Shared Lunch & Summer Fair ‘at Home’ – Sunday 5th July
We’re holding our annual summer fair and our July shared lunch – virtually! We’re inviting every member of the church to have a special lunch ‘at home’ – with your…
We Listened! Congregation Audit 2020
Back in February, we undertook our annual congregation audit. There were 53 responses, which is around 20% of the adults who comprise our worshipping community. Thank you to those of…
COVID-19 Update: Re-Opening Our Church Building
Many of you will have seen the news announcement today that from 4th July, church buildings may re-open for small public worship services and weddings. This follows on from the…
Organising for Growth – What Is A 121?
In this Vlog, Revd Graham Hunter gives a brief introduction to a ‘121’ conversation, and talks about how they can be a space in which we discern what the Holy…
Statement on Racial Justice – Graham & Sara Hunter
Graham Hunter is the Vicar of St John’s Hoxton; his wife Sara is a a Licensed Lay Minister at St John’s Hoxton, and leads the church’s work in Community Organising….
Organising for Growth – 2020-2022
I’m really delighted to be writing this blog to finally announce an exciting mission opportunity that our church will be involved in over the next few years. The project has…
Eastertide Update: St John’s Hoxton & COVID-19
It’s been a while since our last update, and we wanted to summarise what’s going on in church life during this period of lockdown. We begin with a short message from…
Faith in Lockdown
By Stephen Curtis, Students and Young Adults Minister. Well the world has gone a bit mad! I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels a weird sort of anti…
‘Go To Galilee’ – Easter Sunday Sermon 2020
Below is the text of the Easter Sunday sermon preached by Revd Graham Hunter on Sunday 12th April 2020. Bible Reading: Matthew 28:1-10 1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the…
Good Friday Families
We’ve put together some resources for families with school-age children at home to use on Good Friday. We hope it’s helpful! A letter to children in London from Bishop Sarah…
Good Friday
For Good Friday 2020, we published a ‘Virtual Stations of the Cross’ to be used as a digital devotional. You can find it here. We have also created a list…
St John’s Hoxton & COVID-19 – Updates
This page gives regular updates to how the church is responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Latest updates will always be at the top of the page. Regular updates are also…
St John’s Hoxton & COVID-19
The following article is our original response. Regular updates are posted here. We’re living in extraordinary times, and the situation and strategy concerning the Coronavirus pandemic seems to change daily….
Annual Parish Church Meeting Minutes & Electoral Roll 2019
APCM Minutes 2019 Electoral Roll 2019
2018 Annual Report & Accounts Available Now
We’re delighted to be publishing our 2018 Annual Report & Accounts. These will be presented and discussed at our Annual Parish Church Meeting (APCM) on Monday 8th April at 7pm….
Bravery To Face Ourselves?
Revd Caroline Taylor preached at our Ash Wednesday services. Her sermon is below. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent. Traditionally, Lent has been a season of penitence and fasting…
Carols by Candlelight 2018
St John’s Church in Hoxton was packed out with around 250 adults and children for our annual Carols by Candlelight service last Sunday. The service was themed around ‘The…
The Encounter
On Saturday 1st December, the Youth Minister at St John’s Hoxton hosted its first youth worship night, The Encounter, for 11-17s in secondary school. The aim of the evening was…
Does The Spirit Need Liturgy?
Revd Graham Hunter spoke at the 2nd Festival of Theology in Nottingham on Wednesday 17th October 2018. The text of his talk is below. Intro – Trellis & Vine I…
Vision Sunday 2018: What’s Your Gate?
Revd Graham Hunter preached a Vision Sunday sermon on Sunday 23rd September. The text of the sermon is below. William Temple, the former Archbishop of Canterbury once said this: ‘The…
Wanted: Head of Youth Ministry
We’re recruiting a full-time Head of Youth Ministry. This is an exciting role which includes the following key responsibilities: Oversee the existing programme youth work (currently seeing around 40 secondary…
Meet The Team: 10 Things About… Stephen Curtis – Stepney Intern
We’re delighted that Stephen Curtis is joining the staff team at St John’s as Stepney Intern for the year 2018-19. Stephen is known to many of us already, as he…
Wanted: Full-time Youth Minister for St John’s Hoxton – w Salary, Pension & Accommodation
We’re recruiting a full-time Youth Minister to join our team, and to oversee the existing youth work as well as develop our east London ‘Youth Minster’ – a youth ministry…
Meet The Team: 10 Things About… John Wyatt – Music & Worship Minister
We’re delighted to be welcoming John Wyatt to join our team as Music & Worship Minister from 1st September 2018. John is currently part fo the worship team at Soul…
On Becoming An Irresponsible Leader
Revd Graham Hunter writes: I’ve been working on a revised personal mission statement to help shape my leadership over the coming few years, and I’ve found myself drawn increasingly towards…
Youth Minister – Recruiting Now!
