Join The Revd Canon Dr Alison Joyce, Rector of St Bride's, and St Bride's Choir for this week's reflection in words and music.

Benjamin Britten was commissioned to write "A Hymn of St Columba" to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of a voyage by the sixth century Irish saint to the Scottish island of Iona, where he founded the famous Iona Abbey. The text is a hymn attributed to Columba and reflects the day of judgement. Britten instructs the performers to sing "with fire" mirroring Columba's missionary zeal and the portentous text.

After the reading from Luke, Alison remembers her days as a lecturer and an exercise she ran with students asking them to summarise in a sentence the core of Jesus's message.

We close with the hymn "Lord, for the years" written by Timothy Dudley-Smith – former Bishop of Thetford and noted hymnwriter who died last year – and set to a tune by Michael Baughen.

Information about our weekly Sunday services in St Bride's of Choral Eucharist at 11am (https://www.stbrides.com/worship-music/worship/regular-services/choral-eucharist/) and Choral Evensong at 5:30pm (https://www.stbrides.com/worship-music/worship/regular-services/choral-evensong/) can be found on the website.

Find out what's happening at St Bride's at https://www.stbrides.com/whats-on

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SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S

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We are hugely grateful for people's generosity which we wholly rely on to continue our work, maintain our wonderful architectural heritage and support world-class music-making. People are often surprised to learn that St Bride's receives no external funding.

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so at https://www.justgiving.com/stbrideschurchfleetstreet