? Isn’t that what the Acts of the Apostles describes? Isn’t that precisely the soil out of which renewal of church and society has grown these last 21 centuries? We want to be the best we can be. We’re burdened by economic sluggishness, by challenges with our building, by the Church of England habit of forming a circular firing squad, by occasional conflicts within our community over how best to pursue the good of all. But it’s liberating to realise this isn’t a project that’s about ever arriving. It’s enough to know we’re on the right path, with good companions, discovering more about ourselves, one another and God every day. We’re not perfect, and it would be no fun if we were. Our joy is in finding our way through setbacks and challenges with one another and reaching forward in the power of the Spirit to form together a community that can be a blessing to all who encounter it and an inspiration to the world. And d’you know what, all in all, I don’t think we’re doing too badly.