We’re so excited to be recruiting a new Youth Minister to join our team! St John’s Hoxton has experienced significant growth and development over the past 7 years, and the previous…
Annual Parish Church Meeting & Giving Sunday
Our Annual Parish Church Meeting takes place on Sunday 29th April 2018 at 11am. You can read the 2017 Annual Report & Financial Statements here. These are draft documents, as…
St John’s Youth Triumph at Easter Football Tournament
“The boys were SUPERB!” (Tochukwu Okolo, Manager) On Friday 6th April, the St John’s youth football project, ‘Goalside’, took 2 teams to the Ambassadors in Sport Goalside Easter Tournament. In…
Maundy Thursday Passover Meal 2018
Around 50 members of St John’s gathered at church on Thursday evening to enjoy a passover meal together. The traditional Passover Seder (meal) recounts the story of God’s deliverance of…
Palm Sunday: The Politics & Power of the Kingdom
Josh Richards preached a sermon on Palm Sunday exploring politics, power and the role of community organising in our church as a form of faithful improvisation. Imagine…
#LoveHoxton – Planning for Autumn 2018
The Background Just over three years ago, members of St John’s Church planted ‘Sanctuary’ – a new congregation meeting on Sunday evenings at 6pm, with the intention of creating a…
#LoveHoxton – Heritage Lottery Fund bid outcome
Dear friends, Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed and supported us with our bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for our #LoveHoxton project. I’m sorry to say…
Prayer Spaces in Schools
“Dear God, thank you for being the best father ever to me!” This prayer jumped out at me as I unwrapped at least a hundred thank you prayers wrapped in…
Carols by Candlelight 2017
Over 200 guests gathered to celebrate Christmas at our annual Carols by Candlelight service last Sunday evening. Held each year in the run up to Christmas, the carol service recounts…
Tidings of Good (and Sad) News…
It’s with a mixture of sadness and joy that I write to inform our church that Julian Powell will be moving on from his role as Youth Minister at St…
Advent: Watching & Waiting (Vicar’s Pastoral Letter)
Dear friends, As we begin the season of Advent, we remind ourselves of the kingdom coming for which we watch and wait. We remember not just Christ’s coming among us…
Church Work Day
Thank you to those who came to tidy and decorate our church ready for the Christmas season! Over 20 adults and children gathered to clean the kitchen, put up Christmas…
Children & Holy Communion at St John’s Hoxton
Over the past year, the leadership of St John’s Church, its Vicar, staff and PCC has had a series of discussions regarding our understanding and practice as it relates to…
Sing for a Change! sing for Living Wage Week
On Monday 6th November Sing for a Change! performed for the London launch of Living Wage Week where the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced that the new London Living…
Harvest All-Age Worship & Shared Lunch
It was wonderful to celebrate harvest at both our 9:30 & 11:30 services on Sunday 1st October. Youth minister Julian Powell spoke on giving generously and living thankfully, and we…
St John’s Youth at St Paul’s Cathedral
On Sunday, 24 September we took a group from of young people from our church to a special diocesan youth Eucharist at St Paul’s Cathedral. Julian, our youth minister, took…
Caroline Taylor to join St John’s Hoxton as Curate in 2018
We’re delighted to announce that the Bishop of Stepney has invited Caroline Taylor to serve her Title Post as Curate at St John’s Hoxton for three years from July 2018. This…
Meet the Team: 10 Things About… Caroline Taylor – Curate (from 2018)
We’re delighted that Caroline Taylor will be joining our team from 1st July 2018 to serve for three years as Curate at St John’s. This will be Caroline first post…
Meet the Team: 10 Things About… Zoe Mathias – Stepney Intern
Zoe Mathias joins the staff and leadership team at St John’s Hoxton this September as part of the Stepney Intern scheme. This programme enables around 8-9 young adults to live…
Opportunity: SJH Youth Worship Leader
We have an exciting opportunity for a gifted worship leader with a passion for young people encountering Jesus to join our team. We’re looking to appoint someone to join our…
Prayer at St John’s Hoxton
‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.’ (Romans 12:12) Guest Post by Tanya Whitfield: Whilst we take prayer seriously at St John’s, we also like to…
St John’s Hoxton – Summer Internship Opportunity
Would you like to support plans for the major conservation redevelopment of our historic Grade II* listed church? We are offering a paid summer internship as part of the St…
Praying with the Archbishop!
