Faith in the City

Here at Holy Sepulchre, we love our City but just want it to be better to all people.

Fr Nick, our SSM Priest in Charge, and who is Honorary Chaplain to the Worshipful Company of Fuellers, also works in the City as CFO and Head of Compliance at a FinTech company, which helps him to best see, serve, and understand the City with all its positive aspects as well as its challenges.  

Fr Nick regularly preaches on Faith in the Public Square and looks afresh at scripture, exploring themes of City culture in the context of holiness and the Kingdom of God and the implications for our time in work today which of course can break through into all aspect of our lives.

An outline of three of our recent sermon series specifically exploring faith in our City. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss these or have other ideas for exploring faith in the City and how we make the City a better place for all people. Recent sermon series that have been covered in our Tuesday lunchtime and Sunday Morning services have included:

1.Kingdom Wisdom: Parables for flourishing at Work:  A 10 week Sermon series developed by Fr Nick

The series developed was a journey through the timeless wisdom of parables, where we delved deep into these sacred stories, exploring their profound implications for our lives, particularly in the workplace and immersed our city culture but a little apprehensive as it is likely to have implications for all aspects of our lives. Each week we also explored a business book, including classics such as Seven Habits of Highly effective people, Ruthless Execution, Winning through intimidation, Indestractable, Profit First, 4 hour working week, The Art of the Deal, Art of War, and Zero to One, and many more, and asked how despite all these “great’ works the city culture is still not as good as we want or should be.

 We explored:

1.  Growth mindset: The parable of the sower, challenging us as to whether we are nurturing or are we choking the ideas around us

2.  Heroes and villains: The parable of the good Samaritan, challenging us whether we are aspiring to be the hero or could we just be joining in, offering more, like the inn keeper than we need to do to enable others to flourish,

3.  2nd chances: The parable of the two sons, exploring forgiveness, 2nd chances, love,

4.  Faithful stewardship: The parable of the talents, exploring faithful stewardship and wise use of gifts

5.  Valuing all: The parable of the lost sheep, exploring valuing the "lost" and marginalised, the relentless pursuit of souls, whether it is ourselves who are lost, physically, emotionally, spiritually or our colleagues or neighbours

6.  Fairness and equality: The parable of the workers in the vineyard and needs to look at our own contribution, challenge of fairness and equality

7.  Horizon scanning: The parable of the ten virgins, exploring preparedness, planning and dedication, of watchfulness for opportunities and horizon scanning of impact of our own and others’ behaviours,

8.  Mercy: The parable of the unforgiving servant and our expectation of forgiveness and mercy for ourselves as well as what we offer to others

9.  Seeking justice: The parable of the persistent widow, resilience, perseverance and determination, and the importance of accepting our call to persist in seeking justice, and

10. Beyond imagination: The parable of the mustard seed, and how we can sow seeds of positive change, knowing that even the smallest acts, when tended with care, can yield a harvest beyond our imagining.

2. Biblical truths series for better workplace leadership: A 10 week Sermon series developed by Fr Nick

This series focused on leadership and draws inspiration from biblical principles, guiding individuals to integrate faith into their professional lives. The series explored topics such as integrity, humility, and servant leadership, with the aim to equip participants with a solid foundation for ethical decision-making, fostering a workplace culture that aligns with Godly values. Again, we also explored a business book, and asked how despite all these “great’ works, leadership in the city is still not as good as we want, and in places can be toxic.

1.  Foundations of Ethical Leadership: Establishing a foundation of righteousness and fairness in leadership. The selected bible passages emphasize the importance of honesty, integrity, and righteousness as foundational elements of ethical leadership. Leaders are called to establish a just and fair environment.

2.  Integrity in Action: Exploring the importance of unwavering integrity in decision-making and actions. The selected bible passages focused on the practical aspect of integrity, these verses guide leaders to maintain upright conduct in their actions and dealings, promoting trust and reliability.

