Westminster Abbey Archive: Recent Episodes
Westminster Abbey Archive
A Testimony by Zigi Shipper, survivor, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Danzig, given at A Solemn Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, held at Westminster Abbey on 1st February 2015
A Testimony by Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, surviving member, Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz given at A Solemn Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, held at Westminster Abbey on 1st February 2015
The Address given by The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, at a service to mark the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, 28th March 2010.
27th Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture: Mis-establishment - Locating, and Re-locating, the Church of England. Speaker: Speaker: The Right Reverend Dr Peter Selby, President of the National Council for Independent Monitoring Boards, Visiting Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College, London; formerly Bishop of Worcester and Bishop to HM Prisons
Read a transcript of this lecture on Westminster Abbey's website.
28th Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture: Constantine's Vision and the Church Today - From the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (AD 312) to the twenty-first century, given by Professor Dame Averil Cameron FSA FKC, Former Warden of Keble College, Oxford
Read a transcript of this lecture on Westminster Abbey's website.
Sermon given by The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan. In his sermon at the anniversary service at Westminster Abbey this morning, the Archbishop reflected on the moment 60 years ago when The Queen knelt before the altar at Westminster Abbey in silent prayer, before taking the throne.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Human beings are capable of the most amazing acts of heroism, of courage and of fortitude. The heroic achievements of others challenge us and can encourage us to believe that we might be capable of more than we had ever imagined.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Thank God for the raggedy and fearful band; may God bless us and empower us too, however raggedy and fearful we each may feel, to believe and trust in the love of God that conquers everything.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Enjoy Lent! This holy and beautiful season allows us to focus better on what really matters: the love of God above all and in all and through all.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. We, like the Wise Men, in St Paul’s words from this morning’s second lesson, must come to see ‘what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.'
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. ‘But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.' That is God’s gift to us, if only we will receive it. May the assurance of the prayers and best wishes of the whole Abbey community be to you and yours for a very happy Christmas.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. St Luke really wants us to know the story, the eternal truth at the heart of the universe, that all this is for love.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The Saints can inspire and encourage us in our own Christian pilgrimage. They enable us to become what we are, the saints, the 'plebs sancta Dei', the holy common people of God.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today we thank God for the energy and commitment of so many people to the renewal of this building and the vigorous life of this Abbey community.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. I pray on this great feast of St Edward the Confessor that our lives and the life of our nation and Commonwealth, indeed the life of our world, might be inspired by the saint’s example, who rebuilt the Church as his centre and foundation and was able to ‘press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.’
Sermon for a Service in Celebration of the London Olympic Games by The Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford.
The Dalai Lama spoke at Westminster Abbey during a visit on Wednesday 20th June 2012 for A Moment of Prayer and Reflection in the Nave.
Sermon given by The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Sacrist. If we examine what is going on on the day of Pentecost, we see that it is principally about two things - revelation and identity - the fundamental revelation of God’s identity, Pentecost provides the lens through which to view the whole sphere of our existence.
Sermon given by The Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Carey of Clifton PC, Archbishop of Canterbury 1991-2002. We gather to honour a great lady who became a legend in her own time, reminding us that nursing is a calling from God, a vocation, to serve others sacrificially and devotedly.
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Praise be to God! 'This is the day that the Lord has made; we shall rejoice and be glad in it.'
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. On the night when Jesus was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’
Sermon given by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Does the idea of Lent fill you with foreboding? Or might we be able to see this day instead as a day suffused with a gentle but glorious light, a day full of promise and hope, of quiet joy?
Sermon given by Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan at a wreathlaying ceremony to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens
Sermon given by The Right Reverend Susan Moxley, Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. God calls us to seek and serve Christ in all persons. Jesus taught us that serving the least of the brothers and sisters is serving him.
In this Sermon for Candlemas, the Christian aspiration to ‘a good death’, dying prepared is considered in the light of Simeon’s response: 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace'.
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. God’s love triumphs as we open our hearts and our minds and our wills to him this morning. I pray that, above all the gifts you will receive today, you will receive this Christmas morning God’s mighty gift and share God’s gift with those you love.
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace!’ Luke 2: 13-14
Sermon given by the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan. What is a good translation? Not one that just allows me to say, when I pick it up, ‘Now I understand’. Of course, if I’m faced with a text in a strange language, I need to be able simply to read it; but a good translation will be an invitation to read again, and to probe, and reflect, and imagine with the text. Rather than letting me say, ‘Now I understand’, it prompts the response, ‘Now the work begins.’
