St Helen's Bishopsgate

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denomination = Evangelical Anglicanism
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seniorpastor = William Taylor
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address = Great St Helen's, London EC3A 6AT

country = United Kingdom
website = [http://www.st-helens.org.uk/home/ St Helen's Bishopsgate]
phone = 020 7283 2231

St Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church, in Lime Street ward, in the City of London, close to the Lloyd's building and the 'Gherkin'.

History

The church dates from 1210 [ "London:the City Churches” Pevsner,N/Bradley,S New Haven, Yale, 1998 ISBN 0300096550] and contains many fifteenth and seventeenth century funerary monuments. ["Churches of the City of London" Reynolds,H : London, Bodley Head, 1922] It was the parish church of William Shakespeare when he lived in the area in the 1590s. [ [http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/locations/location202.html In Search of Shakespeare. Bishopsgate] ] It is one of only a few City churches to survive both the Great Fire of London of 1666 and The Blitz during World War II ["The Old Churches of London" Cobb,G: London, Batsford, 1942] .

In 1992 and 1993, St Helen's was badly damaged by two IRA bombs that were set off nearby ["The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0955394503] . The roof of the church was lifted and one of the city's largest medieval stained glass windows was shattered. Now, it has been fully restored although many of the older monuments within the church were entirely destroyed. Architect Quinlan Terry, an enthusiast of Georgian architecture, designed the restoration of the building along Reformation lines. Due to parish consolidation over the years, the parish is now named "St Helen Bishopsgate with St Andrew Undershaft & St Ethelburga Bishopsgate & St Martin Outwich & St Mary Axe." The Merchant Taylors' Company are the patrons of the benefice.

Details of the history of St Helen's and the other churches in this benefice (St Andrew's, St Martin's Outwich etc) in the 17th century can be found in Lee Gatiss, "The Tragedy of 1662: The Ejection and Persecution of the Puritans". [ [http://www.latimertrust.org/ls66.htm Gatiss] ]

Activities

St Helen's currently holds two services each Sunday. One takes place in the morning at 10:30 and the other in the evening starting at 18:00. The Sunday evening service is followed by a social time with food known as 'After 8s'.

There are also numerous midweek small groups which meet at the church. These include the 'Read, Mark, Learn (RML)' groups which either study the Gospel of Mark, the Epistle to the Romans or a Bible overview over the course of a year. There is also the Central Focus group which studies a whole variety of topics and books from the Bible.

The church also runs the Christianity Explored course regularly.

Rectors

Former rectors include R. C. Lucas. The current rector is William Taylor. [ [http://www.st-helens.org.uk/new_to/ Saint Helen's Bishopgate] ]

References

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