Act Justly

It’s a common saying, attributed to Cornel West, that justice is what love looks like in public. When the prophet Micah reminds God’s people of their calling, he understands the simple call to be with God, in the words walk humbly. He realises half of life is about seeking to repair broken relationships; hence the words, love mercy. But those two provide a platform for seeking a world better than the one we entered: so he says, act justly.

I’ve come to apprehend three ways to seek justice. The first is to trust that we inhabit a system that works, and what’s required is to invest in it and commit to it and to use it to its full extent. When Martin Luther equated vocation with a professional calling, that was what he was assuming: that if you become a teacher, I become a farmer, and another person become a local councillor, and we all work conscientiously and collaboratively, all shall be well. That approach is currently out of fashion; it’s under attack from those who feel institutions are failing them, leaders are useless and oppression is everywhere. So to the second model. Here you work against the system: you march in protest, identify miscarriages of justice, unearth ghastly forms of torture, cruelty and exploitation, and seek redress. It’s a bold and noble calling, but it has two challenges. One is, it depends on a well-functioning first approach, because once you’ve brought dreadful things to light, you need there to be a trustworthy system to process the accountability you’re demanding. The other is, it can be a lot easier to criticise and denounce than to build and construct. The third approach is to create an alternative model, not trying to take over the whole society, but offering a vision to inspire and invigorate, to put a song in a weary throat, to say hope may be dead but it’s alive at least in this one place. The weakness of this model is it can leave the major movements of society untouched. The strength is it can be truly empowering, and can practise new ways of relating that can become widely influential once tested in the laboratory of one community.

The interesting thing about St Martin-in-the-Fields is that you can perceive it as any of these three models. Some see it as the epitome of the system – the Royal Parish Church, the heart of the establishment, the embodiment of the Church of England, with classical music and fine architecture and visitors who’d be quite at home in John Lewis and the National Trust. Others love its history of protest, including Anti-Apartheid, LGBT rights, saving Covent Garden, and upholding those in the midst of homelessness and migration. Others again see it as a laboratory of practical and theological ideas, with its pioneering social enterprise and its dynamic intentional community, its use of livestreaming and its challenging understanding of why Jesus came.

The secret it seems to me of our recent flourishing is that we have become a crucible where all three of these approaches operate side by side and intermingle with one another. Occasionally they clash and there are moments of misunderstanding, tension and even hurt. Probably everyone has their own sense of which one they think they’re pursuing, but on the whole people are pretty accommodating of this remarkable diversity of callings. In our 300^th year within our current building, we can seldom have had a greater sense that what we’re looking forward to is so much more exciting than what we cherish from the past, precious as that is.

I want now to acknowledge, celebrate and thank just some of the people who represent this remarkable crucible and have brought out its wonders over the last year. It’s hard to think of someone who combines all three approaches more inspiringly than Richard Carter. His announcement of retiring from stipendiary ministry yet taking up a staff role after the summer as Head of Community Life has been described as the greatest death and resurrection moment for 2000 years. The Holy Spirit still has great wonders to bring forth from Richard’s storehouse of holy mischief. Andrew Woodward has been an amazing addition to our team and in no time has become deeply loved and integral to everything good that happens here. I’m in his debt every day. Cath Duce continues to make our Companions of Nazareth a thing of wonder and joy. Our wardens embody that joint pursuit of love and justice to which I referred, and the good order of our community is a tribute to them and their relentless pursuit of bringing out the best in everyone and everything. Jane Templeman has become a formidable and insightful treasurer and formed an awesome partnership with Andrew Woodward, Jon Briggs and Allison Polius to bring our finances into the best state for some time.

