25 Things About St Lukes

1. Our vicar is Dave Tomlinson and he lives with his wife Pat in the Vicarage next door to the Church. Pat is Parish Administrator. Dave is a scouser and supports Liverpool FC. He once ran a church in a pub called Holy Joe’s.

2. We have two services on Sunday morning, and an evening service  on the second and fourth Sunday. (Of the month, not the year). At 9am there is a short, meditative communion service, with no talk or hymns. At 11am our main  worship service includes a crèche and activities for children, features our choir and the eucharist. The service finishes as the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifts across the church and the Traidcraft (fairly traded products) stall opens for business. At 7pm on the second Sunday of the month we host ‘Soul Space’,  exploring spiritual themes in a chill-out room atmosphere, while on the fourth Sunday at 7.30pm there is ‘Listen to the Silence, a reflective service of Evening Prayer rooted in the liturgies of the Iona Community with an emphasis on peace, justice and healing.

3. As a church we like lots of different styles and approaches to worship – often in the same service. We love the ancient, the modern and the post-modern. So, for instance you might find old liturgies next to a music video. Or old hymns next to contemporary reflection. We are Church of England in London in the 21st Century – together we are working out what that means.

4. St Luke’s was established on the corner of Penn Road and Hillmarton Road in 1860. 2010 is our 150th birthday.  Bits of it were bombed in World War II and have been rebuilt. All that time local people have gathered here – we are just the current crop.

5. We have a mixed congregation averaging 180 or so (in numbers, not age). In our community we have doctors, office workers, teachers, shop assistants, writers, care workers, artists, people who are retired and people who want to be. And lots of kids.

6. We are a church where people who want to get involved can. Members of the congregation lead services, write and say prayers, make coffee, run the Sunday Clubs, manage the sound system, do the gardening, organise the fayres, volunteer for the Winter Night-shelter… and a load of other things.

7. There are about 200 people on the Electoral Roll at St Luke’s (that’s the number of people who sign up to say they’ve joined). This has doubled over recent years. People on the Electoral Roll get to vote for people to be on the Parochial Church Council (PCC), which is the group that works with Dave, Pat, Martin and the Church Wardens to run St Luke’s.

8. Jimmy Nail once came to our vicarage for a few days to make a film for the big screen about rock music. (Didn’t break any box office records.)

9. Our church wardens are Ruth Peacock and Dean Willars, and the PCC is chaired by Susie Holland.

10. See 14.

11. Most weekdays you can usually find Dave and a few others meeting in the Church for a short service of prayer at 9.30am. It is called the Daily Office and lasts about 20 minutes.

12. Robbie Williams once came to our church to record a b-side for one of his singles. (We never got any royalties.)

13. Most Tuesdays the Helen O’Grady Children’s Drama Academy meets in the church. More information from Nicola Gossip or Andrew Meyer on 020 8360 4020.

14. There is no fourteen.

15. Sam Murphy looks after the gardens at St Luke’s, which is one of the reasons we have so many weddings here. Rev Dave marries about 20 couples every year. He also baptises 30 children a year and conducts 45 funerals.

16. In the first three months of the year, the coldest, the Church is open on Saturday nights to offer homeless people supper, a bed and breakfast. This is part of a project by churches in Islington which host a night-shelter all week round from January to March.

17. At the top of North Road (turn left after the tube, coming down Cally Road), you’ll find a sixties building called the Gower School – a nursery school for pre-school children. For many years this was St Francis Church Centre, a sister church to St Luke’s. Nowadays we rent the premises to the Gower School and use the funds to help St Luke’s own initiatives in the parish.

18. ‘Breathing Space’ is St Luke’s centre for spirituality – a programme of events and activities where people who come to church and people who don’t are welcome to explore their soul stuff… or simply to find somewhere that’s quiet and tranquil.

19. It costs about £1,000 a week to run St Luke’s – we have an annual budget of more than £50,000. This is quite a tall order. The biggest item of expenditure is the ‘quota’ – the figure we pay the central body of the Church of England. In return we get a vicar and he gets a house, and they also help us with other things, like raising funds to keep the building up. Contrary to popular impression, the Church of England is broke. St Luke’s can usually pay its bills because the people who are part of it are generous. If you would like to make a gift you can do it online.

20. Not so long ago we re-faced the Tower of St Luke’s which was falling down. It looks lovely now – and you won’t get hit on the head by falling masonry as you pass by. It cost more than half a million quid but fortunately we won the lottery. (We have a Lottery Syndicate at St Luke’s which, like lots of other lottery players, funds The Lottery Heritage Fund and they gave us 90% of the money for the job.)

21. On weekdays you will often find a theatre group rehearsing an upcoming play in the main church space. We like to keep the place busy… and it helps pay the bills. If you’re interested in hiring space at St Luke’s please contact Pat Tomlinson 020 7607 1504 or e-mail.

22. Most Sundays you will notice a handsome thespian playing the keyboards or conducting the choir. Justin Butcher is our musician and choirmaster – as well as a playwright and composer. If you want to get married – or buried – Justin will help you name those tunes.

23. We don’t only get together on Sundays. Breathing Space activities often happen on week nights, and there are periodic home groups. More from the vicar – 020 7607 1504.

24. Every week the morning service includes ‘communion’ – where people are invited to come to the altar and share bread and wine and wonder if God is in the house. You don’t need special qualifications to participate – it’s offered to everyone without exception.

25. Rev Dave is the vicar for the whole parish, that’s some 12,000 souls. Doesn’t matter if you come to St Luke’s every week or just once a decade, he’s happy to talk to you. Give him a call on 020 7607 1504 or e-mail.