ST PHILIP’S
ST PHILIP’S
CELEBRATING THE OLYMPICS AT ST PHILIP’S
from Atlanta Georgia and had had a brilliant view of the rowers at eton dorney as he came in to land, to the delightful Irish family who sat and had tea with us. There was the woman from
When St Philip’s opened its doors for the Olympics they were joined by many interesting visitors, Lesley Raymond tells us more
she had ever been inside (“I members of the ukraine olympic coaching team who spoke no english, and people who worked locally and just wanted to spend their lunch hour with us and catch up on the games.
T
wo of St Philip’s goals are to make the building more accessible to the local community, and to make a visible contribution to the local community and the wider world. But for most of the week the main double doors opening onto the earl’s Court road are kept shut – mainly for security reasons and also to keep out the
‘A fortnight with the doors open has transformed our experience of St Philip’s’ 26
The London 2012 olympics provided an opportunity to work towards these goals. with volleyball taking place at earl’s Court exhibition Centre and many new visitors in the area, the PCC agreed that the church should remain open from 12.30 noon until 8.00pm every day of the olympics. It was an opportunity to share our new 60-inch TV with neighbours, visitors and our wider congregation. Keeping the main doors open meant that volunteers were needed to welcome whoever came into the church and to serve drinks and biscuits. Colourful bunting attached to the front and a doublesided board outside the church let passersby know we were open for business, then we waited to see who would turn up.
our visitors came from the uS, from Belgium, Germany, France, romania, new Zealand, Australia, Finland popped in, several of whom had never been inside St Philip’s and said they while we were setting up we suddenly heard the roar of the red Arrows in the distance, as outside, we were able to catch them as they white and blue vapour. It was a great start to the evening. different people arrived at St Philip’s congregations, and we probably had around 25 visitors in all.
had previously thought the church closed. So, what of the ‘L’ word? will St Philip’s, like London and the rest of the uK, have a lasting legacy from its involvement in the olympics? Associate Vicar david walsh is hopeful: “For those of us used to being on the inside of the church, a fortnight with the doors open has transformed our experience of St Philip’s. I know many of us will want to build on that. The
over the next two weeks our church had a whole range of visitors, from the delta Airlines 27