Chris Denton continues to be a dynamic and indefatigable leader of our commercial, creative and site enterprises. SMITFL is gradually emerging from the horrors of covid and Chris has shown extraordinary resilience and dexterity in leading our community in these areas. We said goodbye to Lucy Brace as our outstanding Head and People of Culture and are glad to have Kate Walker as her worthy successor. Among an excellent team, Ryan Tyler’s faithfulness running estates and Jon Briggs’ dedicated thoroughness in overseeing finance have especially supported the PCC. We thanked Lucy Littlewood for her leadership of the Trust and have just welcomed Pete Warman as its new Director and are full of anticipation for his impact. 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 astonishing. We all love the Choir for its talent and commitment, and Jenny continues to lead with style and brilliance. She’s played a crucial role in the emergence of the Noon Service as a treasured part of our liturgical programme. 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 to make our music an ever more profound and prestigious aspect of our public ministry. James Fawcett and his trustees have taken Being With into new territory as an independent charity, and under Flora Saxby’s guidance Being With at St Martin’s goes from strength to strength. Andrew and Sian Yates have led HeartEdge with a steady and resourceful hand and it continues to be a key part of our public ministry. Louisa Price our archivist is a jewel without price and her initiative around our tercentenary is a source of joy and delight. Among countless volunteers, Kristine Welllington, Steve Adams and our stewards and online stewards, Anne Langley and our flower arrangers, our children’s and youth leaders, our International Group hosts, Bron Sanders and our hospitality team continue to do a stellar job. Our Education Group gave us our grandest-ever Autumn Lectures, an outstanding Lent Course and excellent Parish Awayday. 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. Our justice and peace group, Global Neighbours and eco church are among a host of leaders of and participants in our many activities.

Sherry Taylor served us wholeheartedly and spiritedly since 2023 and it was a difficult moment saying goodbye, but it’s not really goodbye because she’s now working for the Trust. Sian continues to be a shining light in our community and she’s the keystone in the arch that holds everything together. In Jolley Gosnold we have an outstanding ordinand and since playing Jesus it’s remarkable how holy he’s become. Maddie Naisbitt has filled the pastoral assistant role with talent and application and we’re lucky she’ll be with us an additional year as pastoral coordinator.

Our Chinese lay leadership team chaired by Anne Chow is a marvellous example to the whole community of what’s possible with imagination, dedication and generosity of heart. I also want to thank Alice Chan for her courageous work chairing the Bishop Ho Ming Wah Association.

International Group remains our signature outreach ministry. The relationships made there are a constant source of healing and hope, and the annual Palm Sunday drama, this time also with a bonus Easter Day drama, together Canterbury pilgrimage and south coast trip display that vision in beautiful ways. The Nazareth Community remains source of wonder and inspiration, and the Companions of Nazareth continue to expand and deepen. Our online community enriches our life in countless ways. Online Morning Prayer, compline and Saturday walks are tremendous gifts. Sermon Workshop is on a short break and will soon reappear as How then Shall we Preach. Our disability work, led by Fiona MacMillan, including the 15^th theology and disability conference, continues to lead the way in perceptions of disability, church and God. Chair Bob Demming and the Friends Committee embellish our wider ministry.

Duncan Shrubsole has led the Charity to continued success.  Pam Orchard navigates The Connection through the challenging environment the sector faces. Among our many dedicated and talented non-executives, I want particularly to recognise our chairs, Mark Bromley at the company, Malcolm Butler at the Trust, and Mark Devlin at the Charity, and to thank Tim Jones for his long service at The Connection.

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 Rachel Morrison, Lois Howarth, Mr Chan, Nike Awoyinka, Jonathan Edwards and Dan Kaszeta for their combined 33 years of service.

Returning to the three ways of doing justice, Mother Teresa said, ‘Justice without love is not justice. Love without justice is not love.’ In the end our combination of working with the system, opposing the system and modelling an alternative system, rests on the fact that we’re not just adopting a strategy to achieve justice. We’re seeking to go beyond justice to what Mother Teresa describes as love. What matters to God I suspect is not the quality of our balance sheet or the numbers of people involved in our events or the size of our congregation but whether we go beyond justice to love. Mother Teresa also said, ‘Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.’ St Martin’s is a community where a lot of people do a lot of small things with great love. And have done for a long time. And, God willing, will do so for many, many years to come. Thank you for being at the heart of this project, which I believe is very close to the heart of God.