3.  Humility in Leadership: Understanding how humility fosters collaboration and a healthy workplace environment. The selected bible passages highlight the virtue of humility, encouraging leaders to prioritize others, fostering a workplace culture built on cooperation and mutual respect.

4.  Building Trust: Examining the role of trust in leadership and practical ways to build and maintain it. The selected bible passages focused on how trust is crucial in leadership. These passages guide leaders to avoid deception, cultivate transparency, and build trust by embracing a commitment to truthfulness.

5.  Servant Leadership: Embracing the model of servant leadership and its impact on organizational culture. The selected bible passages focused on Jesus' teachings on servant leadership underscore the importance of leaders serving their teams, illustrating that true leadership is rooted in humility and a willingness to put others first.

6.  Compassionate Leadership: Cultivating compassion as a core value, fostering a caring and supportive workplace. The selected bible passages focused on how compassion is central to effective leadership. These verses encourage leaders to embody kindness, forgiveness, and understanding, creating a workplace characterized by empathy.

7.  Wisdom in Decision-Making: Seeking God's wisdom for sound decision-making in leadership. The selected bible passages focused on the importance of and how we seek divine wisdom, leaders can make sound decisions. These passages emphasize the value of Godly wisdom, promoting discernment and understanding in leadership choices.

8.  Resolving Conflict: Addressing conflicts with a biblical approach, promoting resolution and unity. The selected bible passages asked us to recognise that conflict is inevitable, but these verses guide leaders on resolving issues in a constructive manner, fostering reconciliation and unity within the workplace.

9.  Promoting Diversity and Inclusion: Embracing biblical principles that support diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.: The selected bible passages encouraged us to embrace the biblical principles of equality and impartiality, leaders are encouraged to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, reflecting God's love for all.

10. Legacy of Ethical Leadership: Reflecting on how ethical leadership leaves a lasting impact on individuals and organizations. Reflecting on leaving a lasting legacy, these passages inspire leaders to consider the impact of their ethical leadership on future generations, emphasizing the importance of a virtuous heritage.

3.The Generosity series: An 8 week film series developed by the Church of England

This series explores the simple, powerful moment in which Mary, a friend and follower of Jesus, displays the kind of astonishing generosity God Himself pours out on us. The wonder of the gospel is that this can be our story too as we discover the freedom of living generously.

1. Generous with time: Mary’s first generosity is with her time. There were other things she could’ve been doing. There are even things that could have been seen as more virtuous, as Martha, her sister points out.

2. Generous with attention: Mary’s second generosity – that of her attention - is one for this day and age where we are constantly distracted by news, opinions, information and gossip.

3. Generous with wealth: Mary had just seen her brother raised from the dead, so when she was generous with her wealth, she knew that her ‘sacrifice’ was utterly insignificant by comparison.

4. Generous with talents: Like us all, Mary had God-given gifts and talents. This film explores her generosity with ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable’

5. Generous with possessions: The cost of the nard Mary used is one thing, but it was also a treasured possession – what can we be generous with that’s not necessarily expensive, but precious to us?

6. Generous With How We're Perceived: We are perceived differently by different people, and we can’t always control these perceptions. We can choose to live generously when it comes to how others perceive us, that means, we can let go of our fear of rejection and instead wholeheartedly embrace a life of unashamed faith in Jesus and compassion for the people He has given us to love.

7. Generous With Comfort: Naturally, we’d all rather feel safe and at ease than stretched and uncomfortable, but we should remember that Jesus made Himself cosmically uncomfortable for our sakes, and He calls us to be generous with our comfort too, for His glory and the good of those He has given us to love.

8. Generosity Webs: The series summary exploring how Generosity is at the heart of the gospel and our ministry as disciples and as a church. God’s generosity is woven through history and creation. To live a generous life isn’t some useful side-interest; it’s intrinsic to the living out of our faith

 If you would like to find out more about Faith in the City why not come along to one of our services or get in touch at office@hsl.church