St Mary's, Bryanston Square, is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

on Wyndham Place,

Bryanston Square Bryanston Square is an garden square in Marylebone, London. Terraced buildings surround it — often merged, converted or sub-divided, some of which remain residential. The southern end has the William Pitt Byrne memorial fountain. Next to ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. A related Church of England

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

which was founded next to it bears the same name.

History

St Mary's, Bryanston Square was built as one of the

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the (58 Geo. 3. ...

es in 1823–1824 and was designed by Robert Smirke to seal the vista from the lower end of Bryanston Square. It is a brick building, with a rounded stone

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, round tower and small dome, topped by cross. It is listed in the top protective and recognition category, grade I. The church cost £19,955 (), towards which the Church Building Commission gave a grant of £14,955. The northern side faces onto

York Street York Street, also known as the Jakemans Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boston, England, and was the former home of Boston United. Originally called Shodfriars Lane, football was first played on the site since the la ...

. Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington, and Margaret Farmer were married in the church.

Thomas Frognall Dibdin Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father and mother died in 1780 while re ...

(1823 – 1847) was a rector, and

Samuel Augustus Barnett Samuel Augustus Barnett (8 February 1844 – 17 June 1913) was a Church of England cleric and social reformer who was particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall, in east London in 1884. He ...

was introduced to his future wife

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Hen ...

during his curacy there (1867–68).

Modern era

The church is known colloquially as "St Mary's Church London", since it is the most central Anglican church named St Mary's in inner London, and is known to be an active element of the evangelical wing of the Church of England. The current congregation led by Rev'd John Peters began meeting in the building in 2002, having received allocation of the building from the Bishop of London. Most of the starting congregation moved from St Paul's Onslow Square, having met there under the name St Paul's Anglican Fellowship following reorganisation at Holy Trinity Brompton & St Paul's Onslow Square.

List of rectors

(1824–1847) * John Hampden Gurney (1847–1862) * Charles Dallas Marston (1862–1866) * The Hon. William Henry Freemantle (1866–1883) * The Hon. James Wentworth Leigh (1883–1894) *

Henry Russell Wakefield Henry Russell Wakefield (1 December 1854 – 9 January 1933) was an Anglican bishop and author in the first quarter of the 20th century. Born on 1 December 1854 he was educated at Tonbridge School and the University of Bonn. Ordained in 1877 aft ...

(1894–1910) * Launcelot Jefferson Percival (1910–1926) * Albert Ernest Nicholass Simms (1926–1946) * Arthur Donal Browne (1946–1962) * Martin Gloster Sullivan (1962–1964) * Victor Tucker Harvey (1964–1982) * Iain MacGregor MacKenzie (1982–1989) * David Evans (1990–1999) * John Peters (2000–present)

Services

The church runs two services on a Sunday: an informal 11am service, with groups for children and youth, and an informal 5:30pm service for all ages, but catered slightly towards young professionals.

Groups and courses

The church runs several midweek groups and courses, aimed at a wide variation of people.

Life Course

The Life Course is an eight week course run three times annually, which aims to enable participants to explore the various meanings assigned to life. The aim of the course is to provide an open platform to discuss viewpoints and explore more than would be typically catered for in a church service or outreach course. As such, it does not require any particular belief or faith. Those who would describe themselves as agnostic or atheist are just as welcome as those of the Christian faith as well as other faiths: in the past, members of the Sunday Assembly have undertaken the course. Participants meet downstairs in the church hall for dinner, following which an introductory presentation is made, aiming to stimulate discussion in smaller groups. Over the course, themes include: "What meaning do we give our lives?", "Where do people look for meaning?", "What evidence is there that true meaning can be found?" and "What difference does true meaning make?" alongside others. The course also includes an optional weekend away.

Church planting

From 2004 to 2017, St Mary's encouraged and participated in

church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

, as well as supporting the development of other churches sharing similar values. It planted, or assisted with the development of: * Mike (staff at St Mary's) and Bex Norris started new services at

St Paul's Church, Auckland St Paul's Church is an historic Anglicanism, Anglican church, located on Symonds Street near the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology, in the Auckland CBD, central business district of Auckland, New Zealand. The church i ...

(2004). * Jon and Jo Soper (staff at St Mary's) started Exeter Network Church (2005). * Laura and Antley Fowler (St Mary's staff) planted River City Church, Jacksonville, FL (2005) * Derek and Beth Harmon (from River City Church with support from St Mary's) planted Ocean City Church, Jacksonville, FL (2010) * Al and Niki Hardy planted City Church, Charlotte, NC (2007) * Pete and Bee Hughes (former St Mary's staff) planted KXC, Kings Cross Church (2010) * Ed Flint (former staff), along with wife Hannah, planted Bread Church, Los Angeles, CA (2017)

Other activities

St Mary's is a long-standing member of the

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian charismatic evangelical organisation based in England, United Kingdom. It equips Christian churches and leaders in spiritual renewal, worship and church planting. Overview The purpose of New Wine is "loc ...

network of churches, and regularly attends and leads seminar streams at their United summer conferences. Rector John Peters is also responsible for Prayer Ministry at New Wine, and regularly leads training days and conferences around the country for those who wish to pray for people in the power of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

In popular culture

The church was used as 'Saint Jude's' in the 2019 feature film

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with " Everything She Wants" in several Eur ...

The Centre

Staff from St Mary's have set up The Centre, an organisation specialising in family and relationships work. The Centre offers several materials and courses aiming to teach practices leading to better relationships and emotional health, including: * Circle of Security training: weekly sessions helping parents develop more healthy relationships with children alongside teaching parenting strategies. Training courses for Facilitators (typically counselling and health professionals) are also offered at least annually. * One-off seminars and seminar series: evening seminars presenting advice on particular age groups such as babies, toddlers and teenagers. * Marriage preparation courses (in association with St Mary's) for engaged as well as long-term couples, to offer tools and advice for ensuring a healthy relationship. * Hold Me Tight courses (in association with St Mary's), using content developed by Dr Sue Johnson, for married or long-term committed couples to continue developing a healthy marriage.

References

External links

*
St Mary's app

The Centre website
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