It was wonderful to welcome the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, along with his wife Caroline, to pray with members of St John’s Hoxton on Thursday 1st June. Members of…
Pentecost: Going for Growth
As part of our Repitching The Tent Mission Action Plan, we’re reorganising our Sunday morning worship services from Pentecost Sunday (4th June 2017). Our 10:30 morning service will make way…
Resilient Heritage Project – Business Plan Brief
St John’s Hoxton is undertaking a significant and important piece of work during the summer of 2017 aimed at increasing our organisational resilience in preparation for a major redevelopment project….
Resilient Heritage Project- Fundraising Appointment
St John’s Hoxton is undertaking a significant and important piece of work during the summer of 2017 aimed at increasing our organisational resilience in preparation for a major redevelopment project….
Organisational Resilience Appointment
St John’s Hoxton is undertaking a significant and important piece of work during the summer of 2017 aimed at increasing our organisational resilience in preparation for a major redevelopment project….
Community Consultation Appointment
St John’s Hoxton is undertaking a significant and important piece of work during the summer of 2017 aimed at increasing our organisational resilience in preparation for a major redevelopment project….
Lorraine Versus The Fruit Flies
For the last few summers, Lorraine’s kitchen has been full of fruit flies. She worked out that the flies were attracted by a particular bin inside the building and that…
Wanted: Experienced Project Manager for Organisational Resilience Project
St John’s Hoxton is undertaking a significant and important piece of work during the summer of 2017 aimed at increasing our organisational resilience in preparation for a major redevelopment project….
A Grateful Intern For A Month – Sivert Vatnedal
Thank you for my time here at St. John’s Hoxton. I have been here as an intern for the last month (13th of March to 10th of April) as a…
Ash Wednesday, Lent And The Long Walk To Easter
Today is Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of the 46 day journey to Easter. The season of Lent helps us remember the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in…
Hoxton Citizens Issues Workshop
On the morning of Saturday 28th January, as the world began to realise that one of the most awful promises in modern politics was being kept, another kind of politics…
Repitching The Tent: The Why What & How Of Hope
Over the past three weeks, we’ve had a series of talks at St John’s articulating the vision God has given us for the coming years. As part of this venture,…
Some Thoughts On Why & How We Give Financially
It’s often said that the last part of a person to be converted to Christ is their wallet! Money is the most powerful god of our age – and desire…
Why Do We Protest?
On Monday night, a small number of us gathered in our church gardens to stand in solidarity with the tens of thousands who marched and protested around the country against…
Church Members Survey – January 2017
We’re really keen to find our a little more about who we are as a church! Please complete a church members survey form sometime in the next week or two….
Christmas and New Year at St John’s
We’ve already enjoyed some amazing services to mark the festive season in the run up the Christmas – and there’s even more great services to come! Christmas Eve 4pm Crib…
TELCO Delegates Assembly
On Thursday, 17th November, members of St John’s joined representatives of institutions across East London at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel for the TELCO delegates assembly. TELCO (newly renamed…
Streetlevel SMS – Creative Me Photography Workshop
by Moses Baako – Youth Work Apprentice Over the October half term in 2016, the Streetlevel youth project ran a Photography workshop with a few young people from the community as…
Hello! My name is Freya…
Freya Bradley has joined our team, and introduces herself below: Hello! My name is Freya and I have been placed with St John’s for one year as part of the…
Healed: Tanya’s Testimony
Tanya, a member of our church experienced an extraordinary and miraculous healing this summer, and this is her account: HEALED 2016:- Ok. So this is going to be a long…
Respect the Zebra!!
