Magic Statistics

St Bride’s Church is actually located a few feet off Fleet Street in a quiet courtyard. Buildings hem it in on all sides, so it must be approached via alleys and tunnels. Excavations during the 1950s revealed that the site was used for Christian worship in Roman times even before a major church was built. The original church on this site was constructed in the 6th century on a foundation of Roman brick and dedicated to the Irish saint Bridget, or Bride, of Kildare. It has been re-built many times since; it is believed that the present church is the eighth on the site.

St Bride's has been closely associated with journalism since 1500, when Wynkyn de Worde, apprentice to William Caxton, England’s first printer, set up his printing press right next to the church. He chose this location because he knew that churchmen were leading users of printing services, and that several bishops resided in the immediate area. Other printers soon followed de Worde’s example and set up shop nearby. By the 17th century, Fleet Street had became the centre of London’s newspaper and publishing industry, and many well-known writers were parishioners, including John Dryden, John Milton, Izaak Walton, and Samuel Pepys.

In 1665, the Great Plague struck, killing over 2000 parishioners and, in the following year, the church itself was destroyed in the Great Fire. The present church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is said to be his most expensive.

The 234-foot steeple, Wren’s tallest, is the model for the traditional wedding cake, first made by a baker on Ludgate Hill, a few blocks east of the church. The famous spire with its five diminishing octagonal stages is made of Portland stone. Although the interior of the church was seriously damaged in World War II, the steeple fortunately survived.

(As always, click on photos for larger views.)

As a result of war damage, the interior was restored between 1957 and 1959 by Godfrey Allen.

The next photo shows the east end of the nave. The free-standing reredos with pairs of Corinthian columns supporting a pediment was designed by Godfrey Allen based on Wren’s design. The painting of the Crucifixion and the oval stained glass above depicting the risen Christ are both by Glyn Johns, who also did the remarkable trompe l’oeil painting behind the altar that gives the impression that the wall is curved.

To the left and right of the stained glass can be seen two figures on the wall behind the reredos. One must peer around behind to get a good look at them.

That’s what I did to take these two photos. Facing the church’s east end, Aaron is on the left and Moses on the right.

The church’s official website has an excellent section on the history of St Bride’s, as well as a picturesque little map. Here’s a bigger map.

 More photos and information can be found here and here.

Links to all my blog posts about British churches and Christian sites can be accessed through the box located at the top of the page. 

The daily e-mail from Charles Colson's BreakPoint just arrived, and I see that Mark Earley, Prison Fellowship President, devotes today's commentary to a look at Gregory Paul's study that purported to find correlation between religious faith and social pathologies. Mr Earley calls this a "man bites dog" story because it is such an unusual finding. He criticises the study for apparent cherry-picking of data observations so as to ensure the outcome that Mr Paul sought.

His goal doesn’t seem to be an honest appraisal of the role of religion in public life, but rather simply to embarrass American Christians.

That’s why he all-but-commits the oldest mistake in statistics: confusing correlation with causation. Just as a rooster’s crowing when the sun comes up doesn’t mean that the crowing causes the sun to come up, the presence of social problems in religious societies doesn’t mean that religion is the cause.

Yet that’s clearly the inference Paul wants us to draw from his so-called "findings." Why else would he suggest that "Europeans are increasingly repelled by the poor societal performance of the Christian states"?

Amen to that. Mr Earley includes in his list of material for further reading my blog post of 27 September. Thanks for the link, and I hope that new visitors will look around my blog and find some other stuff of interest.

This official announcement was posted on Saturday, so I'm slow catching up with it.

Bishop Terry O. Buckle of the Diocese of Yukon has been elected metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and Yukon by the executive committee of the provincial synod.

Archbishop Buckle was elected after three ballots. He led on each ballot. Also in the running were Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster, and Bishop James Cowan of the Diocese of British Columbia.

He becomes the chief bishop for BC and the Yukon, one of five archbishops in the Anglican Church of Canada.
. . .
The new Metropolitan was installed Saturday, November 5, at St. Anne’s Anglican Church, 4071 Francis Road, Richmond.

It's very interesting that Abp Buckle was able to defeat two über-liberals, Bp Ingham and Bp Cowan. I remember when Bp Ingham was elected Bishop of New Westminster. A friend who had been a delegate from St John's (Shaughnessy) Church, where I attended before moving north in 1988, described Bp Ingham as to the left of Bishop Spong. Ron Ferris, Terry Buckle's predecessor as Bishop of Yukon, was the alternative candidate for the office that Ingham won.

Michael Ingham has now been defeated in two attempts to move up the Anglican Church of Canada's ecclesiastical ladder: first, for Primate of Canada, and now as Archbishop of BC and Yukon. Not only that, he is expected to pledge obedience to the man he sought to prohibit from entering his diocese two years ago. It has been suggested that he may seek to move over to the Episcopal Church USA, where they will be soon be looking for a new Presiding Bishop.

Pray for Abp Buckle, his wife, and their four children. He will need much wisdom and perseverance if the Diocese of New Westminister is to be moved off the wide path and on to the narrow way that leads to life. For the good of the church, let us pray this will be accomplished, by the grace of God.

UPDATE (27 Nov.): A friend with a better memory than I has reminded me that it was actually Ron Ferris, at the time Bishop of Yukon, who was the alternative candidate to Michael Ingham for Bishop of New Westminster. Bp Ferris was predecessor to Terry Buckle as Bishop of Yukon, and has since moved on to become Bishop of Algoma. The post has been amended accordingly.