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Parish Profile
Westminster Record | April 2015
Moorfields: A Spiritual Oasis in the City By Hannah Woolley Heading to St Mary Moorfields for my meeting with the Parish Priest, Canon Peter Newby, I almost walked past the church, which is situated amongst the shops and businesses between Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations. Moorfields is unusual because it has almost no resident population, so its busiest period is during the week, when it serves City workers. During the week around 100 to 150 people attend Mass, whereas that figure falls to 80 on a Sunday, with only about half of those being resident in the parish. Originally the Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese between 1850 and 1869, it was situated in Finsbury Circus which, at the time, was outside the Square Mile because a by-law prevented a Catholic church from being built within the City. The Pro-Cathedral was eventually demolished in 1899 and the new church was built in its current location on Eldon Street and opened in 1903.
By this time, the Broadgate development had stretched the boundary of the City to include St Mary Moorfields and the bylaw was discreetly ignored. Moorfields is a largely ‘sacramental parish’, as Canon Peter puts it. There are two weekday Masses, Morning and Evening prayer, with Adoration all day from Monday to Friday. Confession is also very popular at Moorfields, with queues on most days. On their busiest day of the year, Ash Wednesday, between 1,500 and 2,000 people come to Mass. In addition, Canon Peter prepares around 360 couples a year for marriage, and runs Alpha courses for those being received into the Church. On the whole it is a young community, with most Massgoers in their 20s and 30s, and around half of them daily communicants. Canon Peter described the congregation as often ‘heavily suited’, but pointed out that for every top banker, there are 32 people
The entrance to the church nestled between shops.
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working in supporting roles; this is not a parish reserved for the well-paid. People travel from all over the Southeast to work in the City, and many of those that attend Moorfields are very active in their home parishes and value the opportunity to practice their faith on a daily basis. Canon Peter tells me that what interests him in this parish is that, where there is economic activity, there is also strong reason to ask why we are alive. In this way, faith and business are deeply connected. The public perception of the City and the reality of what Canon Peter sees in his church are very different. Most people in the City work simply to earn a living to support their families, and there is certainly a strong culture of giving, reflected by the £205,000 raised by the parish for Growing in Faith. As I take photos, there is a constant stream of people coming in and out of the church. Amid the hustle and bustle of the City, it is an oasis of calm and prayer where people come to light candles and pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Canon Peter tells me that there is a ‘big secret life’ at Moorfields, with people feeling at home and using the
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church as a place of refuge, and having the option to be as active in the community as they choose. Canon Peter has served as Parish Priest here for 13 years, having previously been the Catholic Chaplain to Oxford University. It is clear that he has applied this experience in his ministry at Moorfields, and told me that it was a deliberate decision to run Moorfields in a similar way to a university chaplaincy. In March he marked the Silver Jubilee of his Ordination with a Mass at Moorfields celebrated by Bishop Nicholas. The ‘Young City Catholics’ group is an important part of the parish’s pastoral outreach, meeting regularly for Mass and social events and offering the opportunity to practice their faith in the secular environment of the City and to meet others who share their Catholic identity. Moorfields supports the work of Providence Row, a charity that helps homeless people living in the City, and City Pregnancy Counselling and Psychotherapy, which provides non-directional counselling to men and women facing difficulties with pregnancy and pregnancy loss. Moorfields certainly is not your typical parish church yet
serves a very important function as a place of spiritual refuge and refreshment in the midst of the busyness of the City.
Founded: 1710 Mass Times: Sunday 10, Weekday Mon-Thu 8.05, 1.05pm, Fri 7.45 (Extraordinary Form), 1.05pm Address: 4/5 Eldon Street EC2M 7LS Telephone: 020 7247 8390 Website: stmarymoorfields.net Page 7