Tuesday 19th July 2016. 8:15 a.m. The junction of Crondall Street and Pitfield Street. A last minute check of leaflets and posters is done – the eternal question of ‘are…
Baptism & Confirmation Service – Sunday 27th November
Our next baptism and confirmation service will be on Sunday 27th November at 10.30am. You can download an application form to complete and return here
Welcome to Josh Richards – Buxton Leadership Intern
We’re really thrilled to be welcoming Josh Richard back to St John’s to join our team for the coming year. Josh spent a month with us back in 2014 as a Jellicoe…
Youth Work Apprentice Opportunity
NB: This is a post from 2016! We don’t currently have any apprentice opportunities. Sorry! There is an opportunity for someone to join our Youth Ministry team here at…
Speaking Up & Speaking Out
I was invited by the Bishop of London to preach at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 31st July 2016 at the 3.15 Choral Evensong service. My text was 1 Corinthians…
Speaking Up & Speaking Out
I was invited by the Bishop of London to preach at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 31st July 2016 at the 3.15 Choral Evensong service. My text was 1 Corinthians…
Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Pastoral Letter – EU Referendum – Sunday 12th June 2016 Dear friends, On Thursday 23rd June 2016, we face a once-in-a-generation decision when as citizens of the United Kingdom we…
Summer Fair 2016
We’re so excited about our upcoming Summer Fair – held on Saturday 18th June from 11am-5pm. There’ll be food available from Tiffin, Terry’s Falafel, sandwiches and cakes from Curious Yellow…
168 – A Week of Prayer & Worship
In January 2016, at a PCC meeting, we did an exercise to consider how we would prioritise 9 of our core activities in the church. In pairs, we organised 9…
Roof Repairs
We’re delighted to have received a grant from the Listed Places of Worship Roof repair fund last year. I’ve just been up on the roof to inspect the progress, and…
No Place Like Home
This blog article was written for Christians on the Left and first published here
Organising for the Common Good
I preached the sermon at the Tolpuddle Methodist Chapel on Sunday 19th July 2015 as part of the 2015 Tolpuddle Festival. The text of my sermon is below… Introduction It’s…
Start-Up Church (Or ‘Proclaiming Afresh’)
I had coffee yesterday with a friend who works in the tech world. He had come from an interview with a ‘start-up’ company that is expanding rapidly. He specialises in…
Family Worship
One of my greatest joys in life is worshipping God with my wife and children – dancing around, singing, doing silly actions, getting breathless, bonding – with one another, and…
Mission or Community Ministry?
I spent the morning yesterday at a theological symposium organised by the Cinnamon Network – thinking about the theology that undergirds our mission activity. In discussing some of the presentations…
Show Up
It was a real privilege to host around 40 members of the west African community last night for an evening with our local MP, Meg Hillier. Men, women and children…
Ordinary Mission – Extraordinary People
I heard someone speaking recently of how their church was full of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It reminded me of a book written by a friend of mine -…
Ambassadors for Christ
53 ‘Ambassadors for Christ’ Commissioned Yesterday was an amazing day at St John’s Church in Hoxton. In addition to celebrating the baptism and confirmation of nine members of our congregations,…
Easter Reboot
My laptop computer is running slowly nowadays. It seems as though they’re not built to cope with more than about three years regular use anymore… Of course, I’m partly to…
New Artwork Installed
NEW ARTWORK INSTALLED Thank you so much to local artist and congregation member Caroline Akhtar, who has kindly loaned us two of her paintings to be installed on the east…
The Birthday Of The King
This article was published in the Hackney Gazette on 19/12/2013 Kings have been in the headlines during 2013. We celebrated the birth and baptism of Prince George, and anticipated our…
To Each As They Have Need: Valuing Labour and the Living Wage
During November each year, the Living Wage Foundation holds its annual ‘Living Wage Week’. This year, Ed Miliband lent his support to the campaign when he pledged that a Labour…
Will You Cross The Road?
I gave a speech last night (12th September 2013) at the Hackney Citizens meeting at the Alevi Cultural Centre. The text of my speech is as follows: Jesus told a…
Undenied – A Good Friday Reflection
Bible Reading: John 18:15-27 The piece of music playing above is called ‘Undenied’ and is by the band Portishead, released on their 2nd album in 1997. It’s a melancholy and…
Making Space / Reordered Organs
“Immensity cloistered in thy deare womb” This is one of my favourite lines from John Donne’s ‘La Corona’ poem. It speaks of the mystery of the incarnation – that the…
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