Westminster Record February 2010
Parish Profile St Edward the Confessor, Golders Green The Christmas Carol ”O come all ye Faithful joyful and triumphant” was very appropriate at the Midnight Mass at St Edward the Confessor Golders Green. Christmas Day marked the Centenary of the first Mass celebrated in 1909 by Fr William Bendon who founded the parish and was responsible for the building of the magnificent church. The event was marked by a Midnight Mass celebrated by Bishop George Stack. The Mayor of Barnet Cllr Brian Coleman joined a packed church for the celebration. During the Mass, Bishop Stack and the parish priest Fr John Helm laid a wreath at a plaque in the church marking the place outside the church where Fr Bendon is buried.
Architectural gem This architectural gem stands on the busy Finchley Road in Golders Green, in the heart of London's Jewish community. On one side is the vast green expanse of Hampstead Heath and on the other is Hoop Lane Crematorium. Fr Bendon, then aged 37, arrived in Golders Green in 1908 to be Chaplain at the Carmelite Monastery in Bridge Lane which had been built the previous year and was used as a Mass centre by Catholics in the area. On 25 March 1909, the first sod was cut for the Presbytery in Finchley Road and the parish was dedicated to St Edward the Confessor because the land on which the new Church was built was given by St Edward to the Benedictines for religious purposes when it was part of the parish of Hendon. St Edward the Confessor, the son of King Etheldred the Unready, was born in 1003, near Oxford. He was King of England from 1042 up until his death, aged 63, in 1066 - the same year as the Battle of Hastings. Indeed, it was his death that kick-started the chain of events that ended with William's invasion.
The old church in 1914
Page 16
Edward was canonised by Pope Alexander III in 1163 and is still regarded as the patron saint for those whose marriages are experiencing problems. His feast is on 13 October. The first parish Mass was celebrated with some 30 or 40 people present in a room in the presbytery. With the increasing number of Catholics in the area and the development of the Hampstead Garden Suburb, by Dame Henrietta Barnett, it soon became apparent that a bigger church was necessary and the present parish hall was opened in 1911 as a temporary church. Fr Bendon then began planning for a permanent church, in the perpendicular Gothic Style. On 25 March 1914 the foundation stone of the present church was laid by Cardinal Bourne. As this was at the time of the First World War construction was difficult with so many young men fighting for their King and Country. The work was carried out by older men using scaffold boards and ladders with the materials being brought to the site by donkey and cart. The church was opened on 13 October 1915 and although it has a tower which can be seen for miles there are no bells. Bells were not permitted in the designs for the suburb. In thanksgiving for the safe deliverance of the church through the Second World War a magnificent stained glass window was installed in the late 1940s above the Sanctuary at the east end of the Church. This is also in memory of a parishioner Capt Michael Almand, a contemporary of the late Cardinal Hume at Ampleforth who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in Burma. Fr Bendon was a much-loved priest. Although he died comparatively young, at just 47 on 20 December 1921 and spent his final years in a
Bishop George Stack
wheelchair, he had the reputation of being a dynamic priest who achieved much during his short life. The parishioners of the time erected a memorial stone above his grave, celebrating his work for the church and within the wider community.
Thriving parish There have been many famous preachers over the years in St Edward’s including Archbishop Hinsley, Fr Bernard Vaughan SJ and Monsignor Ronald Knox whose sermon on St Edward on the patronal feast in 1922 is included in the breviary for that day. Today, St Edward’s is a thriving parish with a Sunday Mass attendance of over 850. As well as its permanent congregation it attracts a large number of international visitors, drawn from the ranks of foreign language students who are living in the area while learning English. The church offers many sacramental programmes with, for example, Catechism classes of over 150 children on Sunday mornings and a thriving Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). The parish is also greatly blessed with a group of talented musicians and singers who also arrange concerts supporting many charities and causes. Over the past century some six parish priests and 22 assistant priests and two Permanent Deacons have ministered in the parish. Parishioners are currently praying that Andrew Connick, who is studying at Allen Hall Seminary in
Chelsea, will be ordained a deacon in the centenary year. Andrew is the latest in a line of vocations that have come from the parish over the years.
international evening.
Devoted service
“Tonight we remember that one hundred years ago this parish was established to gather people together to re-tell this story and put it into practice in their lives. And what a privilege it is tonight to give thanks to God for the devoted service of Fr Bendon who inspired that community and laid the foundations of this church in which we worship tonight. At the beginning of this Centenary year it is our job to continue to remember, retell the story of the revelation of God in the Incarnation of Jesus and all that means in Golders Green.
A booklet 100 Years of Parish History is almost completed and will be distributed to parishioners at Easter. There will be a special parish Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, on Sunday, 17 October, close to St Edward's feast day. Other events planned for the year include a Parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land in April; a visit to the shrine of St Edward in Westminster Abbey; a flower festival; a concert; tea for senior parishioners and guests from the Churches Together in Golders Green, and an
Bishop Stack summed up the past century in his homily when he said: