The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Parish Representatives Robert Welsford and Beryl Dowsett
The charity now known as the Sons of the Clergy was founded in 1655 by a group of sons of clergymen, and it is to them that it owes its name.  In doing so they were responding to the urgent need for charitable help for the families of the many members of the clergy who, having remained loyal to the monarchy during the Commonwealth period under Cromwell, had been deprived of their livings and left destitute. 

Today the charity is one of the oldest, as well as one of the largest, charities helping Anglican clergy and their families in times of financial distress.  In recent years it has awarded grants totalling over £1m each year, a very substantial level of support.  The charity helps serving and retired clergy, their widows/widowers and their dependent children, as well as ordinands.  It is also able to help in cases of separation or divorce.  A wide range of help is provided but it is difficult to summarise as each case is different.  However, the common thread running through all the cases is the tangible difference the charity’s grants make in the daily lives of their recipients.  Over the last few years the charity has been working ever more closely with its sister charity, the Friends of the Clergy, and the two organisations now operate very much as one, thus strengthening the support that they are together able to provide to the clergy family nationwide.

The Sons’ founding event was a service to raise money in the old pre Fire of London St Paul’s Cathedral.  So successful was this that the service was repeated the following year and it has continued every year since then – making it, it is believed, the oldest service of its kind in the Anglican Communion. 

The Festival of the Sons of the Clergy (as it is now known) is one of the most splendid of the annual services in the Cathedral, with wonderful pageantry, superb music and a sermon by an eminent acher (this year it was the Archbishop of Wales).  Traditionally the Lord Mayor of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury attend and process together in State.  The Aldermen of the City process with 15 or so other Bishops and the service is also attended by the Masters, Prime Wardens and Upper Bailiff of the City Livery Companies who process as well.  Every year two guest cathedral choirs join with the choir of St Paul’s, and this year we welcomed the choirs of Worcester Cathedral and St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh.  The three choirs sing two anthems together, an Introit at the beginning and then a magnificent major anthem at the end, and each choir also sings an anthem on its own.  Such a glorious treat in the most splendid surroundings (the Cathedral having recently been totally cleaned inside at great expense).

Both the Sons and the Friends encourage the close involvement of their supporters.  Anyone who makes a donation of £50 or more to each charity may ask to be proposed for election as a Governor for life of the Sons and as a Member for life of the Friends.  Once so elected, a person is entitled to attend the charities’ joint annual meeting (usually held at Lambeth Palace) at which the work of the two organisations is reviewed and their trustees elected.

I have been a Governor of the Sons since 2003 (there are other members of the congregation who have been supporting it for much longer) and I am proud of my involvement with the charity.  As with most charitable endeavours one finds that, in giving, more is given back in abundance.  I never cease to feel a profound sense of achievement every time I attend the Festival Service (usually as a processing and collecting “Steward”, the name given to those who “sponsor” the event).  One of my guests once remarked that she had never sung the National Anthem with as much feeling as she did on that occasion.

The Sons of the Clergy are very grateful to our church for its support.  Apart from ensuring that we as a parish make our full contribution to the common fund, this is a very direct and valuable way of giving further support to the clergy across the board. 

NB:  The Festival Service next year will be at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 15th May 2012, and I can obtain tickets for anyone interested in attending.  I usually receive the application form in January.