Welcome to the website for St Dunstan-in-the-West
This historic church, an Anglican Guild Church in the City of London proclaiming the glory of God in Jesus Christ and serving the local working community and tourists, provides a haven for private prayer in the midst of the city’s bustle. It was first founded around 1000 AD, and the present building has stood on Fleet Street for 180 years.
You are always welcome to join us for our regular Church of England service of said Holy Communion on Tuesdays at 12.30 pm. Please see Services and Events.
The church is normally open Monday-Friday, appx 9.30 am-5.00 am, for visitors and private prayer. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the sanctuary and there are votive candlestands. St Dunstan’s remains grateful to Friends of City Churches churchwatchers for their friendly and knowledgeable presence at the church on Tuesdays.
We welcome our brothers and sisters of the Romanian Orthodox Church (La Biserica Ortodoxã Românã din Londra – Parohía Românã Sf Gheorghe/St Dunstan) and members of the Romanian community in London, for whom St Dunstan’s has been the spiritual home for almost 50 years. Click here Who are we? – Romanian Orthodox Church for contact details and a listing of regular and special services.
You are warmly invited to the Sung Mass for Corpus Christi (The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ) at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 29 May (celebrant and preacher: the Rt Revd Jonathan Baker). This is a joint service with St Andrew’s, Holborn Circus EC4A 3AB. The evening starts with the Sung Mass at St Andrew’s; after Communion and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, there will be a procession to St Dunstan-in-the-West where the service will continue with Devotions and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The evening will end with a reception at St Dunstan’s. We very much hope that you will join us for this joyful event in the Church’s calendar: a service of Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion. Pange, lingua, gloriosi Corporis mysterium, Sanguinisque pretiosi - Of the glorious Body telling, O my tongue, its mysteries sing, and the Blood, all price excelling.
Our popular and varied series of lunchtime recitals continues at 1.15 pm on Wednesdays. This week there will be an extra recital on Friday 24 May at 1.15 pm when we shall be welcoming pianist Lysianne Chen and cellist Benjamin Swartz; this recital was postponed because of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, so if you are in the vicinity this Friday do drop in to give Lysianne and Benjamin your support. On Wednesday 3 July at 1.15 pm we shall be welcoming the “Cast In Bronze” Youth Handbell Choir from the Friendship United Methodist Church, Cincinnati, USA, who will be performing at St Dunstan’s as part of their UK summer tour. We especially hope that you will come and support this recital. Please see our webpages Services and Events and News for further details of all our recitals.
In January an urgent message was received from ALMA (Angola London Mozambique Association), the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Lebombo (Mozambique) about devastating floods in Mozambique. Click here News for full details of the extent of the flooding and how you can make a financial donation towards church-based flood relief, or click here ALMA to learn more.
Fairtrade: The Diocese of London is a Fairtrade Diocese, and St Dunstan-in-the-West is committed to using Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar, and some Fairtrade wine and biscuits. Visit our News page and www.fairtrade.org.uk; and also Christian Aid www.christianaid.org.uk, which helped establish the Fairtrade Foundation in 1992, and Traidcraft (whose products are available at Oxfam shops as well as online). Also, JustShare, based at St Mary le Bow Church in the City of London, regularly gives lectures on the subjects of fairtrade, social justice and global development.
Bookstall: Secondhand books (paperback & hardback fiction, miscellaneous books), are always available for sale on our bookshelves at the back of the church to help raise funds for the church. Do come in, browse and buy!
We currently have two refreshment stalls in our churchyard offering hot & cold drinks, croissants and pastries, and hot Mediterranean & Mesopotamian falafel and kofte (meatball) wraps. We are very pleased to have Notes Coffee Barrows and Med Mez as part of our church community and hope that you will support these enterprises when you are in the vicinity.
We are delighted that our new set of 10 bells is now very much in use for services, special occasions and bellringing practice. Please visit our News and Contact & Visiting pages for more details of this project and if you have an enquiry about bellringing; and the following websites for ringing lists and the history of the bells: http://london.lovesguide.com/dunstan-in-the-west.htm - http://london.lovesguide.com/dunstanringingtimes.xls
St Dunstan’s has a noble history of inclusivity and variety. Luminaries of the Christian tradition played their part in the first thousand years of this church’s life. Now we rejoice in being a centre of ecumenical encounter, dialogue and hospitality, where prayer for the unity of the Church is at the heart of our mission.
May the Spirit who hovered over the waters when the world was created breathe into you the life He gives.
May the Spirit who overshadowed the Virgin when the eternal Son came among us make you joyful in the service of the Lord.
May the Spirit who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ.