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. In our minds and hearts, this afternoon, as we come to receive the bread and wine, which are the Body and Blood of Christ, the fruits of Christ’s sacrifice, we bring as it were to stand beside us the souls of all those we love and see no longer.
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The way of the saints is a way we can tread as well as the saints. Our weak wilfulness is no barrier to God, whose love is made perfect in weakness.
The third and final King James Bible lecture, given by Nick Spencer, Research Director at Christian think tank, Theos on Wednesday 19 October
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. As we celebrate the dedication of this church, we whose lives are associated with this holy place - and all who join us in worship today - should dedicate ourselves anew to being the place of God’s glory on earth.
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, gives an Address at a service held to honour the legacy of Joshua Watson and other leading members of the Church of England who founded the National Society to establish a network of church schools, on 14th October 2011
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Our task on the feast of St Edward, in honour of our founder and benefactor, is to re-imagine, to conceive afresh in our minds, the influence and reach of our Christian faith within this nation and the nations of our world and to act and react accordingly.
Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, delivers the first of Westminster Abbey’s autumn series of King James Bible lectures on Wednesday 5 October 2011
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Yesterday, after six weeks of solemn penance during the Lenten fast, Westminster Abbey rang again with the sound of the Easter song Alleluia as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. On Good Friday, we remembered the death of Jesus on the Cross, the ultimate sacrifice of self-giving love. Yesterday, Easter Day, we celebrated the new life of the risen Jesus Christ, the vindication of that sacrifice, the guarantee that the triumph of generous service and self-giving love is the secret at the heart of the world, the touchstone for all that is true and good.
Sermon give by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. ‘Rise heart; thy Lord is risen.’
Address given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. ‘Neither death nor life will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Address given by His Excellency Derek Leask, High Commissioner for New Zealand. A message from the Right Honourable John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, for all those attending this Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey.
Address given on 2nd March 2011 by the Right Reverend Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield and Chairman of Governors, The Anglican Centre in Rome.
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today’s feast offers us an opportunity to renew our commitment to receive afresh the grace and power of God through his Word and in his Sacraments so that we can more effectively share his love with others.
Sermon given on All Souls' Day 2010 by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
In the Dean of Westminster's All Saints’ Day sermon, he recognised the call for Christians, inevitably influenced by the world, to be positively engaged with the world for the sake of the Gospel.
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster: "It is impossible for us to know what Queen Elizabeth I thought when she signed the Charter but it would not be surprising if she had thought of the turmoil the Abbey had undergone in the previous twenty years. The Charter makes it clear that she intended to end the turmoil. Of this renewed Collegiate Church, the Charter says that it is ‘in all future times to endure and to be inviolably observed.’ And so it has been for the past 450 years. There seems every reason to suppose it will continue as long as there is time on earth."
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, gives a sermon on Easter Day 2010.
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, gives a Sermon on Maundy Thursday 2010.
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury gives a sermon to mark the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Archbishop Oscar Romero is commemorated as a martyr in the Church of England’s liturgical calendar on 24 March each year. His image is among ten statues of martyrs of the twentieth century placed over the Great West Doors of Westminster Abbey in 1998.
The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, celebrates the Annunciation in Passiontide, and helps us see both the beauty of God’s creation and the need for atonement between humanity and God.
Sermon given by the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster on Ash Wednesday 2010. ‘Nothing less than Christ will do. We are to be imitators of Christ.’
Lying behind the modern democratic political system is a shadow structure that acknowledges the Sovereignty of Christ. The Dean of Westminster said it was an important question how far elected politicians and we personally acknowledge in practice God’s Sovereignty.
In his All Souls’ Day sermon, the Dean faces the inevitable truth that we shall all die and asks us to be prepared for our own death.
On the Abbey’s dedication festival, the Dean of Westminster identified the ultimate purpose of the Abbey as to give greater glory to God. That test must be applied to the Abbey’s daily life and work and to any proposed changes.
In his sermon the Bishop of London celebrates St Edward the Confessor's life and holiness on the day of the national pilgrimage to his shrine.
Preaching on the 740th anniversary of the relics of St Edward the Confessor being enshrined behind the Abbey’s high altar, the Dean of Westminster spoke of the saint’s remains uniting Christians and pointing us to heaven.