Ministry at Grenfell Tower

Jun 20, 2017 by

by Ian Paul, Psephizo:

Gabby Thomas writes: On Wednesday 14th June, like the rest of the UK, I awoke to the most harrowing pictures of Grenfell Tower on fire. Like many others, when the circumstances began to emerge around how 24 storeys could burn to the ground that easily, I was utterly speechless: How could something so simply prevented be happening in our day? Whilst I have plenty to say about it, my purpose here is not to unpack the politics behind what’s happened, but to share a few thoughts on the response of English churches to this disaster, in particular, the response of the Church of England in which I am ordained. I am a curate in the Kensington Episcopal Area— in fact several miles out of town, but the diocese stretches out a long way.

Unable to get over on Wednesday and Thursday, I was kept up to date by friends who live within sight of Grenfell, by social media and by emails to all the clergy in the area. It was clear to me that the churches were really stepping up, offering donation space, food, clothes and water. On Thursday, all the clergy received an email from Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington, suggesting that if possible we should wear our dog-collars and walk through the streets, offering a listening ear and prayer for those who wanted it. He said that people were keen to talk.


On Friday, I made it over to North Kensington and was quite taken aback by what I found. As I wandered about, locals grabbed my arm often accompanied by the words, “Excuse me, vicar” and began to share stories and ask me what church I was from. One man whose friend had died in the fire wanted to show me the photographs he has taken of his harrowing night. The need for me to look in depth at every single photograph (there were hundreds) was understandably very great. Another friend joined him and began to tell me about the sound of bodies falling from the tower, and how one man had fallen to the ground under the weight of catching a baby from a great height. I listened, with no response other than tears which I shed with their tears. I felt a strange mixture of sadness and anger at what they had experienced, whilst also being extremely glad to be there with them.

At one point, a woman spotted my collar and started thanking me for being part of a group of people whom she identified as being those who were standing with the community. She was extremely angry about the response of the local council and said, “you Christians have really stood by us and done what they should have done.” I felt really ‘proud,’ if that’s the right word, to be counted with those who stand by the ones who are suffering. Also, proud of my church, which in her response to this has been getting it right.

I really cannot do justice to the conversations and encounters; whether they were volunteers from afar or locals, the response to me in my collar was the same: people wanted to be held and to be heard. No one asked me for anything else, and in many ways compared to the people who were offering out free food and water etc. I was really only being present.

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